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In this chapter, I analyze the political imagination associated with political consumerism and food activism. Many citizens engage in politics through these forms of action, yet little is known about their impact on citizens' understanding of their role in a democracy. The chapter first defines and discusses the core features of political consumerism. Then, it moves on to a discussion of social change to understand the underlying understandings of social change at the core of different forms of food activism. Lastly, in the third part, the chapter examines to what extent environmental movements use political consumerism to advance their goals. This last section also discusses voluntary simplicity, ecofeminism, freeganism, and the commons to identify critical thinking and resistance to the expansion of markets and the commodification of political action.

Notre manière de consommer est révélatrice de notre rapport au monde. La consommation engagée – qu'elle résulte de raisons politiques, éthiques ou environnementales – est de plus en plus courante en Suisse. Toutefois, ce choix n'est pas accessible à tous les membres de la société de manière égalitaire. Il dépend des ressources ainsi que de l'offre à disposition, qui varient selon les contextes socio-économiques. Les changements de consommation soulèvent des questions complexes qui requièrent une réflexion interdisciplinaire et un débat démocratique afin d'identifier des solutions viables pour le plus grand nombre. ; Cite as: Lorenzini, Jasmine (2021): La consommation engagée. Entre pratiques individuelles et changements sociaux, in: Consommation: vers une transformation durable ? (Bulletin de l'Académie suisse des science humaines et sociales 27,2), pp. 34-37.

Food democracy calls for a democratization of the production, distribution, and consumption of food. Researchers and lay citizens are showing a growing interest for initiatives associated with food democracy, yet the specific democratic ideals and involvements that make up food democracy have gained limited attention. Many forms of participation associated with food democracy are market-based, such as buying organic food or joining community-supported agricultural projects. Research shows that market-based logics influence multiple spheres of life and threaten democratic ideals. However, scholars working on political participation have not yet analyzed the influence of market-based logics across forms of participation. This article analyses the action repertoire of food democracy to assess the influence of market-based logics on different forms of food activism. It builds on four critiques of market-based politics to question the relationship between different forms of participation and the market. It addresses three research questions: Which forms of political participation do citizens use to democratize the food regime? Which conceptions of democracy relate to these different forms of food activism? Which critiques of market-based politics apply to different forms of food activism? The article highlights the widespread risk of unequal participation, crowding out, commodification, and state retreat across forms of participation used to democratize food regimes. This study provides insights into the types of democratic renewal being experimented with in the framework of food democracy as well as their limits.

Food democracy calls for a democratization of the production, distribution, and consumption of food. Researchers and lay citizens are showing a growing interest for initiatives associated with food democracy, yet the specific democratic ideals and involvements that make up food democracy have gained limited attention. Many forms of participation associated with food democracy are market-based, such as buying organic food or joining community-supported agricultural projects. Research shows that market-based logics influence multiple spheres of life and threaten democratic ideals. However, scholars working on political participation have not yet analyzed the influence of market-based logics across forms of participation. This article analyses the action repertoire of food democracy to assess the influence of market-based logics on different forms of food activism. It builds on four critiques of market-based politics to question the relationship between different forms of participation and the market. It addresses three research questions: Which forms of political participation do citizens use to democratize the food regime? Which conceptions of democracy relate to these different forms of food activism? Which critiques of market-based politics apply to different forms of food activism? The article highlights the widespread risk of unequal participation, crowding out, commodification, and state retreat across forms of participation used to democratize food regimes. This study provides insights into the types of democratic renewal being experimented with in the framework of food democracy as well as their limits.

Food democracy calls for a democratization of the production, distribution, and consumption of food. Researchers and lay citizens are showing a growing interest for initiatives associated with food democracy, yet the specific democratic ideals and involvements that make up food democracy have gained limited attention. Many forms of participation associated with food democracy are market-based, such as buying organic food or joining community-supported agricultural projects. Research shows that market-based logics influence multiple spheres of life and threaten democratic ideals. However, scholars working on political participation have not yet analyzed the influence of market-based logics across forms of participation. This article analyses the action repertoire of food democracy to assess the influence of market-based logics on different forms of food activism. It builds on four critiques of market-based politics to question the relationship between different forms of participation and the market. It addresses three research questions: Which forms of political participation do citizens use to democratize the food regime? Which conceptions of democracy relate to these different forms of food activism? Which critiques of market-based politics apply to different forms of food activism? The article highlights the widespread risk of unequal participation, crowding out, commodification, and state retreat across forms of participation used to democratize food regimes. This study provides insights into the types of democratic renewal being experimented with in the framework of food democracy as well as their limits.

In this paper I analyze the role of subjective well-being in unemployed and employed youth political participation. Research shows that life satisfaction increases participation in voting, but has no effect on protest activities when looking at the overall population. However, in the case of youth, life dissatisfaction fosters the potential for protest activities. Since unemployment is detrimental for the subjective well-being of individuals, especially when long-lasting, I ask whether the reduced subjective well-being of long-term unemployed youth, their life dissatisfaction, fosters their participation in two forms of voice-based participation—contacting and protest activities—that can be used to express their dissatisfaction. I find that life dissatisfaction fosters the participation of employed youth in contacting activities, but not that of unemployed youth. Quite on the contrary, for protest activities, it is life satisfaction that fosters participation of the unemployed youth.

Published online on 26 Feb 2014 ; The final publication is available at link.springer.com ; In this paper I analyze the role of subjective well-being in unemployed and employed youth political participation. Research shows that life satisfaction increases participation in voting, but has no effect on protest activities when looking at the overall population. However, in the case of youth, life dissatisfaction fosters the potential for protest activities. Since unemployment is detrimental for the subjective well-being of individuals, especially when long-lasting, I ask whether the reduced subjective well-being of long-term unemployed youth, their life dissatisfaction, fosters their participation in two forms of voice-based participation—contacting and protest activities—that can be used to express their dissatisfaction. I find that life dissatisfaction fosters the participation of employed youth in contacting activities, but not that of unemployed youth. Quite on the contrary, for protest activities, it is life satisfaction that fosters participation of the unemployed youth.

This report presents the results of a survey conducted by the Swiss Political Science Association in Swiss universities and research institutes to examine the situation of postdoctoral researchers in political science. The study provides quantitative analysis of survery to data to examine the academic carreer. It focuses on working conditions, requirements, and lived experiences. In so doing, it identifies some difficulties that postdoctoral researchers face and proposes measures to improve the situation of postdoctoral researchers in political science.

This thesis examines the social and the political participation of long-term unemployed youth in Geneva. The research analyses participation in social networks, both associational and interpersonal, as well as the political participation and the personal well-being of unemployed youth in order to assess the impact of long-term unemployment on citizenship. Results show that although unemployed youth suffer from a reduced personal well-being, they remain socially and politically active. The three dimensions are interrelated. Associational membership fosters unemployed youth political participation, while their reduced personal well-being hinders their political participation. Lastly, interpersonal networks reduce the negative effects of unemployment on personal well-being.

This book examines patterns of political engagement of long-term unemployed youth. The authors show how unemployment affects the personal, social, and political life of young people. Focusing on the case of Geneva in Switzerland, the study shows the importance of socioeconomic, relational, psychological, and institutional resources for the political engagement of unemployed youth. The book shows specifically how the relationship between unemployment and the political engagement of unemployed youth is mediated by a number of factors: their socioeconomic status and more generally their individual background, their level of deprivation and the associated degree of subjective well-being; the social capital that unemployed youth draw from involvement in voluntary associations and interpersonal networks and relations, and the political learning stemming from interactions with welfare institutions and their perception of such interactions

Abstract
While there is an abundant literature on alternative food organizations (AFOs), this research mostly consists of studies focusing on single types of food organizations. Hence, we lack a more encompassing understanding of how different types of AFOs are connected and what their collective transformative potential is within the food regime. In this article, we analyze how AFOs build a field, bring about social change collectively, and examine toward what type of change they work. Building on original survey data, network analyses and frames analyses, we propose an innovative quantitative operationalization of strategic action fields. We show that AFOs engaged in an information exchange network are more likely to hold systemic goals such as anticapitalism and food democracy than isolated AFOs. They also use more contentious action repertoires. We argue that a field of AFOs has more transformative potential than isolated organizations because they collectively challenge the status quo.

The Eurozone crisis triggered deep political dissent in Southern Europe. As the crisis unfolded, citizens took massively to the streets in attempts to prevent austerity policies but also to call for more democracy. We analyze protest waves in four Southern European countries: Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. We argue that protest events are reactions to austerity measures when austerity is the only game in town. Hence, we test the effects of elections, the presence of new challengers, and austerity votes on protest. We use a data set of protest events based on the coding of newswires covering protest in its different forms from 2000 to 2015. We show that protest waves took place in the four countries and that they reveal widespread dissatisfaction with austerity policies. Our article contributes to the understanding of the links between protest and institutional politics during the Eurozone crisis.

First Published January 2, 2018 ; The Eurozone crisis triggered deep political dissent in Southern Europe. As the crisis unfolded, citizens took massively to the streets in attempts to prevent austerity policies but also to call for more democracy. We analyze protest waves in four Southern European countries: Greece, Italy, Portugal, and Spain. We argue that protest events are reactions to austerity measures when austerity is the only game in town. Hence, we test the effects of elections, the presence of new challengers, and austerity votes on protest. We use a data set of protest events based on the coding of newswires covering protest in its different forms from 2000 to 2014. We show that protest waves took place in the four countries and that they reveal widespread dissatisfaction with austerity policies. Our paper contributes to the understanding of the links between protest and institutional politics during the Eurozone crisis.

Demonstrations have become more visible across Europe since the Great Recession. To clarify the connection between crisis and protest, we open the black box of crisis-related grievances, suggesting a typology for this subjective phenomenon and addressing the mediating role of emotions on protest. Using panel data, we explore the dimensionality of thirty different items that Spanish citizens have claimed to endure as a consequence of the crisis, and then we test their potential of these grievances as triggers of protest. Results show that both financial deprivation and grievances related to worker-citizens' status and rights encourage protest activity. Crisis-related grievances trigger negative emotions, and curiously enough, both anger and anxiety boost protest. Our findings hold, regardless of political ideology, previous participation, or perceptions of self-efficacy.