Practice and History in the Transition to Food Production

Bruno suggests that theories of practice provide an approach that has potential to aid in one's understanding of the tempo, character, and consequences of adopting agriculture. Some researchers have begun to incorporate these theories, but they have received little attention compared with evolutionary approaches. Theories of practice examine how humans create macroscale features such as traditions or sociopolitical institutions through their own daily actions. Daily activities or nondiscursive routines not only reinforce these structures but also provide the contexts in which they can change. This approach is explicitly historical and attempts to trace how new traditions or dispositions arise out of old ones.