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This chapter takes the growth of the ‘global consumer class’ as a starting point and argues that a broader research agenda to make sense of consumption among new middle classes is needed. Specifically, the chapter argues that such an agenda needs to approach changing consumption patterns as the outcome of both large-scale societal transformations and local-scale changes in how people carry out mundane activities. The chapter is influenced by social practice theories but argues for combining this with a direct study of economic systems. However, practice approaches have been labelled as so far unable or even ill-suited for studying the political economy of consumption. The chapter engages with this critique and suggests ways forward, focusing in particular on the fundamentally structuring role that capitalism has on consumption patterns. This is illustrated with the case of the radical changes in consumption patterns in China and Vietnam in the past decades, after both countries embarked on market reforms. The dramatic consumption booms these countries have seen under communist regimes, traditionally highly sceptical towards a wide range of consumer goods, represent an excellent case for discussing the conditioning effects of the political-economic context on consumption patterns.

Flying has become an increasingly contested form of consumption, but ‘green’ consumers often continue to fly. This chapter provides novel insights into the stubbornness of air-travel by specifically studying the obstacles that environmentally conscious consumers face when trying to limit or eliminate aeromobility. Through in-depth interviews with Norwegian environmental organisation workers—conceptualised as particularly self-reflexive when it comes to environmentally contested forms of consumption—we analyse how environmentalists negotiate one of the most environmentally destructive aspects of their consumption patterns. To explore how the social embeddedness of flying complicates the reduction of air-travel in these accounts, we draw on a combination of mobilities and social practice approaches. The participants considered flying to be problematic, but also often necessary in specific practices. Various expectations related to convenience, time, and sociality, led to a certain ‘lock-in’ of (aero)mobility. Zooming out to consider broader practice geographies, we argue that aeromobility contributes to the tempo-spatial expansion of many practices, changing their contents, meanings, and the contexts in which they unfold. To achieve sustainable mobility, we suggest that attention must be shifted from the air-travels of individual consumers to the broader practices in which aeromobility is embedded.

Unsustainable consumption patterns are among the world’s most wicked problems. In large part in response to the environmental unsustainabilities embedded in modern consumer societies, a large field of consumption research has developed over the past decades. This introductory chapter reviews the history and development of consumption research and situates the contributions in this book within the broader field. We start broadly, before zooming in on the ‘practice turn’ and on research engaging with consumption and sustainability. Following this, we outline the chapters of the book and conclude with some reflections on the possible future of consumption research, calling for a broader agenda for research on consumption and sustainability.

Flying has become an increasingly contested form of consumption, but ‘green’ consumers often continue to fly. This paper provides novel insights into the stubbornness of air-travel by specifically studying the obstacles that environmentally conscious consumers face when trying to limit or eliminate aeromobility. Through in-depth interviews with Norwegian environmental organization workers – conceptualised as particularly self-reflexive when it comes to environmentally contested forms of consumption – we analyse how environmentalists negotiate one of the most environmentally destructive aspects of their consumption patterns. To explore how the social embeddedness of flying complicates the reduction of air-travel in these accounts, we draw on a combination of mobilities and social practice approaches. The participants considered flying to be problematic, but also often necessary in specific practices. Various expectations related to convenience, time, and sociality, led to a certain ‘lock-in’ of (aero)mobility. Zooming out to consider broader practice geographies, we argue that aeromobility contributes to the tempo-spatial expansion of many practices, changing their contents, meanings, and the contexts in which they unfold. To achieve sustainable mobility, we suggest that attention must be shifted from the air-travels of individual consumers to the broader practices in which aeromobility is embedded.

Amidst calls for making food systems more sustainable, new unsustainable food transformations unfold alongside economic development. Explanations for unsustainable food transformations in emerging economies vary greatly, but there is widespread agreement that demand from new middle classes play a crucial role. Yet this demand is to a large extent co-created by systems of provision, and middle-class consumers are constantly navigating food transformations in a search for healthy and safe food. Focusing on Vietnam's dramatic food transformations, and combining attention to the political economy of food with a social practice approach to consumption, the paper zooms in on the how middle-class households in Hanoi negotiate the rapid transformations of food systems and food environments. The paper concludes that new thinking on sustainable food systems is urgently needed and argues that vital insights can be gained by studying food practices and their interaction with everyday geographies of consumption.Dans un contexte d’appels à rendre les systèmes alimentaires plus pérennes, de nouvelles transformations alimentaires non pérennes accompagnent le développement économique. Les facteurs qui expliquent ces transformations alimentaires non pérennes dans les économies émergentes varient considérablement, mais il est largement admis que la demande des nouvelles classes moyennes joue un rôle crucial. Pourtant, cette demande est en grande partie co-créée par les systèmes d'approvisionnement, et les consommateurs de la classe moyenne évoluent constamment sur le sujet des transformations alimentaires, à la recherche d'une alimentation saine et sûre. Cet article porte son attention sur les transformations alimentaires spectaculaires du Vietnam et combine un regard sur l’économie politique de l'alimentation avec une approche de la consommation par la pratique sociale. Il se concentre ainsi sur la façon dont les ménages de la classe moyenne à Hanoï approchent les transformations rapides des systèmes alimentaires et des environnements alimentaires. L'article en conclut qu'une réflexion renouvelée sur les systèmes alimentaires pérennes est nécessaire et urgente, et affirme que des informations vitales peuvent être obtenues en étudiant les pratiques alimentaires et leur interaction avec les géographies quotidiennes de la consommation.

The ‘meatification’ of human diets has been subject to increasing scholarly attention in recent years, along with its many impacts. While the rapidly expanding meatification in many Asian countries has been noted, the geographies of these processes have been left largely unexplored. This paper maps the changing geographies of meat with special focus on Southeast Asia. We use Tony Weis’ concept of ‘the industrial grain-oilseed-livestock complex’ to analyse how forms of systemic meatification are taking place in Asia. We map and analyse regional trends in meat production and consumption, as well as trade patterns in meat products and dominant feed crops. We argue that the regional meat complex emerges through increasingly regional development processes and capital, as well as through new South-South connections. The geographies of meatification in Southeast Asia thus constitute an empirical manifestation of the emerging multipolarity of the global food regime.

As part of the global shift of the world economy, the majority of the global consumer class will soon be East Asian. Interestingly, this involves the rather curious fact that a large proportion of consumers in the capitalist world economy will be living in nominally socialist countries. Of rather obvious reasons, China’s middle class—expected to become the largest in the world within a decade or two—has already attracted much attention. Vietnam’s middle class is now also being noticed, and has been estimated to be the fastest growing in Southeast Asia. The parallel growth of middle classes in the two neighbouring socialist states has however not been subject to comparative analysis, nor has the role they play in the vision of the so-called ‘socialist market economy’ been placed under closer scrutiny. This chapter sets out to fill this lacuna in the literature. The chapter launches the term ‘consumer socialism’ to capture developments in these two countries, and studies the socialist middle classes through the particular political-economic contexts that have fostered them as well as the consumption patterns that define them. It discusses the creation of consumer socialism, how middle-class lifestyles have gone from representing unwelcome bourgeois excess to become a defining part of developmental success, as well as how responsibility for the ‘right’ kind of consumption under market socialism has shifted from the state to the morality of consumers.

This introductory chapter outlines developments in China, Vietnam and Laos over the recent decades and places these cases in the literature on development as well as in the contemporary world economy. It discusses the socialist market economy in relation to theories on the developmental state and other forms of state-led developmentalism, as well as in relation to regional economic integration and production networks. This includes discussing the three countries’ positions in the theory of the ‘flying geese’, as well as their overall strategies and policies towards both protectionism and integration. The chapter outlines overall development trends in the socialist market economies and their performance on economic and social indicators, and discusses to what extent they are ‘development success stories’. The chapter ends by outlining how the respective chapters in the book contribute to address the overarching issues in our analysis.

In this concluding chapter, the editors draw on the diverse perspectives and aspects presented in the preceding chapters to assess the development model of the socialist market economy, and attempts to frame the socialist market economy model within a larger international context. Comparing the models of China, Vietnam and Laos in one volume, we are better positioned to see the main characteristics of the socialist market economy as a whole, and the similarities between the three countries, but we have also exposed the differences between them. Following the main overall themes of the book, the chapter looks at the social market economy through discussions of ideology, the state and market relationship, environmental sustainability and state and society. We then take a closer look at the main similarities and differences of the model in China, Vietnam and Laos, as well as some main trends in the relationship between the three neighbouring countries. Finally, at the end of the chapter, we identify some themes for further research, with special attention given to the developmental state agenda, political developments and the impact of ongoing changes in international politics.

The rapidly escalating production and consumption of meat across the world has drawn much attention in recent years. While mainstream accounts tend to see the phenomenon as driven by ‘natural’ processes of consumption pattern change through economic development, critical geographies have turned to exploring the uneven capitalist processes underpinning what Tony Weis calls ‘meatification’. In Weis’ view, meatification unfolds through what he calls ‘the industrial grain-oilseed-livestock complex’, which is presently becoming a dominant form of agricultural production worldwide. Simultaneously, but less thoroughly investigated in the emerging scholarship, meatification unfolds in and through everyday geographies of consumption that we conceptualize as variegated ‘meatscapes’. By bringing together critical geographers’ interest in the political economy of meat with practice theory and consumption research, this contribution furthers the geographical dialogue around the spatial transformations brought about by meatification. Looking at Vietnam and China as examples of rapidly meatifying countries, we explore the intersection of macro-scale spatial transformations through trade and commodity flows and, at the micro-scale, transformations in food practices. We thus argue for an approach to meatification that is multi-scalar and conducive to further regionally specific research of meatification in Asia and beyond.

Vietnam’s recent economic and social transformations are manifested in the streets of its capital city through millions of motorbikes and a rapidly growing presence of cars. Based on ‘motorbike ethnography’ in the streetscapes of Hanoi, the paper considers the changing practices and meanings of motorised mobility in Vietnam’s capitalist transition. It focuses on two main aspects: the everyday geography of the ‘system of moto-mobility’, and the ‘social life’ of cars and motorbikes. The paper finds that although motorbikes still dominate in Hanoi, the car has overtaken the throne as the main aspirational and positional good, and currently automobility is becoming progressively normalised. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Mobilities on 07 Apr 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/17450101.2016.1156425.

The private car comes with promises of modernity and comfortable mobility for the growing middle class in Vietnam. Vietnam’s government has also targeted the domestic automobile industry as a “spearhead industry” in an attempt to achieve industrial upgrading. Paradoxically, the government is simultaneously restraining the market for this industry through imposing high taxes and fees on cars, making them available only to a limited number of people. This article discusses the promises and problems of the automobile in Vietnam. It analyses policies related to the development of the automobile industry, and discusses the reasons for the relative failure of the project. The article argues that the failure is linked to weaknesses in Vietnamese development strategies, but also to the potential problems an expansion in car ownership in Vietnam would lead to. The article contends that the car represents a development dilemma between industrialisation and urban mobility, and that environmental, energy and social concerns add to the rationale for limiting car ownership. Furthermore, although forces promoting car-driven industrialisation appear to be gaining ground, the requirements for regional economic integration may challenge the future of the infant automobile industry. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Contemporary Asia on 26 Feb 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00472336.2016.1151916.

It is difficult, if not impossible, to satisfactorily answer the question ‘Why does poverty persist?’ Nonetheless, there appear to be two approaches that can provide a useful start. One alternative is to examine why poverty (and extreme forms of it) continue to persist in the poorest countries of the world, mainly in Sub-Saharan Africa. The other, which is the focus on this article, is to examine a set of factors or reforms that have worked in reducing poverty in middle-income countries of the ‘Emerging South’ and the challenges these countries continue to face in distributing the benefits of economic growth and addressing persistent levels of poverty within their borders. We aim to better understand successful attempts to reduce poverty in a selected few emerging economies – India, China and Vietnam – by examining the role of specific types of reforms and initiatives in shaping and determining action by national governments to reduce poverty. Do some of these emerging economies advocate and adopt different poverty-reduction policies? If so, what, how and why? And to what extent can some of these poverty-reduction models be usefully applied in other developing country contexts? We then identify and discuss two broad sets of frontiers of research and policy-making on poverty in emerging Asia – environmental challenges and growing inequality – that require considerable attention if India, China and Vietnam are to experience continued economic growth and poverty reduction. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Forum for Development Studies on 01 Feb 2016, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/

The global consumption of meat and animal products has increased dramatically in recent decades, particularly due to rising consumption in so-called developing countries. This increase has popularly been explained as part of a “nutrition transition” driven by rising income, urbanisation and foreign culinary influences. From the supply side, the increase has been approached as part of a “livestock revolution”, or alternatively as the outcome of capitalist agricultural processes. This paper argues, however, that these explanations have given insufficient attention to how and why consumption of meat changes. The paper analyses the case of Vietnam, where meat consumption has increased very rapidly since the initiation of market reforms in 1986. In understanding how meat consumption and development have co-evolved, the paper argues that consumption should be approached at the intersection between systems of provision and everyday practices. With this backdrop – and partly combining, partly going beyond standard explanations – the paper locates four main contributing factors towards increasing meat consumption in Vietnam: (1) changes in systems of provision for meat, (2) the meat intensification of traditional meals and the import of meat-intensive eating practices from abroad, (3) the increasing prevalence of eating out; and (4) the positive social connotations attached to meat as a symbol of development and progress. The paper goes on to argue that the dramatic meatification of food provision and practice in Vietnam should be understood as the result of capitalist development processes and their associated economic and social changes, rather than the ‘natural’ and inevitable outcome of development.

The rapid developments in Vietnam since the economic reforms (doi moi) initiated in 1986 have led to a transformation of urban mobility. In less than 20 years, motorbike ownership in the country increased tenfold, and there are now 4 million motorbikes in Hanoi alone. While the two-wheelers dominate traffic, car ownership has increased rapidly in the last decade. This article approaches the consumption of cars and motorbikes in the Vietnamese capital from a social practice theory perspective. It particularly emphasises material conditions for practices in terms of systems of provision, available technology and infrastructure. This emphasis, the article argues, is necessary to account for large-scale changes in consumption in a context of rapid economic development. These conditions, however, have co-evolved with mobility practices and the local geography of consumption. Private cars in many ways represent a break with the dominant two-wheeled conditions and practices, but bring along social distinction, safety and comfort. In turn, a new automobility regime is emerging in the outskirts of Hanoi. The article analyses these material, social and bodily pillars of practices, and based on fieldwork in Hanoi approaches the changing urban mobility in the interplay between development and everyday life.

While Vietnam’s developments since doi moi have attracted a great deal of scholarly attention, we still know little about Vietnamese politics. With the deepening of economic reforms and increased p...

Part 1: Introduction 1. Emerging Economies and Challenges to Sustainability Arve Hansen &Ulrikke Wethal 2.The 'Rise of the Rest' and the Revenge of 'Development': The emerging economies and shifts in development theory Benedicte Bull 3. Making Sense of Sustainable Development in a Changing World Desmond McNeill & Harold Wilhite Part 2: Asia 4. Miracles or Uneven Development? Asia in the contemporary world economy Pietro Masina 5. Ecological Modernisation and Dilemmas of Sustainable Development in China Hege Merete Knutsen & Xiaoxi Ou 6. Between Peasant Utopia and Neoliberal Dreams: Industrialisation and its discontents in emerging India Kenneth Bo Nielsen 7. Best of Both Worlds? The power and pitfalls of Vietnam's development model Arve Hansen 8. Indonesia: Neoliberal development in the context of decentralised patronage politics Gyda Maras Sindre Part 3: Latin America 9. Latin America's Decade of Growth: Progress and challenges for a sustainable development Benedicte Bull 10. Brazil, Land of the Future? Conservative development strategy and the urban challenges Einar Braathen & Yuri Kasahara 11. Agricultural change in Argentina: Impacts of the gene modified soybean revolution Kristi Anne Stolen 12. The Paradoxes of Chilean Economic Development: Growth, inequality, deindustrialisation and sustainability risks Andres Solimano and Marianne Schaper 13. Mining, Development and Environmental Sustainabilty in Peru Jemima Garcia-Godos & Henrik Wiig Part 4: Sub-Saharan Africa 14. Between Emerging Economies and Protracted Conflict: Challenges to sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa Morten Boas 15. Pro-Growth Challenges to Sustainability in South Africa Dianne Scott, Catherine Sutherland, Vicky Sim and Glen Robbins 16. Searching for Sustainability in Mozambique's Development Strategy Ulrikke Wethal 17. Botswana's Developmental State: Sustainability under threat? Ian Taylor 18. Ethiopia - Rapid and Green Growth for All? Axel Borchgrevink Part 5: Conclusion 19. Conclusion Arve Hansen & Ulrikke Wethal