Banal sustainability

This chapter examines the circulation of “sustainability” through a series of photographs, capturing how the term has permeated everyday life in mundane yet pervasive ways. The word “sustainability” is now ubiquitous, appearing in various forms across consumer products, advertising, and political rhetoric, often serving more as a tool for branding than a genuine commitment to environmental preservation. Critics argue that the term has been diluted and co-opted by corporate and political entities to align with their interests, while its original intent – a collective societal goal – has been obscured. Drawing on theoretical insights from figures such as Stuart Hall and Michael Billig, sustainability is shown to operate as a “floating signifier,” a term that lacks a fixed definition and is constantly redefined by those who wield it. Efforts to rethink orreclaim sustainability must therefore account for how the world’s banal usage ideologically affirms the status quo, inhibiting transformational change