Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Plastic Packaging, Food Supply, and Everyday Life : Adopting a Social Practice Perspective in Social-Ecological Research

Sattlegger, Lukas ; Stieß, Immanuel ; Raschewski, Luca and Reindl, Katharina LU (2020) In Nature and Culture 15(2).
Abstract
This article presents practice-theoretical conceptions of societal relations to nature as a fruitful alternative to common system approaches in social-ecological research. Via the example of plastic food packaging, two different practice-theoretical approaches to food supply are discussed regarding their suitability for relating the material properties of packaging to their everyday use by producers, retailers, and consumers: (1) the network approach (portraying food supply as a network of practices; these practices include material elements that interrelate with other elements like competence or meaning) and (2) the nexus approach (investigating the interrelation between social practices and material arrangements in which they take... (More)
This article presents practice-theoretical conceptions of societal relations to nature as a fruitful alternative to common system approaches in social-ecological research. Via the example of plastic food packaging, two different practice-theoretical approaches to food supply are discussed regarding their suitability for relating the material properties of packaging to their everyday use by producers, retailers, and consumers: (1) the network approach (portraying food supply as a network of practices; these practices include material elements that interrelate with other elements like competence or meaning) and (2) the nexus approach (investigating the interrelation between social practices and material arrangements in which they take place). Depending on the given research interest, both perspectives have their pros and cons: the network approach is stronger in understanding the everyday use of technologies, while the nexus approach encourages the integration of infrastructures and environmental contexts that are not directly observable within the practice. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Nature and Culture
volume
15
issue
2
publisher
Berghahn Books
external identifiers
  • scopus:85086457985
ISSN
1558-5468
DOI
10.3167/nc.2020.150203
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a5d1e4be-d339-485d-9350-38ae5355752d
date added to LUP
2020-06-02 11:49:00
date last changed
2022-04-18 22:33:11
@article{a5d1e4be-d339-485d-9350-38ae5355752d,
  abstract     = {{This article presents practice-theoretical conceptions of societal relations to nature as a fruitful alternative to common system approaches in social-ecological research. Via the example of plastic food packaging, two different practice-theoretical approaches to food supply are discussed regarding their suitability for relating the material properties of packaging to their everyday use by producers, retailers, and consumers: (1) the network approach (portraying food supply as a network of practices; these practices include material elements that interrelate with other elements like competence or meaning) and (2) the nexus approach (investigating the interrelation between social practices and material arrangements in which they take place). Depending on the given research interest, both perspectives have their pros and cons: the network approach is stronger in understanding the everyday use of technologies, while the nexus approach encourages the integration of infrastructures and environmental contexts that are not directly observable within the practice.}},
  author       = {{Sattlegger, Lukas and Stieß, Immanuel and Raschewski, Luca and Reindl, Katharina}},
  issn         = {{1558-5468}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  publisher    = {{Berghahn Books}},
  series       = {{Nature and Culture}},
  title        = {{Plastic Packaging, Food Supply, and Everyday Life : Adopting a Social Practice Perspective in Social-Ecological Research}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.3167/nc.2020.150203}},
  doi          = {{10.3167/nc.2020.150203}},
  volume       = {{15}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}