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Journal ArticleDOI

Outline of a Theory of Practice.

01 Mar 1980-Contemporary Sociology-Vol. 9, Iss: 2, pp 256
About: This article is published in Contemporary Sociology.The article was published on 1980-03-01. It has received 14683 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Practice theory.
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, an alternative model is presented which locates agency in the causal powers and capacities of embodied persons to engage in dialogic, signifying acts, grounded in a non-Cartesian concept of person and 'new realist', post-positivist philosophy of science.
Abstract: Although Bourdieu's theory of practice has drawn widespread attention to the role of the body and space in social life, the concept of habitus is problematic as an explanatory account of dynamic embodiment because it lacks an adequate conception of the nature and location of human agency. An alternative model is presented which locates agency in the causal powers and capacities of embodied persons to engage in dialogic, signifying acts. Grounded in a non-Cartesian concept of person and 'new realist', post-positivist philosophy of science, vocal signs and action signs, not the dispositions of a habitus, become the means by which humans exercise agency in dynamically embodied practices. Ethnographic data from the commulnicative practices of the Nakota (Assiniboine) people of northern Montana (USA) support and illustrate the theoretical argument.

136 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This article argued that accounts of global environmental governance grounded in orthodox International Relations lack an analysis of agency and power relations, and argued that the potentiality of radical social movement agency is best understood through a neo-Gramscian approach, which identifies global civil society as simultaneously a site for the maintenance of, as well as challenges to, hegemony.
Abstract: In line with a critical theoretical perspective, which sees global environmental governance as embedded in the wider neoliberal global political economy, this article argues that accounts of global environmental governance grounded in orthodox International Relations lack an analysis of agency and power relations. This is particularly visible in the problematic assertion that global civil society—where social movements are said to be located—presents a democratizing force for global environmental governance. Through a critical conceptualization of agency the article analyzes social movements (including NGOs) and the challenges to global environmental governance, with an illustration of movements campaigning against toxic waste. It suggests that the potentiality of radical social movement agency is best understood through a neo-Gramscian approach, which identifies global civil society as simultaneously a site for the maintenance of, as well as challenges to, hegemony. It explores the extent to which global...

136 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors introduce a practice-based framework designed to integrate and deepen our understanding of how individuals co-create service experience practices; to identify co-creating service experience practice practices; and to provide a compelling agenda for future research, and offer practical strategies to enhance co-created service experiences.
Abstract: Purpose – The purpose of this paper is threefold: to introduce a practice-based framework designed to integrate and deepen our understanding of how individuals co-create service experience practices; to identify co-creating service experience practices; and to provide a compelling agenda for future research, and offer practical strategies to enhance co-created service experiences. Accordingly, we extend practice theory, building on Kjellberg and Helgesson’s (2006) practice-based framework for markets by integrating Holt’s (1995) consumer practices and social capital-based practices (Gittell and Vidal, 1998; Woolcock, 2001). Design/methodology/approach – The authors interpretive analysis draws on naturalistic observations carried out over 18 months, supplemented with 35 interviews (17 with residents, and 18 with staff) and a diary study of nine non-management staff (including nursing staff, kitchen and cleaning staff and administrative staff) at a residential aged care facility. Findings – This paper offer...

136 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors examined immigrants from South Asia and the former Yugoslavia in the labour market of Greater Vancouver and found that immigrants admitted to Canada for family-reunion and humanitarian reasons tend to be less familiar with Canadian labour market rules than immigrants recruited for their skills and education.
Abstract: Workplace conventions and hiring practices are barriers confronted by immigrants in the Canadian labour market. This paper considers these barriers in the context of Bourdieu's concept of habitus. The empirical research presented examines immigrants from South Asia and the former Yugoslavia in the labour market of Greater Vancouver. A statistical analysis of census data and immigrant landing records is supplemented by an analysis of interviews with community leaders, settlement and employment counsellors, and employers. Immigrants admitted to Canada for family-reunion and humanitarian reasons tend to be less familiar with Canadian labour market ‘rules’ than immigrants recruited for their skills and education. In response to this cultural labour market barrier, South Asian immigrants develop ethnic networks while immigrants from the former Yugoslavia mobilize other cultural resources.

136 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a group of spectacular Neolithic monuments, including henges, passage graves and standing stones, in Orkney is examined, and it is shown how the development of the monuments occurs and how they draw on the visual imagery of the natural world in their architectural representation.
Abstract: In Britain and Ireland there is a tendency for late Neolithic monuments to be clustered in groups and located at similar topographic positions. In this paper a group of spectacular monuments, including henges, passage graves and standing stones, in Orkney is examined. It is shown how the development of the monuments occurs and how they draw on the visual imagery of the natural world in their architectural representation. As each monument embodies a different role and purpose so its architecture and appearance vary. Through a sequence of construction a single area of Mainland, Orkney, becomes transformed as new ‘landscapes’ are created and manipulated. Ultimately, this particular place comes to embody the totality of the Neolithic Orcadian world and acts as an axis mundi for cosmological belief.

136 citations