The ethics and politics of nudges and niches: A critical analysis of exclusionary environmental designs

Osler, Lucy, Engelen, Bart and Archer, Alfred 2024. The ethics and politics of nudges and niches: A critical analysis of exclusionary environmental designs. Søbirk Petersen, Thomas, Jon Holm, Sebastian and Ryberg, Jesper, eds. Preventing Crime by Exclusion: Ethical Considerations, Routledge, Item availability restricted.

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Abstract

This chapter critically analyses the ethical and political dimensions of supposedly subtle and non-coercive interventions that aim to ‘prevent crime’ through environmental designs making certain public spaces less attractive for specific groups. Examples include benches designed to discourage sleeping (targeted at homeless people), high-pitched noises or classical music played to deter lingering (targeted at youngsters), and specific lighting to prevent aggression (targeted at nightlife). While these interventions may appear less problematic than more traditional exclusionary measures, they raise ethical and political worries that come into view clearly when we analyse them as instances of nudging, on the one hand, and niche construction and affective scaffolding, on the other. Employing this approach reveals how these exclusionary environmental designs not only risk reinforcing problematic stereotypes and social inequalities and discipline rather than prevent crime, they also can alienate specific groups, constitute affective injustices, and inflexibly reduce the diverse purposes public spaces potentially have. The chapter argues that environments are never neutral as they inevitably support and encourage some bodies, behaviours, moods, and emotions while suppressing and discouraging others.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Completion
Status:	In Press
Schools:	English, Communication and Philosophy
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > B Philosophy (General) B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BJ Ethics
Publisher:	Routledge
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	15 April 2024
Last Modified:	15 Apr 2024 13:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/167631

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