NEGOTIATING SUN USE - CONSTRUCTING CONSISTENCY AND MANAGING INCONSISTENCY

Interview data from beach-side interviews conducted in Wales and New Z ealand were analysed to examine the formatting of responses made to qu estions about the health implications of bodily exposure to the sun. P eople interviewed articulated widely varying stances and value-systems , varying from compliance with institutional prescriptions of safe sun use to outright dismissal of such advice, in favour of body culture i mperatives. But many individuals also showed 'internal' variation, in that they discursively negotiated stances which privileged body cultur e values over health values. That is, despite their generally high awa reness of risks to health, they displayed many pragmatic resources whi ch allowed them, in their talk, to qualify, undermine and resist the d ominant health promotional discourse. The analysis illustrates one way of developing a pragmatic perspective on environmental change and ris k.