2003 Harold and Margaret Sprout Award presented by the International Studies Association (ISA).

Comforting terms such as andquot;sustainable developmentandquot; and andquot;green productionandquot; frame environmental debate by stressing technology (not green enough), economic growth (not enough in the right places), and population (too large). Concern about consumption emerges, if at all, in benign waysandmdash;as calls for green purchasing or more recycling, or for small changes in production processes. Many academics, policymakers, and journalists, in fact, accept the economists' view of consumption as nothing less than the purpose of the economy. Yet many people have a troubled, intuitive understanding that tinkering at the margins of production and purchasing will not put society on an ecologically and socially sustainable path.

Confronting Consumption places consumption at the center of debate by conceptualizing andquot;the consumption problemandquot; and documenting diverse efforts to confront it. In Part 1, the book frames consumption as a problem of political and ecological economy, emphasizing core concepts of individualization and commoditization. Part 2 develops the idea of distancing and examines transnational chains of consumption in the context of economic globalization. Part 3 describes citizen action through local currencies, home power, voluntary simplicity, andquot;ad-busting,andquot; and product certification. Together, the chapters propose andquot;cautious consumingandquot; and andquot;better producingandquot; as an activist and policy response to environmental problems. The book concludes that confronting consumption must become a driving focus of contemporary environmental scholarship and activism.

andquot;This book is important not just for its brilliance but for its rarity: few environmental scholars have dared to take on this issue in a manner that goes beyond rhetorical posturing and 'limits to growth' type arguments.andquot;
andmdash;Lamont C. Hempel, Hedco Professor of Environmental Studies and Director of Environmental Programs, University of Redlands

andquot;The authors are to be commended for breaking the code of silence surrounding consumption and engaging the debate.andquot;
andmdash; Richard Walthers, Green @ Work Magazine

andquot;Are you willing to confront consumption?...then read this book.andquot;
andmdash; Vicki Robin, Journal of Positive Futures

andquot;A Comprehensive analysis of how and why consumer society wreaks havoc on Earth.andquot;
andmdash; syracuseculturalworkers.org

andquot;The book certainly succeeds in thinking 'outside the box'.andquot;
-- Global Environmental Politics

Thomas Princen is Associate Professor of Natural Resource and Environmental Policy at the School of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan. He is lead editor of Confronting Consumption (MIT Press, 2002), winner of the International Studies Association's Harold and Margaret Sprout award for best work in international environmental politics, 2003.Michael Maniates is Associate Professor of Political Science and Environmental Science at Allegheny College.Ken Conca is Associate Professor of Government and Politics and Director of the Harrison Program on the Future Global Agenda at the University of Maryland.