I am currently working on a project that is exploring changing practices and...
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Behaviour Change and the Intolerant Society
I have recently been reading the sociologist Frank Furedi’s 2011 book On Tolerance: A Defence of Moral Independence (Continuum). In this book, Furedi argues for a critical re-engagement with, and re-invigoration of, the notion of tolerance. According to Furedi, today tolerance tends to be treated in one of two main ways. First of all it […]
Behaviour Change and the Power of Patronage
By Rhys Jones The mechanics whereby notions of Behaviour Change assume discursive significance within any given jurisdiction are opaque at best. How does a set of ideas become accepted by politicians, civil servants, lobbyists and the general public as an explanation that ‘makes sense’ or is ‘useful’? Any number of ideas circulate within academic, political […]
Behaviour Change in New South Wales
By Rhys Jones As part of my short visit from Aberystwyth to chart the emergence of Behaviour Change initiatives in Australia, I spoke with representatives of the new Behavioural Insights Unit set up in New South Wales. I heard a fascinating story about the role played by the Unit in promoting notions of Behaviour Change […]
Timing Behaviour Change
By Rhys Jones It strikes me that there is some academic effort being put into understanding the history or, alternatively, the timing of Behaviour Change. An effort has been made to trace the beginnings of behavioural economics during the 1950s and 1960s, in many ways the academic underpinning of Behaviour Change theory. Similarly, the growing […]
Policy transfer and the Australian experience of Behaviour Change
By Rhys Jones Sitting in a hotel lobby in Sydney after an inordinately early breakfast – blame the jetlag – I’m starting to get to grips with the Australian experience of Behaviour Change interventions. The Australian Public Services Commission’s 2007 document, Changing Behaviour: A Public Policy Perspective, makes clear the potential role that Behaviour Change […]
Wiki-Glossary: (Re)Defining the Rational
This latest entry into our Wiki-Glossary is the product of the problematic encounters we regularly have with the notion of the rational. In behaviour change circles the notion of the rational is a consistent topic of debate and a key policy goal. Our sense, however, is that as a term it is at best shrouded […]
Tax and the Path to Inner Peace
The UK Goverment’s HM Revenue and Customs are currently running a new marketing camapaign. The campaign has been designed to promote the timely completion of self-assessment tax returns and payments. What is interesting about the campaign is that in addition to emphazing the rational threat of the £100 fine that faces those who are late […]
States, Languages and Behaviour Change
Professor Rhys Jones States have always had somewhat of a contradictory relationship with languages. For much of the modern period, states were concerned with promoting a homogeneity of form and function, not least in relation to language. The attempt made by the French state to promote the langue d’oil of the Ile de France, at […]
Behaviour Change and Public Debate
By Professor Rhys Jones I was recently invited to partake in a public debate on behaviour change and nudging, organised by the Sheffield Salon. A series of academics and social commentators presented their general views on behaviour change before being quizzed, in a Question Time format, on different themes that were of concern to the […]
Chris Baker on Spiritual Capital
We asked Chris Baker of the University of Chester and the William Temple Foundation to reflect on the notion of spiritual capital. We feel that the notion of spiritual capital has much to contribute to discussions about psychological capital and Mindfulness. Here are Chris’s thoughts: Spiritual capital is a newish term and mirrors the growing […]
Changing Behaviours - An ESRC Project 