Religion and everyday consumption ethics: a moral economy approach

Sandikci, O. (2021) Religion and everyday consumption ethics: a moral economy approach. Journal of Business Ethics, 168(2), pp. 277-293. (doi: 10.1007/s10551-019-04422-2)

Abstract

As research on ethical consumers and consumption practices has continued to grow, a complimentary body of work concerned less with ethical consumption but more with ethics in consumption has emerged. Problematizing the divide between ethical and non-ethical consumption, this stream of research focuses on the domain of everyday and explores the moral struggles individuals face while engaging in ordinary consumption practices. However, the attention on the ordinary runs the risk of obscuring the contribution of the ‘extraordinary’ or the transcendental to the ethical concerns embedded in the mundane flow of the everyday. This study addresses this blind spot and explores the ways in which religion is implicated in everyday consumption ethics. In doing so, I go beyond a view of religion as an individual trait and emphasize its role as a major institutional structure of the contemporary political economy. The empirical context of the study is the controversy over the so-called halal nail polish. The debate over the products’ appropriateness for Muslim women provides a fertile setting to explore how an ordinary object becomes an ethical problem amid changing relations between religion and market. In order to trace and analyze the linkages between daily practices and institutional dynamics I draw from the moral economy framework and discuss the multiple and conflicting moral repertoires that shape the ethical evaluations of the object. The study offers several contributions to the existing theorizations of everyday consumption ethics and moral economies of consumption. It also highlights the potential of interdisciplinary approaches in providing a holistic understanding of the ethical and moral dimensions of consumption.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Sandikci Turkdogan, Professor Ozlem
• Authors: Sandikci, O.
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > H Social Sciences (General); H Social Sciences > HB Economic Theory; H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Journal Name: Journal of Business Ethics
• Publisher: Springer
• ISSN: 0167-4544
• ISSN (Online): 1573-0697
• Published Online: 10 January 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 Springer Nature B.V.
• First Published: First published in Journal of Business Ethics 168(2): 277-293
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy