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76212-01 - Seminar: Consumption Corridors: Theoretical Fundament and Transdisciplinary Development (3 KP)
| Semester | Herbstsemester 2025 |
| Angebotsmuster | einmalig |
| Dozierende | Antonietta Di Giulio (antonietta.digiulio@unibas.ch, BeurteilerIn) |
| Inhalt | We express our individual identify by what we (do not) consume and by how we consume – what and how we consume is highly defined by our social surroundings. Consumption is a prime cause of environmental pressures – consumption is a major lever towards sustainability. All four assertions about consumption are accurate although they seem, at least in part, to contradict each other. Consumption has always been a major topic of global, international, and national discussions about the negative social and environmental impacts caused by humans and about how sustainability can be achieved. Defining sustainable consumption and ways to reach it in a society has to navigate quite a number of risks: e.g., the risk of reducing sustainable consumption to a list of trivial commandments on the level of individuals, the risk of imposing lifestyles that do not account for individuals' living situations and social-material as well as cultural living contexts, the risk of disregarding path dependencies and infrastructural restrictions, the risk of assigning responsibility solely to individuals, or the risk of ignoring inequalities and neglecting justice. Currently, the scientific discourse has shifted from approaches that focus primarily on isolated measures to comprehensive approaches that focus on fundamental and encompassing transformations of how societies are organized. The concept of "Consumption Corridors" is one of these comprehensive approaches that envision a societal transformation. It is gaining growing traction in the international discourse. The concept of "Consumption Corridors" (CC) provides a framework for sustainable consumption governance. It suggests achieving sustainability by developing and implementing corridors of consumption. Consumption corridors (CC) are defined by minima and maxima of consumption. The lower boundaries are meant to allow every individual to satisfy their needs, and thus to live a life they value. The upper boundaries are meant to prevent that consumption of individuals or groups inhibits or affects the wellbeing of other individuals, living now or in the future. The space between these boundaries is what is referred to as consumption corridors. This space leaves room for individual life plans and choices, for individual freedom. The concept of CC proceeds from quality of life and posits quality of life and justice as criteria to define minima and maxima of consumption. The minima determine what every individual must have access to. The maxima determine the threshold that if (quantitatively or qualitatively) trespassed adversely impacts the quality of life of other individuals (living now or in the future) by putting others' minima at risk. The concept of CC offers a new way of organizing societies and their production and consumption systems, to ensure a good life for all people at present and in the future. It is not a single policy measure or the like, but provides a framework for developing policies. While suggesting far-reaching changes and acknowledging the necessity of protecting the natural environment, it has a strong focus on wellbeing and justice and neither adopts a narrative of renunciation nor does it impose specific lifestyles. It offers a narrative for sustainable consumption governance that is based on an approach to sustainability that is explicitly focussing on achieving (the vision of) a good life (salutogenic) rather than of focussing primarily on avoiding damage (pathogenic). It is informed by the conviction that such corridors have to be societally negotiated and deliberated by applying a transdisciplinary approach. The concept of CC is undoubtedly visionary – but is it also illusionary? The seminar is devoted to exploring this question. The participants will first get familiar with the fundament, history and rationale of the concept of CC. This will provide the background for the practical part of the seminar that will take place as follows: Students will, in small groups, choose an example of how the concept of CC has recently been applied to resources and/or fields of consumption (e.g., energy, mobility, green spaces, meat, household appliances) in different countries (they will be provided with a pre-selection of projects and/or publications). Based on their investigation of the example, they will discuss how corridors of consumption for the resources and/or fields of consumption addressed in their example could be developed in Switzerland, and they will explore whether they can find limits to consumption that already exist and that could serve as a starting point for the societal discussion in Switzerland (the students can also choose another country they are more familiar with). The participants will present the results of their work (oral presentation and handout). During the time in which the students work in their groups, the seminar will be conducted as a workshop in which the lecturer will provide demand-based support. The seminar will conclude with a discussion about promising pathways and limitations of developing and implementing corridors of consumption in Switzerland. |
| Lernziele | Goals of the seminar: • The students can reflect about the challenges and possible ways of integrating environmental and social concerns in discussing sustainable consumption. • The students know the conceptual background of the concept of "Consumption Corridors", a framework for sustainable consumption governance. • The students are able to discuss both the transformative potential as well as the empirical and methodical challenges of actually applying the concept of "Consumption Corridors", based on in-depth knowledge of examples that cover different fields and countries. • The students know methods that could be applied in transdisciplinary deliberations of limits to consumption. |
| Literatur | Will follow |
| Unterrichtssprache | Englisch |
| Einsatz digitaler Medien | kein spezifischer Einsatz |
| Intervall | Wochentag | Zeit | Raum |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Montag | 14.15-16.00 | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
Einzeltermine
| Datum | Zeit | Raum |
|---|---|---|
| Montag 15.09.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Montag 22.09.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Montag 29.09.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Montag 06.10.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Montag 13.10.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Montag 20.10.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Montag 27.10.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Montag 03.11.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Montag 10.11.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Montag 17.11.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Montag 24.11.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Montag 01.12.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Montag 08.12.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Montag 15.12.2025 | 14.15-16.00 Uhr | Soziologie, Hörsaal 215 |
| Module |
Modul: Methoden der Soziologie und der Gesellschaftswissenschaften: qualitativ (Master Studienfach: Soziologie) Modul: Resources and Sustainability (Master Studiengang: Changing Societies: Migration – Conflicts – Resources ) Modul: Soziologische Theorie MA (Master Studienfach: Soziologie) |
| Prüfung | Lehrveranst.-begleitend |
| Hinweise zur Prüfung | Achievements, what participants will have to do to pass the seminar: Investigating an example of how the concept of "Consumption Corridors" has been applied to resources and/or fields of consumption. Discussing how corridors of consumption for the resources and/or fields of consumption addressed in their example could be developed in Switzerland, and search for limits to consumption that already exist and that could serve as a starting point for the societal discussion in Switzerland (the students can also choose another country they are more familiar with). This will be done in small groups. Presenting their results (oral presentation and handout). |
| An-/Abmeldung zur Prüfung | Anmelden: Belegen; Abmelden: nicht erforderlich |
| Wiederholungsprüfung | keine Wiederholungsprüfung |
| Skala | Pass / Fail |
| Belegen bei Nichtbestehen | nicht wiederholbar |
| Zuständige Fakultät | Philosophisch-Historische Fakultät, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Anbietende Organisationseinheit | Fachbereich Soziologie |