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

Interviews

An Interview with Joseph Rouse: Careers and Ideas in Practice

Published 01-03-2025

  • Elizabeth Shove
    • ,
  • Manuel Baeriswyl
    • ,
  • Joseph Rouse

Elizabeth Shove
Sociology, Lancaster

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

Joseph Rouse
Philosophy, Wesleyan University

An abstract image of a volleyball and net

Abstract

In mapping out some of the key features of his interpretation of practice theory, Joseph Rouse begins by talking about the influence of science studies, and about the social organization of scientific practice. In all of this, Kuhn is an important figure, as are controversies about the socially constructed nature of knowledge. For Joe, practice theory provides a distinctive take on these debates and on the place of language, materiality, normativity, and power. All these issues prove to be important for big questions about the natural and the social world and for Joe’s conclusion that practices underpin the basic structure of human biological environments. 

Keywords

language, nature, normativity, power, science

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References

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