Stages of the Good Life : Social imaginaries and sustainable lifestyles in Finnish drama

The ecological sustainability crisis has increased interest in how conceptions of the good life can support sustainable lifestyles. Concepts of the good life and sustainable lifestyles are not only individual perceptions, but culturally shared. In this study, I will explore these shared concepts through Charles Taylor’s social imaginaries. One place where these imaginaries can be examined is the theatre. I will investigate what kinds of social imaginaries of the good life are constructed in contemporary Finnish-language play texts and how they are connected to sustainable lifestyles. The data consisted of six contemporary Finnish-language play texts that premiered in 2025 and are represented by Finland’s largest play agency. The study was conducted as a reflexive theory-guided thematic analysis and utilized Charles Taylor’s concept of social imaginaries as a theory. The result was eight imaginaries of the good life: care, continuity, balance, meaningful agency, authenticity, belonging, security, and recognition and success. These imaginaries are partly overlapping, and partly challenging and partly supporting each other. When viewed through the lens of sustainable lifestyles, the imaginaries resonate with key ideals in the sustainability debate, but also reveal tensions. The results suggest that sustainability can be built through the mutual relationships and balancing of imaginaries. The study shows that contemporary theatre functions as a space in which the meanings of the good life are negotiated. At the same time, understanding of how imaginaries of the good life are connected to sustainable lifestyles is deepened.