Rethinking Citizenship in Sustainability Transformations

Societal transformation toward ecologically sustainable consumption systems is inherently a political endeavour that demands collective action and engaged citizenship. However, prevailing narratives around consumption tend to prioritise the emphasis of individual responsibility, thereby sidelining the roles of political actors and corporations. Additionally, these narratives tend to depoliticise the sustainable transformation project. Pairing data from narrative interviews and experimental case studies conducted in the pan-European project ACCTING, this paper investigates comparatively the interplay between individual and systemic responsibilities in sustainability transformations. It focuses particularly on individuals with gender+ intersectional profiles, including dimensions such as gender, age, ethnicity, and socio-economic background, to explore how societal narratives about sustainability shape norms of citizenship and civic engagement. Through the lens of citizenship politics, the study examines how the prevalent "consumer-citizen" framing perpetuates a private-public dichotomy, obscures systemic challenges, and weakens citizens' belief in structural change. This framing not only influences individual behaviour but also narrows the scope for democratic engagement by shifting responsibility away from political and corporate actors toward individuals and their private everyday lives. The findings reveal a persistent under-attribution of responsibility to systemic actors, despite the structural nature of many sustainability barriers, and a sense of defeat regarding the feasibility of systemic reform. At the same time, the study highlights numerous instances where citizens engage in grassroots initiatives and community-based projects to collectively transform their consumption practices. While these activities are often perceived as private or individual efforts due to dominant narratives framing consumption as a personal matter, they are, in fact, deeply political acts. These initiatives not only foster collective agency but also challenge the prevailing private-public divide, illustrating how citizens actively reimagine and enact systemic, democratic change in ways that often go unrecognized in public and political discourse about democratic citizenship. Ultimately, the paper reflects on the implications of these findings for citizenship politics and civic engagement, feeding into ongoing discussions that argue for a recalibration of responsibility narratives. It further explores how individual responsibility-taking and actions aimed at addressing systemic challenges can be reintegrated into political science discussions on democratic citizenship. In doing so, it also outlines a more inclusive and participatory approach to sustainability transformations.