Cultural narratives and family practices: examining pro-environmental behaviour in India

Pallavi Singh, Caroline J. Oates, Panayiota Alevizou and Sunil Sahadev

Chapter 36 in Research Handbook on the Sociology of Consumption, 2026, pp 417-425 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Pro-environmental behaviour has been studied extensively with a view to understanding how such behaviour can be facilitated and encouraged to reduce negative impacts on the planet. However, the cultural aspects of pro-environmental behaviour among families are still underexplored. Understanding how culture might be used as a tool kit to encourage pro-environmental behaviour in an intergenerational context is the focus of this chapter. In a qualitative study, 24 mothers and children in India were interviewed about their pro-environmental behaviour. Analysis revealed that cultural narratives and stories formed key parts of the mothers’ environmental cultural toolkit, despite such communications not always being identified as environmental. Similarly, family behaviours rooted in traditional practices, as modelled by mothers, were identified as ‘how things have always been done’ rather than defined as pro-environmental. These findings raise questions about the universality of environmental discourse and highlight the importance of localised and cultural narratives in a familial setting.

Keywords: Cultural narratives; Cultural tool kit; Intergenerational; Pro-environmental; Families; India (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035310500
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