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

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The Sustainability of Overconsumption? a Discursive Analysis of Walmart's Sustainability Campaign University of Central Florida STARS Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 2012 The Sustainability Of Overconsumption? A Discursive Analysis Of Walmart's Sustainability Campaign Kathleen Adams University of Central Florida Part of the Political Science Commons Find similar works at: https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd University of Central Florida Libraries http://library.ucf.edu This Masters Thesis (Open Access) is brought to you for free and open access by STARS. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019 by an authorized administrator of STARS. For more information, please contact [email protected]. STARS Citation Adams, Kathleen, "The Sustainability Of Overconsumption? A Discursive Analysis Of Walmart's Sustainability Campaign" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2004-2019. 2176. https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2176 THE SUSTAINABILITY OF OVERCONSUMPTION? A DISCURSIVE ANALYSIS OF WALMART’S SUSTAINABILITY CAMPAIGN by KATHLEEN ADAMS B.A University of Central Florida, 2010 A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Political Science in the College of Sciences at the University of Central Florida Orlando, Florida Summer Term 2012 Thesis Chair: Peter Jacques © 2012 Kathleen Adams ii ABSTRACT 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. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................ viii LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................ ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION .................................................................... 1 CHAPTER TWO: FINDING MEANING IN A MORPHING MARKET .............. 4 The Underlying Facets of Overconsumption .............................................................................. 4 The Dark Side of the Enlightenment ....................................................................................... 7 Performing Consumers and the Community of Consumption .............................................. 10 CHAPTER THREE: DECIPHERING SUSTAINABILITY .................................13 Institutional Unsustainability .................................................................................................... 13 Prospects for Progress ........................................................................................................... 14 Selling our Souls.................................................................................................................... 18 Progressing Toward a Loss of Control .................................................................................. 22 Identity and Community, Purpose and Power ....................................................................... 23 Regaining Sustainability: Stability, Self-Sufficiency, and Satisfaction .................................... 27 Natural Capitalism: Big Business Responsibility.................................................................. 28 Sustainability by Design: Big Government Regulation ........................................................ 31 Distributism and Agrarianism: Small-Scale Solutions .......................................................... 33 iv Reflection and Responsibility to Combat Unsustainability................................................... 35 CHAPTER FOUR: COMMODITIZING CONSCIOUSNESS ..............................37 Can We Shop to a Better World? .............................................................................................. 37 The Power of Green............................................................................................................... 37 Mindful Consumption ........................................................................................................... 38 Simplicity .............................................................................................................................. 40 The Target Market for Green Consumption .............................................................................. 41 Preserving Health with Wealth.................................................................................................. 44 CHAPTER FIVE: SUSTAINABLE SUPERCENTERS? .....................................48 Save Money. Live Better. .......................................................................................................... 48 The Richest Man in America ................................................................................................. 49 Concrete Castles for the Culture of Consumerism ................................................................ 51 Walmart Goes Green ................................................................................................................. 54 CHAPTER SIX: RESEARCH AND METHOD ...................................................58 Discerning Motives through Discourse ..................................................................................... 58 Language Invested by Ideology............................................................................................. 58 Methodological Reasoning of Critical Discourse Analysis................................................... 61 Mechanics of Method in the Analysis of Walmart’s Sustainability Initiative ...................... 64 v CHAPTER SEVEN: RESULTS AND RAMIFICATIONS ...................................69 Main Findings ........................................................................................................................... 69 Strictly Frequencies ................................................................................................................... 70 “Sustainability”: Rate of Recurrence and Context ................................................................ 70 Recurring Key Words ............................................................................................................ 72 The Neoliberal Narrative ........................................................................................................... 80 Progress and Competition...................................................................................................... 81 Expansion and Development ................................................................................................. 84 Productivity and Efficiency: Maximized Utility ................................................................... 87 The Inverted Quarantine Narrative............................................................................................ 90 Egotistical Environmentalism: Atomized Agency and Self-Centered Motives .................... 90 Next Generation Consumers.................................................................................................. 92 Change in a Shopping Cart: Recognized Risk; Purchased Protection; Consumer Choice.... 93 Absent Frames: Equity, Ethics, Ecocentrism ............................................................................ 96 Steady-State ........................................................................................................................... 97 Democratic Values ................................................................................................................ 97 Subsidiarity ............................................................................................................................ 98 Eliminate Export-Oriented Production .................................................................................. 98 vi Common Heritage ................................................................................................................. 99 Diversity ................................................................................................................................ 99 Employment .......................................................................................................................... 99 Food Security....................................................................................................................... 100 Inequity ...............................................................................................................................
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