Rose, N; (2021) Governing behaviour: Habits and the science of behaviour change. In: Assembling and Governing Habits. (pp. 44-61). Routledge: London, UK.

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Abstract

In this chapter I examine the emergence and characteristics of ‘behavioural science’ and its claim to provide the basis for governing behaviour through science. I explore some of the different forms that such a behavioural science has taken, and in particular the extent to which it does seek to govern through the shaping and reshaping of habits. This is exemplified with examples from the management of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the United Kingdom in 2020. Following a brief account of the neurobiology of habits that has largely been based on research with animals, I consider its take-up within social psychology in accounting for human habitual conduct. This involves a renewed emphasis on the power of the situation, entailing some ambiguity about the role of conscious goals in eliciting habitual behaviour. Overall, I argue that the behavioural science strategy of governing conduct through communication of ‘scientific evidence’ has the aim of intensifying each individual’s responsibility to care for themselves at the very same time as they enact their ‘citizenship’ responsibilities to others. The hope, which might be misplaced, is that one can govern the behaviour of millions by governing the ways that each individual behaves themselves.

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