On practice theory, or what’s practices got to do (got to do) with it?

This essay surveys the current state of practice theory, along the way charting Stephen Kemmis’s position in the current constellation. Section one, “What Are Theories of Practice?", demarcates the domain of practice theory. Section two, “The Popularity of Practice Theory”, then seeks to explain the rise of practice theory as an approach to social analysis, identifying sociological, disciplinary, linguistic, and subject matter reasons. After this, Section three, “Are Theories of Practice Better Than Other Social Ontologies?", suggests that multiple good social ontological approaches exist and that the family of practice ontologies is one of them. Section four, “What Are Theories of PracticeGood for?", then considers the sorts of phenomena for which illuminating practice-based analyses exist, arguing that this approach is constantly expanding the range of phenomena it can handle. The essay concludes, however, by arguing that practice theory cannot analyze everything and needs to form theoretical alliances with compatible theories to cover more of human life.