Elizabeth Shove (born 7 November 1959) is a British sociologist who has written about

social practice theory Practice theory (or praxeology, theory of social practices) is a body of social theory within anthropology and sociology that explains society and culture as the result of structure and individual agency. Practice theory emerged in the late 20th c ...

consumption Consumption may refer to: *Resource consumption *Tuberculosis, an infectious disease, historically * Consumption (ecology), receipt of energy by consuming other organisms * Consumption (economics), the purchasing of newly produced goods for curren ...

, everyday life and

energy demand World energy supply and consumption is global production and preparation of fuel, generation of electricity, energy transport, and energy consumption. It is a basic part of economic activity. It includes heat, but not energy from food. This art ...

. She is Director of the Centre on the Dynamics of Energy, Mobility and Demand (DEMAND) at

Lancaster University Lancaster University (legally The University of Lancaster) is a public university, public research university in Lancaster, Lancashire, Lancaster, Lancashire, England. The university was established in 1964 by royal charter, as one of several pla ...

. The DEMAND Centre is one of six End Use Energy Demand Centres.

Early life

Shove was born on 7 November 1959 in

Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, around southwest of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The name "Guildf ...

, the daughter of John and Jocelyn Shove. She attended

Godalming Grammar School Godalming Grammar School was a state-funded selective grammar School taking both boys and girls, situated in Tuesley Lane, Godalming, England. Organisation Post-war, students were selected via the eleven-plus examination. From the early 1960s, ...

and then

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

, where she received a BA and then a PhD in 1986.

Career

She was a

research fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a pr ...

at the Institute of Advanced Architectural Studies at York University from 1986 to 1992. She then became a senior lecturer at the

University of Sunderland , mottoeng = Sweetly absorbing knowledge , established = 1901 - Sunderland Technical College1969 - Sunderland Polytechnic1992 - University of Sunderland (gained university status) , staff = , chancellor = Emel ...

from 1992 to 1995. Shove joined

in 1995 as the deputy director for the Centre for the Study of Environmental Change, until 1998 when she became director of the Centre for Science Studies. She has been part of the department of sociology at the university since 2000. Shove’s research on energy spans 25 years during which time she has held research awards from the

Building Research Establishment The Building Research Establishment (BRE) is a centre of building science in the United Kingdom, owned by charitable organisation the BRE Trust. It is a former UK government national laboratory that was privatised in 1997. BRE provides resear ...

, the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

, the

Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is a British Research Council that provides government funding for grants to undertake research and postgraduate degrees in engineering and the physical sciences, mainly to universi ...

, the

European Social Fund The European Social Fund Plus (ESF+) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIFs), which are dedicated to improving social cohesion and economic well-being across the regions of the Union. The funds are redistributive financ ...

, the

Economic and Social Research Council The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), formerly the Social Science Research Council (SSRC), is part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). UKRI is a non-departmental public body (NDPB) funded by the UK government. ESRC provides fundi ...

, the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

, the

Department of Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The d ...

, Transport for London and

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy dri ...

. She is author/co-author of 9 books, including Sustainable Practices (2013: Routledge), The Dynamics of Social Practice (2012: Sage), and Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience (2003: Berg). Additionally, throughout her career she has explored the relationship between sociological theories and design methods.

Policy impact

On 15 September Shove gave evidence at the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...

to a Design Commission enquiry on design and behaviour in the built environment. She was invited in response to an official submission to the enquiry. Shove is a regular contributor to ''

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, and Robe ...

'' and a contributor to the

World Economic Forum The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an international non-governmental and lobbying organisation based in Cologny, canton of Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded on 24 January 1971 by German engineer and economist Klaus Schwab. The foundation, ...

's Agenda and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''.

Selected publications

* Shove, E., Pantzar, M., Watson, M. (2012). The Dynamics of Social Practice, Sage: London. *Shove, E. (2010). Beyond the ABC: climate change policy and theories of social change. Environment and planning A 42 (6), 1273-1285. * Shove, E., Walker, G. (2007). CAUTION! Transitions ahead: politics, practice, and sustainable transition management. Environment and Planning A 39 (4), 763-770. * Shove, E., Pantzar, M. (2005). Consumers, Producers and Practices Understanding the invention and reinvention of Nordic walking. Journal of consumer culture 5 (1), 43-64. * Cass, N., Shove, E. & Urry, J. Social exclusion, mobility and access (2005). The sociological review 53 (3), 539-555http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-954X.2005.00565.x/abstract.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Shove, Elizabeth Living people British sociologists People from Guildford 1959 births Alumni of the University of York Academics of Lancaster University People educated at Godalming Grammar School