Paper short abstract:

In this paper I discuss media and social change inside home with a focus on domestic energy consumption in the UK.

Paper long abstract:

In this paper I am concerned with finding a theoretical framework for exploring the possibilities for change in domestic routines in relation to digital media and energy consumption.

My research is developed within the LEEDR (Low Effort Energy Demand Reduction, see http://leedr-project.co.uk/) interdisciplinary project that looks at opportunities for intervention and for triggering change in social behaviour related to domestic energy consumption by using digital media.

In reflecting on my ethnographic findings, my aims are threefold: to discuss the possibilities for the domestic environment to be seen as an arena for/of social change; to find an appropriate set of theoretical lenses for looking at the contemporary changing relationship between media and the rhythms and routines of home; to open up a discussion about how the material and multisensory qualities of digital media (rather than its content, in this case) can be relevant in making visible and bringing to the fore domestic energy consumption.