Consumer Policy from Below: An Introduction

Consumer policy in Germany has long been a network of actions, organizations, and strategies that was particularly close to the state, i.e., oriented towards and around the state. Most of the time, orders were issued by the state or with the state’s approval and support, funding models were set up, and laws were enacted, which could give the impression that there was essentially only a ‘consumer policy from above’ dictated by macro politics. However, in recent years, this asymmetry has shifted significantly in favor of civil society, keyword ‘Political Consumption’, and by now there are so many actions, initiatives, and organizations that one can probably speak of an increasingly stronger ‘consumer policy from below’. This anthology traces these changes to some extent.