Averting your gaze with sustainable, green marketing claims: a critique of luxury commodity production sustainability claims, with evidence from the diamond industry

Abstract

The adverse impacts of capitalism on the global ecosystem are well-identified, and have created consumer interest in ecologically friendly commodities. One corporate response to this situation has been the development of green marketing strategies designed to convince consumers that products are ecologically sustainable and/or less ecologically harmful. One strategies suggests that luxury commodities are ecologically sustainable due to their durability and/or longevity. That argument ignores empirical assessments of the ecological impacts of luxury commodity production. To illustrate this point, we examine the use of green labeling claims within the context of capitalism. As an empirical example, we focus on sustainability claims constructed around luxury diamonds, and estimate the ecological harms of mining a large diamond in carbon equivalent terms. We also examine related production claims linked to sustainable supply chain certification. In our discussion, we draw from arguments in green criminology to suggest that diamond mining could be viewed as a crime of ecocide, and should be discouraged through influence campaigns and perhaps legal restrictions on diamond mining.

Notes

1 Supporting that contention, one of the most famous economists of the 20th century, and staunch supporter of free-market capitalism, Friedman (1970), argued that the only responsibility of a business corporation was to grow and increase its profits.

2 This is not to say that there are not some good examples of sustainable commodity production (e.g., Interface Incorporated, which began offering recycled carpet tiles), but rather that there continues to be the production of a “creative” green corporate dialogue that continually remakes the meaning of being green to expand consumption and, consequently, ecological destructive production and consumptive behaviors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael J. Lynch

Michael J. Lynch is professor of criminology and director of the graduate program, department of criminology, University of South Florida. His research primarily examines green crimes and justice, environmental sociology, ecological Marxism, corporate crime and its control, environmental justice and radical criminology. He is the author/editor of twenty-five books. He is the founder of green criminology, and recipient of lifetime awards for scholarly contributions from the Division on Critical Criminology and Social Justice, and also the Division on White Collar and Corporate Crime of the American Society of Criminology.

Michael A. Long

Michael A. Long is professor of sociology and director of the graduate program in sociology and Oklahoma State University. His research interests include quantitative methods, environmental sociology, ecological Marxism, environmental justice, green criminology, food insecurity, political economy, and public health. He is author/editor of five books and ∼100 articles and book chapters. He is a Fellow in the UK Higher Education Academy.

Paul B. Stretesky

Paul B. Stretesky is professor of social sciences at Northumbria University. He received his PhD from The Florida State University and studies green criminology, food insecurity, and environmental justice. His research has been funded by research, government and nonprofit organizations. Professor Stretesky has coauthored eight books and published over 100 peer reviewed research articles. He is Associate Director of the Healthy Living Lab (http://healthylivinguk.org) where he works with other interdisciplinary researchers to study public health interventions related to childhood food insecurity and holiday hunger.