Can we slow down? Challenges and possibilities of living slowerand simpler in Sweden

(1)

Örebro University

School of Humanities, Education and Social Sciences Sociology

Can we slow down?

Challenges and possibilities of living slower

and simpler in Sweden.

Sandra Österlund

Spring 2020

Master’s Course, Sociology with a Sustainable Development Focus Author: Sandra Österlund

sandra.osterlund@hotmail.com Supervisor: Karin Gustafsson

(2)

Acknowledgements

Becoming emerged in the life narratives of the participants in this study has given me a sense of insight and serenity. A huge thank you to those who agreed to be a part of this thesis, it has been a pleasure and truly delightful to read and listen to your stories and reflections, filled with so much beauty and thought.

I also want to show appreciation to all the other bloggers, youtubers and members of discussion forums I have flickered through, that has given me a glimpse of what some people call a ‘movement’ or a ‘transition’ or even an ‘awakening’. The dedication and wisdom found on so many places has truly been an injection of hope.

Thank you also to my supervisor Karin Gustafsson for helpful discussions, perspectives and suggestions. Talking to you always gave me more direction, focus and renewed energy.

Last but not least, thank you to my husband Simon and my daughter Vilda for showing endless love, patience, and steering up our life while I was busy writing about others’. Mom is coming out of her room now.

(3)

Abstract

This thesis takes its departure in the view of modern society as being characterised by a heavy focus on efficiency and economic growth, and the perception that everything is moving faster and faster in line with Hartmut Rosa’s (2009) theory of ‘Social acceleration’. The effects of this can be seen in rising numbers of stress related sicknesses and mental health problems, as well as a heavy pressure on the earth’s resources to facilitate continued growth. The aim of the thesis is to investigate the challenges and possibilities for individuals in Sweden to slow down and live a simpler life in this context. Previous research suggests that slower lifestyles can be beneficial both for wellbeing and environmental sustainability reasons, so understanding the preconditions of this to be possible can be an important aspect when trying to plan for a sustainable future. The theoretical framework consists of the model of voluntary simplicity lifestyle (VSL) by Osikominu and Bocken (2020), the theory of social acceleration by Rosa (2009) and selected writings on Social Change. The thesis is based on a thematic analysis of empiric material from individuals in Sweden who has transitioned to a slower and more simple lifestyle, generally in terms of working less, reducing their consumption and living closer no nature, and also are visible on social media, reaching out to many others as inspiration. The material consists of writings and recordings from the study-persons in the form of blog-posts and podcasts. The study could confirm that many parts of the VSL-model also were applicable and experienced in the Swedish context. Most participants had in common that their previous lifestyle was characterised by stress, pressure, and living according to others expectations, in line with Rosa's theory of social acceleration. Their new slower and simpler lifestyles were a decision to follow their own path in life and start to value their time more. The challenges that could be recognised were the norm of working full-time, achievement values, living outside the norm, ethical dilemmas regarding consumption and, for those living on the countryside, transport and infrastructure. The possibilities most recognised were concerning their wellbeing, closely related to their possibility of finding time for recovery, as well as living more in contact with the environment. Social life appeared both as a challenge and a possibility.

Keywords:

slow living, voluntary simplicity, downshifting, minimalism, sustainability, social acceleration, social change

(4)

(5)

List of Abbreviations

SP Study-Person

VSL Voluntary Simplicity Lifestyle

List of Figures

Figure 1 The VSL-model

(7)

1 Introduction

In a world that seems to be moving faster and faster, how do we find time to live? Are we working to live or living to work? Many parts of society today have become obsessed about time and efficiency. A telling example is the Swedish elderly care. Among others, Sundgren (2020) and Adamo (2019) describes how the work used to be human-focused, with time to sit down for a coffee and a small chat with a lonely elder. Today it has instead become increasingly stressful, with ever tighter schedules and shorter visits. Every minute spent at each care-patient is logged, and all tasks has a calculated standardised time that should be followed, even showers and bathroom visits (Sundgren, 2020). Human connection is out of the calculation. German sociologist Hartmut Rosa (2009), explain this efficiency obsession by arguing that the overarching capitalistic system needs economic growth to function, and the prerequisite for growth is an increase of output in relation to time, or in other words, efficiency. However, a growing number of scholars has started to investigate what society could look like if the growth-aspect was removed from its pedestal (Demaria et al., 2019; Kallis et al., 2018; Svenfelt et al., 2019). If the environment and human wellbeing instead would be centre of attention. Societal change and a transformation towards more sustainable lifestyles has been suggested to constitute a necessary part of the path to securing the future of our planet, and even though many scholars have explored alternative forms of organisations and experiments in an attempted to find ways in which this change can take place, a plausible way towards a radical transition remains blurred (Schmid, B, 2019). At the same time, the degree of stress and mental health problems are rising, and Alex Szollos (2009) has brought to attention the issue of ‘chronic time pressure’ as a prominent feature of today’s society.

Although society as a whole has not yet gone through this suggested transformation, some individuals has begun to shift their personal focus, trying to live a slower and more simple life in connection to nature, community, friends and family. These values seem to be growing, and were identified in a european study of what aspects of life people would want more of in the future (INHERIT, 2019). Also, terminology describing these trends, such as slow living, downshifting,

voluntary simplicity and minimalism are increasingly studied (Alexander et al., 2012; Lamb, 2019;

Osikominu & Bocken, 2020; Uggla, 2019). Basic traits underpinning these concepts includes a reduction of working hours, leading to reduced income and increased free time. To enable this reduced income, a central aspect is to reduce expenses, often through consuming less. Previous research suggests that lifestyle changes in these directions are beneficial in terms of wellbeing, life

(8)

satisfaction and in environmental terms as a result of reduced consumption (Alexander et al., 2012; Lamb, 2019; Osikominu & Bocken, 2020).

How this change can happen on a societal level however is a matter for discussion. Some argue that we should prepare for societies with less or no growth before we are forced to do so because of a crisis. Other suggests that a crisis often is needed and can be viewed as a push in a new direction. Currently, the world is experiencing one of the deepest crises in modern times due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Many countries have imposed a lockdown of society and various degrees of curfew for citizens, and the world economy is in free fall. Some have raised subtle hopes that this could provide a possibility to change path in a greener and more socially sustainable direction. Recently, a UN chief described the pandemic as an ‘unprecedented wake-up call’ and the biggest crisis since world war 2, urging the whole world to work together and change crucial aspects of our social and economic system (UN, 2020). Last time we had a great economic recession, in 2008, Erik Assadourian (2010) wrote about the rise of a new culture and new values, a rethinking in what is most important for the quality of life. What has happened since then? Did we forget our ‘new’ values as the economy recovered? And what makes us think that this time it will be different?

1.1 Research Objective

In an attempt to contribute to the challenge of managing a sustainable transition with a focus on human wellbeing and less stress on the earth’s resources as well as our minds, this study aims at investigating the possibilities that exists for individuals to transition towards a slower lifestyle. In doing so, the focus will also lie on what challenges people meet in their efforts to live slower and simpler. Some key challenges for individuals attempting slower lifestyles have already been recognised in previous research by Lamb (2019), Alexander et al. (2012), Osikominu & Bocken (2020) and Sandlin et al. (2009) mainly in terms of social norms and lack of suitable employment and infrastructure. The current study aims to see if similar experiences are also found in Sweden. This is interesting due to the importance of social and cultural context when it comes to lifestyles, and the apparent lack of research on the Swedish context in this regard. If these challenges are better understood, they could possibly serve as guidance in political and societal efforts to support lifestyle choices in a slower and simpler direction, and as a consequence also a more sustainable direction. An underlying argument for why personal lifestyle choices would need political support is

(9)

that personal possibilities of making life choices to some degree are dependent on what politics and policies are in place in society. Hence, the subject of lifestyles is of both individual and societal character.

1.2 Research Question

Based on previous research on improved wellbeing and environmental gains connected to slower and simpler lifestyles, the underlying assumption for the thesis is that a personal transition to a slower and more simple life should be possible to attempt by those who feel drawn to it. In order to provide a firmer ground for understanding the needs for this to be possible, the main research question is:

•

What challenges and possibilities are recognised by individuals in Sweden who want to transition to a slower and more simple way of living?

This will be investigated by analysing the content and narratives communicated in personal blogs and podcasts on the topics of living slower and simpler.

1.3 Disposition

Chapter 2 of Previous Research will introduce the concept of Slow Living and discuss it in relation to previous research on the related topics of Downshifting, Minimalism, Voluntary Simplicity and Sustainable Development. After this, chapter 3 of Theoretical Framework will first present a newly developed model for understanding the Voluntary Simplicity Lifestyle, followed by a theory of modernity in terms of Social Acceleration as well as a brief discussion of Social Change. The chapter of Method and Material will explain how the current study was conducted. The chapter of Findings and Analysis will present the findings of the current study and relate it to the theoretical framework of voluntary simplicity, social acceleration and social change. Lastly, conclusions will be presented, followed by reflections in regard to future research.

(10)

2 Previous Research

This section will begin with a short introduction of the concept of slow living, and previous research on the related topics of downshifting, minimalism and voluntary simplicity. This is followed by previous research on peoples experiences of living slower and simpler, with a focus on challenges and possibilities. Lastly, previous research on slow living in relation to sustainability is presented and discussed.

2.1 Living slower and simpler

The concept of Slow living

The ideas of slow living can arguably be traced back to the writings of Henry David Thoreau in the mid 19th century. In his book ‘Walden’ he criticise society’s alienation from nature, and describe the good life of simplicity in his small forest cabin (Thoreau, 1854). In more recent time, the ‘Slow food movement’ begun in Italy 1986 founded by Carlo Petrini as a response to McDonalds opening in Rome. Later it also received its acronym ‘sustainable, local, organic, whole’ (Kowalski, n.d.). Initially it was a movement agains fast food, but has since then evolved to include many other parts of life. In 1999 Petrini expanded his movement to include the objective of ‘slow cities’, argued by Mayer (2006) to have promising possibilities responding to the challenges of combining environmental, social and economic sustainability. The same year, Geir Berthelsen founded the World Institute of Slowness, with the vision statement ‘slow the world down to create healthier, happier and more productive people’ (The World Institute of Slowness, n. d.).

Slow living and the modern society

Wendy Parkins (2004), studying the ‘slow movement’ argues that the capacity for reflection is central to slowness. However, she emphasises that slowness also requires institutional support for its continued existence, and for the improvement of society as a result. She argues that modern everyday life is characterised by habit and inattentiveness, and thus do not provide opportunities for reflection. According to Emma McGuric (2017), strategies for slowing down life include working less, spending less and sharing more. Her research focus on Timebanking, a local system where people can trade services with each other, based on time instead of money. McGurik (2017) points at the connectedness between Timebanking and the philosophies of degrowth, downsizing, and

(11)

voluntary simplicity, all sharing the increased valuation of time. McGurik (2017) further argues that there is a transformative potential of modest changes in practice and wants to contribute to the discussion on how to downscale production and consumption, increase wellbeing and ecological conditions.

Ylva Uggla (2019) suggests that minimalism, defined as reducing the amount of things one owns, is an under category of voluntary simplicity and can be seen as a way of ‘dealing with situations of discontent’ (p. 249), and an individual attempt at resisting the speed of life. Although expressed in varying forms, she recognise a core purpose in striving for freedom and a meaningful life. She further recognises a contradiction in the perception of time and tempo, where intentional form of living in the moment needs to be balanced with the goal of enabling long term planning. Uggla (2019) also differentiates minimalism from voluntary simplicity arguing that voluntary simplifiers often have more prominent environmental motivations.

Foifu (2015) also draws a connection between slowness, downshifting and voluntary simplicity, saying that the meaning of ‘slow’ is an important aspect of all these lifestyles. She further argues that hence, these lifestyles has important roles to play within capitalist societies today, that are characterised by speed, efficiency and growth, offering a shift in focus towards ‘more spiritual and emotional wellbeing rather than material accumulation’ (p. 63). Foifu (2015), continuing from this line of thought, further wants to explore what it would mean to slow down. She suggests that ‘utopian thinking’ can be used as a way of responding to a crisis, and challenge the view of ‘economic fatalism’ which suggests that the world can only be the way it is. She also recognises a restriction in the terminology of fast and slow, as both are variables of speed, but argue that time itself does not necessarily have to be described as a motion.

In the current thesis ‘slow living’ will be used as an umbrella term, sharing common ground with the other concepts such as downshifting, voluntary simplicity and minimalism, as shown above. However, when referring to other studies on a specific sub-category, the original term used in respective study will be used for clarity reasons.

Experiences of living slower and simpler

Samuel Alexander et al. (2012) have conducted a large online survey analysing the ‘voluntary simplicity movement’ where the aim is to lower the consumption and improve the quality of life. As

(12)

of 2012 the survey had been answered by 2268 people who were considered part of the movement. The criteria for being ‘part of the movement’ and hence included in the study was defined as ‘voluntarily reduced or restrained income, consumption, and / or working hours’. Thus, these aspects serve as a qualification for a slower lifestyle as well. The questions regarded happiness, income, community and politics. Participants in the study was mainly from North America and Australia, and were living quite evenly spread in big cites, middle sized cities, small towns and rural areas. In Alexander et al. (2012)’s survey, almost 50% of the respondents had reduced working hours and 38% changed careers. The results suggest that more time enable the participants to have more active leisure time, spending far less time on television compared to the average (Alexander et al., 2012). Kraisornsuthasinee et al. (2017) conducted six in depth interviews with voluntary simplifiers in Thailand in order to better understand what impact their lifestyle choices had on their career paths. The results from the interviews conducted by Kraisornsuthasinee et al. (2017) indicate a strong connection between the lifestyle transition and a more ethical choice of career, for example abandoning a high paid positions in marketing in favour of a freelance position which offered better opportunities to balance work with family life, or leaving a private hospital to work in a lower paid government hospital open for everyone. These studies shows that in terms of work, the transition to a slower and simpler lifestyle is closely connected to working less as well as choosing your work more in accordance with your values.

General preferences in terms of consumption found by Alexander et al. (2012) were towards hand made, home made, long lasting high quality products and second hand. The most important thing was not spending less but spending more thoughtfully, in line with Parkins (2004) argument that the capacity for reflection was central for living slower. Other common practices were home food production, with 83% reporting growing their own food to some degree. 63% tried to mostly eat fresh and unprocessed food, in line with the central values of the slow food movement described above. In regards of clothing, 95% answered that they, to different extents, bought second hand, made their own, and repaired what they already have (Alexander et al., 2012). Hence, the research of Alexander et al. (2012) shows that the consumption among people living slower and simpler generally is characterised by consuming less as well as consuming differently and more thoughtfully.

David Lamb (2019) have investigated what challenges individuals who have transitioned to a slower lifestyle within a faster society have met. The study was made in an urban setting in western

(13)

Australia using focus group discussions with 18 participants. Lamb (2019) find that the most impactful hardship among his participants is lack of understanding of their chosen lifestyle from family and friends. In this category also fall the ‘problem of gift-giving’ recognised by Janet Lorenzen (2018) to be an important challenge for reducing consumption. She conducted 45 interviews with individuals attempting to live simpler and more sustainable. In her findings, many were bothered over the pressure to consume in order to show appreciation towards others, and therefore felt unable to withdraw completely from buying gifts, but instead often turning to more ethical products as a compromise. Judgement from others were also recognised by Sandlin et al. (2009), studying identity building within the voluntary simplicity movement, by analysing discussion threads on the Simple Living Network Webpage. In their findings, several members described how they had been ridiculed by coworkers for riding a bike or choosing to not eat out. Based on these studies, most challenges experienced seem to be of a social character, concerning the participants relationships with others. Additionally, the biggest obstacles for living simply, identified by Alexander et al. (2012), was reported to be suitable transport and suitable employment. In terms of the advantages with slower and simpler lifestyles, Alexander et al. (2012) found that out of those who reported living less simple lives before, 87% stated that they felt happier after the transition to a more simple lifestyle, and only 0.3% reported feeling less happy. Lamb (2019) in turn, could identify opportunities of slow living connected to people's well being primarily through providing the individual with more control over ones time. Boujbel et al. (2012), studying the relationship between voluntary simplicity and life satisfaction, also conclude that the aspect of control is an important factor. They argue that the individual’s ability to control their own consumption desires, especially among those with less financial resources, has a positive impact on their satisfaction with life. Lastly, Mangold et al. (2019) have studied the tiny house movement, where people are downsizing their place of living in exchange for more freedom and less or no mortgage, in search for ‘the good life’. Their findings also suggests that more time and control over their life situation are important opportunities of the tiny house lifestyle, together with the opportunities for more experiences and more time on relationships.

2.2 Slow, simple and sustainable?

In order to provide a stronger foundation for the societal relevance of slower and simpler lifestyles, this section will elaborate further on the effects of slow living practices, in relation to sustainable

(14)

development. The review is organised around the three sustainability pillars of environmental, social and economic sustainability. This way of interpreting the dimensions of sustainability are widely adopted and can be considered customary according to Boström (2012) and explained as a paradigm by Seghezzo (2009).

Environmental sustainability

Reviewing research that connects environmental sustainability with typical practices of voluntary simplifiers such as working less and consuming less, the central argument in terms of environmental sustainability is that less consumption equals less need for material extraction and leads to less pressure on the earth’s resources. Although many scholars argue that, most importantly, a reduction of overconsumption is necessary to reach environmental sustainability, others are pointing at potential conflicts that might stand in the way for realising their intention.

Parkins & Craig (2011) explain that Ethical consuming requires more time than conventional consuming and hence is favoured by a slow lifestyle. Further, the perception of what time is will differ in this perspective, as temporalities connected to sustainability is tied to seasons and natural life cycles. Therefore, Parkins & Craig (2011, p. 196) recognise the opportunity of slowness to ‘bring us closer to nature and experience seasonality’.

On the other hand, Blake Alcott (2008) is not convinced that reduced consumption automatically translates into environmental benefits. He suggests that environmentally negative effects can remain, even if some people consume less, and explains this by pointing out that lower prices due to decreased demand in turn will attract more consumption from others. However, this argument is based on a small number of people changing their habits, and do not consider the plausible consequence if a substantially larger number of people would change their lifestyles and consume less. Further, the complexity of the question becomes clear when looking at the definitions of ‘environmental benefit’ and how these potential rebound-effects are calculated. For instance in Buhl et al. (2016) research, building on the ideas of Alcott (2008), a switch to local and organic whole food were considered more environmentally harmful than ‘efficient’ processed alternatives, contrary to the conventional view of local and organic food as sustainable.

(15)

Social sustainability

In terms of Social sustainability , this paper will focus on individual wellbeing and overall satisfaction with life. Findings from various studies shows that increased wellbeing and overall life satisfaction are reported by individuals who have transitioned to slower lifestyles(Buhl et al., 2016; Alexander et al., 2012: Lamb, 2019; Osikominu & Bocken, 2020). Buhl et al. (2016) also studied the potential unintentional effects of reducing working hours for environmental and wellbeing reasons. According to their findings, all respondents report an increase in life satisfaction after voluntary decreasing their working hours. Many had also started to engage more in voluntary and informal work, as also found by Osikominu & Bocken (2020). Alexander et al. (2012) comes to similar conclusions in their study of the voluntary simplicity movement. As mentioned above, and also relevant in this context, they found that 87% of the respondents felt happier after the lifestyle transition, and only 0.3% reported feeling less happy (Alexander et al., 2012). Judging from these findings, the connection between a voluntary slower and simpler lifestyle and improved feelings of life satisfaction seems to be quite uncontested.

However, some studies complicate the matter slightly. Krogman et al. (2013) explores the possibility of a double dividend (simultaneously improved wellbeing and reduced environmental impact), among the more narrow category of ‘downshifters’, who have reduced their work hours without environmental motives, and receive contradictory results concerning their perceived quality of life. Other studies also shows that increased free time do not necessarily leads to improved life satisfaction. Kennedy et al. (2013) made a Canadian survey among people who had reduced their working hours, looking for a positive double dividend in terms of environmental behaviour and life satisfaction and found no significant correlation between downshifting and increased life satisfaction. Similarily, Szollos (2009), who has studied the concept of chronic time pressure, explains an overall tendency of increased leisure time, but also increased feelings of time pressure.

In this context, one could discuss the importance of what you fill your free time with. This could to some extent explain better results when looking at more throughly transformed lifestyles, for example the voluntary simplicity movement, compared to research where more narrow parameters have been studied, for example the study among downshifters. Further, those studies that have compared levels of life satisfaction before and after a lifestyle change has almost exclusively reported increased happiness compared to their previous situation, indicating that even if not everyone per se necessarily would benefit from a slower life, those who for some reason choose to

(16)

do so generally end up improving their subjective level of life satisfaction. Based on this, the conclusion is that supporting slower lifestyles can still be well justified with social arguments, and as a response to growing health issues related to stress and burnout syndrome.

Economic sustainability

One of the core ideas of slower and simpler living is to reduce the centrality of the economy and showing alternative directions. Connected to this is the increasingly discussed concept of degrowth, as an alternative to the unbalanced focus on economic growth in todays western society. Research on degrowth suggest that the assumption that the economy can continue to grow indefinitely cannot be taken for granted, and thus, preparing for a potentially necessary degrowth is of importance (Svenfelt et al. 2019). Svenfelt et al. (2019) argue that, for instance, some small towns in Sweden already experience degrowth, and therefore it would make sense to include the possibility of this when planning for the future. Kallis et al. (2018) have reviewed extensive research on degrowth, and argue that reduced working hours, in line with the concept of slow living, is a common feature in practically every degrowth scenario developed, the main reason being to avoid large scale unemployment.

One of the most voiced arguments against degrowth is that the growing economy better enables us to lift more people out of poverty, increase wellbeing and achieve social justice. However, Paulson (2017) points at the weak correlation between economic growth (GDP) and positive outcomes such as longevity, literacy, equality, health and happiness. Further she argues that extensive evidence exist regarding negative environmental and social effects from material and economic growth, but that despite this, securing continued economic growth is on nearly every policy agenda. Buhr at al. (2018) come to similar conclusions in their case study on Alingsås, a Swedish municipality who have expressed interest in degrowth reasonings. Their results show that questioning the ‘good’ of economic growth is not expected from public officials and assumed extreme or unrealistic, and hence has not so far had any impact on policy.

2.3 Summary

The previous research has shown that slow living and related lifestyles are associated with working less and differently and consuming less and differently. Identified challenges are tied to social norms and infrastructure and advantages are identified in terms of increased control over ones life

(17)

and increased wellbeing. In terms of sustainability, slow living seems to be beneficial for the environment, people’s wellbeing and increased societal engagement. Slow living also offers a critique against the current centrality of economic growth. In the current study, the hope will be to offer improved understanding of people’s experiences of living slower in Sweden, especially in terms of perceived challenges. Further, a reflection of the role of personal lifestyles in a broader quest for a sustainable future will be attempted.

(18)

3 Theoretical Framework

The theoretical framework will include a model of the Voluntary Simplicity Lifestyle developed by Jessica Osikominu and Nancy Bocken (2020), the theory of Social Acceleration by Hartmut Rosa (2009) and a selection of writings on Social Change.

3.1 The VSL-model

Osikominu and Bocken (2020) has developed a model describing the Voluntary Simplicity Lifestyle (VSL). The model is based on existing literature as well as an additional nine interviews from different countries. Figure 1 shows an overview of the VSL-model, followed by more detailed descriptions of the different parts, which consists of VSL values + prior values, VSL adoption, VSL practices and VSL effects.

(19)

VSL Values and Prior Values

‘Values’ refers to what one perceives as important in life. The values identified with the voluntary simplicity lifestyle in the VSL-model are Universalism, Benevolence, Stimulation and Self-direction (Osikominu & Bocken, 2020).

• ‘Universalism’ is described as caring for global social and environmental challenges.

• ‘Benevolence’ relates to caring for people with whom one are in close contact, mostly evident in the VSL-model through increased time spent on relationships with family, friends, and community.

• ‘Stimulation’ is described as valuing ‘excitement, novelty and challenge in life’ (p. 7) and was manifested as a dissatisfaction with the mainstream lifestyle, wanting more out of life.

• ‘Self-direction’ is described as independent thinking, action, creation and exploration. This was the VSL value most strongly identified in the study, mainly shown as a drive to find their own purpose in life and by actively reflect on the choices they make and what their priorities are.

Osikominu & Bocken (2020) further suggest that the values of ‘Self-direction’ and ‘Stimulation’ was suppressed before the lifestyle change. In addition to this, they found one ‘rather weak’ sign of a value shift in that participants, after their lifestyle shift, claimed to no longer be guided by the value of Achievement, here described as ‘personal success through demonstrating competence according to social standards’ (p. 9).

VSL Adoption

The process of transitioning into a lifestyle of voluntary simplicity is described in terms of Triggers,

Enablers and Barriers, which can be either Internal or External (Osikominu & Bocken, 2020).

• ‘Triggers’ are what initiated the lifestyle change. The most important identified triggers were external and stemming from significant life events or feelings of dissatisfaction, for example from having a job that is stressful or lacking meaning.

• ‘Enablers’ are what makes the transition possible. Here, Internal enablers were most important, in terms of inner growth and satisfaction from following your own path instead of others expectations. Also valuing time more than money and cutting costs through reevaluating what you actually need are common internal enablers. External enablers were mainly ones partner or new friends with similar values.

(20)

• ‘Barriers’ are what makes the VSL adoption more difficult. The most important barriers were

external, and in particular disapproval from friends and family. Also, the problem of finding work

that met their values or preferred working hours could be an important barrier. Other external barriers identified was economy, culture, infrastructure and educational system. The economy and society in general was perceived as negative. No internal barrier of significance was identified.

VSL Practices

A main feature of the model is a compilation of various practices connected to the lifestyle of voluntary simplicity. In the first stage of the transition, Osikominu and Bocken (2020) argue that a

reduction of work (less hours or resigning) leads to reduced income and increased free time, as

shown in the yellow area in Figure 2. The reduced income leads to less or different material consumption. The increased free time on the other hand leads to increased non-material experiences. These two main changes leads to a new set of practices, unique for each individual, as shown in the blue area of Figure 2. The model includes a total of 151 identified VSL practices, divided into the five categories of Materialism, Basic Needs, Relationships, Cognitive Activities, and Physical Activities, the practices of most significance described below.

Figure 2: VSL Practices and Effects Model, within the larger VSL-model shown above, (Osikominu & Bocken, 2020)

• ‘Materialism’ practices included decluttering and getting rid of things in a conscious way, giving away to second hand stores and friends instead of throwing away. Other common practices was

avoiding buying new things, practicing more conscious consumption or making things oneself.

(21)

• ‘Basic Needs’ was divided into the home, eating, dressing and transportation. In regard to ones home, it was common to make changes in a more sustainable and self-sufficient direction such as natural insulation, water tanks, solar panels, outdoor ovens, and planting trees. Reducing waste or aiming at zero-waste was also a common practice. Osikominu & Bocken (2020) further found that most people did not move, but those who did chose smaller houses in more rural areas, smaller apartments or cooperative housing. Many grow their own food, buy food from a local cooperative and also buy organic and Fairtrade to a larger extent. Meat consumption was reduced, and many started to cook more from scratch and compost food waste. In terms of dressing, it was common to avoid fast trends. Some created a capsule wardrobe of a few quality pieces designed to last for a long time. General practices was buying less and more consciously. In regard to transportation, most do not want to be dependent on a car, but are so to some extent anyway. When possible, they try, to different degrees, use walking, biking, hitchhiking, carpooling and public transport instead, or at least reducing the number of car trips through more planning. Walking brought closeness to nature and time for meditation for some.

• ‘Relationships’ practices included spending more time with family and friends than before. New friendships with people sharing similar values emerged, while old ones drifted apart. It was also common to engage more in society through volunteering or advocating for environmental or social causes. Many wanted to inspire their surrounding as a VSL role model. Better at saying no to things and relationships they do not want. The perception of to what extent they are part of a movement is varying.

• ‘Cognitive Activities’ included searching for new knowledge in philosophy, psychology, science, sustainability, the economic system, sufficiency skills, education or simple living. Related to the inner life, many started meditation, journaling or yoga. An increased interest in arts and

culture was also recognised.

• ‘Physical Activities’ was shown in higher interest in fitness and health, often through gardening, running and biking. Also spending more time in nature, going for walks and hiking were common practices in this category.

VSL effects

The four identified effects of the VSL practices were increased wellbeing, increased education,

(22)

• ‘Wellbeing’ was expressed by participants in the study as ‘less anxiety, more life satisfaction, more control about life, more slowness, more balance, more freedom to do what one loves, owning less, improved mental and physical health, improved financial situations and voluntary hardship to fix or create things themselves’.

• ‘Education’ increased primarily through the cognitive practices of gaining new knowledge, learning about oneself.

• ‘Pro-social impacts’ was mainly achieved from relationship related practices.

• ‘Pro-environmental impacts’ came from practices where material things are consumed less or differently.

3.2 Social Acceleration

In 1999, James Gleick wrote the book ‘Faster: The acceleration of just about everything’. Many would probably instinctually agree that this is an accurate description of society today, and those would not be alone. The historian Koselleck claims we can trace general complains about the ‘speed of modern society’ back to the mid 18th century. Inspired by these, and many other writings and observations, sociologist Hartmut Rosa (2009) has developed a framework trying to make sense of this general sense of speed. The basis for his analysis are four basic processes of modernisation recognised by Simmel (Individualisation), Durkheim (Differentiation), Weber (Rationalisation) and Marx (the domestication of nature). Rosa’s addition is the dimension of temporality. The result is a theory he calls ‘Social acceleration’ which aims at describing the basic traits of modern society and its development.

Categories of acceleration

Rosa (2009) divides his theory of social acceleration into three categories of acceleration, namely the acceleration of technology, social change and pace of life. Acceleration of technology refers to the most easily measured speed up of various transportation modes, communication and production, that takes place within society. Acceleration of social change refers to the acceleration of society itself in terms of ‘attitudes and values, as well as fashions and lifestyles, social relations and obligations … (and) forms of practice and habits’ (Rosa, 2009, p. 83). An important aspect is the

contraction of the present, defined as the period in which your experience will inform your

(23)

experiences in everyday life’that has been enabled by the technological acceleration (Rosa, 2009, p. 85). Paradoxically, technical development is often justified with its possibilities of saving time, but instead we feel more stressed than ever. This is because increased efficiency has resulted in demand for increased productivity, and as long as the demand for productivity remains slightly higher then the pace we are working in, we will feel stress and time scarcity, even if we do more than ever before. Related to this paradox, Rosa (2009, p. 87) describes the connection between growth and speed: ‘Free time is produced when the technological acceleration rate is above the rate of growth, where “growth” refers to all kinds of time consuming actions and processes’. With this in mind, Rosa’s theory becomes highly relevant to the current debate on growth, and more recently, degrowth.

Drivers of acceleration

Further, Rosa (2009) recognise three important drivers to social acceleration: the economic, cultural and structural motor. The economic motor drives the acceleration of technology. The logic of capitalism connects growth with acceleration in the need to increase production (growth) as well as productivity (output per unit time). Rosa (2009) argues that many authors have attributed all forms of acceleration to capitalism (for instance Sennet, Harvey, Scheuerman and Postone). Here, capitalism, making up the economic motor, is viewed as one out of three important drivers of acceleration. The cultural motor drives the acceleration of the pace of life. According to Rosa (2009), the dominant culture that has emerged is that a good life equals a fulfilled life, rich in experiences and developed capacities. Secularisation of time means a focus on realising as many options as possible in ‘real’ life instead of waiting for a ‘higher life’ after death. An effect from this is the feeling of stress: the world has much more to offer than what can be experienced in a lifetime. An attempt to solve the problem has been to increase the efficiency to fit in more experiences. However, higher efficiency in turn creates even more options, resulting in that we are able to experience an even lesser share of ‘everything’. The structural motor drives the acceleration of social change. Rosa (2009) explains that the modernisation process of functional differentiation (politics, science, art, economy etc) leads to a high complexity, which creates an abundance of options and possibilities, and attempts to more efficient processes, similar to the acceleration of pace of life.

(24)

Deceleration

In order to ‘test’ to what length his theory of acceleration occurs, Rosa (2009) also wants to investigate the limits of social acceleration and by doing so recognise five forms of deceleration. These include:

• Natural limits of what is physically possible to accelerate, for example the speed of perception and processing in our brains.

• Isolated ‘islands’ of cultures apart from society or ‘oases of deceleration’.

• Slowdown as an unintended consequence of acceleration, a dysfunctional form of deceleration, for example traffic jam or mental burnout and depression due to the pressures of acceleration (Rosa, 2009).

• Intentional forms of social deceleration, for example ideological movements against modernisation, which, he argues, has always been present but with limited effects. Ideological movements in favour of slowness is seen as constituting the ‘backside’ of social acceleration, moving with it rather than against it (Rosa, 2014). Within this category is also the temporary form of intentional deceleration, which offer a ‘pause’ from acceleration (for example through yoga), but with the aim to help you get back into the race with increased success, and hence, enabling further acceleration (Rosa, 2009).

• ‘Hyperaccelerated standstill’, the end of modern society, the wheel is spinning too fast to stop, the only way is towards a crash. The view that any real change is no longer possible.

Despite these identified decelerations, Rosa (2009) conclude that these have had only minor impact on the overall tendency of social acceleration. Every deceleration tendency he describes, he also dismisses as a weak force of resistance, a temporal dip or mere paralysation. Rosa (2009) further argues that an alarming consequence of the contraction of the present, on a both individual and societal level, is a lack of meaningful history and future, leading to a perception of time as ‘frozen’ and prone to depression. This can be understood as a feeling that nothing you can do matters and lack of control over both your personal life and society as a whole. This results in endless freedom that you cannot utilise and the full capacity of anything is never realised. The sense of direction and progress, previously seen in the development of modern society, has turned into an aimless frantic motion. In the same way as the personal life has become increasingly difficult to plan for, states are having trouble planning for society, instead ending up with reactionist situational decisions (Rosa, 2009).

(25)

Regarding the political aspect, Fofiu (2015) argues that there is indeed a possibility for authoritarian governments to take control over the time, for example through enforcing policies on work-hours. However, in liberal governments, Fofiu (2015) explains that time is controlled by the system of capitalism that runs through all political aspects in the current market society. This leads to an unpolitisation of time, and an individual responsibility to manage your own work-family-balance. In this view, the possibilities of change lies in the individual effort to practice more control over their own lives.

3.3 Social Change

Rosa's theory of Social acceleration does not offer much hope for the possibilities of change. Blühdorn (2017), comes to a similar conclusion, arguing that a ‘big push’ would be necessary to achieve social change beyond capitalism, growth and consumerism. According to Blühdorn (2017) , the need and possibility of this is increasingly recognised in the literature, where it makes up attractive ‘narratives of hope’, but which he does not see as plausible at the moment. On the contrary, Blühdorn (2017) argue, in line with Rosa (2009) that the very efforts of deceleration or radical transition may in fact serve as an enabler for the continuation of status quo and the lack of control over social acceleration.

The difficulties of societal change is further explained by Erik Assadourian (2010) as: ‘Human beings are embedded in cultural systems, are shaped and constrained by their cultures, and for the most part act only within the cultural realities of their lives’ (p. 4). The norms, values and practices connected to a certain culture is perceived as a natural part of life, not an intentional choice. However, Assadourian (2010) also argues that the current culture of consumerism has devastating social and ecological consequences, and explains a need for a cultural paradigm shift. For this paradigm shift to occur, norms and values need to change. In regard to the consumerism paradigm, Assadourian (2010) refers to environmental scientist Donella Meadows, who recognises four critical assumptions that needs to be challenged: ‘More stuff makes people happier, perpetual growth is good, humans are separate from nature, and nature is a stock of resources to be exploited for human purposes’ (p. 16).

(26)

A way of understanding how cultures can change is through the ‘Great Network Approach’ (Assadourian, 2010b, p. 19). In this approach, Cultural Pioneers, those who are able to ‘step out of their own cultural reality enough to critically examine them’ (p. 5) play an important part in influencing not only a certain amount of people, but also the very institutions already in place in society. The idea is that when ‘individuals who internalise new norms and values also actively spread them in their networks’, social change eventually becomes possible (Ibid). Assadourian (2010b) suggests that transforming a culture will take decades, possibly even centuries. This time frame means not only that it will be basically impossible to prove him wrong within his life time, but more importantly, it spreads light on the importance of being able to think about the long term, not just keeping head above the water in the current ‘now’.

Additionally, the powerful effect of stories that people can identify with is further elaborated on by Andrews and Urbanska (2010). They recognise a characteristic story among inspiring people who have started to live more slow and simple as versions of: ‘a corporate employee is stressed, sick and depressed, so he consumes less, quits his job, moves to a smaller house, finds work that is more satisfying, reduces work hours, plants a garden, and begins to work with his local community centre’ (p. 183). This shares many similarities with the narratives of american minimalists analysed by Uggla (2019), and also reflect many of the characteristics identified in the VSL-model described above. Andrews and Urbanska (2010) argue that these stories are probably much more effective in inspiring people to change their lives, than for example hard facts about climate change. Andrews and Urbanska (2010, p. 184) conclude that: ‘VS is at the same time a practice, a philosophy and a method of social change that can help transform consumer cultures by helping people understand that “less is more”’. So in this view, the personal action of transitioning to a slower and more simple lifestyle can be understood as an important piece in achieving a broader social change in favour of environmental and human wellbeing.

Social movements have previously been able to achieve reduced work time and public policy providing health care, vacation, parental leave and reduced work hours (de Graaf, 2010). Sandlin and Walther (2009), studying the voluntary simplicity lifestyle,recognises difficulties regarding the formation of a coherent identity needed for the lifestyle to become a social movement. Alexander et al. (2012) also recognise a divide between people living simple seeing themselves as part of a larger collective ‘social movement’ with the possibility to change current systems and others who are more individualised and prefer to not be part of any system. Also, Uggla (2019) is asking wether

(27)

minimalism can be understood as a more ‘radical, anti-capitalist movement’ (p. 234). In relation to this, both Uggla (2019) and Meissner (2019) argue that the level of societal critique within minimalism, is rather weak, and therefore do not seem like a substantial contribution to social change. However, Uggla (2019, p. 249) also suggest that ‘the pure number of people’ making personal transitions could eventually have a bigger impact on society, seen as a whole. Lastly, Demaria et al. (2019), focusing on the possibilities of societal change, has collected articles that with a more radical approach, which suggests that changes takes place in and through moments of crisis, rather than through more moderate steps such as ‘transition towns’ or ‘slow cities’.

3.4 Application of the theories

In this thesis, the VSL-model offers a frame for the study of slower lifestyles in terms of values adoption, practices and effects and a chance to improve the understanding of those lifestyles due to the novelty of the model. The theory of Social Acceleration act as a reference for the modern society that slower lifestyles are objecting against. Further, Rosa’s (2009) view of the possibilities of decelerations, together with selected writings on Social Change is discussed in relation to slower lifestyles and their potential role in society.

(28)

4 Method and Material

As the aim of the current thesis is to gain increased understanding of personal experiences rather than finding objective truths, the methodological approach can be described as interpretivist. As pointed out by Stuart Farthing (2016), it should be acknowledged that the author’s personal values and cultural context has influenced the research topic and the interpretation of the results. The decisions connected to the research design has been guided by the research question and nature of previous research. The study is based on selected writings and recordings from Swedish persons who have or are transitioning to slower and simpler lifestyles, and are sharing their thoughts and experiences online. The method used is a thematic analysis of personal narratives and thoughts, derived predominantly from personal blogs/webpages, but in some cases also from podcasts, further explained below.

4.1 Selection of Study-Persons

The selection of study-persons (SP’s) have been found through google, youtube and facebook, as well as through interview podcasts specialised in alternative lifestyles. The selection process could be described as an online variation of the snowballing method. Initially, search phrases such as slow living, simple living, downshifting etc were used in the various channels. A broad range of homepages, facebook pages, youtube-channels, blogs, and podcasts were viewed, read and listened to, in order to detect individuals who was writing or talking about the search for a slower, simpler and more meaningful life. When a source contained material on the theme of slow living, they were further explored. Every time other persons, home pages and organisations with similar ideas were mentioned, those were also visited for evaluation if they should be further explored or not. Interview Podcasts about alternative lifestyles were also listened to as a way of getting introduced to persons that could be of interest for the thesis.

The first criteria was that the persons should have made a transition in their lives towards a slower or more simple way of living. This could include different types of working and living. Another criteria was that the selected person should have a platform online in terms of a blog, homepage or you-tube channel, so that the analysis could be based on their own premises and choice of expression. As many were also running businesses, their platforms sometimes consisted of a combined webpage/web-shop and blog. Another selection criteria was that the chosen blog would

(29)

be relatively active, and not abandoned since many years back, to ensure some degree of relevance. In one case the study-person had made a fairly recent statement that she was taking an indefinite pause from social media, which can be understood as a step in her lifestyle transition as reducing her commitment, and hence, after she agreed to participate, she was included anyway.

The selection process led to empirical material based on seven study persons. Many of them have varying sources of income such as writing, consulting and creative work. Being present online with many followers makes them sources of inspiration for other, and can hence be argued to be of extra interest when studying lifestyles. In this sense they can also be seen as key persons within a larger tendency of social change.

4.2 Material

The final analysis is based on the study-persons own writings in their blog or homepage. Only those persons that had a personal platform (homepage/blog/youtube-channel) and provided personal reflections about their own experiences of living slower was included. In this way, the empirical material of the analysis consists solely of the study-persons own words in writing or audio, and are hence to be considered as primary sources.

In the first stages of working with the material the study-persons, the narratives connected to their lifestyle change were written down. If the study-person appeared in any of the identified alternative lifestyle podcasts, that episode was listened to as an introduction to that person. The whole episode was not transcribed but notes were taken on that information that regarded their lifestyle change. From that first note taking, often a short summary of their lifestyle transition had become visible. Continuing from that, the study-persons published material and blog archives were studied, in search of thoughts, experiences and reflections connected to the research question. An upside of this often richly documented past was the opportunity to find ‘in the moment-thoughts’ that would possibly have been difficult for them to recall afterwards. During this process the narratives of each study-person was enriched and translated. The content of these narratives were then organised around the three overarching themes of lifestyle change, challenges and possibilities, in order to respond to the research question.

(30)

All references can either be traced to a published text or a note taken from a podcast episode. Direct citations are derived from the original blogpost, with reservation for the author's translation from Swedish to English. Links to all the specific blogposts, articles and podcast episodes that the analysis is based on is collected in a document kept by the author, to enable tracing if need should occur.

4.3 Thematic Analysis

The thematic analysis was conducted on the derived narratives developed by the author. Clarke and Braun (2016) describe thematic analysis as characterised by ‘an organic approach to coding and theme development and the active role of the researcher in these processes’ (p. 297). Codes are considered the smallest unit of analysis, aimed at capturing potentially relevant data in relation to the research question. These codes then make up ‘building blocks’ for larger themes that are used to structure the findings (Clarke & Braun, 2016). In the current study, this was done by first highlighting words of extra interest in the narratives, that were describing different aspects of challenges, possibilities in relation to their way of living. As the overarching themes of challenges and possibilities were already defined by the research question, and an introductory description of their lifestyle change was consider relevant for context, these were the three consistent themes decided upon. Sub-categories were then developed from the initial coding, and re-readings with those codes in mind, grouping similar codes into the same under-category.

It is sometimes argued that using a word-count software enables a more neutral way of deriving codes and themes from a text, less dependent on the author's interpretations, and hence ‘generally resulting in greater reliability’ (Guest et al., 2012 p. 9). However, Guest et al. (2012) also comment on the lack of contextual consideration in this method. The current study thus relies more on the author’s interpretations, possibly affecting the credibility of the results, however, the results instead gains from the possibility to put more emphasis on context, and find themes that were discussed in other wordings than expected beforehand. As Guest et al. (2012) explains:

If, for example, one was interested in seeing if in-depth interview participants talked about stigma when asked about HIV/AIDS, it is unlikely the actual word “stigma” would be used. People might talk about being shunned by their family or losing their job due to their HIV status while never using the actual term stigma. (p.9)

(31)

4.4 Limitations

An important aspect to remember when analysing the results is to be aware of the extent to which their blogs can also be considered part of their paid work, and hence their situation can differ quite dramatically from the average citizen. Important to note is also that the narratives extracted from the SP’s blogposts is limited to portraying those parts of life that they felt comfortable to share with their readers, as well as limited to that information that were considered relevant by the author, and are thus extremely simplified. This however is not per se different from an interview or survey situation, but is worth pointing out since the character of personal blogs often can be perceived as very personal.

The choice to not make interviews can be considered a limitation as it led to less possibilities for asking specific questions or probing. However, the choice was also a result of the choice of finding study-persons through internet platforms where they often already provided large amounts of published material on experiences and thoughts on their lifestyle transitions available for everyone to read and be inspired from. By not allocating time at preparing and conducting interviews, more time could be spent on throughly going through their own material and relate that material, piece by piece, to the background research and research question. Further, their already produced material could even potentially include more thought behind them than a quick answer to a question. Future studies could however probably gain from an interview situation, spreading light over parts that might not have been portrayed in the current study.

Lastly, the generalisability of the current thesis should be considered limited due to its qualitative character and reasonably few study-persons. However, it does have a potential in offering the research field on slower and simpler lifestyles a glimpse of a missing Swedish perspective. In terms of credibility, a common criteria is that the methods used should be described as transparent as possiblewhich has been the aim of the current chapter.

4.5 Ethical considerations

Only material freely published online has been included in the study, hence all information used is information the participants themselves have chosen to make available to the public. However, since the material was published to be viewed in their own channels, or contexts of their own choosing, and this thesis might provide a perspective that changes the format of that information, all

(32)

of the selected participants were contacted before inclusion in the study, and will be treated anonymously. However, considering the public character of their internet platforms, they were informed that a risk remained that they might be possible to identify even though their names and other obvious personal information are excluded in the thesis. Further, they were also informed that the thesis would be written in english, and hence, any citation comes with reservation for the author’s translation.

As there are both upsides and downsides in regard to contacting the study-persons and asking for permission to include internet material in a study, guidance and support in the decision was found through Kalman and Lövgrens (2019) writings on internet research ethics, and in discussion with the supervisor. A positive side of taking contact is that it ensures the participants consent of the study and also enables clarifications or follow up questions, although that opportunity was not used in the current study. A potential downside of taking contact could be if it makes the person feel watched or causing them to angle the produced material. In terms of affecting the material, that was not considered an issue in the current study, as most of the material was collected before contact was made. Hopefully, being approached did not cause any feelings of unease either, although difficult to know for sure. The final evaluation was that much of the information used in this study are closer to the character of a conversation than a public text, in line with Kalman and Lövgrens (2019) reasoning, and hence the decision was made to ask the participants for permission to use their writings and recordings in the thesis. After the decision was made to seek permission, three persons were excluded from the study as no response was received, leaving a total of seven study-persons for the final analysis.

(33)

5 Findings & Analysis

This chapter will present the study-persons (SP’s) narratives, thoughts and experiences of living slower and simpler. Their experiences are structured around the themes of their lifestyle change,

challenges and possibilities. The findings connected to their lifestyle change will be discussed in

relation to the values, triggers and practices in the VSL-model and the theory of social

acceleration, with the aim to understand the preconditions for a personal change. The findings connected to challenges will be discussed in relation to barriers in the VSL-model and difficulties connected to social change. The findings connected to possibilities will be discussed in relation to

enablers and effects in the VSL-model, and the thoughts lifted in the theoretical framework of how

social change can indeed occur.

5.1 Lifestyle Change

First, the findings connected to the SP's previous lifestyles and what initiated their lifestyle change is discussed in relation to the prior values and triggers recognised in the VSL-model. Connections are drawn to Rosa’s theory of social acceleration and its role in individual life experiences in modern society. Second, the findings connected to the SP's new lifestyles is discussed in relation to the values and practices found in the VSL-model. Connections are drawn to Rosa’s description of possible decelerations.

Previous Lifestyle

When the participants in the current study described their lives before their lifestyle transition, it was often characterised by stress and pressure and a feeling of running through life without any time for reflection. The norms and values that guided their lives before the lifestyle change were often achievement oriented, career driven, and led by other’s expectations. Not everyone was explicitly unhappy, but in several cases feelings of meaninglessness, fatigue, depression and burnout syndrome was experienced. Examples of how the SP's are describing their life prior to their lifestyle change:

When I was younger I could never believe life would be this meaningless and achievement oriented … I expected working would be a part of life, not life itself.