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Special Issue in the Journal Consumption and Society

Structuring Sufficiency

Special issue information:

Sufficiency has emerged as a vital concept in addressing the existential threats of our time, challenging the dominant paradigm of endless growth and consumption. Efficiency improvements and technological solutions alone have proven inadequate in addressing the climate crisis and ecological breakdown (Jungell-Michelsson & Heikkurinen, 2022). Defining and reaching a state of "enough" is necessary from both ecological and socio-economic perspectives (Princen, 2005; Sandberg, 2021). We need to encourage a fundamental re-evaluation of societal needs, wants, and satisfiers. Sufficiency is not merely about individual lifestyle choices but requires structural changes in our economic and social systems (Spangenberg and Lorek, 2019); representing a critical paradigm shift in our approach to sustainable consumption and production. However sufficiency is a slippery concept and has so far proven difficult to define and empirical studies of limiting production and consumption are conspicuously lacking (Jungell-Michelsson & Heikkurinen, 2022). We need more research on how to structure society for sufficiency.

Building upon presentations from the SCORAI Europe conference held in Lund in April 2025, we seek to expand our understanding of sufficiency through both empirical and theoretical contributions. This special issue will focus on operationalising sufficiency and identifying structures that make sufficiency possible in various contexts. Translating sufficiency into actionable policies, practices, and institutions remains a significant challenge. This special issue seeks to address this challenge by bringing together diverse perspectives on how sufficiency can be realised in practice. We invite contributions that examine sufficiency from multiple angles, including but not limited to:

  1. Empirical studies that demonstrate successful implementation of sufficiency principles in various sectors (e.g., energy, housing, food, mobility).
  2. Theoretical frameworks that help conceptualize and operationalize sufficiency in different cultural and economic contexts, including global perspectives on sufficiency and transformation that focuses on achieving solidarity with the global South.
  3. Policy analyses that explore the potential for sufficiency-oriented regulations and incentives, with a focus on power, influence, and intra- and inter-national inequalities.
  4. Case studies of communities, organizations, or movements that embrace sufficiency as a guiding principle, as well as strategic approaches for achieving wider political change.
  5. Critical examinations of barriers to sufficiency and strategies to overcome them, including challenging the growth paradigm and fundamental drivers of the ecological crises.
  6. Interdisciplinary approaches that connect sufficiency to broader discussions of well-being, social justice, and environmental sustainability, with a focus on how this can lead to structural change.

We are particularly interested in papers that address the structural aspects of sufficiency, exploring how societal institutions, economic systems, and cultural norms can be reshaped to support sufficiency-based lifestyles and practices. This may include analyses of "consumption corridors," limitarianism, and other approaches that seek to define upper limits to consumption while ensuring basic needs are met. The special issue aims to contribute to the growing body of literature on sustainable consumption by providing a focused examination of sufficiency as an organising principle (Princen, 2005). By bringing together diverse perspectives and examples, we hope to advance our understanding of how sufficiency can be operationalised and made possible in various global contexts. We welcome submissions from a wide range of disciplines, including sociology, economics, environmental studies, psychology, anthropology, and related fields. Both empirical and theoretical papers are encouraged, as are interdisciplinary approaches that bridge multiple perspectives.

Manuscript submission information:

Consumption and Society encourages a variety of contribution formats including original research articles, keyword essays, book reviews and symposia, conversations and commentaries. Please indicate the desired format in your extended abstract due May 4th 2025.

Information for how to submit an extended abstract will be published here soon.

Timeline:

Call opens: 1 February 2025
Deadline for extended Abstract: May 4th 2025
Accepted authors notified: June 2025
Deadline for submission of full draft papers: August 29th 2025
Publication of Special Issue January 2027 (Authors who re-submit ahead of deadlines, or require fewer revisions, can progress faster through the review process and their articles will be pre-published online.)

For those interested in contributing to the special issue, the guest editors are holding a paper workshop in connection to the SCORAI conference on April 7th, 2025. Please indicate your interest in attending by sending an extended abstract (circa 2000 words) to tullia [dot] jack [at] ses [dot] lu [dot] se (tullia[dot]jack[at]ses[dot]lu[dot]se) by 21st March 2025.

Guest editors:

Tullia Jack is an Associate Professor and Associate Senior Lecturer at the Department of Service Studies. Her research focuses on sustainable consumption and the social structuring of everyday routines. She was a co-editor of the special issue of Consumption and Society on Welfare within planetary boundaries in the Nordics. Contact details: Department of Service Studies, Lund University, Box 114, 221 00 Lund, Sweden, tullia [dot] jack [at] ses [dot] lu [dot] se (tullia[dot]jack[at]ses[dot]lu[dot]se), https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0381-4088

Halliki Kreinin is a senior research associate at the Research Institute for Sustainability (RIFS) - Helmholtz Centre Potsdam. Her research has focused on the economic drivers of the environmental crises, post-growth transformations, achieving democratic legitimacy for sufficient lifestyles, and the role of labor and unions in achieving social-ecological transformation and sustainable work. Contact details: Transforming Consumption and Provisioning Research Group, RIFS, Berliner Strasse 130, D-14467 Potsdam, Germany. halliki [dot] kreinin [at] rifs-potsdam [dot] de (halliki[dot]kreinin[at]rifs-potsdam[dot]de), https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0095-8393 

Senja Laakso is an Associate Professor of Consumption culture as social practices at the Centre for Consumer Society Research, University of Helsinki. Her research has focused on sustainability of everyday life, social practices, and sustainable wellbeing, with her most recent research projects focusing on energy sufficiency and just transitions. She was one of the co-editors in the special issue of Consumption and Society on Welfare within planetary boundaries in the Nordics. Contact details: Centre for Consumer Society Research, PO Box 16 (Snellmaninkatu 10), FI-00014 University of Helsinki, Finland, senja [dot] laakso [at] tuni [dot] fi (senja[dot]laakso[at]helsinki[dot]fi), https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9156-4252 

Matthias Lehner is a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Consumption at the International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics (IIIEE) at Lund University. His research interests span across a wide range of consumption-related issues, covering both efficiency and sufficiency-related questions. Most recently, his work has focused on high-impact GHG-reduction behavior changes (mobility, housing, food), as well as digitalization’s impact on lifestyles and related GHG-emissions. Matthias is the acting chair for the upcoming SCORAI Europe Conference 2025, for which this special issue is developed. Contact details: IIIEE, Lund University, P.O. Box 196, SE 221 00 Lund, Sweden, matthias [dot] lehner [at] iiiee [dot] lu [dot] se (matthias[dot]lehner[at]iiiee[dot]lu[dot]se), https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1571-7453 

Georgina Guillen-Hanson is a lecturer, project manager, and post-doctoral researcher at the Gamification Group at Tampere University. As a gamification and sustainability strategist, she specializes in gamifying sustainable consumption, sustainable human-computer interaction, circular economy, and social innovation. Ginnie has over 20 years of experience in sustainability projects among the quadruple helix. She is a member of the boards of SCORAI Global and SCORAI Europe, and she co-chairs the Working Group Communicating Sustainable Consumption. Contact details: Kalevantie 4, Pinni B. 33100. Tampere, Finland. georgina [dot] guillen [at] tuni [dot] fi (georgina[dot]guillen[at]tuni[dot]fi), https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2462-0082 

References:

Jungell-Michelsson, J., & Heikkurinen, P. (2022). Sufficiency: A systematic literature review. Ecological Economics, 195, 107380.

Sandberg, M. (2021). Sufficiency transitions: A review of consumption changes for environmental sustainability. Journal of Cleaner Production, 293, 126097.

Princen, T. (2005). The logic of sufficiency. Mit Press.

Spangenberg, J. H., & Lorek, S. (2019). Sufficiency and consumer behaviour: From theory to policy. Energy Policy, 129, 1070-1079.

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