While for many people, 2022 will be a year of change towards a greener lifestyle, there is still a lot of confusion regarding what is really “green” and what is just big brands’ sales strategy to continue. to consume, under the guise of “greenwashing”. For Matthieu Grossetête, a sociologist specializing in social inequalities, the eco-citizenship promoted by the government will not be accessible to everyone, and it is, on the contrary, reserved for certain social groups, the “upper” social classes.
A desire of the upper classes to distinguish themselves by their intellectual baggage
In one article which aims to deepen knowledge of the unequal nature of eco-responsible practices (such as sorting waste, reducing travel, domestic energy consumption, etc.), Matthieu Grossetête explains that the upper classes would be motivated above all by “a concern for distinction”. The motivations are therefore not really “eco-responsible”, but social, which is in contradiction with government and media communication which ignores the reality of different social classes. Ecological practices are presented as accessible to all, while socioeconomic disparities exclude entire sections of the population. The social profiles wishing to set up this type of “eco-citizen” practices are found mainly in urban areas or among the neorural populations, who are moreover an intermediate group having chosen to leave the city for the countryside, as a first desire. to stand out from the less fortunate.
Who are the real environmentalists?
According to the survey by Mathieu Grossetête, those who are really motivated by environmental respect and degrowth are those he calls “penniless in long studies”, people with incomes below their level of education: executives of the public service, teachers, and professionals from the intellectual professions in the broad sense. This type of profile has “an attitude in phase with ecological morality, in the mode of disinterest, highlighting the generational interdependencies and the negative impact of human activities on the planet”. Some are obsessed with the idea of not wasting, and voluntary deprivation is seen as a rewarding form of self-control and not as giving up. Among the popular classes on the contrary, the practices of sobriety exist, but because of the lack of economic means. In the end, this lower consumption is a significant contribution to the ecological contribution. ” We can see that in reality, living with the minimum and consuming little is not reserved only for the middle and intellectual classes who wish to rethink their lifestyles. », highlighted Anne de Rugy, professor of sociology at the University of Paris-Est-Créteil.
Environmental responsibility messages that do not adapt to everyone
These different perceptions of ecology and eco-responsible and eco-citizen practices must be taken into account when communicating messages encouraging greener behavior. It is understandable for a person who has already had the opportunity to travel or to consume in excess, that it is necessary to give up these habits. On the other hand, for those who are already financially constrained to revise their objectives and their aspirations downwards, the message does not get through. Example: reducing his air travel is easier for someone who makes several trips a year, than for someone who rarely or never takes a plane.
Do what i say, not what i do
Finally, consuming more organic and local does not necessarily mean that we will have less environmental footprint, because the higher the income, the more likely we are to consume. On the contrary, the environmental footprint of the disadvantaged classes remains much lower than that of the better-off classes. Larger homes, longer journeys and higher fuel consumption will always make the better-off classes bigger polluters. Matthieu Grossetête thus points out that a real ecological transformation will only require a more egalitarian society.
