The Voluntary Simplicity Movement
Reimagining the Good Life beyond Consumer Culture
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12947116 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Samuel Alexander (0000-0003-4057-735X, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 133-150 |
| Publication date | 2011-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The International Journal of Environmental Cultural Economic and Social Sustainability Annual Review (BOOK_SERIES) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1832-2077 • E-ISSN: 1832-2077 |
| Publisher | Common Ground Research Networks (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.18848/1832-2077/cgp/v07i03/54923 |
| OpenAlex | W2484162068 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 16 |
Voluntary simplicity - otherwise known as 'downshifting' or just 'simple living' - is an anticonsumerist way of life that opposes the high consumption lifestyles prevalent in consumer societies today and voluntarily embraces 'a simpler life' of reduced consumption. As a practical matter, this living strategy characteristically involves providing for material needs as simply and directly as possible, minimizing expenditure on consumer goods and services, and generally seeking non-materialistic sources of satisfaction and meaning. Variously defended by its advocates on personal, social, humanitarian, and ecological grounds, voluntary simplicity is predicated on the assumption that human beings can live meaningful, free, happy, and infinitely diverse lives, while consuming no more than an equitable share of nature. That, at least, is the challenging ideal which seems to motive and guide many of its advocates and practitioners. This paper examines the nature of the Voluntary Simplicity Movement, including its various definitions, justifications, and practices. © Common Ground, Samuel Alexander
Advertising · Aesthetics · Art · Business · Consumer Culture · Epistemology · Movement (music · Simplicity · Sociology · Environmental Philosophy and Ethics · Religion, Ecology, and Ethics · Philosophy
The Enactment of Fast and Slow Time Regimes by Urban Retail and Consumer Services
Planned economic contraction
Under Which Conditions Are Consumers Ready to Boycott or Buycott? The Roles of Hedonism and Simplicity
Voluntary Simplicity and the Social Reconstruction of Law
Degrowth and ‘Regrowth
Minimalism– A New Mode of Consumption
Accumulative vs. Appreciative Expressions of Materialism
Relationship between minimalism, happiness, life satisfaction, and experiential consumption
The Voluntary Simplicity Movement
Waving the banana' at capitalism
Changing Identities to Change the World
Narratives and Practices of Voluntary Simplicity in the Czech Post-Socialist Context
Unconditional basic income and a degrowth transition
The wellbeing pandemic
Ted Trainer and the Simpler Way
The crossing of physical boundaries
| Unique citing works | 16 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,07 |
| Citation span | 2011 - 2025 (15) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 13 |