Lecture 9 Flashcards
Practices
Why do we consume what we consume?
Structure vs. agency
While theoretically free of choice, but shaped in control of our context
Consumption just sort of happens (less emphasis on consumer choice)
Individual attitude (goals and beliefs) or influence of environment (social media etc.)
Why do we consume what we consume?
Structure vs. agency
Enduring
patterns/forces/rules that organise and constrain social
life (gender, class, ideology, capitalism)
- Can be contrasted by agency (individual level)
Frankfurt school: products keep us amused while being exploited by large commercial companies (capitalists), no human agency
- E.g. Tiktok que: passive and submissive (consume what we’re told) (macro-level that shapes what we do)
E.g. exercise class: gender, beauty standards, norm: feeling that you should work-out
Why do we consume what we consume?
Structure vs. agency
The ability of
individuals to make decisions and take action in their lives
(free will, choice, decisions)
- Shopping
- Theory of planned behaviour
- E.g. exercise class: individual motivation to go, personal goals
Why do we consume what we consume?
Sociological theories
Sociological approaches: behaviour is not determined by
environment/social structure, nor completely free – somewhere in the
middle
- Sociology: focus on individual in the society
Much less emphasis on consumer choice than other approaches (e.g.
psychology, economics)
- No theory totally disregards structure or agency
- Many approaches do not recognise structure/agency debate
- Sociology tends to be more explicit about this
Practice theory
“Individual interests and social norms can only be separated analytically;
in practice, they are always in relation to one another, a mutually constituted duality”
- Non key focus
- Individual or society (source is distinct)
In practice theory, social practices are the key building block of society,
and the central unit of analysis
Theories of human behaviour that emphasise either structure or
agency assume that structure and agency are literally distinct things
- The source of human behaviour (/consumption) is viewed as one or
the other
What is a practice (practice theory)?
Routinized type of behaviour (recognizable behaviour) which consists of several
elements, interconnected to one another: forms of bodily activities, forms of
mental activities, ‘things’ and their use, a background knowledge in the form
of understanding, know-how, states of emotion and motivational knowledge
E.g. cycling, shopping, playing football, attending a live music event –> bodily activities and skills of riding a bike; bike itself; ideas of cycling (all necessary)
Simplified formulation of social practices? (Elizabeth Shove and colleagues (2012))
Social practices are made of three types of element: material, competence and meaning
Materials: objects, tools and infrastructures (e.g. bike rack)
Competence: knowledge and embodied skills (e.g. how to ride a bike and navigate)
Meanings: cultural conventions, expectations and socially shared meanings (e.g. enjoying biking or getting to work)
Not all practices are conducted the same: mundane practice (particular meanings) or perform in a distinct way (leisure, going uphill)
Apply the simplified formulation of social practices and what is being consumed in an exercise class
Materials: building, equipment, weights, clothes
Competence (bodily or knowledge): how to do the exercises, listening to instructor (and understanding), how to behave in this structure
Meaning: to get fit, socializing
Consumer: access to the gym, service of exercise class, consuming the ambience, weights, water that you drink, exercise watch
Consumption within practices
Consumption: everywhere all the time, embedded in everything we do
- Different approach to
consumption - Individual choice not totally disregarded, but viewed as a result of engagement in practices (cognitively focussed)
- Not a structural theory: consumption not totally ‘free’ (agency), but also not determined
by social forces (structure) (e.g. running is free, but want running gear)
“Most practices … require and entail consumption … In this view, consumption itself is not a practice but is, rather, a moment in almost every practice”
E.g. arts needs paint and brushes, cinema needs a ticket and popcorn (part of experience)
Consumption as ‘appropriation’
Explains how consumption works
E.g. clothes, dinner, buy a house, play a piano are appropriation (making you use objects, parts of practices)
- Thinking about practice or the way in which goods/services are consumer over the course in practice
“Consumption is a process, whereby agents engage in
appropriation, of a good, service, performance,
information or ambience, and which is a product of
human work”
Appropriation: “what people do with goods, services and experiences
after they have acquired them … how objects of commercial exchange
can be given meaning or incorporated into people’s daily lives”.
Inconspicuous consumption
Conspicuous consumption: display our status to each other (clothes, car)
Inconspicuous consumption: consumption of resources (e.g.
water, energy) as part of practices; happens without anyone noticing
- E.g. people do not ‘decide’ to consume water: they
do so as part of cooking, cleaning and washing (indirect)
Normality (what is normal to do at particular times of day) has an influence on resources you use
What are the key features of the practice theory
How does practice theory conceptualise
consumption?
Example: How do new products and services
become ‘accepted’?
Practice theory vs. conventional approaches
