This volume offers contributions on the fundamentals of current consumption theory and consumption research, which have developed almost entirely from originally unorthodox approaches against traditional micro- and macroeconomic theory. The inspiration came mainly from social economic behavioural research and ecological economics. But the reception is very patchy and the history is largely forgotten. With reference to the work of earlier authors, new arguments are offered to the current discussion about delimitations and paradoxes in consumption and the still narrowly understood consumer role. It is as much about rework in sharpening the understanding of consumption and consumers in their lifeworlds as it is about indications of fruitfulness for the analysis of open questions. It is about arguments for a paradigmatic reorientation of consumer research and policy. The contributions address in particular ambivalences, options and future modes in consumption in the search for individual satisfaction and ecological sustainability.

This book is a translation of an original German edition. The translation was done with the help of artificial intelligence (machine translation by the service DeepL.com). A subsequent human revision was done primarily in terms of content, so that the book will read stylistically differently from a conventional translation.