Contextualising values and behavior

Panel: Panel 4: Human dimensions of energy use and efficiency

Author:
Veronica Strang, Environmental Change Unit and Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology, Oxford University

Abstract

This paper proposes a theoretical framework permitting the systematic analysis of the factors affecting energy use. Rather than dealing with households or individuals in isolation, it considers the cultural contexts of energy use, the processes through which particular contexts engender particular environmental values, and the fields of relationships linking individuals, households, individuals and society.

Drawing upon various strands of anthropological theory, the paper examines the various forms of which culture is comprised, and considers how, within this wider umbrella, different scales or contextual levels interact and create sub-cultures in which cultural processes and values are modified to create context specific behaviour. At each level, the cultural context and its developed values have the potential to affect energy use patterns and, similarly, each may have a particular response to policy initiatives.

The theoretical discussion is illustrated by a brief outline of recent survey work on UK householdersƒ energy related values and behaviour. The paper foregrounds some of the social and cultural factors that affect environmental values and energy use and attempts to place these within a broader cultural frame.