Journal ArticleDOI
Consumers, Producers and Practices: Understanding the Invention and Reinvention of Nordic Walking
Elizabeth Shove,Mika Pantzar +1 more
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TLDR
In this article, the authors suggest that Nordic walking, a form of speed walking with two sticks, arise through the active and ongoing integration of images, artifacts and forms of competence, a process in which both consumers and producers are involved.Abstract:
The idea that artifacts are acquired and used in the course of accomplishing social practices has important implications for theories of consumption and innovation. From this point of view, it is not enough to show that goods are symbolically and materially positioned, mediated and filtered through existing cultures and conventions. Twisting the problem around, the further challenge is to explain how practices change and with what consequence for the forms of consumption they entail. In this article, we suggest that new practices like Nordic walking, a form of ‘speed walking’ with two sticks, arise through the active and ongoing integration of images, artifacts and forms of competence, a process in which both consumers and producers are involved. While it makes sense to see Nordic walking as a situated social practice, such a view makes it difficult to explain its growing popularity in countries as varied as Japan, Norway and the USA. In addressing this issue, we conclude that practices and associated cultures of consumption are always ‘homegrown’. Necessary and sometimes novel ingredients (including images and artifacts) may circulate widely, but they are always pieced together in a manner that is informed by previous and related practice. What looks like the diffusion of Nordic walking is therefore better understood as its successive, but necessarily localized, (re)invention. In developing this argument, we explore some of the consequences of conceptualizing consumption and consumer culture as the outcome of meaningful social practice.read more
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Journal ArticleDOI
The use of regulatory taxation as a policy instrument for sustainability transitions: old wine in new bottles or unexplored potential?
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored the potential of the instrument of environmental taxation for influencing sustainability transitions and showed that the highest impact of regulatory taxation will be realized at the end of the take-off phase and in the acceleration phase of a transition.
Journal ArticleDOI
Shifts in provisioning routines: do holidays favour more local and seasonal food purchases?
Séverine Gojard,Bérangère Véron +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, changes in provisioning routines can trigger more sustainable food practices, and holiday periods, for instance, are paced by less constrained temporalities; often they are times when household...
Journal ArticleDOI
Social practices in a café: community through consumption?
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examine the neighborhood-based interactions in one example of an important neighborhood space, a cafe, that demands different kinds of commitments, and discuss how these interactional practices lead to a sense of belonging and community for their carriers.
Journal ArticleDOI
Exploring food consumers’ motivations to fight both climate change and biodiversity loss: Combining insights from behavior theory and Eurobarometer data
Joop de Boer,Harry Aiking +1 more
TL;DR: In this article, the authors combine the two branches of research that address climate-related and biodiversity-related opinions and actions of individuals in the EU using data from Eurobarometer 83.4.
DissertationDOI
Using a practice lens to explore the social dimensions of biodiversity conservation
TL;DR: The Zoological Society of London as discussed by the authors used a mixed method approach to depict and describe practices within the social dimensions of conservation, and to gather perceptions about these practices using key informant interviews and an online survey instrument.
References
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TL;DR: For instance, in the case of an individual in the presence of others, it can be seen as a form of involuntary expressive behavior as discussed by the authors, where the individual will have to act so that he intentionally or unintentionally expresses himself, and the others will in turn have to be impressed in some way by him.
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a very different view of the arts of practice in a very diverse culture, focusing on the use of ordinary language and making do in the art of practice.
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TL;DR: In this article, the Imaginary Anthropology of Subjectivism is described as an "imaginary anthropology of subjectivism" and the social uses of kinship are discussed. And the work of time is discussed.
Journal ArticleDOI
Toward a Theory of Social Practices A Development in Culturalist Theorizing
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