Sustainability as a State of Mind – The Role of Self-Help Literature in Forging Sustainable Lifestyles

Abstract

Self-help literature has attempted to change people’s mindsets for more than a century, but its potential to make a difference for the environment has barely been studied before. This thesis uses an interdisciplinary approach to look at what role self-help literature can play in changing readers’ lifestyles from unsustainable to sustainable ways. Through the perspectives of narrative and discourse theories, it examines how four self-help books on decluttering and minimalism argue that consumption should happen, from the point of purchase to the act of discarding. Frame analysis is used to show how the books view waste differently and what implications this has for the lifestyles’ level of sustainability. Further, the thesis looks at the use of personal narratives as a means of persuasion before analysing how the books argue that their lifestyles will influence the self. Finally, it shows the extent to which the self is framed as capable of influencing communities and the larger society in order to consider the books’ potential for successfully inspiring social change.