What is a Social Practice?

This paper provides an account of social practices that reveals how they are constitutive of social agency, enable coordination around things of value, and are a site for social intervention. The social world, on this account, does not begin when psychologically sophisticated individuals interact to...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Haslanger, Sally
Other Authors: MIT Program in Women's and Gender Studies
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2021
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/130236
Description
Summary:This paper provides an account of social practices that reveals how they are constitutive of social agency, enable coordination around things of value, and are a site for social intervention. The social world, on this account, does not begin when psychologically sophisticated individuals interact to share knowledge or make plans. Instead, culture shapes agents to interpret and respond both to each other and the physical world around us. Practices shape us as we shape them. This provides resources for understanding why social practices tend to be stable, but also reveals sites and opportunities for change. (Challenge social meanings! Intervene in the material conditions!)