‘We don’t have a choice’

This chapter starts with a rather simple observation about how change happens: 'we don't have a choice'. In its basic form, this perspective sounds rather deterministic, but it actually reflects a sophisticated attempt to move away from explanations of change which focus on the individual. Habitual forms of consumption are interesting environmentally, because they are often highly inconspicuous. Practice approaches are diverse, and different authors draw on a range of different concepts. The chapter profiles a number of interesting studies that engage with ideas of sustainable consumption through a practice lens. Those taking a practice approach have only relatively recently engaged with questions of deliberate change – questions of how society might be changed to reduce the negative environmental and social impacts of some forms of consumption. Some of the critiques of a practice approach come from a conservative place: a discomfort with the idea of radical social change, even when this is reached through incremental steps.