We hope you all had a wonderful and uplifting Christmas and New Year, and that the holidays were refreshing and stimulating in all sorts of ways. Some of you may already feel, however, that some of the spirit of Christmas wanes a little too quickly, and that ethical resolutions for a better world are soon dropped. Well, have a look at the project’s working paper, which is now available from this blog.
This working paper sets out some of the outcomes of the project, including connections and collaborations between participants in the project (both practitioners and academics from various fields), leading to valuable new directions for future research and scholarship.
working pronounced \ˈwər-kiŋ\
adj. assumed or adopted to permit or facilitate further work or activity
paper pronounced \ˈpā-pər\
n. (1) a formal written composition often designed for publication
(2) a paper container or wrapper
(Source: Merriam-Webster)
Have your say: Tell us what you think of the project and its conclusions.
Are there experiences, feelings or practices we have missed? Are there new questions or questions we need to ask again? What do you think are the real priorities for scholars, researchers, teachers and policymakers in working with ethical consumption?
Keep blogging for an ethical Christmas – social media works!
9 December, 2009
Check out this story from iabuk.net, an internet advertising feed – if you think they have a point, then you should be blogging about how you will be making ethical decisions this Christmas…
“Social media influences Xmas spending
Some 28 per cent of US consumers claim social media has influenced their Christmas shopping decisions this year, according to digital analyst comScore.
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
The research, which covers the period between December 4th and 7th 2009, indicates that 13 per cent of respondents read a consumer product review on a social media portal that had an affect on their festive purchasing.
Some 11 per cent suggested that an expert product review influenced what they bought, while seven per cent revealed they have followed a fan page on Facebook to take advantage of deals on offer.
Microblogging website Twitter has also had an impact on this year’s Christmas shopping trends, with five per cent of respondents saying they have followed a company on the service in order to get their hands on special offers.
Figures from comScore also indicate that e-commerce spending is up year on year.
The first 36 days of the November to December 2009 holiday season has seen nearly $16 billion (£9.81 billion) spent online – a three per cent increase on the same period in 2008.
Meanwhile, the week ending December 6th saw $4.6 billion spent on the web, which was a larger figure than any individual spending week last year.
In the UK, it has been predicted that Monday December 7th will have been the busiest online shopping day on record once results have been published.”
It must be a good idea when Derren Brown agrees!
5 December, 2009
Magician Derren Brown has clearly managed to read our working paper before it has been launched! Either that, or he has been following the development of the ‘Not Just for Christmas’ project closely. Perhaps he followed last year’s project Advent Calendar (which is still worth a read, by the way).
Those of you who followed the project last will certainly agree with his point: [Christmas] is certainly as good a time as any other to rise to the challenge of leading a kinder, lovelier life – one that stretches far beyond the encouraged sentimentality of the holiday period.
Well Derren, you are cordially invited to our study day on 19th December, when we will be presenting some of the project’s findings and guest speakers Jo Littler and Alec Badenoch will be helping us raise a glass to sustainable change that is ‘not just for christmas’.
Guilt free presents?
4 December, 2009
The Guardian has found a perfect ‘ethical’ Christmas present ‘just for her’ – a £188 Aura Que handbag. Great, it’s made from banana yarn, but you know, we’re not sure that the Guardian is really getting the point. Hammocks for ‘eco-enthusiasts’ (who-they?) seems to be a rather mixed message too. Perhaps they should come along to our Study Day…
The Guardian’s tips on a green Christmas
4 December, 2009
Some interesting ideas for everyday living, really, with a few Christmas Tree alternatives thrown in. (Well, alternatives to dead or plastic, rather than to Christmas trees…)
Christmas Presents – is symbolism a ‘deadweight loss’?
3 December, 2009
BBC journalists seem very unhappy with the message of Joel Waldfogel and others that perhaps the gift market is a bit too much – buried in the story is an interesting idea that the revenue from unused gift vouchers be diverted to charity…
Sunday Supplement
21 December, 2008
If you’re the sort of person to read the Sunday papers with your web browser open, you might be catching up with blogs about Christmas this final Sunday before the big day. In which case, have a glance at today’s Advent Calendar entry for an historical perspective on free trade, fair trade, and FairTrade. What relationship do we have with distant others in consuming?
Christmas: It’s Rubbish Really – Advent Calendar 4th December
4 December, 2008
“It is Christmas time again, what joy!
All that glitters is gold
Good cheer is everywhere
(however forced these days the smile)…”
Gone wiki
3 December, 2008
Some of the pages on NotJustforChristmas.org are closed, mostly because we wanted the site to have the trappings of a website – you know, circular architecture, blind links, out-of-date pages…well not quite. However, it’s getting quite hard to keep the site up, particular for the live project, and that’s where you, dear reader, come in. The wiki pages are there for you to share and create a real collective knowledge bank. I put an example up for ‘Having an Ethical Christmas?‘ but no-one seems to want to follow suit. Are we making no ethical decisions this year? Let’s see what you’re all doing, and see how it can influence others to take that first step. Join up and have a go.
