The indispensability of reflexivity to practice: The case of home energy efficiency

Bonnington, Oliver

Abstract

This article offers new theoretical and empirical insights into decision-making with regard to the domestication and incorporation of home energy efficiency (HEE) artefacts. These items, such as insulation and heating systems, are currently of high social, political and environmental importance. Researchers investigating energy consumption and related topics have recently turned to theories of practice — especially that proposed by Shove and colleagues — which treat humans as ‘carriers’. In contrast, this article uses realist social theory to afford a pivotal role to reflexivity in practice. Individual case studies, derived from in-depth interviews, are used to explore Archer’s communicative, autonomous and meta-reflexive modes. And, at the same time, Archer’s distinction between natural, practical and social orders of reality is used to show the importance of embodied and practical knowledge in HEE practices. As such, this article takes the theoretical focus in this research area beyond dispositions and attitudes, and argues that the way artefacts are domesticated in the course of householders’ pursuit of that which matters most to them may have significant social implications that contemporary forms of practice theory seem unable to account for. Sustainability policy, therefore, should be sensitive to the concerns of householders and the indispensability of reflexivity to home energy efficiency practices.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Nov 2, 2015
• Publication Date: Oct 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Sep 12, 2023
• Journal: Journal of Critical Realism
• Print ISSN: 1476-7430
• Electronic ISSN: 1572-5138
• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 14
• Issue: 5
• Pages: 461-484
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1179/1572513815Y.0000000009
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/11096809