Habitus and Cognitive Praxis among Environmentalists

Randolph Haluza-DeLay

Paper Two of dissertation: Developing a Compassionate Sense of Place

July, 2006

Purpose

Research/theory fit for everyday, lived, environmentally-sensitive practice.

Sociological theory that can help produce

ecologically sound modus vivendi/ sens pratique/“logic of practice”. Precursor, an ecological habitus.

Concepts

People do not “think” their lives, they live them. The FIELD

↕ → The Logic(s) of

PRACTICE

HABITUS

Concepts

“The theory of action [“logic of practice”] that I propose (with the notion of habitus) amounts to saying that most human actions have as a basis something quite different from intention, that is, acquired dispositions which make it so that an action can and should be interpreted as oriented toward one objective or another without anyone being able to claim that that objective was a conscious design”

(Bourdieu, 1998, p. 97-98)

Concepts

HABITUS a structure of embodied dispositions

habitus generates practices and beliefs as it forms representations of the world, and way-to-be in the world

The expression of the habitus is a “feel for the game” of acting in a particular social context.

Concepts

LOGIC OF PRACTICE NOT a thought out “logic”

Makes sense (in it’s context)

Sens pratique

Routinized action (behaviour)

Concepts

LOGIC OF PRACTICE “Habitus are generative principles of distinct and

distinctive practices.... but habitus are also classificatory schemes.... They make distinctions between what is good and what is bad, between what is right and what is wrong... and so forth.”

(Bourdieu, 1998, p. 8).

An envtally sensitive habitus can generate practices effective in a particular place, distinguishing between what is envtally sustainable or “right”.

Concepts

A way of living, rather than logically derived rules.

The habitus is creative, a basis for generalized practice but not deterministic - since each circumstance will have enough variation to require some adjustment in actual action.

How would an ecological habitus lead to environmental sustainability?

Concepts

The FIELD

↕ → The Logic(s) of

PRACTICE

HABITUS

WHY?

EE research - knowledge and behaviour not well linked. (e.g., Kollmus & Agyeman, 2002).

Cognition only small part. Ironically…

“There are several factors that influence our decisions towards proenvironmental behaviour that we have not elaborated on.... We have not discussed the influence of habits.

If we want to establish a new behaviour, we have to practice it. We might be perfectly willing to change our behaviour but still not do so, because we do not persist enough in practicing the new behaviour until it has become a habit” (p. 246).

Methods

Analytic Ethnography Assumption: the social scene is not sufficient of

itself; What goes on is at least partly structured by “extra-local relations of ruling.”

Neglect of sustained theorizing across cases. Theory-driven, NOT “grounded Theory”

• Theory Discovery (substantive, middle-range)

• Theory Extension (into new arenas)

• Theory Refinement (correct/ improve the theory)

Specific Methods

Site - Thunder Bay The North, far removed from the South. Specific issues Structure of local environmentalism

There for 3 ½ yrs. Deliberate fieldwork from May -November of my last year. Culminated in formal interviews with 24 “environmentally active”

people.

Researcher – other ethnographic studies. Insider role - known to many Had done an important study of Race Relations.

Findings – Environmental Habitus

Many ways of being an environmentalist Network analyses

Characteristics of the Habitus across differencesA) trying to live environmentally

B) awareness of contradiction

C) engaged in “self-disposing”

D) reflexive

Habitus needs a PLACE to act in Place is practical, performative.

Discussion1

Reflexivity leads to re-examination of “cognitive praxis” (Eyerman & Jamison, 1991).

There is a “feel” for how to live well (environmentally), but it has a highly cognitive element because of the experience of being marginal to the “normal” logic of the place [which is less ecologically oriented].

As Meisenhelder says “habitus is naturalized” (p. 166), but the environmental habitus cannot be, because it is NOT “natural” to the field of an unecologial society.

Discussion (diagram…)

Ecological habitus….?Social Field….?

The relation between reflexivity, habitus, and cognitive praxis.

This structure also unites ind’l identity with movement identity.

Discussion2

Place is important as location of Practice. The goal of environmentalism is to create an effective

environmental logic of practice. “Effective” is effective on the ground, in practice, in a”field” or

“place.”

As the Field, it acts upon the habitus to shape acceptable socio-ecological practices.

(Places are very complex – sites of continual reconfiguration of position, meaning and contestation/representation. Thus, Place will be contested, as actors weight different

values/meanings/practices/positions. Part of this contestation will be “caring”/justice/respect)

CONCLUSIONS

Habitus is “pre-logical”Alternative/marginal habitus has to have a

thought-through (reflexive) aspect.Lifestyles in ContextENGOs as Communities of Practice

Social theory to be RELATIONAL.