Pathways Towards a Circular Society: Connecting Consumption, Demand and Everyday Practices

The inherent unsustainability of current systems of production and consumption urgently require a sociological understanding of their dynamics as well as potential opportunities for their transformation towards greater circularity and radically reduced demand for material resources. While significant progress has been made in research and theoretical development of the design and overall principles of circularity, such work has largely focused on the organisation of production. In contrast, conceptual and empirical work on circular consumption and resulting shifts in demand remains underdeveloped. Adopting a practice-theoretical approach that shifts attention to circular consumption and its roots in everyday practices, this paper offers an empirically grounded, critical contribution to debates concerning the transition towards a circular economy/society debate. Fusing conceptual considerations with an integrated analysis of twenty qualitative interviews and representative survey data collected in Germany in 2023/24, the paper explores if and how people adopt or reject particular practices linked to circularity, including sharing, commoning and purchasing second hand goods. Focusing on the areas of mobility and housing as well as the ambiguous role of digital tools in promoting circularity, our analysis reveals distinctive pathways towards circular consumption that reflect people’s engagement in particular constellations of practices. Importantly, the paper also highlights the significance of deliberate non-engagement in resource-intensive practices as a key step towards circularity rooted in sufficiency.