Vol. 1 (2025)
Practice Theory: Past, Present, Future

Interviews

An Interview with Stephen Turner: Careers and Ideas in Practice

Published 01-03-2025

  • Elizabeth Shove
    • ,
  • Manuel Baeriswyl
    • ,
  • Stephen Turner

Elizabeth Shove
Sociology, Lancaster University

Manuel Baeriswyl
Institute of Marketing and Communication Management, Università della Svizzera italiana

Stephen Turner
Philosophy, University of South Florida

An abstract image of palm trees in a hurricane

Abstract

Over the course of his long career, Stephen Turner has challenged a host of established positions in social theory. In this interview we discuss some of these interventions, starting with his critique of concepts that purport to explain social life but that are detached from it. Instead of treating practices as reified entities that ‘exist’ and about which we can have a theory, Stephen works from the ground up, asking about the place of habit and tacit knowledge and their significance for how practices are shared. In discussing Stephen’s approach, and how it relates to – and departs from - the work of Thomas Kuhn, Pierre Bourdieu, Michel Foucault, Antony Giddens, and Bruno Latour, we range across topics to do with constructivism, realism, and materiality. We look back at the reception of his landmark book, The Social Theory of Practices (1994), and we look forwards: thinking about where his ideas are leading now.

Keywords

habit, explanation, tacit knowledge, technology, skill

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References

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