Dr Stanley Blue
Senior LecturerProfile
Current roles include:
- Discipline Lead - Sociology, Lancaster;
- Co-Director - Centre for Practice Theory at Lancaster;
- Editor - Journal of Practice Theory;
- Convenor - SOCL101: The Sociological Imagination.
Current Research
My research is at the intersection of practice theory and the philosophy of process, with a particular interest in time, social organisation, and the transformation of everyday life. I have developed these ideas in relation to the sociology of consumption, with empirical work focused on areas that include energy demand and public health.
My monograph Practice Theory and Process Philosophy: Towards a Sociology of Becoming is forthcoming with Routledge in September (2025), and I am also a co-author with Elizabeth Shove and Mike Kelly of a forthcoming (in press) book entitled Practice Theory and the Biosocial: Microbes, Matter, and Milieu, Berghahn.
Looking ahead, my research continues to explore the implications of practice and process thinking for public health - particularly in relation to the organisation and transformation of what are often referred to as non-communicable diseases.
For more information on my current and past projects, publications, talks, and engagement work, please visit my Personal Website.
Web Links
You can find links to my recent papers and projects; initatives I'm involved in, and various profiles here: LINKS.
Additional Information
Academic collaborations include:
Editor, Journal of Practice Theory (2024 - present);
Co-Director, Centre for Practice Theory at Lancaster (2021-present);
Co-I, Centre for Research into Energy Demand Solutions (2018-2023);
Research Fellow, DEMAND Centre, Lancaster University (2015-2017);
Affiliated with the Norah Fry Institute at the University of Bristol (2015-2017);
Visiting Fellow, Centre for Urban Research, RMIT, Melbourne (Oct-Dec 2016);
Member of the Sustainable Consumption Institute at the University of Manchester (2013-2015).
PhD Supervision Interests
I would be happy to work with students whose projects relate to my research interests, including work on theories of practice, time, space, rhythm, materiality, embodiment, habit, consumption, demand, mobility, energy, travel, and public health, smoking, obesity, and exercise.
Social practice theory and public health: microbes, bodies and environments
01/06/2025 → 30/06/2025
Research
Time dependence and institutional flexibility
01/04/2021 → 31/03/2023
Research
UK Centre for Research on Energy Demand (UKCRED)
01/04/2018 → 31/12/2023
Research
DEMAND: Dynamics of Energy, Mobility and Demand
01/05/2013 → 30/06/2019
Research
4th Practice Theory Gathering
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
3rd Practice Theory Gathering
Participation in conference - Business/Professional
Intellectual Party Summer Conference 2019
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Intellectual Party/Summer Conference 2018
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Institutional Rhythms: How do hospitals shape demand for energy and travel?
Invited talk
BSA Medical Sociology Group Annual Conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
DEMAND Clan Gathering
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Theories of Practice and Public Health
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
RGS-IBG Annual International Conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
End Use Energy Demand Gala
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
NHS Northern England Health and Sustainability Network
Business Engagement
Lancaster Community Day
Festival/Exhibition/Concert
Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
The Times and Places of Smoking and Eating: Theories of Practice and Public Health
Invited talk
National Infrastrucutre Commission (External organisation)
Member of Advisory Panel
Airedale NHS Foundation Trust
Business Engagement
How do hospitals and other complex institutions shape energy and travel demand?
Invited talk
RMIT University
Visiting an external academic institution
Airedale NHS Foundation Trust
Business Engagement
Time as Experience, Landscape, and Rhythm
Invited talk
DEMAND Conference 2016
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
DEMAND Conference Stream 2016
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
BSA Annual Conference 2016
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
AAG Annual Conference
Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
Environment and Human Health – Social Perspectives: BSA Climate Change, Environment and Health, and London Medical Sociology Study Groups Study Group
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Capturing Practice, Chasing Rhythm: Epistemological Challenges and Experimental Solutions for Studying Practices
Invited talk
NHS Sustainability Day Roadshow
Invited talk
Animals, automated devices and ecosystems: a symposium on the agencies of dynamic non-humans in theories of practice
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
DEMAND Summer School 2016
Participation in workshop, seminar, course
Pilkington Teaching Award
Prize (including medals and awards)
- DEMAND - Dynamics of Energy, Mobility and Demand