Critical Consumption and New Forms of Political Participation: The Case of "Sustainable Purchasing Groups"

Bio…logic!, GASpiterina, GAStronauti, GASolani... Different fancy names, sharing one crucial feature: they are all Gruppi di acquisto solidale (GAS), or “Sustainable Purchasing Groups” to say it in English, that is to say groups of people that decide to share one of the major activities carried out in our daily life: purchasing, especially of foodstuffs. The diffusion of SPGs in Italy – and, generally speaking, of new players working to create a fair economy – is one of the most interesting phenomena observed during the past few years. In a period characterized by a growing distrust of Italian citizens towards politics and by a new drive for alternative forms of participation, the birth of formal and informal forms of association, such as EPGs, providing citizens with new opportunities of critical consumption and with an active participation, becomes a very interesting phenomenon.