Introduction: The Politics of Necessity

This article introduces a special issue of the Journal of Consumer Policy that traces the development of a 'politics of necessity', using water and energy as the principal material forms, and both developed and developing countries as a contextual focus. It brings together four bodies of literature: i) inquiries into consumer politics and commodification; ii) questions of international development; iii) sociological debates about routine or 'ordinary' consumption; and iv) historical explorations of the centrality of ‘necessities’ in the formation of modern social movements and the democratic imagination. The introductory essay provides a framework for the speical issue, and an overview of the seven articles which move from history and philosophy, to the role of consumers, and finally to governance contexts both of national states and more globally. Each section highlights the different implications of the discussion for developed and developing countries, as well as their interdependence.