Beyond the ABC: Climate Change Policy and Theories of Social Change

Elizabeth Shove

doi:10.1068/a42282

journal article Jun 01, 2010

Beyond the ABC: Climate Change Policy and Theories of Social Change

Elizabeth Shove

Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space Vol. 42 No. 6 pp. 1273-1285 · SAGE Publications

View at Publisher Save 10.1068/a42282

Abstract

In this short and deliberately provocative paper I reflect on what seems to be a yawning gulf between the potential contribution of the social sciences and the typically restricted models and concepts of social change embedded in contemporary environmental policy in the UK, and in other countries too. As well as making a strong case for going beyond what I refer to as the dominant paradigm of ‘ABC’—attitude, behaviour, and choice—I discuss the attractions of this model, the blind spots it creates, and the forms of governance it sustains. This exercise provides some insight into why so much relevant social theory remains so marginalised, and helps identify opportunities for making better use of existing intellectual resources.

Topics

No keywords indexed for this article. Browse by subject →

References

60

[1]

Abbott A (2001)

[2]

10.1016/0048-7333(85)90021-6

[3]

The theory of planned behavior

Icek Ajzen

Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Process... 10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-t

[4]

Amin A (2002)

[5]

10.4337/9781845423421.00013

[6]

Blair T (2006)

[7]

Overcoming the ‘value‐action gap’ in environmental policy: Tensions between national policy and local experience

James Blake

Local Environment 10.1080/13549839908725599

[8]

Darnton A, 2004, “Driving public behaviours for sustainable lifestyles”, http://www.sustainable-development.gov.uk/taking-it-on/pdf/desk-research2.pdf

[9]

DEFRA Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2005)

[10]

DEFRA Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2006)

[11]

DEFRA Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (2008)

[12]

Department for Transport, 2008 Building Sustainable Transport into New Developments: A Menu of Options for Growth Points and Eco-towns http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/sustainable/sustainabletransnew.pdf

[13]

Department of Energy and Climate Change (2009)

[14]

10.1353/tech.2002.0012

[15]

10.1073/pnas.0908738106

[16]

Dixon J (2007)

[17]

10.1136/bmj.315.7106.477

[18]

10.4337/9781845423421

[19]

Gatersleben B (1997)

[20]

Geels F W, 2008, “Destable”, http://erc.europa.eu/index.cfm?fuseaction=page.display&topicID=247

[21]

Giddens A (1984)

[22]

10.4324/9780203452202

[23]

10.1093/019829333x.001.0001

[24]

Halpern D (2004)

[25]

10.2752/174063104778053464

[26]

10.5153/sro.1100

[27]

Hargreaves T, Nye M, Burgess J, 2007, “Analysing a facilitated behaviour change process through the lens of social practice theory”, 8th Conference of the European Sociological Association Sociology of Consumption Network, Glasgow, 3–6 September, http://www.esa-consumption.org/papers/hargreaves

[28]

Jackson T, 2005, “Motivating sustainable consumption”, http://www.sd-research.org.uk/post.php?p=126

[29]

10.4337/9781847200266.00015

[30]

10.1177/1466424006070487

[31]

Latour B (1986)

[32]

Lefebvre H (2004)

[33]

10.1080/713684106

[34]

Munasinghe M (2009)

[35]

Newby H BSA Bulletin: Network (1991)

[36]

Prendergast J (2008)

[37]

Toward a Theory of Social Practices

Andreas Reckwitz

European Journal of Social Theory 10.1177/13684310222225432

[38]

10.4337/9781847200266.00013

[39]

More evolution than revolution: transition management in public policy

Jan Rotmans, René Kemp, Marjolein van Asselt

foresight 10.1108/14636680110803003

[40]

10.1017/cbo9780511527470

[41]

10.1515/9780271023717

[42]

Shove E (2003)

[43]

Shove E Ethnologia Europaea: Journal of European Ethnology (2006)

[44]

10.1068/a39310

[45]

Smith A (2007)

[46]

The governance of sustainable socio-technical transitions

Adrian Smith, Andy Stirling, Frans Berkhout

Research Policy 10.1016/j.respol.2005.07.005

[47]

Southerton D (2004)

[48]

10.1007/978-1-4020-5196-8_11

[49]

Stern N (2006)

[50]

New Environmental Theories: Toward a Coherent Theory of Environmentally Significant Behavior

Paul C. Stern

Journal of Social Issues 10.1111/0022-4537.00175

Showing 50 of 60 references

Cited By

1,677

Systems thinking as a paradigm shift for sustainability transformation

N. Voulvoulis, T. Giakoumis · 2022

Global Environmental Change

An interdisciplinary perspective on scaling in transitions: Connecting actors and space

Paula Maria Bögel, Karoline Augenstein · 2022

Environmental Innovation and Societ...

The Promise of Private-Sphere Pro-environmental Behavior as Climate Action

Amanda R. Carrico · 2022

Current Climate Change Reports

Using Motivation, Opportunity, and Ability Model in Social Marketing to Predict “Galamsey” Behavior in Ghana

Ernest Yaw Tweneboah-Koduah, Victoria Ekua Mann · 2020

Social Marketing Quarterly

Adoption of agricultural conservation practices in the United States: Evidence from 35 years of quantitative literature

L.S. Prokopy, K. Floress · 2019

Journal of Soil and Water Conservat...

Meat consumption, behaviour and the media environment: a focus group analysis across four countries

Catherine Happer, Laura Wellesley · 2019

Food Security

About the Triggering of UN Sustainable Development Goals and Regenerative Sustainability in Higher Education

Giulia Sonetti, Martin Brown · 2019

Sustainability

Marketing and Sustainability: Business as Usual or Changing Worldviews?

Joya A. Kemper, C. Michael Hall · 2019

Sustainability

Decarbonization and its discontents: a critical energy justice perspective on four low-carbon transitions

Benjamin K. Sovacool, Mari Martiskainen · 2019

Climatic Change

Just transition: Integrating climate, energy and environmental justice

Darren McCauley, Raphael Heffron · 2018

Energy Policy

Car dependent practices: Findings from a sequence pattern mining study of UK time use data

Giulio Mattioli, Jillian Anable · 2016

Transportation Research Part A: Pol...

Urban Sustainability and Resilience: From Theory to Practice

Patricia Romero-Lankao, Daniel Gnatz · 2016

Sustainability

Household-level dynamics of food waste production and related beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours in Guelph, Ontario

Kate Parizeau, Mike von Massow · 2015

Waste Management

Young adult households and domestic sustainabilities

Elyse Stanes, Natascha Klocker · 2015

Geoforum

Metrics

1,677

Citations

60

References

Details

Published: Jun 01, 2010
Vol/Issue: 42(6)
Pages: 1273-1285
License: View

Authors

E

Elizabeth Shove

Department of Sociology, Lancaster University, Lancaster LA1 4YT, England

Cite This Article

Elizabeth Shove (2010). Beyond the ABC: Climate Change Policy and Theories of Social Change. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 42(6), 1273-1285. https://doi.org/10.1068/a42282

Beyond the ABC: Climate Change Policy and Theories of Social Change

You May Also Like