Drivers of Climate Change in Urban India: Social Values, Lifestyles, and Consumer Dynamics in an Emerging Megacity

Description

This study transcends the homogenizing (inter-)national level of argumentation (‘rich’ versus ‘poor’ countries), and instead looks at a sub-national level in two respects: (1) geographically it focuses on the rapidly growing megacity of Hyderabad; (2) in socio-economic terms the urban population is disaggregated by taking a lifestyle typology approach. For the first time, the lifestyle concept – traditionally being used in affluent consumer societies – is applied to a dynamically transforming and socially heterogeneous urban society. Methodically, the author includes India-specific value orientations as well as social practices as markers of social structural differentiation. The study identifies differentials of lifestyle-induced GHG emissions (carbon footprints) and underlines the ambiguity of a purely income based differentiation with regard to the levels of contribution to the climate problem. Front Matter ....Pages i-xx Introduction: Climate Change and Lifestyle – The Relevance of New Concepts for Social-Ecological Research (Lutz Meyer-Ohlendorf)....Pages 1-8 Approaches of Measuring Human Impacts on Climate Change (Lutz Meyer-Ohlendorf)....Pages 9-47 The Research Context: India and the Megacity of Hyderabad (Lutz Meyer-Ohlendorf)....Pages 49-79 Conceptualisation and Operationalisation – A Social Geography of Climate Change: Social-Cultural Mentalities, Lifestyle, and Related GHG Emission Effects in Indian Cities (Lutz Meyer-Ohlendorf)....Pages 81-139 Results Part I: Descriptive Analysis of Manifest Variables and Preparation of Latent Components for the Lifestyle Analysis (Lutz Meyer-Ohlendorf)....Pages 141-174 Results Part II: Income, Practice, and Lifestyle-Oriented Analysis of Personal-Level GHG Emissions (Lutz Meyer-Ohlendorf)....Pages 175-217 Discussion (Lutz Meyer-Ohlendorf)....Pages 219-243 Final Conclusions: Understanding Inequalities in Consumption-Based, Personal-Level GHG Emissions (Lutz Meyer-Ohlendorf)....Pages 245-251 Back Matter ....Pages 253-271