Talking about Practice Theory

Welcome to a series of research lounge events on Practice Theory organized by the Center for Consumer Society at the University of Helsinki.

The idea is to learn more about the place of practice theory in consumer research and beyond, and to revisit or discover a selection of core texts. You need to read the text before the discussion. Each session is an hour long, starting with a ten minute interview with someone who works with ideas from practice theory, followed by 50 minutes discussing an article of their choice.

Get in touch if you have any questions or you can’t find the article listed: e.shove@lancaster.ac.uk; jenny.rinkinen@helsinki.fi or outi.hm.koskinen@helsinki.fi

26th January 2023: 1.00pm on Zoom (link) and room h127, Snellmaninkatu 10
Outi Koskinen – text: Alan Warde, 2005, Consumption and Theories of Practice, Journal of Consumer Culture 5(2): 131-153.
Questions to think about when reading the article: Are there ideas or concepts in Warde’s article that have been overlooked or ignored? If so, would there be value in paying more attention to these neglected things?

2nd March 2023: 1.00pm on Zoom (link) and room h127, Snellmaninkatu 10
Jenny Rinkinen – text: Ted Schatzki, (2012). A primer on practices: Theory and research. In J. Higgs, R. Barnett, S. Billett, M. Hutchings, & F. Trede (Eds.), Practice-based education: Perspectives and strategies (pp. 13-26). (Practice, education, work and society ; Vol. 6). Sense Publishers.
Questions to think about when reading the article: What has Schatzki’s more philosophical account of practices offered for consumer studies, and beyond?

20th April 2023: 1.00pm on Zoom (link) and room h127, Snellmaninkatu 10
Elizabeth Shove – text: Andreas Reckwitz, 2002, Toward a Theory of Social Practices: A Development in Culturalist Theorizing in European Journal of Social Theory 5(2):243-263.
Questions to think about when reading the article: Why is this text so popular – cited nearly 8,000 times? What more does it offer, beyond defining a practice?

25th May 2023: 1.00pm on Zoom (link) and room h127, Snellmaninkatu 10
Petteri Repo – text: Elizabeth Shove, 2010, Beyond the ABC: climate change policy and theories of social change in Environment and Planning A 42(6):   1273-1285.
Questions to think about when reading the article: