Astrid Avalos
English 101
May 20, 2008.
Essay 3
“Paper or Plastic?” Energy, Environment and
Consumerism in Sweden and America
In the review that Bruce Hackett makes of the book “Paper or Plastic?”
Energy, Environment and Consumerism in Sweden and America by Rita J.
Erickson, he remarks the comparison that Rita Erickson makes of energy-related
consumption in two small cities; one is Foley in Minnesota and the other one
Munka Ljungby in Sweden. The article gives us examples of the differences and
similarities among these two cities in subjects such as, housing characteristics,
vehicles, travel, appliances, energy use and opinions in environmental issues,
but also, about consumption and consumerism. Bruce Hackett, who is a
Professor Emeritus in the Department of Sociology at the UC Davis University of
California, wrote this review for Contemporary Sociology, a journal of reviews in
its edition of July of 1998. This article would help me in my research paper
because it came from a reliable source and because the examples mentioned in
there would support the relationship that I want to establish between
consumerism and the environment.
Contemporary Sociology is a bimonthly journal of reviews of the American
Sociological Association (ASA). It publishes reviews and critical discussions of
recent works in sociology and in disciplines related to it. Bruce Hackett, an exmember of the ASA, has a Ph.D. in Sociology and he is a specialist in residential
energy consumption and conservation actions across demographic segments.
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Astrid Avalos
English 101
May 20, 2008.
Essay 3
Hackett presents his review giving us examples of the differences
between these two cities, based on the different studies made in there. For
instance, he mentioned that people in both communities were interview after
several weeks in which they kept energy-use checklist. Results showed that
Munka residents are more likely than those in Foley to use very hot water to get
the dishes very clean, and to avoid “green” detergents. However, the Swedes are
somewhat more likely to be recognizably pro-environment in other respects, such
as to compost yard and kitchen waste, to bike or walk on local errands, to bring
their own bag to the grocery store (the proper alternative to paper or plastic?”).”
Bruce Hackett uses a simple language to support the assertions of
Erickson and to invite students interested in subjects such as, environmental
issues or comparative studies of cultures to read this book, basically because “it
is highly accessible and invite invidious comparison with their own personal
conduct” (2).
This article was written in July of 1998, about ten years ago. The
information presented in there gives an idea of the trends of energy-consumption
in that moment, but that is likely to have change since its publication. In those
years there were an increase in the energy-consumption basically because of the
development in new technologies and the increase of the population.
To sum up, I would use Bruce Hackett’s review of the book Paper or
Plastic? Energy, Environment and Consumerism in Sweden and America by Rita
J. Erickson because it presents information and examples of the relationship
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Astrid Avalos
English 101
May 20, 2008.
Essay 3
between energy-consumption and the environment. Even though some of the
statistics are likely to have change with the years, the ideas that are developed in
the article are logical and well-supported, and they reflect knowledge of the topic.
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Astrid Avalos
English 101
May 20, 2008.
Essay 3
394 Community
The '60s urban counterculture was, after all,
middle class, as is the latest expression of urban
lifestyle—stylized and hyperconsumerist. Here
the author gives a face to those partly
accountable for the garish, high-consumption
spaces in downtowns: the middle-class
consumers. As this last point suggests. Ley
takes issue with the supposed absence of
consumption within the political economy
perspective of new urban sociology, but the
critique is never fully developed.
Although the book is strong in providing
details about the social composition of new
middle-class consumers, it provides very little
support or critique about the interests and
actions of real estate capitalists and state actors
relative to consumption. On one hand. Ley's
analyses of the interaction of architecture,
space, and consumption in central city
redevelopment resemble critical studies that
explore cultural considerations in spatial
reorganization by developers and the state. On
the other hand, parts of the book seem
remarkably nostalgic for consumer-driven
explanations of urban change that predate the
theoretical watershed ofthe 1970s. Except for
the final chapters, most of the arguments and
evidence consider the preferences ofthe new
middle class as the principal momentum
behind the remaking of the central city, with
perfunctory regard to the complex ways cities
are produced, and by whom.
"Paper or Plastic?" Energy, Environmeru and
Comumerism in Sweden and Avnerica, by Rita
J. Erickson. Westport, CT: Praeger, 1997.
192 pp. $55.00 cloth. ISBN: 0-275-95766-7.
BRUCE HACKETT
Uruversity of California, Davis
bmhackett@ucdavis.edu
This slim and delightfully written volume
nicely indexes the maturation of sociological
and anthropological inquiry into matters of
environmental degradation and preservation.
It offers a comparison of energy-related
consumption in two small communities—
Foley, Minnesota, and Munka Ljungby,
Sweden (almost, of course, but not quite, a
study of Swedes, or Lutherans, in two
contexts); because it includes fieldwork fiom
both the early 1980s and 12 years later, it offers
a historical persjsective as well. The growth of
environmental and energy awareness after the
1973 oil embargo brought much attention to
Sweden, where what Erickson calls a
"notoriously comfortable way oflife" used, per
capita, about 60 percent ofthe overall energy
and about three-quarters of the residential
energy consumed in the United States, and
she set out to try to understand the difference.
Questionnaires brought information on
housing characteristics, vehicles and travel,
appliance stocks, energy use, and opinions on
environmental issues. Utility billing records
and some self-report measured actual fuel use,
and "core" households in both communities
kept energy-use checklists for several weeks
and were then interviewed as to the patterns
revealed. There were some surprises. The
Minnesotans used less heating fuel than the
Swedes (ambient temperatures controlled),
and although the Swedes used less fuel for
other household activities, the differences were
much less than national-level comparisons
would predict. The special Swedish affection
for cleanliness is apparently associated with the
fact that the Munka residents are more likely
than those in Foley to have dishwashers, to
use very hot water "to get the dishes ver^i
clean," and to avoid "green" detergents. The
Swedes are somewhat more likely to be
recognizably pro-environment in other
respects—to compost yard and kitchen waste,
to bike or walk on local errands, to bring their
own bag to the grocery store (the proper
alternative to "paper or plastic?"). These
differences are provocative in a few instances,
but almost seem the exceptions that point to
the real similarities between the two
communities —almost certainly a growing
similarity, as illustrated by Erickson's brief but
hilarious note on the permeation of the
Swedish language by American terms and
phrases. The interviews do reveal some
sometimes subtle but important differences of
attitude and outlook: The Swedes are
understandably fond of their welfare state and
deferential to their govemment, for example—
to a degree unthinkable in Foley—and their
govemment not only researches "altemative"
energy technologies but advises consumers on
the "green" quotient of particular brands. And
reactions to the real or imagined depredations
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Astrid Avalos
English 101
May 20, 2008.
Essay 3
Community 395
of the large oil companies seem plainly different
in the two contexts—resignation in Sweden
and scom in the United States.
Given the similarities between the two
settings, Erickson's primary focus is on the
conspicuous consumption and "consumerism,"
including the virtual institutionalization of
shopping, that she thinks has emerged as a
primary activity and organizing principle in
both communities. Some of this focus has
elements indeed of a good Lutheran sermon,
but it is richly mixed with analytic
sophistication. Careful note is made ofthe clear
lack of correlation between environmental
concem and pro-environmental action, between
what people say and what they do, of people's
meager knowledge of how the local reflects or
shapes broader issues or environments, and of
"trade-offs"—the ways in which conserving
behavior in one instance can pay for waste in
another. Erickson finds, as the result of her
inquiries, no reason to dispute Swedish
historian Lars Lundgren's characterization of
recycling as an "ecological indulgence," a
"small but symbolically conspicuous behavior"
that, in Erickson's words, "grants you
forgiveness for all environmental transgressions
and relieves you of the need for any further
action."
Students in courses having to do with
environmental issues or comparative studies
of cultures would enjoy this book, because it
is highly accessible and invites invidious
comparison with their own "personal" conduct
(e.g., "Shower and Bath Durations"), while
directing attention to matters that need
attention. Erickson reminds us that increased
energy consumption is a large part of what it
means to "modernize"; that with five percent
of the world population, the United states
demanded 25 percent ofthe world's energy in
1995 (35 times the energy consumed per capita
in India); and that in the period since the
embargo (quoting from a longitudinal study of
energy use in OECD countries by Lee Schipper
at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory) "while many
energy uses became less energy-intensive,
lifestyles themselves became more energy
intensive"—
reflecting increased saturation of
appliances and cars, larger homes, and rapidly
increasing expenditures for air travel. Modem
warfare is not unrelated to these developments,
of course, and the battles have probably just
begun. A lot more sociological and
anthropological energy could usefully be
deployed, following the likes of Rita Erickson,
researching this arena.
Filipino Americans: Transformation and Identity,
edited by Maria P. Root. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Sage, 1997. 352 pp. $58.00 cloth. ISBN: 07619-0578-2. $26.95 paper. ISBN: 0-76190579-0.
An Invisible Minoriry: Braziians in New York City,
by Maxine L. Margolis. Boston: AUyn &
Bacon, 1998.141 pp. NPL paper. ISBN: 0-20526687-8.
PYONG GAP MIN
Queens College arui Graduate School, CUNY
min@qcvaxa.acc.qc.edu
Filipino Americans compose one ofthe oldest
and largest Asian immigrant groups that
established a sizable population before 1965.
Yet Filipino Americans have received much
less media and scholarly attention than
Chinese or Japanese Americans. Due to its
group diversity and "colonial mentality," the
Filipino community has been loosely organized,
and little research on Filipino Americans has
been conducted. In reaction, there has been a
movement in the Filipino community to revive
studies of the Philippines and Filipino
Americans during recent years. Filipino
Americarxs: Transformation and Identity, edited
by Maria P. Root, is such an effort. In
particular, this book is a by-product of the
Filipino community's 1996 centennial
anniversary of the 1896 revolution that
challenged the 350-year Spanish rule of the
Philippines.
Consisting of 22 chapters, Filipino Americans
covers a variety of topics relating to the Filipino
American experiences—immigration, ethnic
identity, mail-order brides, and a process of
decolonization. The main purpose ofthe book
is to interpret the impact of the four-century
colonization of the Philippines by the Westem
powers on contemporary Filipino Americans.
Many chapters interpret the Filipino-American
experiences in term of the colonization
influences
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Astrid Avalos
English 101
May 20, 2008.
Essay 3
Worked Cited
Erickson, Rita J. “Paper or Plastic? Energy, Environment and Consumerism in
Sweden and America” Rev. by Bruce Hackett. Contemporary Sociology:
Jul98, Vol.27 Issue 4, p394-395. Academic Search Premier. EBSCOHost.
LaGuardia
Community Coll. Lib., Long Island City, NY. 5 May 2008.
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=93278
0&site=ehost-live
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