Resurrecting sustainable practices: Using memories of the past to intervene in the future

A key criticism levelled at social practice theorists is their seeming inability or reluctance to inform strategies and policies that seek to intervene in the trajectories of practices to address 'real-world' policy problems. In addressing this gap, the contributors in this ground-breaking edited collection take theories of social practice into new territory, seeking to identify opportunities to disrupt, reorient or otherwise redirect social practices in more sustainable directions. Drawing on findings from applied research projects and new theoretical developments, this book examines intersections between practice theories and attempts to govern, steer, or transform social life through policies and programs aimed at improving sustainability outcomes. In doing so, it addresses critical questions such as whether it is indeed possible to intervene in, or govern, social practices, and if so, what this might involve. In focusing on these tantalising prospects, the book draws attention to issues commonly overlooked in behavioural studies, such as large-scale material and infrastructural arrangements and the ways in which practices that move around the globe are resurrected in or rejected from new locales. A range of pressing global environmental policy problems are explored in the collection, such as climate change, drought, and peak electricity demand. These issues are explored through a range of specific case studies from Australia, the UK and the US, providing theoretical insights that are of international relevance. This book is of great interest to consumption and sustainability scholars and students interested in achieving social change. It crosses a diverse range of disciplines, including sociology, philosophy, science and technology studies, geography, politics and policy studies. It is also of interest to the behavioural sciences, particularly psychologists, as an alternative approach to social change.