Understanding Planned Obsolescence: unsustainability through production, consumption and waste generation
Abstract and Figures
Planned obsolescence is a strategy used to make products prematurely obsolete, leading to their replacement. The result is the over-exploitation of natural resources, increased waste and detrimental social impacts. It is a known practice in consumer electronics and affects other industries as they put profit before consequence.
Understanding Planned Obsolescence looks at the causes, costs and impacts of planned obsolescence. It considers the legal and economic frameworks to overcome the practice and how to mitigate its effects. It also unearths new patterns of production and consumption highlighting more sustainable development models. Including a wide range of case studies from Europe, USA and South America, Understanding Planned Obsolescence is a vital step forward for the future of business and academia alike.
Table of contents:
Section - ONE: Identifying the causes, consequences and history of planned obsolescence
Chapter - 01: Consumer society: A product of the growthist economy
Chapter - 02: Planned obsolescence as an instrument of the growthist economy and its socio-environmental consequences
Section - TWO: How to overcome planned obsolescence: from theory to practice
Chapter - 03: Sustainability in Economics and Law: The greening of sciences in the search for a new paradigm
Chapter - 04: The sustainability paradigm as the foundation to tackle planned obsolescence: New perspectives
Figures - uploaded by Kamila Pope
Author content
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... Efectivamente, la sociedad occidental, liberada de cualquier tipo de cosmología, ha sido la única en el planeta que ha establecido una cesura entre los seres humanos y el mundo natural (Fernández y González, 2018). No obstante, esta es la conclusión de un proceso complejo y discontinuo -al que a continuación nos permitimos acercarnos por un instante en esta introducción para comprender un poco más en profundidad el tema que nos ocupa-cuya génesis se encuentra en la evolución de la civilización moderna y su relación con los hábitats naturales: las sociedaddes primitivas tenían un sistema de valores ecocéntrico o biocéntrico, donde el ser humano se concebía incluido en la naturaleza, dotada ésta además de características místicas y divinas, siendo representada como un organismo vivo (Pope, 2017;Montibeller-Filho, 2008;Ost, 1995). ...
... Sin embargo, la adopción de prácticas agropecuarias transformó simbólicamente el medio físico y posicionaron al ser humano como su maestro y dueño, con capacidad para modificar y reorganizar los hábitats naturales conforme a sus necesidades. Una perspectiva androcéntrica y teológica que imperó en la Edad Media (Pope, 2017;Montibeller-Filho, 2008). ...
... Ciertamente, algunos autores sostienen que el judaísmo, el cristianismo y el islamismo favorecieron la jerarquización y la consecuente concepción de la naturaleza como un recurso al servicio del hombre, pues la relación de éste con la entidad divina se basaba en la exclusividad y el privilegio. De esta forma, se colocaba al ser humano en la cumbre de una organización jerárquica del mundo natural que legitimaba la subyugación de los hábitats naturales (Pope, 2017;Lakoff, 2010;Montibeller-Filho, 2008). ...
Revista Internacional de Comunicación y Desarrollo (RICD)
La digitalización de la sociedad de la información se construye sobre una compleja base tecnológica cuyo funcionamiento demanda una infraestructura informática que ha ido creciendo durante las últimas décadas. La percepción generalizada sobre la tecnología considera que su impacto medioambiental es escaso, subrayándose la importancia del uso de las TIC para continuar actividades
sociales y económicas esenciales en unas coordenadas temporales extraordinarias marcadas por una grave crisis sanitaria a escala global. Sin embargo, estos dispositivos tecnológicos tienen un grave impacto medioambiental con su fabricación – a través de minerales en conflicto extraídos en condiciones infrahumanas y una manufacturación realizada en países empobrecidos sin unas mínimas condiciones de seguridad- , consumo – donde se registra un aumento generalizado de la demanda energética motivada por el aumento del número de dispositivos y también muy especialmente debido a los centros de datos, tildados por algunos investigadores como las fábricas
del siglo XXI - y posteriormente su desecho en forma de basura electrónica, un tipo de vertido quesuele ser exportado a regiones pobres de forma ilegal. En este trabajo se realiza una revisiónbibliográfica interdisciplinar sobre el impacto material de los dispositivos TIC y se discute acontinuación el papel de la educación en materia de comunicación para fomentar una competencia mediática de la ciudadanía que contribuya a la construcción de una ciudadanía democrática y proactiva abogando por un consumo de las pantallas respetuoso con el medioambiente y capaz de favorecer la adquisición de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible.
... Efectivamente, la sociedad occidental, liberada de cualquier tipo de cosmología, ha sido la única en el planeta que ha establecido una cesura entre los seres humanos y el mundo natural (Fernández y González, 2018). No obstante, esta es la conclusión de un proceso complejo y discontinuo -al que a continuación nos permitimos acercarnos por un instante en esta introducción para comprender un poco más en profundidad el tema que nos ocupa-cuya génesis se encuentra en la evolución de la civilización moderna y su relación con los hábitats naturales: las sociedaddes primitivas tenían un sistema de valores ecocéntrico o biocéntrico, donde el ser humano se concebía incluido en la naturaleza, dotada ésta además de características místicas y divinas, siendo representada como un organismo vivo (Pope, 2017;Montibeller-Filho, 2008;Ost, 1995). ...
... Sin embargo, la adopción de prácticas agropecuarias transformó simbólicamente el medio físico y posicionaron al ser humano como su maestro y dueño, con capacidad para modificar y reorganizar los hábitats naturales conforme a sus necesidades. Una perspectiva androcéntrica y teológica que imperó en la Edad Media (Pope, 2017;Montibeller-Filho, 2008). ...
... Ciertamente, algunos autores sostienen que el judaísmo, el cristianismo y el islamismo favorecieron la jerarquización y la consecuente concepción de la naturaleza como un recurso al servicio del hombre, pues la relación de éste con la entidad divina se basaba en la exclusividad y el privilegio. De esta forma, se colocaba al ser humano en la cumbre de una organización jerárquica del mundo natural que legitimaba la subyugación de los hábitats naturales (Pope, 2017;Lakoff, 2010;Montibeller-Filho, 2008). ...
La digitalización de la sociedad de la información se construye sobre una compleja base tecnológica. cuyo funcionamiento demanda una infraestructura informática que ha ido creciendo durante las últimas décadas. La percepción generalizada sobre la tecnología considera que su impacto medioambiental es escaso, subrayándose la importancia del uso de las TIC para continuar actividades sociales y económicas esenciales en unas coordenadas temporales extraordinarias marcadas por una grave crisis sanitaria a escala global. Sin embargo, estos dispositivos tecnológicos tienen un grave impacto medioambiental con su fabricación, consumo y posterior desecho cuyas repercusiones es necesario abordar. En este trabajo se realiza una revisión bibliográfica interdisciplinar sobre el impacto material de los dispositivos TIC y se discute seguidamente el papel de la educación en materia de comunicación para fomentar una competencia mediática de la ciudadanía que abogue por un consumo de las pantallas respetuoso con el medioambiente y capaz de favorecer la adquisición de los Objetivos de Desarrollo Sostenible.
... Businesses can complicate repair services, limit technical assistance, cut off the supply of spare parts or accessories and stop production, thereby causing technological obsolescence (Pineda ,2017). Pope (2017) divided technological obsolescence into two categories: postponed obsolescence and systemic obsolescence. Postponed obsolescence is when businesses extend the lifecycle of existing products and avoid bringing new products to market, even when they can bring more advanced products to market. ...
... In this way, consumers may not have access to a more useful or improved product. Systemic obsolescence, on the other hand, is when businesses render devices obsolete through methods such as software updates or hardware incompatibilities (Pope, 2017). This type of obsolescence makes old versions difficult to use and drives consumers towards new products (Maycroft, 2009). ...
Purpose-This study aims to reveal the effects of planned obsolescence application types perceived by consumers on consumer satisfaction and subsequent consumer behavior.
Design/methodology/approach –Research data were collected by online questionnaire method. The snowball sampling method was used in the research. Smart PLS structural equation modeling program was used to analyze the obtained data. The research model, created based on the literature research, was tested with structural equation modeling analysis.
Findings-Structural equation modeling analysis results show that perceived technological obsolescence has a positive effect on satisfaction, while perceived psychological obsolescence has a negative effect on satisfaction. Perceived quality obsolescence did not have a significant effect on satisfaction. Satisfaction has a positive effect on repurchase intention and positive word of mouth. On the other hand, it was found that satisfaction had a negative effect on regret and negative word of mouth
Discussion-According to the research results, the significant effect of perceived technological obsolescence on satisfaction can be interpreted as consumers expecting technological innovation from smartphone manufacturers. The negative effect of perceived psychological obsolescence on satisfaction can be interpreted as supporting psychological obsolescence through advertising and marketing efforts, creating dissatisfaction in consumers. Therefore, businesses should be careful in advertising and marketing efforts to avoid consumer dissatisfaction. In this sense, it should not be forgotten that satisfaction will negative impact regret and negative word-of-mouth communication
... It is seen that planned obsolescence applications are reacted by consumers in countries such as Brazil and the USA, which is considered as the starting point of the strategy, and companies that shorten the product lifecycle by implementing the strategy are sued by consumers (Pope, 2017). ...
... The main reason for the existence of planned obsolescence strategies is to establish a balance in the system as a tool that provides high consumption rate in response to increased production as a result of technological developments. In line with this basic purpose, the causes of planned obsolescence are examined under three headings: anthropological, sociological and economic (Pope, 2017). These three topics can be summarized as follows: from the point of view of humanity and its relationship with the environment, culturally placing human in the center of nature, giving a happy meaning to consumption activities with socially created false needs, and an economic system in which growth is adopted (Taffel, 2023). ...
The study was designed to investigate the relationship between green marketing, which has recently come to the fore, and the negative effects of shortening product life as a result of the product obsolescence strategy used in marketing. The exploratory research design was adopted in the study. While obtaining the data, primary and secondary sources considered to be useful and relevant for the study were used. Planned obsolescence can lead to heightened resource consumption, waste generation, and negative ecological impacts. It can contradict the principles of sustainable production and consumption, which emphasize durability, longevity, repairability, and responsible end-of-life management. In order to make the negative aspects of product obsolescence more evident, the importance of the subject was emphasized by giving place to case studies from different sectors and products at the end of the study. As a result of the literature review and observations made for the study, it was deduced that the objective and subjective information of today's consumers is higher than before therefore they attach more importance to green marketing issues and they react more to strategies such as product obsolescence. All literature studies and observations were evaluated at the end of the study and suggestions were made for both consumers and producers.
... After the Peace of Westphalia, the sovereignty of ownership and the state was also extended to international law, organising the international legal order in a system of independent nation-states, mostly seeking economic growth (Capra and Mattei 2015). Central texts of international environmental agreements and treaties show States' broad commitment to the economic model of infinite growth and to faith in the market and technological innovation (Pope 2017;Jackson 2011;Garver 2019). Such narratives are supported and reinforced by the private property rights and state sovereignty of mechanistic law (Garver 2019;Burdon 2015). ...
... For instance, the notion of sustainable development, a guiding principle of international environmental law, has not created relevant transformations to prevent planetary destruction and socio-ecological injustices in our time. On the contrary, this environmental legal principle created a false feeling of change, legitimising the continuity of the current development model and economic practices (Pope 2017(Pope , 2020Sachs 2010;Bosselmann 2017;Kotzé and Kim 2021). ...
Since modernity, the mechanistic paradigm has determined how Western and Westernised societies live, produce
knowledge, and regulate their interactions and institutions, profoundly influencing law and undermining
ecological integrity. This paradigm’s key features induce the adoption of a reductionist notion of justice by international
law, here called mechanistic justice. Following ecological approaches to law, earth system law offers
innovative strategies to overcome mechanistic law. To be consistent with its objectives, this legal scholarship
must adopt an alternative notion of justice. In this paper, we explore the synergies between earth system law and
socio-ecological justice, analysing if the latter fits the purposes of earth system law. To this end, we present the
three initial axes of socio-ecological justice, assessing its potential as a tool to support the shift to earth system
law. Results show that socio-ecological justice is aligned with earth system law and could be adopted as a guiding
legal principle.
... Undue shortening of product lifetime increases waste and contributes to serious environmental threats in many advanced and developing economies (World Bank, 2018). Organizations, through planned obsolescence (Pope, 2017;Rivera and Lallmahomed, 2015), and consumers, through psychological obsolescence and subsequent throwaway behaviors (Packard, 1968), are blamed for shortening of the PL. Nevertheless, organizations and consumers do also engage, separately or together, in innovative PLE efforts through various business models (BM) (The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2015;Urbinati et al., 2017;Lüdeke-Freund et al., 2018). ...
... Fourth, arguably, one of the most interesting findings is that, despite the numerous calls made in the literature for additional integration of improved product design to extend product lifetimes (e.g., Bakker et al., 2014aBakker et al., , 2014bDen Hollander et al., 2017), improvement of the product design is not a privileged PLE orientation. This lack of focus on long-life design could support the planned obsolescence theory (Cooper, 2004;Pope, 2017;Rivera and Lallmahomed, 2015). Indeed, apart from some niche organizations characterized by particular positionings such as upper-scale, luxury or superior design, most companies favor product nurture instead of product nature strategies. ...
... Undue shortening of product lifetime increases waste and contributes to serious environmental threats in many advanced and developing economies (World Bank, 2018). Organizations, through planned obsolescence (Pope, 2017;Rivera and Lallmahomed, 2015), and consumers, through psychological obsolescence and subsequent throwaway behaviors (Packard, 1968), are blamed for shortening of the PL. Nevertheless, organizations and consumers do also engage, separately or together, in innovative PLE efforts through various business models (BM) (The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2015;Urbinati et al., 2017;Lüdeke-Freund et al., 2018). ...
... Fourth, arguably, one of the most interesting findings is that, despite the numerous calls made in the literature for additional integration of improved product design to extend product lifetimes (e.g., Bakker et al., 2014aBakker et al., , 2014bDen Hollander et al., 2017), improvement of the product design is not a privileged PLE orientation. This lack of focus on long-life design could support the planned obsolescence theory (Cooper, 2004;Pope, 2017;Rivera and Lallmahomed, 2015). Indeed, apart from some niche organizations characterized by particular positionings such as upper-scale, luxury or superior design, most companies favor product nurture instead of product nature strategies. ...
The growing field of the collaborative economy is expanding geometrically and little retrospective work on this evolution has been made so far. A number of literature reviews have been focusing on specific business models of the collaborative economy deemed sustainable such as car-sharing, sharing, peer-to-peer business models, crowdsourcing, access-based consumption, community, or specific platforms (e.g. Uber, Airbnb), and some others with broader areas of focus. This paper presents a thorough bibliometric and network analysis combining both Scopus and Web of Science databases that provides fresh new insights into the evolution of the collaborative economy research field and its increasing coverage of sustainability-related topics. A first step identifies 729 published studies and uses bibliometrics to provide a description of the research field. A second stage involves networks analysis to identify influential authors, impactful publications, as well as established and emergent research clusters. A more thorough content analysis identifies key research topics, the attention granted to sustainability, interrelations, and collaboration patterns in the field. Data mapping techniques graphically depict the evolution of publications over time and identify areas of current research interests and potential directions for future research, namely in sustainability.
... Traditional economics has been considered one of the causes of the environmental crisis, especially since it does not see nature as part of the production process. For this reason, new economic theories aiming at the internalization of environmental concerns were developed, such as the Environmental Neoclassical Economics and Ecological Economics (Pope, 2017). ...
... It aims at promoting nature monetization to manage the use of renewable and nonrenewable resources. This theory inserts nature into the market as a way to harmonize the dilemma between the overexploitation of natural resources and the need to improve human life by maintaining the production process (Pope, 2017). ...
Modern agriculture has generated complex environmental damages. Sustainable food production models must be encouraged. Agroecology is presented as a more sustainable option, since it brings a holistic view of these complex and interdependent elements: food production and environmental protection. However, this model is challenging to apply, which is intensified by the limitations imposed by environmental command and control instruments. This paper aims to analyze how the economic instrument of Payment for Environmental Services (PES) can be enhanced in order to promote the reproduction of agroecology in Brazil. PES and the main environmental economic theories behind this instrument were briefly analyzed. From the analyses of selected case studies, the core structural and essential issues revolving failures of the current Brazilian PES programs have been identified. The hypothesis states that PES should migrate from the Environmental Neoclassical Economics’ logic and be grounded on the principles of Ecological Economics. Based in our analysis, PES should be able to promote agroecology in Brazil reading 3 key drivers: being mainly non-monetary, public and applying a systemic approach. Following this strategy would mean overcoming the market logic, whilst allowing public participation.
... Dergelijk producentengedrag past naadloos in een lineaire economie van make, use, dispose, waarin meer productie en meer consumptie moeten leiden tot economische groei. [22] Het gedrag past volstrekt niet in de zo gewenste circulaire economie, waarin we voorzichtig omgaan met grondstoffen en producten zo lang mogelijk gebruiken, repareren en recyclen. [23] In het bijzonder bij elektronica en producten met een softwarecomponent (smart devices) zijn deze (ver)korte levensduren een probleem. ...
Op 12 april 2024 vond de voorjaarsvergadering van de Vereniging voor Burgerlijk Recht plaats. Traditiegetrouw kregen jonge onderzoekers de kans om hun werk te presenteren en zo het bastion van het burgerlijk recht te bestormen. Ook werd de VBR-publicatieprijs uitgereikt. Dit jaar was het thema ‘Bevordering van duurzaamheid via het geldende privaatrecht?’ Sprekers waren Josje de Vogel (EUR), Tim van Zuijlen (RUG), Jonas Voorter (TiU en UHasselt) en Daan van Maurik (UU). Deze bijdrage vormt een verslag van hun presentaties en de prijsuitreiking.
NTBR 2024/22 (nr. 7).
... This desire for aspirational change together with planned obsolescence led to demand driven economic growth and were significant factors in aiding the consumption led recovery of The Great Depression (Kowalik, 2017;Pope, 2017;Wood, 2008). ...
... Based on a comprehensive literature review, this study determined that product obsolescence is one of the variables that significantly influence the attainment of PSS sustainability and has the potential to generate a rebound effect. The literature research indicates that a planned obsolescence strategy makes products prematurely obsolete [30]. The result is increased product consumption, increasing the company's profit. ...
... The environmental impact of this production and disposal is exacerbated by the planned obsolescence of these devices. Planned obsolescence refers to the marketing strategy of producing disposable devices that quickly become outdated, thus requiring consumers to replace them regularly (Kitila & Woldemikael, 2019;Pope, 2017;Satyro et al., 2018;Slade, 2006;Uricchio, 2015). The average cell phone lifespan, for example, is about 2 years, meaning that customers use and dispose of an estimated 30 cell phones over their lives (World Health Organization, 2021). ...
Although many academic disciplines are now experiencing a process of “greening” as scholars seek to cultivate an ecocritical awareness within disciplinary scholarship, Neil Selwyn notes that such ecocritical concerns rarely feature in the field of educational technology. In this paper, I bring Selwyn's call for ecocritical awareness in the field of educational technology into conversation with emerging scholarly discussions in the fields of ecojustice ethics, ecojustice education, and information and communications technology sustainability. In so doing, I expand the existing conversation about the environmental impact of educational technology consumption to argue that the process of cultivating an ecocritical awareness in the field of educational technology requires refining the discipline's focus to include the full lifespan of educational technology devices and the global inequities that feature during the production and disposal of these devices.
Practitioner Notes
What is already known about this topic Despite substantive scholarship recognizing the environmental impact of the globalized digital technology supply chain, the field of educational technology has minimally considered the ecojustice implications of the material nature of educational technology devices when examining the environmental impact of these devices.
What this paper adds In this paper, I argue that the reason why the field of educational technology has overlooked the environmental impact of device production and disposal is because of its almost exclusive focus on device use. I argue that cultivating an ecocritical awareness in the field of educational technology requires the discipline to expand its focus beyond device use in two ways: (a) to include device production and disposal and (b) to consider the global injustices that occur in these parts of the digital technology life cycle. As such, I build upon Selwyn and others to argue for the cultivation of ecojustice concerns in emerging conversations about ethics in the field of educational technology.
Implications for practice and/or policy The process of cultivating ecocritical awareness within the field of educational technology requires expanding the scope and focus of the discipline beyond device use to include device production and disposal. The planned obsolescence behind these devices maximizes the environmental harm at these stages and the global injustices associated with them. Educators and educational leaders seeking to employ educational technology in ethical and environmentally sustainable ways must consider these implications from the global digital technology supply chain.
... Albeit crucial in terms of human needs satisfaction, the manufacturing sector exemplifies capitalist logic and its negative ecological and social impacts. Operating under the imperative of growth and profit maximisation, some manufacturing companies employ practices such as planned obsolescence that contribute to natural resource depletion, ecosystem disruption and the overproduction of waste (Guiltinan, 2009;Pope, 2017). Non-technological production factors (i.e. ...
This paper critically examines how capitalist, alternative capitalist and non-capitalist ontologies and relations are negotiated in a hybrid makerspace that hosts both for-profit and non-profit entities and integrates community and commercial aspects. Despite a growing body of knowledge on the distinct characteristics of non-commercial makerspaces, few scholars have analysed them in relation to capitalism. This applies even more to commercial or hybrid makerspaces that remain so far under-researched in diverse economies literature. These spaces, however, can be of increasing interest given what we know about makerspaces as hubs of budding entrepreneurship and that some makers avidly pursue entrepreneurial objectives while others are reluctant to even consider commercialising their projects. In this paper, I employ an extended framework of diverse economies that understands capitalism as not only a form of socioeconomic organisation but also a cultural and political architecture. Followed by an overview of existing literature that sheds light on beyond-capitalist dimensions of makerspaces, I explore a case study of the Keilewerf, a hybrid makerspace situated in Makers District in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, disentangling how capitalist, alternative capitalist and non-capitalist ontol-ogies of sustainability-oriented makers co-exist and conflict with economic relations, knowledge production and relations with the state.
... esigned to be used until the end of its lifecycle ( Lacy, Long, & Spindler, 2020). Sometimes, products are even designed to become obsolete, leading to their premature replacement. This practice is known as " planned obsolescence" and is more commonly recurrent in consumer electronics, although it affects other industries as well ( Guiltinan, 2009;K. Pope, 2017). This means that consumers are required to continuously spend money purchasing new products to replace the old, worn-out ones, and/ or obtaining upgrades that could possibly be avoided had the product been designed differently. This cycle promulgates short product lifespan and suboptimal material use, ultimately resulting in the disposa ...
The aim of this chapter is to explore how technology and policies can be applied to help smart cities achieve sustainability and resilience in accordance with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities. The chapter outlines how pandemics prompt the need for sustainability, while accounting for the SDGs and more notably SDG 11. The chapter focusses on three targets of SDG 11, namely: (1) protecting the world’s cultural and natural heritage; (2) reducing the adverse effects of natural disasters; and (3) reducing the environmental impacts of the cities. The chapter concludes by presenting some suggestions of how technology and strategies can assist in securing these targets and build sustainable and resilient cities.
... esigned to be used until the end of its lifecycle ( Lacy, Long, & Spindler, 2020). Sometimes, products are even designed to become obsolete, leading to their premature replacement. This practice is known as " planned obsolescence" and is more commonly recurrent in consumer electronics, although it affects other industries as well ( Guiltinan, 2009;K. Pope, 2017). This means that consumers are required to continuously spend money purchasing new products to replace the old, worn-out ones, and/ or obtaining upgrades that could possibly be avoided had the product been designed differently. This cycle promulgates short product lifespan and suboptimal material use, ultimately resulting in the disposa ...
Are pandemics the end of cities? Or, do they present an opportunity for us to reshape cities in ways making us even more innovative, successful and sustainable? Pandemics such as COVID-19 (and comparable disruptions) have caused intense debates over the future of cities.
Through a series of investigative studies, Designing Smart and Resilient Cities for a Post-Pandemic World: Metropandemic Revolution seeks to critically discuss and compare different cases, innovations and approaches as to how cities can utilise nascent and future digital technology and/or new strategies in order to build stronger resilience to better tackle comparable large-scale pandemics and/or disruptions in the future.
The authors identify ten separate societal areas where future digital technology can impact resilience. These are discussed in individual chapters. Each chapter concludes with a set of proposed "action points" based on the conclusions of each respective study. These serve as solid policy recommendations of what courses of action to take, to help increase the resilience in smart cities for each designated area. Securing resilience and cohesion between each area will bring about the metropandemic revolution.
This book features a foreword by Nobel laureate Peter C. Doherty and an afterword by Professor of Urban Technologies, Carlo Ratti. It provides fresh and unique insights on smart cities and futures studies in a pandemic context, offers profound reflections on contemporary societal functions and the needs to build resilience and combines lessons learned from historical pandemics with possibilities offered by future technology.
... Obsolescence of Quality is what came to be known as Planned Obsolescence, where intentional, designed deterioration of the product's quality and functionality is calculated to occur, soon after the warranty period ends. Promotion or marketing of small insignificant changes to the design could also come under the umbrella term of Planned Obsolescence [2,28,114]. Targeted marketing to the general population and educating them that 'newest is best' could be defined as obsolescence of desirability. ...
The global society faces an existential threat if it fails to meet current and future material needs of its populations, while staying within the carrying capacity of our planet. An approach that has been put forwards to address this complex challenge is to aim to close our society's material flows through introduction of a Circular Economy (CE). This paper provides an extensive literature review to understand the evolution of material circularity concepts and strategies, and their potential for increasing material efficiency and reduce environmental impacts towards meeting the material needs of our societies in an environmentally sustainable manner. Based on the review it can be concluded that CE may have a strong potential to help address the challenge. However, this requires broadening the focus of CE from technical and economical to political and socio-cultural dimensions, adopting a whole-systems approach, aiming to redesign economic and social relations to not just reduce the impact humanity has on the environment but actually achieve a balance in human-nature relations with a planetary boundary thinking. Pursuing purely technical and economic avenues to implement CE for increasing material circulation and sustainable growth on the foundation of our current linear economic system, will not achieve its full potential. It will not be sustainable but continue to produce the challenges that we currently have.
... Scholars for instance discussed the legal implications of settling to pay class action settlements in coupons valid only for purchasing products from the company that plaintiffs sued in the first place (Connolly, 2016;Gallagher, 2015). Other studies centre around the question of which legal responses-competition law, consumer protection law, environmental law or criminal law-are the most adequate to regulate planned obsolescence (La Rosa, 2020;Maitre-Ekern & Dalhammar, 2016;Malinauskaite & Erdem, 2021), or place planned obsolescence within the political and economic historical climate in which it developed (Pope, 2017). ...
Planned obsolescence is the practice of deliberately designing products to limit their life span to encourage replacement. It is a common business strategy for consumer goods, with far-reaching ecological and social consequences. Here, we examine the definition, causes and consequences of planned obsolescence by using insights from corporate crime literature, integrated with environmental philosophy, management sciences, technology studies and law. Focusing on cases of planned obsolescence in consumer electronics, we show that the concept and procedure carries conceptual ambiguity and moral ambivalence, bearing diffuse harms, benefitting short-term corporate profit but undermining consumer confidence, and posing a major barrier to environmental sustainability. We discuss the system lock-ins driving companies to engage in planned obsolescence, and reframe the practice as a form of corporate environmental crime.
... Planned obsolescence refers to "the production of goods with uneconomically short useful lives so that consumers will have to make repeat purchases" (La Rosa, 2020, p. 221). This perspective has been supported (Maycroft, 2009;Cooper, 2016;Rivera and Lallmohamed, 2015;Pope, 2017) and attenuated (Wieser, 2017;Oguchi and Diago, 2017;Gnanapragasam et al., 2017) in past research. Obsolescence could also be a net result of lowering costs and remaining competitive. ...
Resource conservation through extended product lifetimes has emerged as a rising mantra in various domains related to the circular economy. Meanwhile, it appears that product lifetime extension (PLE) is increasingly achievable through sophisticated technological production systems encapsulated in the concept of industry 4.0. To help managers and researchers understand the potential of PLE offered by crucial Industry 4.0 technologies, this study provides a systematic literature review synthesizing conceptual and empirical research demonstrating the PLE-Industry 4.0 nexus. Using the Digital Twin as a Service (DTaaS) as an architecture reference model for Industry 4.0, we identify four key constitutive technologies of Industry 4.0 (i.e., Additive Manufacturing, Artificial Intelligence, Internet-of-Things, and Big Data) that may contribute to improved product design, access, maintenance, redistribution, and recovery. The findings provide meaningful strategies that are actionable by managers to extend product lifetimes.
... Importantly, this consideration should also extend to the end of the product life cycle, when processes and phases of obsolescence and waste are introduced. While planned obsolescence is a design practice detrimental to the ethics of deep time, it is nevertheless a significant part of how consumer society pushes a continual upgrading, and at the same time a continuous thrashing of technology which is still functional (Pope, 2017). When technologies are discarded at an increasing rate, they contribute to an increasing electronic waste pollution problem (Parikka, 2012). ...
Several scholars within the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) have identified time and materiality as fundamental analytical facets of relevance to both the use and design of computer technologies (Berzowska et al., 2019; Odom et al., 2018). However, with some exceptions, there has been a (very reasonable) tendency to focus on relatively short-term interactions, delimited to situations of use or specific devices (although acknowledging, for example, issues of sustainability and temporal relationships and negotiations that take place across individuals, groups, and institutions).
As a contrasting example of particularly long-term interactions, humanistic research fields, such as media archeology, critical posthumanism, and the environmental humanities, have recently directed attention to the notion of deep time as a long-term perspective providing new analytical and ethical traction on both temporalities and materialities of media technologies (Fredengren, 2016; Mattern, 2015; Parikka, 2017; Taffel, 2016). Put simply, deep time refers to temporalities that include the fundamentally perdurable geological processes of the Earth – effectively considering the pace, rhythm, causalities, and materialities by which durable ecological changes occur. While such a perspective may at first seem difficult to grasp and remote to HCI and design, we take stock in environmental anthropologist Richard D.G. Irvine’s argument that “deep time is not an abstract concept, but part of the phenomenal world impacting on people at the level of experience” (Irvine, 2014, p. 157). Paraphrasing Irvine, we thus suggest that one challenge for HCI and design is to find new ways of exploring the interactions between humans, technologies and geological temporalities. As far as the authors of this paper can tell, the notion of deep time has not been specifically theorized in the realm of HCI and design. While this in itself does not mean that there are no academic overlaps already, it also calls for an exploration of theoretical and practical intersections and synergies between deep time and related areas within HCI. As such, the main contribution of this paper is an initial outline of how HCI can take aspects of, what we may call ‘deep time design thinking’, into consideration. Having said that the suggestions and implications in this paper come from approaching deep time and related areas in HCI analytically. Our theoretical analysis of overlapping concepts and the proposed implications are not meant to be read as decisive evidence, but rather as analytical and practical tools that highlight how materiality (and thereby design) can be understood, and reflected upon, in terms of ‘deep’ temporalities. We consequently regard this paper as a first attempt at analyzing and articulating the potential of deep time design thinking in HCI.
... A third set of strategies seek to induce 'obsolescence of desirability', which relates to products that are displaced because they are perceived as old-fashioned or out of style. In this context, it is argued that the former focus on functionality and durability has given way to more sophisticated strategies of moving goods into the transient, inherently unstable sphere of fashion and symbolic meaning (Baudrillard, 1998;Lipovetsky, 1994; see also Maycroft, 2009;Pope, 2017). For Baudrillard, the disposability of things, achieved through their fragile state as symbolic goods, is critical for sustaining the prevailing economic order: ...
It's a PhD thesis - but it can be read and even cited ;)
Highlights:
- an in-depth analysis of how markets can be transformed to support higher levels of product endurance
- a holistic analysis of how changes in product endurance come about
- a valuation perspective on market innovation processes
- a detailed biography of the mobile phone in the UK
Abstract:
The poor ability of many consumer durables to last has given rise to serious environmental concerns. How this ability can be improved at the scale of an entire market, however, remains a puzzle. In an exploratory effort to build a first evidence base, this thesis examines a little noticed transformation of a highly conspicuous good: how mobile
phones, once considered ‘throwaway objects’ with an average life expectancy of 12 months, morphed into ‘premium platforms’ used for about twice as long.
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The case challenges long-standing perspectives according to which the ability of consumer durables to withstand obsolescence either inevitably declines over time or follows an uncontrollable, cyclical development. To make sense of the aforementioned development, I draw on scholarship of market innovation, performativity, and valuation.
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The analysis of the case offers, first, much-needed insights on the concrete market settings that can bring about deteriorating or improving levels of product endurance. Building on analogies with the issues of disability and addiction, I discuss the roles that three types of market devices played in shaping the dynamics of mobile phone endurance throughout the years: prosthetic devices, habilitation devices, and addiction devices.
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Secondly, the analysis directs attention to the significance of struggles over the valuation of goods for the dynamics of product endurance. Such struggles can be located at the heart of the troublesome emergence of the premium platform market as well as its uncertain future. The findings from this case are discussed in relation to wider debates on the implications of the politics of value for the temporal dynamics of market innovation. I conclude that for studies of product endurance there is much to be gained from the analysis of historical market dynamics.
... Bu tan mlamalar n yan s ra Pope (2017), Schewe ve Smith (1983)'in planl eskitme türü olarak ele ald klar "ertel " ve "sistem eskimesi" stratejilerinin teknolojik eskime ba l alt nda ele alman n içerik olarak daha uygun oldu unu ifade etmi tir. Bu anlamda " ", bir i letmenin teknolojik bir yenilik bulmu olmas na kar n bu yenili i pazara sunmay ertelemesi anlam na gelmektedir. ...
Son yıllarda Döngüsel Ekonomi hakkında akademik ve profesyonel alanda sayısı
giderek artan yayın hazırlandığı görülmektedir. Artan sayılara rağmen, döngüsel ekonominin tam olarak ne hakkında olduğunu anlamak bazen zor olmaktadır. Yeni bir ekonomik model mi? Sürdürülebilirlikle mi ilgili? Ana fikri hammaddelerin daha verimli kullanılması mı? Atık yönetimi ile ilişkisi ne? Bunlar gibi birçok soru akla gelebilmektedir. Bu kitap, Döngüsel Ekonomi hakkındaki düşünceyi çevreleyen olayların durumuna genel bir bakış sunmaktadır.
Döngüsel ekonominin onlarsız var olamayacağı ileri sürülen iki kavram olan Atık Yönetimi ve Sıfır Atık Yaklaşımı, kitapta ele alınan diğer ana başlıklar olmuştur. Bununla birlikte günümüzde elektronik cihazların hayatımızda kapladığı yer dikkate alınarak, atık türlerinden Elektrikli ve Elektronik Atık (E-Atık) ve e-atık oluşumunun temel nedenlerinden biri kabul edilen Planlı Eskitme Stratejileri incelenmiştir. Bu anlamda kasıtlı veya dolaylı olarak ürünlerin modasını geçirme anlamına gelen planlı eskitme stratejilerinin e-atık oluşumuna etki derecesi ileri istatistiki yöntemler ile analiz edilmiş ve uygulama bölümü olarak kitapta yer almıştır.
... This capitalist logic incentives neither the production, nor the development, but rather the augmentation of the accumulation of capital. Private property as a barrier to the development manifests it-self not only in the disintegration of the planet or in inequality but also more fundamentally in the very incentives of production, which under imperialistic, financial capitalism tend to cease under monopolistic capitalism (see Lenin, 1971), for instance, the long practices of planned obsolescence, which also reveal the power and coercion that the capital imposes on society while proclaiming freedom, competition and development (see Pope, 2017). ...
In order to understand the essence of digital and virtual world relations and their outcomes, as they gain more social relevance in contemporary society, this paper investigates the category of intellectual property not from the prism of the law but rather on philosophical terms. Such philosophical analysis is based on immanent critique. The starting point is the axiomatic notion of modern capitalism, where the categories of property and intellectual property are regarded as two separated entities. Hegel’s philosophy of law enables an important reflection on these two categories since, already in its method, it apprehends the contradictions of bourgeoisie society. Accordingly, contrasting reality and Hegel’s understanding, a conflict arises within the notion of intellectual property and its praxis under the rule of law. The state appears as a necessity to guarantee and mediate an immanent conflict that arises from the privatization of intellectual property. As an insoluble problem that emerges within such praxis, the present analysis offers an alternative to the paradigm of a split between property and intellectual property. Based on Lukács’ non-essentialist-ontology of the social-being, intellectual property is explained through the prisms of labour and cultural development of human thought.
... L'accroissement de la mise aux rebuts des produits pose de sérieuses menaces pour l'environnement dans plusieurs régions du monde (Banque Mondiale, 2018). Cette augmentation est souvent provoquée par des organisations qui raccourcissent la durée de vie d'un produit (Cooper, 2004, Maycroft, 2009) en planifiant leur obsolescence (Pope, 2017, Rivera et Lallmahomed, 2015 et par l'effet de la société du « jetable » (Packard, 1968). Dans le cadre de ce texte, la durée de vie des produits (DVP) est définie par leur durée de vie utile. ...
... Nein danke!« oder die französische Initiative »Halte à l'Obsolescence Programmée«. Auch neuere Publikationen schließen sich der kritischen Lesart von geplanter Obsoleszenz an (Guiltinan 2009;Schridde/Kreiß 2013;Pope 2017). ...
Immer wieder liest man, dass Hersteller ihre Produkte bewusst so konstruieren, dass sie vorzeitig kaputtgehen. Die Leidtragenden: die Kunden. Viele Hersteller aber wollen den Verschleiß hinauszögern. Wie gehen sie vor, um Obsoleszenz zu planen? Der Band präsentiert erstmals die Sicht und die Erfahrungen derer, die Produkte entwickeln, konstruieren und fertigen. Die Beiträge beschäftigen sich mit Reparierbarkeit als Geschäftsmodell, Product Lifecycle Management, Obsoleszenz als Managementthema, der Rolle staatlicher Einflussnahme und den gesellschaftlichen Treibern der Kurzlebigkeit von Konsumartikeln.
... The points of view on these aspects are multiple and different. For those who wish to know more about this effects, Kamila Pope's book [101] is a good and current reference. What we want to point out here is the direct relationship of this practice and the current throwaway culture with the generation of e-waste. ...
Every dazzling announcement of a new smart phone or trendy digital device is the prelude to more tons of electronic waste (e-waste) being produced. This e-waste, or electronic scrap, is often improperly added to common garbage, rather than being separated into suitable containers that facilitate the recovery of toxic materials and valuable metals. We are beginning to become aware of the problems that e-waste can generate to our health and the environment. However, most of us are still not motivated enough to take an active part in reversing the situation. The aim of this article is to contribute to increase this motivation by pointing out the significant problem that e-waste represents and its social and environmental implications. We have chosen this forum in which multidisciplinary researchers in ICT from all countries access on regularly to explain the serious problems we are exposed to when we do not make a responsible and correct use of technology. In this paper, we also survey the composition of contemporary electronic devices and the possibilities and difficulties of recycling the elements they contain. As researchers, our contributions in science enable us to find solutions to current problems and to design more and more powerful intelligent devices. But responsible researchers must be aware of the negative effects that this industry causes us and, consequently, assume their commitment with more sustainable designs and developments. Therefore, the knowledge of e-waste issues is crucial also in the scientific world. Researchers should consider this problem and contribute to minimize it or find new solutions to manage it. These must be the additional challenges in our projects.
... In general, Packard (1960) classifies product obsolescence into three types, quality obsolescence (material) which refers to low material qualities used; functional obsolescence, the implication of technological improvement that enhance products' functions diversity and resources efficiency; and desirability-driven obsolescence or psychological obsolescence, occurs because of consumers' subjective assessment [5,6,7]. In his subsequent studies, Cooper (2004) widens the classification by adding a new obsolescence type, which is the economic obsolescence as a form of products' performance comparison or the price ratio with their alternative products. ...
Obsolescence leads to a shorter lifecycle of electronic products which results in generating more electronic waste (e-waste) and excessive use of natural resources to produce goods. It is basically a wearing out of technical or esthetical appliances. Unfortunately, there are only a few studies and data focused on the issue, especially in developing counties. The objective of this study is to show how the lifespan of cellular phone change overtime and to provide data about consumer behavior in the Indonesia’s cellular phone market. A total of 1.030 respondents were recruited from online survey in 13 most populous cities of Indonesia for consumer analysis. Panel regression Common Effect Model (CEM) and Chi-squared independent test were applied as the analytical tools. The result shows that both consumer contribute to the reduction of cellular phone lifecycle. It is confirmed that the lifespan of cellular phone is getting shorter by the year and by the ownership order. In addition, subjective considerations of discarding product significantly reduce cellular phone’s lifespan. Obsolescence is not only an issue that should be addressed to the manufacturers, but also as a responsibility for the consumers.
... Obsolescence of function refers to the tangible, technological, and objectively measurable improvements in the features of new products vis-à-vis their predecessors. Obsolescence of quality, in turn, refers to what is now called planned obsolescence, i.e., the deliberate design of product components to wear out soon after a minimum warranty ends, or promoting cosmetic, incremental changes to products as significant improvements that warrant buying the newer version (Cooper 2010;Mayer 1959;Pope 2017). Finally, obsolescence of desirability refers to those advertising practices that aim at systematically educating consumers over generations to appreciate the newest as the best, leading to a universal acceptance of neophilia (addiction to newness). ...
Whilst public criticisms of an increasingly wasteful consumer society emerged already in late nineteenth Century, the specific concept of a “Throwaway Society” was first used in the early 1960s. This short communication sketches the passionate debate around planned obsolescence and oversaturated consumers and offers a short historical glimpse at a persistent, existential problem that still awaits effective solutions.
... different bias on the intention of planning and premature obsolescence. These include the contributions of Packard (Packard 1964), Bulow (Bulow 1986), Kreiß (Kreiß 2015), Pope (Pope 2017) and the predominant part of the public media (cf. Prakash et al. 2016:21). ...
There is a controversial discussion on the phenomenon of “planned obsolescence”. However, shrinking product lifetimes and product qualities do not proof for deliberate decisions toward premature obsolescence by actors involved in the product development. Recent product faults like burning batteries in Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 foster the suspicion that manufacturers are also struggling with unintended product obsolescence. Hence, we should ask for the limits of the planning of product lifetimes and their resulting intended and unintended obsolescences. To determine the intentions behind product features it is necessary to get in direct contact with the actors of the product development processes. The research project LOiPE could establish contacts in strict confidence to development departments of 23 major German companies. The objectives of the survey were to investigate the development process from the point of view of the actors in the product development process. More specifically, to examine their development paradigms and experience with “planned obsolescence”. All interviewees assured a predominant focus on lifespan when they had to balance against cost. The allegation of a deliberately intended, premature obsolescence was vehemently rejected by all our interviewees. The limitations through obsolescence are mainly caused by the basis conditions of developing and producing: rising complexity, increasing speed of innovation cycles and high cost pressure. These constraints leave little space to the single actors in the development process and to companies at all. In this sense obsolescence is systemic. Thus, an approach towards more sustainable production and consumption might be provided by the integration of different strategies.
... Too frequent contemporary thinking (e.g. Gorz 1999;Lodziak 2002;Maycroft 2009;Pope 2017;Slade 2007). The roots of this theory can be found in Marx's analysis of the driving forces of capitalism, in particular the observed necessity to speed up the circulation of capital. ...
Predicted by popular theories of acceleration, such as the theory of planned obsolescence and the rise of a throwaway society, the ever-faster replacement of durable goods is widely assumed in the literature. This paper confronts this assumption with long-term empirical evidence from three distinct cases – wheat seeds, automobiles, and mobile phones. The cases show that there is no dominant logic or force underlying historical changes in product durability, lifespans, and replacement cycles. Neither are such changes entirely unpredictable: There are clear patterns where these phenomena go up or down for sustained periods of time. The observed patterns in replacement cycles call for an empirically grounded theory that can explain both periods of acceleration and deceleration and connect durable goods replacement decision-making with developments at the aggregate level.
Under contemporary global capitalism, workers and their representatives do not always want to own or run a company. They more frequently express a desire to have an influential voice in their working lives. Greater workers’ control involves increased power at different levels, from greater autonomy over assigned tasks to information, consultation, participation, collective representation in the workplace and true channels for effective co-decision and negotiation, including the possibility to veto operational, strategic or financial, company decisions that sooner or later will affect jobs and working conditions. However, workers can control little, if anything, if they face management individually. To balance their unequal position at work, they must organise and have formalised channels to represent and voice their collective interests vis-à-vis management. Could worker involvement and participation in firms’ governance, as a stand-alone measure, induce radical and meaningful change and progressive reforms in the current organisation of economic activity without transforming ownership structures? What are the economic, legal and cultural obstacles standing in the way of institutionalising worker participation, and
how could these be overcome? The paper addresses these questions, starting with a brief conceptual overview of worker participation. It then examines the transformative potential of workers’ indirect participation in capitalist firms, presents some main obstacles encountered, and concludes with some policy recommendations.
This Whitepaper is the outcome of a joint conference on ‘Transforming Ownership in Times of Overlapping Crisis’, held in Amsterdam on October 5-6, 2023. Instead of focusing on short-term profits, European
businesses can be diverse and sustainable in their ownership
design, and thereby competitive in the long run.
This requires diversifying the ownership forms of European
businesses compared to the current monoculture
of mainstream companies. The solutions are for a large
part already there, but they remain still too marginal. In
order to facilitate and promote these diverse, sustainable
ownership forms, this whitepaper proposes several industrial
policy instruments in order to level the playing field
and promote sustainability by design. The various contributions
in this whitepaper demonstrate the problems
with the mainstream ownership forms and the obstacles
faced by people, who want to use sustainable ownership
forms. Moreover, many of the contributions also articulate
concrete ways for using the industrial policy tools to
overcome these obstacles. We provide an overview of the
content of these contributions at the beginning of each
of the four parts.
El fenómeno de la obsolescencia programada, nacida en el contexto de la crisis económica de la Gran Depresión de la década de 1920, ha sido objeto de análisis en la doctrina, pero carece de una regulación unificada que aborde de manera integral sus implicaciones. Su impacto adverso se percibe desde las perspectivas del derecho del consumidor, derecho de la competencia y derecho al medio ambiente, dado que contribuye a la generación de residuos de difícil gestión. Las reformas actuales y futuras (recientemente, el Reglamento (UE) 2023/1542 sobre pilas y baterías) probablemente abordarán esta cuestión en clave de promoción de un modelo de economía más sos- tenible y empoderamiento del consumidor, lo que podría calificarse como un avance en beneficio del interés general, la solidaridad intergeneracional y la protección de los legítimos intereses económicos de los consumidores. No obstante, la «obsolescencia provocada» o «forzada» representa una nueva manifestación más sofisticada de la obsolescencia programada original. En este caso, la pérdida de rendimiento del producto no se debe al desgaste natural o fatiga por el uso, sino a actualizaciones realizadas en el dispositivo, ya sea por acción del consumidor instigado por el fabricante o incluso por iniciativa directa del fabricante. Estas actualizaciones provocan la pérdida de rendimiento o funcionalidades que conducen a una falta de conformidad sobrevenida y antes no existente, afectando al consumidor que, de no haber actualizado su dispositivo, no habría experimentado este perjuicio. En la actualidad, la posibilidad de realizar «downgrade» a versiones anteriores del firmware o sistema operativo está limitada contractual y técnicamente de forma artificial, impidiendo en muchos casos revertir la situación mediante un simple mecanismo de «restauración del sistema». En este trabajo, abordaremos la existencia de instrumentos jurídicos que permitan reconocer el «derecho al regreso a la versión anterior» en caso de pérdida de rendimiento causada por actualizaciones, es decir, en situaciones de «obsolescencia provocada». Existe un número creciente de casos históricos que involucran a importantes fabricantes como Apple con iOS y sus teléfonos iPhone, Samsung con Android y Marshmallow, o Sony y PlayStation, donde las autoridades ya se han pronunciado, considerando estas prácticas como contrarias a derecho, y que son la viva representación de este nuevo fenómeno de «obsolescencia provocada». En última instancia, cabría afirmar que la Directiva 2019/770 relativa a determinados aspectos de los contratos de suministro de contenidos y servicios digitales, sí ofrece un instrumento adecuado en su artículo 19 para proteger a los consumidores frente a estas situaciones. Por consiguiente, se considera que existen bases normativas suficientes para abordar tanto la «obsolescencia provocada» como el «derecho al regreso a la versión anterior» de manera viable.
In the 2000s Berliners had complained a lot about gentrification,
addressing mostly cultural reasons: tourism, new art galleries and restaurants. Following the real-estate rally since 2008, ownership structures became the focus of new protests with different demographics and cultural representation. Social conflicts on housing in the two decades before had been an affair of subcultural squatters defending their “Hausprojekte”. Now the broader population joined. In this situation, a new demand came up: the socialisation of housing.
The proliferation of new technologies has led to a proliferation of unwanted electronic devices. E-waste is the largest-growing consumer waste-stream worldwide, but also an issue often ignored. In fact, HCI primarily focuses on designing and understanding device interactions during one segment of their lifecycles—while users use them. Researchers overlook a significant space—when devices are no longer “useful” to the user such as after breakdown or obsolescence. We argue that HCI can learn from experts who upcycle e-waste and give it second lives in electronics projects, art projects, educational workshops, and more. To acquire and translate this knowledge to HCI, we interviewed experts who unmake e-waste. We explore their practices through the lens of unmaking both when devices are physically unmade and when the perception of e-waste is unmade once waste becomes, once again, useful . Last, we synthesize findings into takeaways for how HCI can engage with the issue of e-waste.
The world is changing quickly because of globalization and technology. This is happening in many areas, including the economy, society, politics, and culture. This makes it hard for stable, traditional ways of life to deal with tough problems. We live in a time of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity), which means that change and doubt are normal. Because of this, we need to be more adaptable and creative in how we handle situations. In this VUCA age, wicked problems are still a unique feature. It is important to describe these problems and look into new paradigms of social design as a well-suited solution.
Spätestens seit dem Brundtland-Bericht 1987, mithin seit fast vierzig Jahren, wird über die dringliche Notwendigkeit diskutiert, die Akzeptanz und Partizipationsbereitschaft für deutlich mehr nachhaltigen Konsum weltweit zu steigern. Auf der Einstellungsebene ist dies vergleichsweise gut gelungen, auf der Verhaltensebene mitnichten. Als Gründe für diese anhaltend ermittelte Diskrepanz werden vor allem extrinsisch bedingte Faktoren identifiziert, frei nach dem Motto: Würde man die Verbraucher und Verbraucherinnen nur nicht daran hindern, würde eine große Mehrheit deutlich nachhaltiger konsumieren. Doch ist dem wirklich so? Dieser Frage sucht der Beitrag ein Stück weit auf den Grund zu gehen, und zwar in drei Schritten. Zuerst geht es um eine kritische Analyse der Attitude-Behavior-Gap-Forschung in Sachen Nachhaltiger Konsum; im Fokus steht eine methodische Kritik. Als Konsequenz dieser Kritik wird eine empirisch-qualitative Fallstudie komprimiert präsentiert, die exemplarisch aufzeigen soll, dass es für Millionen von Verbrauchern und Verbraucherinnen gute Gründe gibt, (vermeintlich) nicht-nachhaltige Konsumpraktiken unverändert fortzuführen, ein weiterer Faktor, der zur Aufklärung der Gap-Problematik beitragen kann. Zur Abrundung wird am Ende ein konzeptioneller Vorschlag unterbreitet, die Forschung zu nachhaltigem Konsum ganzheitlicher zu betreiben, indem das Konsumverhalten von Verbrauchern und Verbraucherinnen sowohl auf der Mikro-, der Meso- und der Makroebene strikt interdependent untersucht werden sollte.
Thinking about the important role that design plays in repair, one key resource that can easily be overlooked is the broad stock of knowledge gained from repairers who give their time to repair goods at community-based repair events around Australia. The aim of this article is to uncover the insights, experiences, reflections and knowledge of Australian volunteer repairers about product design and how it facilitates or inhibits repair. This contribution will be the first survey of insights about product design from the perspective of Australian volunteer repairers. The communities of repair provide fertile ground for learnings from repairers who engage with the designs of everyday items when repairing. This, in turn, can illuminate how design can better facilitate repair which will be valuable not only to designers but also to policy makers.
As globalisation intensifies, the environmental burden of economic development is being shifted to poor countries. This development manifests in waste trade involving the transboundary shipment of toxic waste from developed to developing countries. This article evaluates the strategies with which waste trade is being perpetuated to the detriment of sustainable development and human rights values in Sub-Sahara Africa. It argues that capitalism has influenced massive generation and commodification of waste, especially in industrialised countries. It has also established that globalisation has made the transboundary shipment of waste easy. Moreover, foreign investments in the waste industry in developing countries appear to be a means by developed countries to perpetuate waste shipment to developing countries, which helps waste traders to avoid stringent regulations and high costs of waste management in developed countries. Therefore, such investments in developing countries should not always be viewed as a breakthrough in attracting foreign investments. The findings made include that despite the existence of the Basel and Bamako Conventions at global and regional levels, respectively, waste trade has continued in different forms in Africa, where waste merchants exploit the low-cost facilities, cheap labour and weak regulatory frameworks. The trend includes the reckless dumping of hazardous industrial waste, electronic waste as well as ostensible investment in “dirty industries” in some African countries. It concludes by urging the states to individually establish robust mechanisms that protect the environment and enforce environmental rights. These measures will help complement the collective efforts they have made in multilateral and regional agreements.
In recent decades, companies around the world have deployed an arsenal of tools-including IP law, hardware design, software restrictions, pricing strategies, and marketing messages-to prevent consumers from fixing the things they own. While this strategy has enriched companies almost beyond measure, it has taken billions of dollars out of the pockets of consumers and imposed massive environmental costs on the planet. In The Right to Repair, Aaron Perzanowski analyzes the history of repair to show how we've arrived at this moment, when a battle over repair is being waged-largely unnoticed-in courtrooms, legislatures, and administrative agencies. With deft, lucid prose, Perzanowski explains the opaque and complex legal landscape that surrounds the right to repair and shows readers how to fight back.
Yaklaşık yüz yıldır var olan planlı eskitme stratejisinin iki önemli güdüleyicisi vardır. Bunlardan biri büyümeci ekonomi ve küresel rekabet koşullarında karar veren işletmelerken diğeri tüketim kültürü içinde sürekli “yeni” beklentileri olan tüketicilerdir. Bu iki karar merkezinin etkileşimi sonucunda sürdürülen planlı eskitme; aşırı kaynak kullanımına ve çevre kirliliğine yol açmaktadır. Günümüzde aşırı tüketimin neden olduğu sorunlara karşı küresel çevrede bir bilinçlenme görülmektedir. İsrafa dayalı tüketimden, tüm insanlığın refahını düşünen, duyarlı tüketime doğru bir yönelim vardır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, işletmeler tarafından uygulanan farklı türlerdeki planlı eskitme stratejilerine yönelik tüketicilerin bilgi, bilinç düzeylerinin belirlenmesi ve tüketicilerin bilinçli tüketim eğilimlerini de göz önünde tutarak sergiledikleri tüketim davranışlarıyla ilişkilerini incelemektir. Araştırmanın amacı doğrultusunda farklı yaş, cinsiyet, eğitim, meslek ve gelir düzeyine sahip kolayda örneklem yoluyla seçilen 28 katılımcıyla yüz yüze derinlemesine görüşmeler yapılmıştır. Görüşmelerde yarı yapılandırılmış görüşme formu kullanılmıştır. Elde edilen bulgular aracılığıyla nitel araştırma soruları cevaplanmıştır. Bu doğrultuda katılımcıların planlı eskitme bilgi, bilinç düzeyleriyle ürünleri uzun ömürlü kullanım davranışları arasında bir ilişki bulgulanmıştır. Araştırmada dört tüketici tipi belirlenmiş ve en fazla katılımcı sayısının planlı eskitme uygulamalarının ve etkilerinin farkında olan ayrıca ürünleri uzun süre kullanma eğilimi olan grupta olduğu saptanmıştır. Bunun yanında katılımcıların ürün değiştirme sürelerinin ürün ömrü beklentilerinden kısa olduğu belirlenmiştir. Bu farkın oluşmasında planlı eskitme uygulamalarının farkında olan katılımcıların tamire ilişkin güvensiz tutumlarının önemli bir etkisi bulunmaktadır.
How does the relationship between business and profit affect social and ecological sustainability? Many sustainability scholars have identified competition for profit in the market as a key driver of social exploitation and environmental destruction. Yet, studies rarely question whether businesses and markets have to be profit-seeking. The widespread existence of not-for-profit forms of business, which approach profit as a means to achieving social benefit, suggests that there are other ways of organizing business and markets that might be more sustainable.
In this thesis, I use a critical institutional economics lens and systems thinking to synthesize existing theory and knowledge about how business, markets, and profit affect sustainability outcomes, in order to explain how alternative approaches to these institutions might produce different outcomes. The result is a new theory about how relationship-to-profit (the legal difference between for-profit and not-for-profit forms of business) plays a key role in the sustainability of an economy, due to the ways in which it guides and constrains actors’ behavior, and drives larger market dynamics.
In Paper 1, I develop a conceptual framework for understanding the tradeoffs and synergies between profit and social-ecological sustainability. I show how profit-seeking strategies can be examined to assess whether they derive profit from: efficiency gains; willing and informed contributions from social stakeholders; or exploitation of social or ecological stakeholders. These bounded sources of profit imply limits to profit. Therefore, in order for businesses and markets to be sustainable, they should treat profit as a means rather than an end in itself. In Paper 2, I explain that whether profit is treated as a means or an end manifests through both voluntary objectives (i.e., if a business explicitly pursues profit as a goal) and financial rights (i.e., the right or obligation to distribute profit to private owners).
Some forms of business encourage profit-as-an-end more than others. In Paper 3, I outline ideal types of for-profit and not-for-profit economies, and describe the expected dynamics of these systems based on the regulative aspects of relationship-to-profit. The legal purpose, ownership (i.e., private financial rights), and corresponding investment structures of for-profit forms of business all encourage firms to treat profit as an end. The pursuit of unlimited financial gain and the private distribution of the surplus by for-profit businesses tend to drive the growth of consumerism, environmental degradation, inequality, market concentration, and political capture. In a not-for-profit type of economy, businesses do not have a financial gain purpose or private financial rights. Profit in such a system is used as a means to achieve social benefit. This results in higher levels of equality and opens up the space for more effective sustainability interventions.
Yet, relationship-to-profit is only one dimension of business that is important for sustainability. In Paper 4, I develop a framework to structure analyses and wider discussions of post-growth business around five key dimensions of business: (1) relationship-to-profit, (2) incorporation structure, (3) governance, (4) strategy, and (5) size and geographical scope.
The theory developed in this thesis offers an explanation of how key institutional elements of business and markets drive social and ecological sustainability outcomes.
This conceptual article contributes to the post-growth strand of political ecology literature, which seeks to find sustainable ways of organizing the economy that do not require economic growth. It explores the idea that transitioning to post-growth societies requires a transition in the relationship-to-profit of business. I first conceptualize relationship-to-profit as the intersection of purpose, investment, and ownership of firms. Specifically, for-profit business structures entail a financial gain purpose, private ownership, and unlimited returns on investment; whereas not-for-profit business structures have a social benefit purpose, collective ownership, and limited returns on investment. I then outline ideal types of for-profit and not-for-profit economies, based on the differences between these two kinds of relationship-to-profit. The first ideal type shows how the for-profit business structure drives consumerism, economic growth, and ecological harm, as well as inequality and political capture, preventing post-growth transitions. These dynamics might be slowed down by businesses that seek to balance private financial gain with social benefit (known as dual-purpose businesses). The second ideal type describes the dynamics that might be expected in an economy consisting of not-for-profit businesses, which have a legal mandate to pursue only social benefit. This analysis explains how transitioning from for-profit to not-for-profit forms of business might change some of the most problematic dynamics of the economy, allowing for post-growth transformations. A brief discussion of the possible shortcomings of a not-for-profit economy is also offered.
Keywords: Not-for-profit business, nonprofit enterprise, for-profit business, relationship-to-profit, post-growth, degrowth, economic growth, sustainability, sustainable econom
Początki zainteresowania zjawiskiem określanym jako planowe postarzanie produktów sięgają lat 20. XX wieku. W kolejnych dekadach temat ten był, mniej lub bardziej, obecny w debacie publicznej. W ostatnim czasie widać ponowne zainteresowanie tą tematyką, co można wiązać z rosnącą popularnością koncepcji zrównoważonego rozwoju, której istotnym elementem jest zrównoważona konsumpcja i produkcja. Planowe postarzanie produktów może być bowiem postrzegane jako proceder niesprzyjający realizacji założeń tej koncepcji, choć należy zaznaczyć, że w literaturze przedmiotu pojawiają się też opinie, które reprezentują odmienny punkt widzenia. Celem badania, przeprowadzonego na potrzeby niniejszego artykułu była identyfikacja ekologicznych i społecznych, tak pozytywnych, jak i negatywnych, skutków tzw. planowego postarzania produktów. Zda-niem autorki zarówno w dyskursie naukowym, jak i ogólnospołecznym stosunkowo niewiele jest głosów prezentujących wieloaspektowe podejście do tego tematu. Wydaje się, iż takie spojrzenie może być pomocne w lepszym zrozumieniu i ocenie zjawiska planowego postarzania pro-duktów. Badanie oparto na analizie literatury przedmiotu oraz danych statystycznych i wyników badań sondażowych pochodzących z raportów i opracowań różnego rodzaju instytucji.
As popular awareness of global environmental crises rises, so too does the notion of a circular ‘zero-waste’ economy. In this context, and with electronic waste a rapidly growing waste stream, the electronics industry is the subject of increasing pressure to address its environmental impact. Growing piles of digital junk cast a shadow on economies centred on seemingly immaterial attention and information. Resultantly, key players in these economies are adopting circular economy influenced business practises and ideas. Superficially, such moves suggest a maturation of discourses that construct the digital commodity as ‘green’ and ‘weightless’ by way of acknowledging their physical presence. More broadly, circular economies may even represent a nascent tampering of the material excesses of capitalism. The article considers this relationship between the attention and circular economies. Apple, a digital goods and services company, is used as a case study. Taking a media ecologies perspective, I explore Apple’s environmental goals and progress, and what this means for the attention economy more broadly. Ultimately, I argue that within economies where attention and information are of growing importance, circular economy discourses act to legitimize particular actors and drive consumption while simultaneously obscuring human and non-human forms of waste.
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