Political consumerism as a civic responsibility: it is time to (also) vote with our wallets

Citizens and states are themselves consumers. Our consumption is inevitability political: what we buy and from whom collectively impacts upon our states’ decision-making, the socio-political context in which corporations operate, and the choices that our fellow citizens make. Scholarship has raised concerns around the permissibility of market activism in a democratic context (Hussain 2012; Barry and MacDonald 2018; Hassoun 2019). This article reframes the issue at stake, presenting and defending ‘political consumerism’ as an aspect of civic responsibility rather than a form of vigilantism that by-passes democratic procedures. Political consumerism as an attitude is one that pays attention to the collective impact of consumer choice, and seeks both to minimise potential harm of these collective outcomes, and to leverage this collective consumer power to hold the state accountable. The article defends the claim that all consumption is political; viewed with a collective lens everyday consumption creates collective outcomes that shape our shared social life and our government’s decision-making. It then presents an argument for political consumerism as one key part of citizens’ collective civic responsibilities to hold the state accountable, including an examination of the value and risks of such an approach.