Energy burden and the meaning and making of home

人类学家和社会科学家早就认识到家庭对创造幸福的重要性。众所周知，房屋的结构和功能很容易因材料、基础设施和社会设施的不足而受到破坏，但这种情况究竟是如何发生的仍不清楚。该项目调查了严重的能源负担（在能源成本上花费不成比例的年收入份额）在影响人们如何概念化和建造房屋方面的重要性。它询问低收入人群如何适应高昂的能源账单，以及能源负担如何影响满足其基本需求的能力，以及与他们共同居住的个人的需求。该项目通过模拟能源在产生人类栖息地，社会性和社会分化中所扮演的各种角色，为人类学科学做出了贡献。该项目产生了一系列更广泛的影响，包括人类学研究方法的学生培训，社区就业机会，对能源政策的影响，以及提高公众对公用事业运营和监管的理解。该项目包括为期三年的人种学、档案和定性研究。它集中在几个问题：（1）低收入人群如何使用家庭能源，他们如何理解能源在建造家园中的作用？(2)能源如何帮助和阻碍人们满足其基本需求？(3)哪些历史、问题和因素影响了能源的可负担性？以及（4）公用事业政治和监管如何影响低收入人群支付电费的能力？这对他们的个人、社会以及与家中其他人的关系有什么影响？方法包括能源政策的档案分析，媒体分析，日常行为和能源和公用事业经验的生态瞬间分析，主要利益相关者访谈和媒体分析。研究结果将决定科学家如何理解物质结构、制度和能源基础设施以及家政和家庭福利的社会生存战略之间复杂的相互作用。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Anthropologists and social scientists have long recognized the importance of home for generating well-being. It is well known that structures and functions of homes are easily disrupted by material, infrastructural, and social shortfalls, yet precisely how this arises remains unclear. This project investigates the significance of severe energy burden (spending a disproportionate share of annual income on energy costs) in affecting how people conceptualize and make homes. It asks how low-income people accommodate high energy bills and how energy burden impacts the ability to meet their basic needs, as well as those of individuals with whom they share a home. The project contributes to anthropological science by modeling the varied roles that energy plays in producing human habitats, sociality, and social differentiation. The project generates a range of broader impacts, including student training in anthropological research methods, community employment opportunities, impacts on energy policy, and increased public understanding of utility operations and regulation. Results are broadly disseminated to academic and non-academic audiences.The project consists of ethnographic, archival, and qualitative research over a period of three years. It centers on several questions: (1) How do low-income people use domestic energy and how do they understand the role of energy in making homes? (2) How does energy help and hinder people in meeting their basic needs? (3) What histories, issues, and factors shape energy affordability? And (4) how do utility politics and regulation impact low-income people’s ability to pay electric bills? What consequences does this have for their welfare, individually, societally, and in relation to others in their homes? Methods include archival analysis of energy policies, media analysis, ecological momentary analysis of daily behavior and experiences with energy and utilities, key stakeholder interviews, and media analysis. Results will shape how scientists understand the complex interplay among material structures, institutional and energy infrastructures, and social subsistence strategies for homemaking and family welfare.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.