Elites, elements and events: Practice theory and scale

Practice theory appears to be a flat ontology in conventional renderings, but it is unclear why this is so. In attempting to scale socio-technical systems practice theory finds itself needing to think about new possible strategies to both compete with other ontologies and rebrand itself as capable of mapping the world outside of everyday life, the domestic and the home. In pursuit of this goal three unfamiliar new terrains are explored: elites, elements and events. In this paper a method for practice theory to broach scale while retaining its current value is articulated through ideas about the synchronization of elements and through paying closer attention to elites and events in the ways practices are practised. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.