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The Sustainability of Overconsumption? A Discursive Analysis of Walmart's Sustainability Campaign

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Date Issued:
2012
Abstract/Description:
This study inquires as to whether Walmart's sustainability campaign represents a sincere and holistic change throughout the company's global supply chain or if it is simply a public relations campaign which caters to the growing target market of (")next-generation(") consumers and justifies further expansion into (")emerging markets("). A critical analysis of Walmart's sustainability discourse is presented, using transcribed texts of various corporate and publicity-geared publications. Frequently utilized terms and themes are identified throughout the big-box retailer's sustainability campaign which convey a distinctly Neoliberal ethos(-)a political economy which lies at the heart of current practices of institutional unsustainability(-)and emphasize the role of the atomized individual(-)who may purchase protection from environmental risks via green products. Other themes, which are commonly associated with sustainability research, are glaringly absent: subsidiarity; human rights; steady-state economics; economic inequity; the precautionary principle. This research aims to shed light on the prospects for the sustainability of green overconsumption, which Walmart is leading the way in promoting, and for the continuation of the modern economistic zeitgeist into the twenty-first century.
Title: The Sustainability of Overconsumption? A Discursive Analysis of Walmart's Sustainability Campaign.
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Name(s): Adams, Kathleen, Author
Jacques, Peter, Committee Chair
Kiel, Dwight, Committee Member
Knuckey, Jonathan, Committee Member
, Committee Member
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2012
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: This study inquires as to whether Walmart's sustainability campaign represents a sincere and holistic change throughout the company's global supply chain or if it is simply a public relations campaign which caters to the growing target market of (")next-generation(") consumers and justifies further expansion into (")emerging markets("). A critical analysis of Walmart's sustainability discourse is presented, using transcribed texts of various corporate and publicity-geared publications. Frequently utilized terms and themes are identified throughout the big-box retailer's sustainability campaign which convey a distinctly Neoliberal ethos(-)a political economy which lies at the heart of current practices of institutional unsustainability(-)and emphasize the role of the atomized individual(-)who may purchase protection from environmental risks via green products. Other themes, which are commonly associated with sustainability research, are glaringly absent: subsidiarity; human rights; steady-state economics; economic inequity; the precautionary principle. This research aims to shed light on the prospects for the sustainability of green overconsumption, which Walmart is leading the way in promoting, and for the continuation of the modern economistic zeitgeist into the twenty-first century.
Identifier: CFE0004346 (IID), ucf:49416 (fedora)
Note(s): 2012-08-01
M.A.
Sciences, Political Science
Masters
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): sustainability -- overconsumption -- tragedy of the commons -- critical discourse analysis -- green consumerism -- biopolitics -- inverted quarantine -- big-box retail -- neoliberalism -- globalism
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0004346
Restrictions on Access: public 2012-08-15
Host Institution: UCF

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