Glasgow School of Art, 15th and 16th December 2008

Workshop theme: 'Not Just for Christmas'

This workshop turned some of the discussion from July into 'flashlight' issues, and focused on how ethical issues faced at Christmas might inform us about everyday consumption.

Over two days, we worked with the following questions:

• Has society achieved something that could be built upon for having an ethical Christmas which could be sustained in everyday life?
• What do people do? Is it that people who are concerned with ethical consumption are a bit more visible at Christmas?
• What is it that validates Christmas and what are the intellectual underpinnings of a shared concept such as the ‘spirit of Christmas’?
• How can positive moral impulses, highlighted by Christmas consumptive practices, be sustained in ordinary life?
• How do we deal with the ‘largeness’ and otherness of these problems without feeling powerless?
• How can we work towards the creation of new traditions which overlay existing layers and also engage with current consumptive practices of Christmas?
• How can these be useful in responding to contemporary issues and imagining a different future for the practice of Christmas which continues in everyday life?