Professor David M Evans
PhD, MSc Econ, BSc Econ
Expertise
My research explores the role of material and cultural practices in processes of economic organisation and social change, with a particular emphasis on sustainability governance.
Current positions
Professor of Organisation and Sociotechnical Futures
School of Management - Business School
Contact
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Research interests
My research explores the role of material and cultural practices in processes of economic organisation and social change, with a particular emphasis on questions of sustainability governance. These core theoretical concerns are operationalised through empirical and substantive engagement with two broad and overlapping topics.
First, I have long-standing interests in the relationships between innovation, technologies and infrastructures, the practices of everyday life, and environmental sustainablity. Much of this work falls under the umbrella of ‘sustainable consumption’ or ‘sustainable consumption and production’ (SCP). Specific projects have focused on the politics of ‘behaviour change’, eco-innovation and household sustainability, plastics, and reusable packaging. My current research in this area is focused on the telecommunications industry, the environmental impacts of 6G, and the sociodigital futures of television. More generally, I am quickly developing new interests in the materiality of media - e.g. network infrastructure, undersea communications cables, physical devices and data storage centres - and environmental sustainability. Allied to this, I am interested in techniques that measure and model environmental impacts (e.g. LCA) as both a future making device and a tool of sustainabiity governance. I am a CoI and member of the Centre Leadership Team for the ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures, where I also lead the 'Consuming Futures' Domain as well as being involved in the 'Theory Thread' and 'High Performance Networks TAP'. See https://www.bristol.ac.uk/fssl/research/sociodigital-futures/
Second, my research has focused on the agro-food sector. Specific projects have focused on food and eating, food waste, retailers and food politics, urban food sharing, and the role of conventions in co-ordinating food production and food consumption. My current research in this area is focused on sustainability transitions in food systems. My interests here relate to the distribution of responsibilities across actor groups, normative contestations around ‘good’ food, and the politics of evidence and evaluation. I am CoI and member of the Executive Group for the UKRI-SPF funded H3 ('Healthy Soil, Healthy Food, Healthy People') programme, where I also lead a 'Cross-Cutting Theme' related to consumption, demand and access. See https://www.h3.ac.uk/
My work sits at the intersection of Science and Technology Studies (STS), Economic Sociology, Organisation Theory, and Cultural Geography. I have a strong theoretical orientation towards relational-materialist perspectives (e.g ANT). I typically work ethnographically although the vast majority of my research involves collaboration with colleagues from a range of methodological and disciplinary – including the natural and physical sciences – backgrounds.
Projects and supervisions
Research projects
ESRC Centre for Sociodigital Futures
Principal Investigator
Role
Co-Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Sociology, Politics and International StudiesDates
01/05/2022 to 30/04/2027
Healthy soils, health environments, healthy people - Uni of Sheffield lead
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Management - Business SchoolDates
02/01/2021 to 01/01/2026
Many Happy Returns – Enabling reusable packaging systems
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Management - Business SchoolDates
01/11/2020 to 31/10/2022
8114 ESRC Post Doctoral Fellowship - ES/T007206/1 - Dr J Beacham
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Management - Business SchoolDates
01/10/2019 to 30/09/2020
Plastics: Redefining Single-Use - Uni of Sheffield lead
Principal Investigator
Managing organisational unit
School of Management - Business SchoolDates
01/02/2019 to 31/12/2020
Thesis supervisions
‘Feeding a Beast That Never Gets Full’
Supervisors
Publications
Selected publications
05/03/2023Money, Debt and Finance
Sociology
Market coordination and the making of conventions
Economy and Society
After Practice?
Cultural Sociology
The ontological politics of freshness
Environment and Planning A
Constructing and mobilizing 'the consumer'
Environment and Planning A
Recent publications
01/01/2024Sociological Amnesia and the Future of Food
Towards an Eliasian Understanding of Food in the Twenty First Century : Established Foundations, New Directions
Money, Debt and Finance
Sociology
Production and consumption in agri-food transformations
Sociologia Ruralis
Understanding national variations in reusable packaging: commercial drivers, regulatory factors, and provisioning systems
Geoforum
Food geographies ‘in’, ‘of’ and ‘for’ the Anthropocene: introducing the issue and main themes
Geographical Journal