The concept of the life world was introduced by Alfred Schütz into social sciences. Some aspects of this concept are (as I understand it): 1) everyday life is based on a range of taken for granted assumptions forming the basis for our action (this is the basis for stability) 2) there are plural everyday lives and therefore multiple life worlds 3) contemporary everyday lives and their structures are rooted in the socio-cultural history of society.
I think the link to every-day practices is crucial if we want to promote environmental issues. Change always has to be local - and if this change is a national one, it's acceptance happens (or does not happen) on a local level. That is why is think concepts such as the "Good Life" in Ecuador and Bolivia or Food Sovereignty as La Via Campesina wants to install are key in the process of establishing a way of life that does not go against the environment.
Another point to add is the close link between the natural environment and human health - more and more research is demonstrating that a healthy (diverse) environment is beneficial to human health. I suspect that once this link is firmly accepted, protecting the environment will become a higher priority.
Your question is really interesting Johannes. Garfinkel's work was very much influenced by Schutz's work, as I understand this and it may pay you to read his major text. Perhaps slightly tangentially, the concept of contemporary worldview as this relates to environmental dispositions and actions is covered in sociologist Stephen Cotgrove's book Catastrophe or Cornucopia.
Hi, with colleagues I have been using Juergen Habermas' perspective on the lifeworld to try to unpick sustainability issues in relation to accountants. While the analysis is complex we think there are some really insightful interpretations coming out of this that we might not have picked up with other theoretical lenses. I would really encourage others to engage with the lifeworld approach and explore its value for sustainability research. A version of the paper mentioned (with perhaps some useful references) can be found here called: Agyemang, Gloria; Spence, Laura; Rinaldi, Leonardo / A Habermasian Model of Accountant-Client Advice Provision: Small accounting practitioners and sustainability. http://pure.rhul.ac.uk/portal/en/publications/a-habermasian-model-of-accountantclient-advice-provision-small-accounting-practitioners-and-sustainability(d1828ddb-d5bb-45a9-8786-0cd49ef9560e).html.
Thanks for your responses.
@Philipp: I also came across the idea of "good life/buen vivir" and thought it could fill the life world concept in a normative way and I find it interesting people in South America brought it into real world constitutions though whether this has real impact on everyday life of people I don't know.
@Paul: I've not yet read Garfinkels work that could be interesting. At the moment I am working on a paper for the de-growth conference in September in Leipzig focusing on Schützes ideas
@Laura thanks for the literature. So far I thought that the life world concept of Habermas was very different from Schütz' but may be there are some interesting links.
- Badges
- Science topic