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The main theme of this special volume is the colonial state and its governmental practices. This chapter introduces and contextualizes the contributions by providing a brief induction to recent developments within the study of the colonial state. It then presents the contributions under three perspectives which represent separate yet interrelated themes relevant for the understanding of the colonial state: practices, violence, and agency. Hereby, we also accentuate the value of a non-state-centric approach to the analysis of the colonial state.

Purpose – In this chapter, we intend to discuss and analyse possibilities and policies for sustainable cities and mobility by linking these issues to ordinary consumption or shopping practices. We argue that sustainability discourses directed towards urban dwellers or citizens tend to express totalizing and exclusionary tendencies that obscure the situated dimensions of mobility practices generated through consumption.

Design/methodology – Through an ethnographically informed exploration of everyday consumption practices we discuss discrepancies between examples of sustainability policies and campaigns on the one hand and mundane consumption practices on the other.

Findings – The chapter concludes that there are some major discrepancies between official sustainability discourses and mundane consumption practices and introduces the concept of the ‘consumover citizen’ as a productive way of discussing sustainability.

Originality/value – Introducing the concept of ‘consumover citizen’ is a novel way of conceptualizing sustainability in terms of who and what moves in the city regarding mobility generated by consumption practices.