Lebensstilisierungen mit Öko-Eigenheimen (English shop)

Eine explorative Studie anhand von Fallbeispielen aus dem Industrieviertel Niederösterreichs

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Living in so-called eco-homes has a short history in Lower Austria. The field surveys underlying this study fall within an early developmental phase, both with regard to the ‘hard’ segment of the material shell and the ‘soft’ segment of inhabiting it. In order to explore the practice associated with these specific single-family homes, the study asks at its core about the lifestyles of their inhabitants and, beyond that, about essential field conditions. From a theoretical perspective, the focus lies on the everyday- and materiality-related agency of actors. The operational pivot is the empirically conceived ecological notion of everyday situational household sense. This makes it possible to classify eco-home dwelling modes along the reconstruction of meaning with respect to particular practices. Among the eco-home builders, three lifestyle types exist: the spiritual ecos, the idealistic ecos and the materialistic-egoistic ecos. Only the last-named type can be characterised by the model of homo oeconomicus. By contrast, the spiritual ecos display deep-ecological features and, moreover, share certain eco-ethical and eco-aesthetic attitudes with the idealistic ecos. All three types have an affinity for self-sufficiency.