ABSTRACT
In this chapter I will discuss how a practice-based sensitivity can be used to address big issues and ‘large-scale phenomena’. Examples of big issues include the nature and functioning of the financial market, large institutional arrangements, the education system, bureaucracy and the future of the planet. The topic is central to the advancement of practice-oriented studies. Practice-based sensitivities are often pigeonholed as part of microsociology and thus deemed unsuitable to deal with some of the big issues of our time and are of scarce importance outside academic circles. How we address ‘large-scale phenomena’ is therefore closely related to the issue of the relevance of practice-based studies and the practical uses of practice theories.
