Consumption and Sustainability in Asia
About the Book Series
Asia is the primary site of production of a myriad of commodities that circulate the globe. From cars and computer chips to brand clothing, material objects manufactured across Asia have become indispensable to people’s lives in most cultural contexts. This mega production generates huge amounts of waste and pollution that threaten the health and lifestyle of many Asians. Yet, Asia is not only a site of production, but also one of the most rapidly growing consumer markets.
This series focuses on consumption - the engine propelling Asia onto the world economic stage – and its implications, from practices and ideologies to environmental sustainability, both globally and on the region itself. The series explores the interplay between the state, market economy, technologies, and everyday life, all of which have become defining facets of contemporary Asian culture. Shifts in consumption that have taken place across Asia since the 1950s onward have had a deep impact on new and emerging informal economies of material care, revealing previously invisible sites of innovation, resistance and co-option.
The series will bring together studies by historians, anthropologists, geographers, and political scientists that systematically document and conceptualize Asia’s engagement with consumption and sustainability in the global environment.
Beijing Garbage: A City Besieged by Waste
1st Edition
By Stefan Landsberger
January 09, 2026
Why do central and local government initiatives aiming to curb the proliferation of garbage in Beijing and its disposal continue to be unsuccessful? Is the Uberization of waste picking through online-to-offline (O2O) garbage retrieval companies able to decrease waste and improve the lives of waste ...
Consuming Life in Post-Bubble Japan: A Transdisciplinary Perspective
1st Edition
Edited
By Katarzyna J. Cwiertka, Ewa Machotka
January 09, 2026
This multidisciplinary book analyses the contradictory coexistence of consumerism and environmentalism in contemporary Japan. It focuses on the dilemma that the diffusion of the concepts of sustainability and recycling has posed for everyday consumption practices, and on how these concepts have ...
Skateboarding and Urban Landscapes in Asia: Endless Spots
1st Edition
By Duncan McDuie-Ra
December 01, 2025
As urban development in Asia has accelerated, cities in the region have become central to skateboarding culture, livelihoods, and consumption. Asia's urban landscapes are desired for their endless supply of 'spots'. Spots are not built for skateboarding; they are accidents of urban planning and ...
Food Education and Rural Resilience in Japan: Nourishing National Identity
1st Edition
By Stephanie Assmann
August 05, 2025
Food education initiatives exist worldwide, but Japan remains unique with its food education law known as shokuiku. The country’s impressive health metrics — high life expectancies, low obesity, and affordable health care — often lead observers to praise this approach. This book presents a more ...