Juliet Schor: Climate Responsibility and New Cultures of Consumption

Date of Lecture: April 17, 2013

About the Speaker: Juliet Schor, professor of sociology at Boston College, has focused on issues of work, consumption and sustainability. As a member of a MacArthur Research Network she is studying the emergence of collaborative consumption. Her most recent book is called "Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth" (Penguin Press, 2010). She is also author of the national best-seller, "The Overworked American: The Unexpected Decline of Leisure" (Basic Books, 1992). Before joining BC, she taught at Harvard for 17 years in the Department of Economics.

About the Talk: Professor Schor talks about the real problem of climate change and efforts of sustainable consumption and production to reduce our carbon footprint. She proposes an economic structure that combines shorter working hours with the adoption of collaborative consumption — the sharing and re-use of resources — and sustainable do-it-yourself practices.

Her talk was sponsored by the department of sociology and anthropology, the McFarland Center and Montserrat.

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