Everyday weather-ways: Negotiating the temporalities of home and work in Melbourne, Australia

Abstract

Although a number of researchers have responded to calls to better understand human experiences of weather in the context of a changing climate, there remain few studies that analyse the role of weather in everyday urban life, where mediating technologies such as air-conditioners and tumble dryers are widespread. To address that gap, this paper advances a concept of ‘weather-ways’, in which cultural understandings of weather are conceived as dynamic, unfolding and interactive. Empirically, we examine how weather is part of the daily practices of 20 Melbourne (Australia) participants using interviews conducted across four seasons in 2010–11. Findings show a particular distinction between work and home weather-ways. Office work practices provided a highly structured weekly temporal framework around which other practices were organised. Regardless of the weather, work practices continued undisrupted, particularly in air-conditioned buildings. Away from work, where participants had more freedom to engage with and respond to the weather, they demonstrated a willingness to remain weather-connected, despite having access to technologies. Participants modified their practices in accordance with weather and its variations, through both simple adjustments, such as modifying clothing layers, and broader responses including the temporal and spatial adjustments of leisure and laundering activities that took advantage of ‘good’ weather or avoided less favourable conditions. Vernacular adjustment strategies that may assist in adjusting to future climate changes are in tension with the structural and collective frameworks of most indoor workplaces.