Between Consumption and Environmental Citizenship – Ethical Dilemmas Between Partners and Sustainability

Abstract

This article proposes a reflection on two contemporary social roles, which have divergent and antagonistic origins and constructions, but which pursue social well-being – the environmental citizen and the consumer. Such research proves to be opportune in a scenario of legitimate concerns with environmental issues, the target of conflicts between decisions and actions of a sustainable nature. The general objective of the research is highlight the main ethical dilemmas between these roles from the perspective of environmental ethics. Therefore, the specific objectives are to describe the concepts of consumer and environmental citizen, characteristics and epistemological perceptions; point out the main factors that generate conflicts between the roles of consumer and environmental citizen; to analyze the social dynamics that embrace the roles of consumer and environmental citizen from the perspective of environmental ethics. This research has a qualitative character, and the discussion was done through bibliographical and content analysis, with the construction of a mental map.