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Are We Sitting Comfortably? Domestic Imaginaries, Laptop Practices, and Energy Use

Author

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  • Justin Spinney

    (School of Geography and Environment, University of Southampton, University Road, Southampton SO17 1BJ, England)

  • Nicola Green
  • Kate Burningham
  • Geoff Cooper
  • David Uzzell

    (Department of Psychology, University of Surrey, Guildford, Surrey GU2 7XH, England)

Abstract

The considerable literature on domestic energy consumption practices has tended to focus on either the (re)production and contestation of normative imaginaries, or the links between escalating standards and energy use. Far less has been written which links these related areas together. Accordingly, this paper is positioned at the intersection of debates on domestic consumption, energy use, and home cultures. Through a qualitative study of laptop use in the home, we illustrate how energy-intensive practices, such as ‘always-on-ness’, and changing computer ecologies and infrastructures, are intimately bound up with the reproduction of particular domestic imaginaries of family and home. A key insight in this paper is that a purely physiological conception of comfort would fail to explain fully why practices such as always-on-ness emerge, and thus we theorise comfort as an accomplishment comprised of inseparable temporal, bodily, spatial, and material elements. Ultimately, we argue here that comfort needs to be understood as a multivalent imaginary that is itself bound up in broader idealised notions of family and home in order to comprehend shifting practices, computing ecologies, and rising energy consumption.

Suggested Citation

  • Justin Spinney & Nicola Green & Kate Burningham & Geoff Cooper & David Uzzell, 2012. "Are We Sitting Comfortably? Domestic Imaginaries, Laptop Practices, and Energy Use," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 44(11), pages 2629-2645, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:envira:v:44:y:2012:i:11:p:2629-2645
    DOI: 10.1068/a44403
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Unander, Fridtjof & Ettestol, Ingunn & Ting, Mike & Schipper, Lee, 2004. "Residential energy use: an international perspective on long-term trends in Denmark, Norway and Sweden," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 1395-1404, August.
    2. Røpke, Inge, 2009. "Theories of practice -- New inspiration for ecological economic studies on consumption," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 2490-2497, August.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bickerstaff, Karen & Devine-Wright, Patrick & Butler, Catherine, 2015. "Living with low carbon technologies: An agenda for sharing and comparing qualitative energy research," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 241-249.

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