How Infrastructures and Practices Shape Each Other

Aggregation, Integration and the Introduction of Gas Central Heating

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2392216
AutoresMatt Watson (0000-0003-2817-6676, The University of Sheffield, UK, autor de correspondencia), Elizabeth Shove (0000-0002-4792-5479, Lancaster University)
Año2023
Volumen28
Número2
Páginas373-388
Fecha de publicación2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSociological Research Online (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 1360-7804 • E-ISSN: 1360-7804
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/13607804211055495
OpenAlexW4210608500
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas19
Referencias citadas36

We know that networked infrastructures enable forms of mobility, energy use, and flows of data, and we know that modern life depends on these arrangements. We also know that relations between infrastructures and social practices are recursive, extensive, and multiple. But what of the detail? How do infrastructures shape the many practices to which they relate, and vice versa? The research we describe was designed to address these questions head on. We discuss the arrival and normalisation of gas central heating with reference to householders' experiences and practices and to the ambitions and decisions of utilities and city authorities. In the process, we identify forms of aggregation and of integration on which infrastructure - practice dynamics depend. In taking this approach, we demonstrate the relevance of practice theory for conceptualising and analysing 'large' social phenomena including transitions in energy systems and related patterns of demand

Business · Data science · Economics · Management science · Political science · Sociology · Computer Science · Information Systems Theories and Implementation · Innovative Human-Technology Interaction · Law · Water Governance and Infrastructure