Addressing the climate emergency: A view from the theory of practice architectures

Abstract

This essay uses the theory of practice architectures to demonstrate the kinds of transitions underway as people change their practices to address the current climate emergency, with particular reference to Australia. The individualistic attitude-behavior model of behavioral change is inadequate for understanding these transitions, since they also require changes in the intersubjective spaces in which people encounter one another (semantic space, physical space-time, social space). Together, such transitions across a variety of domains can bring about transformations in “logics of life.” The theory of practice architectures is a resource for those calling for intensified action to reduce CO₂ emissions and mitigate climate change, offering a way to understand how intertwined changes are needed in discourses and language, activity and work, and solidarity and power to bring about transformations in logics of life. The essay draws attention to the role of hybridization, in which old practices coexist alongside new practices, in the accomplishment of transformations.

Keywords:

• climate emergency
• social practices
• theory of practice architectures
• transformation
• sustainability