Abstract
Planned obsolescence is the practice of deliberately designing products to limit their life span to encourage replacement. It is a common business strategy for consumer goods, with far-reaching ecological and social consequences. Here, we examine the definition, causes and consequences of planned obsolescence by using insights from corporate crime literature, integrated with environmental philosophy, management sciences, technology studies and law. Focusing on cases of planned obsolescence in consumer electronics, we show that the concept and procedure carries conceptual ambiguity and moral ambivalence, bearing diffuse harms, benefitting short-term corporate profit but undermining consumer confidence, and posing a major barrier to environmental sustainability. We discuss the system lock-ins driving companies to engage in planned obsolescence, and reframe the practice as a form of corporate environmental crime.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 271-293 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Crime, Law and Social Change |
| Volume | 78 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| Early online date | 31 Mar 2022 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Oct 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the Erasmus Initiative on Dynamics of Inclusive Prosperity [to L.B. and Y. H.] and by the research initiative Rebalancing Public and Private Interests of Erasmus School of Law and the sector plan for law funding of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Research [to L.B.].”
Publisher Copyright: © 2022, The Author(s).
Research programs
- SAI 2005-04 MSS
Erasmus Sectorplan
- Sector plan Recht-Public and Private Interests
