Deconstructing networks, unearthing consensus: Diffusion of \u201ccleaner\u201d cookstoves in rural Himalayas of India

Puneet Dwivedi,Arundhati Jagadish

doi:10.1186/s13705-019-0188-1

Puneet Dwivedi, Arundhati Jagadish

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s13705-019-0188-1

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Abstract

BackgroundBoth social structures and people’s beliefs affect the diffusion of innovations, but few studies have been able to understand how these dual influences operate simultaneously. Understanding this simultaneity is important because sustainable practices are influenced by the processes of social learning which build on individual interactions to become embedded in communities of practice. We combined social network and cultural consensus analyses to understand the diffusion of information on “cleaner” cookstoves in eight villages located within a micro-watershed of Kullu District in Himachal Pradesh, India.MethodsFirst, using social network analysis, we identified networks of information flow for three “cleaner” cookstoves: liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cookstoves, induction cookstoves, and Himanshu tandoors. Second, we identified key players in the cookstove information networks. Third, using cultural consensus method, we determined and compared the beliefs of the key and non-key players, as identified from the information networks.ResultsWe found that information networks for selected cookstoves varied in structural measures of density and centrality. We also found that a local non-profit played a lead role in spreading information about selected “cleaner” cookstoves. There was a consensus among both key and non-key player groups regarding beliefs about selected cookstoves; however, non-key players had a higher agreement among themselves and fewer overlapping beliefs than key players. We also found that key players were not always users of the technology itself. This implies that key players, unlike opinion leaders, were not necessarily proponents of selected cookstoves but were able to spread information about them because of their position within the networks.ConclusionWe identified the mismatches in beliefs regarding “cleaner” cookstoves within a community. These mismatches reveal the differences in what people know and what they share through interactions within social networks, suggesting that communities of practice have yet to form. Because the formation of communities of practice has implications for how the adoption of sustainable technologies becomes routinized, we stress the need for more socio-cultural perspectives in diffusion studies.

Highlights

40% of the world’s human population relies on biofuels such as wood, charcoal, crop residues, and animal dung for cooking
Network measures rely on an actor’s position in the network, often leaving aside any discussion of their beliefs and views or extent of shared beliefs with members of their community. We address this critical gap in cookstove diffusion studies by combining social networks and cultural consensus to provide a more nuanced understanding of social-cultural processes that influence cookstove information diffusion
Cookstoves in the villages We found that liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) cookstoves were first used in the study area in 1996, though two families had used it earlier than that when they lived outside the study area

Summary

Introduction

40% of the world’s human population relies on biofuels such as wood, charcoal, crop residues, and animal dung for cooking. Researchers and policy-makers believe that diffusion of “cleaner” cookstoves can help in achieving sustainable development goals of good health and well-being, gender equality, affordable clean energy, climate action, and life on land [4] Both social structures and people’s beliefs affect the diffusion of innovations, but few studies have been able to understand how these dual influences operate simultaneously. Understanding how actors learn, change, and diffuse practices through social networks is an important step in understanding the multi-scalar, yet place-specific, factors influencing sustainable energy transitions This attention to social practice shifts the focus of analysis from assumptions of individual cost-benefit decisionmaking, which remain dominant in many formal economic models of sustainable transitions [26,27,28], to the ways in which routinized embodied actions and understandings relate to larger social contexts and processes [29]. In the following two sections, we provide a brief description of them and situate them within the context of diffusion of cookstove information through social learning processes

Methods

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Discussion

Conclusion