SIT Graduate Institute/SIT Study Abroad SIT Digital Collections Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection SIT Study Abroad Spring 2010 Simplicity and the City: Understanding the Voluntary Simplicity Movement in Melbourne Gershwin Penn SIT Study Abroad Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection Part of the Sustainability Commons, and the Urban Studies and Planning Commons Recommended Citation Penn, Gershwin, "Simplicity and the City: Understanding the Voluntary Simplicity Movement in Melbourne" (2010). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 867. https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/867 This Unpublished Paper is brought to you for free and open access by the SIT Study Abroad at SIT Digital Collections. It has been accepted for inclusion in Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection by an authorized administrator of SIT Digital Collections. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Simplicity and the City: Understanding the Voluntary Simplicity Movement in Melbourne Penn, Gershwin Academic Director: Brenna, Peter Project Advisor: Bragg, Elizabeth Williams College Sociology Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Australia: Sustainability and Environmental Action, SIT Study Abroad, Spring 2010. 1 Acknowledgements To Dr. Elizabeth “Eshana” Bragg, my advisor, for providing me with help, resources, tips, and support throughout this process. To Samuel Alexander, for helping out a student he’d never met before and for inspiring me to do research about voluntary simplicity. To Greg Lucas, for listen to me patter on about my project at virtually every stage of the process and helping me to constantly rethink the project. To Peter Brennan, for directing an amazing program that allowed me to learn and research things that were most interesting to me. To my family, for being supportive of my education and goals. To Catie and JJ, for listening to me go on endlessly about this entire project and for entertaining my ideas and challenging me. To all the participants, for opening up their lives to me and for being so kind To the City of Melbourne, for giving me a place to live, think, and call home. Without all of these, this project would not have been possible. 2 Table of Contents Contents 1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................6 1.1 An Overview of Consumption and Voluntary Simplicity ........................................................7 1.3 Traits of Simplifiers .............................................................................................................9 1.4 Purpose of Study ...............................................................................................................11 2.0 Methodology ........................................................................................................................12 2.1 Choosing a City .................................................................................................................12 2.2 Finding Interviewees .........................................................................................................12 2.3 Designing Interview Questions and Conducting the Interviews .............................................13 2.4 Organizing Data ................................................................................................................14 2.5 Organization of Paper ........................................................................................................15 2.6 The Participants ................................................................................................................16 Discussion/Results ......................................................................................................................16 3.0 Reasons for Simplifying ........................................................................................................16 3.1 Concern for Environmental and/or Social Justice .................................................................17 3.2 Experiences Abroad ...........................................................................................................18 3.3 Suspicion and Uneasiness with Consumer Culture ...............................................................20 3.4 Other Reasons for Simplifying ...........................................................................................22 3.5 Doing It ............................................................................................................................23 4.0 Urban Simplifiers in Practice: The Lifestyle of Simplifiers ......................................................25 4.1 The Theoretical Level ........................................................................................................25 4.2 The Practical Level ............................................................................................................26 4.21 The Home ...................................................................................................................26 4.22 Transportation .............................................................................................................26 4.23 Food ...........................................................................................................................27 4.24 Shopping .....................................................................................................................27 4.25 Fun/Leisure .................................................................................................................27 4.26 Work ...........................................................................................................................28 5.0 Struggles with the Simple Life ...............................................................................................29 5.1 Being Outside of One's Controlled Environment .................................................................30 5.2 Difficult Giving Up Hobbies and Luxury Items ...................................................................30 5.3 The Desire to Buy .............................................................................................................31 3 5.4 Social Loneliness and Isolation ..........................................................................................32 5.5 Finances ...........................................................................................................................33 5.6 Relationships ....................................................................................................................35 5.61 Relationships with Friends ............................................................................................35 5.62 Relationships with Partners ...........................................................................................37 5.7 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................40 6.0 Simplicity in the City ............................................................................................................41 6.1 Transportation ...................................................................................................................42 6.2 Ability to get Necessities ...................................................................................................42 6.3 Exploiting the Refuse of Consumer Culture ........................................................................43 6.4 Housing ............................................................................................................................44 6.5 Constructing Communities .................................................................................................44 6.6 Connecting to Nature .........................................................................................................46 6.7 Considering Alternatives: Thoughts on Rural Life ...............................................................48 6.8 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................49 7.0 The Desire to Continue Simplifying .......................................................................................51 8.0 How Simplicity Enriches .......................................................................................................53 8.1 Control Over One’s Life ....................................................................................................53 8.2 The Importance of Responsible Living ................................................................................54 8.3 More Appreciation for All Aspects of Life ..........................................................................55 9.0 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................56 9.1 Further Research ...............................................................................................................57 9.2 Potential for Growth ..........................................................................................................57 References .................................................................................................................................58 Appendix ...................................................................................................................................59