New Urbanism, Consumer-citizenship and the Emerging ‘Eco-habitus’

• In Event: 545 - Section on Sociology of Culture Roundtable Session.
  In Refereed Roundtable: Section on Sociology of Culture Roundtables. Table 01. Consumer Studies Network

Abstract

New urbanism (NU) is a movement in urban planning that advocates “traditional” urban design as a remedy for social and environmental ills linked to suburban sprawl and inner-city decay. The movement is rooted in a conviction that urban planning can promote economic prosperity, ecological integrity, and social equality. NU communities and the people who buy homes in these neighborhoods thus provide an ideal setting in which to study the cultural practices Carfagna et al. (2014) label as the “eco-habitus”: an emerging form of high cultural capital, manifested through “conscious” or “ethical” consumerism, that integrate environmental awareness and sustainability principles into markers of status. During the Spring 2014 I conducted participant observation and semi-structured, in-depth interviews with the predominantly white, upper-middle class residents of the Mueller neighborhood, a NU community in Austin, Texas. Mueller is a public-private development routinely praised by residents, business, and the City for its emphasis on “smart growth,” affordability, sustainability and diversity. I spoke with residents about how they approached being good people and responsible citizens in order to understand the role consumerism plays in their ideals of ethics and morality. My findings speak to how markers of status are being reconfigured, and how this matters for the reproduction of inequalities. Specifically, I discuss the centrality of “ethical” consumerism in Mueller residents’ understandings of moral behavior and responsible citizenship. I conclude by highlighting how respondents were often unable to imagine ways of achieving their socially progressive goals outside of the options provided to them by the market.

Author

• Sergio Antonio Cabrera, University of Texas-Austin