ABSTRACT
In the spirit of investigating new frontiers and territories, this chapter is situated between two different types of theory: social practices and epigenetics, a subdiscipline of genetics. Its purpose is to examine the effects of practices on practitioners’ bodies1 and in so doing, advance theories of social practice towards new frontiers in health. So-called ‘lifestyle diseases’ are a persistent and growing global issue and the leading cause of death and disability despite decades of intervention (Daar et al., 2007). In regard to the many varieties of practice theories and practice composition, this chapter draws on the work of Shove et al. (2012) as it incorporates central tenets of theoretical and applied work to date. Explorations of the possible benefits and tensions of joining ideas from social and natural theories, or the ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ sciences, are not new. In fact, they are consistent with the materialist tradition of which theories of social practice are a part (Nicolini, 2012; Schatzki, 2001a).
