Achieving sustainable lifestyles or encouraging a counter-reflexivity: exploring motivations for sustainability in a mediated risk society

Abstract

Ulrich Beck's World Risk Society is becoming an increasingly relevant analysis of contemporary human/environment interaction. However, with this said, Beck's observations remain broad and significantly lacking empirical evidence. This paper explores the relationship between sustainable lifestyles and assertions of one of Beck's central ideas, the emergence of a reflexive modernity at the local scale. By empirically examining the motivation of participants for joining a scheme designed to enhance sustainable lifestyles, this paper will progressively outline the way that individuals in a risk society negotiate global images in a local context and what this means for a reflexive modernity. By exposing the complex interaction of global risk imagery and the effect this has on achieving local sustainability, a more realistic understanding of Beck's theoretical assertions can be applied to an increasingly important policy arena.

Keywords:

• sustainable development
• reflexivity
• risk
• governance
• media

Notes

For further information on the work of GAP, see Hobson (2003).