BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Memento EPFL//
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Constructing normality through material and social lock-in: the dy
 namics of energy consumption viewed through a social practice perspective.
DTSTART:20170524T123000
DTEND:20170524T140000
DTSTAMP:20260406T172858Z
UID:940ba8feee304249d8d9169ebee37d23e60706c91d1bccb709cce429
CATEGORIES:Conferences - Seminars
DESCRIPTION:Marlyne SAHAKIAN\nCultural theories of consumption have much t
 o say about objects that are highly symbolic\, full of meaning\, and conv
 eyors of social status. Yet how to comprehend the many energy-intensive 
 consumption patterns that are far from symbolic? Turning on the lights\, 
 making toast\, or sleeping in a comfortable indoor microclimate\, for exa
 mple\, are some of the mundane activities of everyday life that remain u
 naccounted for in cultural approaches to consumption. As of late\, the 
 “social practice” turn in sustainable consumption studies has created
  a new space for theorizing and exploring the using-up of natural resourc
 es in relation to three elements of a practice: people and their disposit
 ions\; social norms and regulations\; as well as the material dimension 
 of consumption – infrastructure\, spaces\, and their configuration. Thro
 ugh the social practice lens\, I propose an overview of two research sit
 es in relation to energy resources (and specifically\, electricity): Metr
 o Manila\, and the interrelation between social practices\, buildings and
  artificially cooled microclimates\; and Geneva\, considering the multip
 lying of appliances in affluent homes. The social practice framework reve
 als the significance of built spaces and how this contributes to “mater
 ial lock-in”\, but also the influence of norms and expectations – or 
 normality – which contributes to what I have termed “social lock-in
 ”.\nDr Marlyne Sahakian is a Senior Researcher in the Faculty of Geosci
 ences and the Environment at the University of Lausanne\, and will be joi
 ning the Sociology Department at the University of Geneva as Assistant P
 rofessor as of August 2017. She is currently coordinating national and Eu
 ropean research projects on household energy and food consumption\, work
 ing with interdisciplinary teams. Her research interest is in understandin
 g natural resource consumption patterns and practices\, in relation to e
 nvironmental promotion and social equity\, and identifying opportunities f
 or transitions towards more sustainable societies. She writes regularly f
 or journals in the field of sustainability\, as well as food and energy 
 consumption. Her recent work includes a book titled Keeping Cool in South
 east Asia: energy consumption and urban air-conditioning (Palgrave Macmi
 llan\, 2014) and an edited volume titled Food Consumption in the City: 
 Practices and patterns in urban Asia and the Pacific (Routledge Studies 
 in Food\, Society & the Environment\, 2016). She is also a founding memb
 er of SCORAI Europe\, a network in the field of sustainable consumption r
 esearch and action.\nThe axis Integrated Design\, Architecture and Sustai
 nability (IDEAS) is a joint initiative of both the Interdisciplinary Lab
 oratory of Performance-Integrated Design (LIPID) and Laboratory of Archi
 tecture and Sustainable Technologies (LAST) of the ENAC School at EPFL. I
 t aims to address an increased integration of the various issues related t
 o sustainable architecture within the framework of the Master Cycle in Arc
 hitecture\, Civil and Environmental Engineering\, as well as the Doctoral 
 program Architecture & Science of the city (EDAR).\nA light lunch will be 
 served during the presentation. For logistic aspects\, participants are ki
 ndly requested to register via this link before Monday 24 May noon.
LOCATION:LE 010 http://plan.epfl.ch/?lang=en&room=bâtiment+le
STATUS:CONFIRMED
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR