The Social Implications of Circular Clothing Economies in the Global North

In this article, we aim to provide a synopsis of the global social impacts that may accompany a transition to sustainable, circular clothing economies in the global North, thus assessing whether these are likely to be as positive as CE discourse often assumes. We focus upon the UK so as to build upon recent work developing sustainability scenarios for the UK clothing economy —scenarios underpinned by circular economy interventions. These circular interventions are necessary, but not sufficient, for environmental sustainability — the possibility of an environmentally unsustainable circular economy is something we recognise, but do not explore here, where we focus instead upon the associated social impacts. To this end, we draw upon methods and literature from various disciplines, including social lifecycle assessment, social footprinting, theories of human needs, social anthropology, and environmental justice. A key message of this analysis is that assessing the social impacts of even a single industrial sector, such as clothing, requires this analytical diversity; no one method, framework, or perspective is superior. Accordingly, this article does not provide a detailed analysis of social impacts by formally applying a single method such as social lifecycle assessment. Instead, we draw upon various existing studies to qualitatively assess the current social impacts of the UK clothing system, and how these may change if the UK (or similar global North countries) adopted circular clothing production and consumption practises in the future. We devote particular attention to the risks a ‘bad’ circular transition may pose to people if the impacts are not scrutinised—a perspective that is rarely taken in the CE literature we review in our analysis.