Violet Broadhead

My research interests include sustainable consumption and second-hand economies, with a specific focus on the charity retail sector. With the growth of public awareness of sustainability issues, charity shops are increasingly identified with sustainable consumption, while changing legislation puts pressure on the sector to engage with the issue directly. My doctoral research explores how sustainability is interpreted and put into practice by stakeholders in the UK charity retail sector, how understandings of sustainability interact with the other values, goals and priorities of charity retailers (for example, fundraising imperatives), and the consequences of this interaction for material flows. I favour qualitative methods, particularly ethnographic ones, and am interested in approaches which allow close attention to the material and its interplay in social relations.