This paper explores conceptualisations of households in sustainability transitions. Existing literature in the field has only engaged with households in a limited and fragmented way, despite the role of households in resource use, shaping social innovation and as a target of environmental policies. The paper asks: how are households conceptualised in sustainability transitions and how could this be further developed in future research? The paper uses systematic review to explore how the literature currently engages with households. We find two overarching approaches to households: a closed-box approach and an open-box approach. The closed-box approach engages households as a fixed unit of analysis, without attention to internal dynamics and how these may interact with system-level changes, whereas the open-box approach unpacks the household as a dynamic social unit and material setting in the context of multiple scales and other social units. Both approaches are further discussed in terms of how they engage with households as users, sites and sources. Based on the analysis, the paper proposes a comprehensive definition of households in transition studies, and identifies four areas for future research in sustainability transitions: households' and householders’ agency; unpacking household dynamics; household innovation across scales and socio-technical systems; and households in policy and governance.

本文探讨了可持续转型中家庭的概念化。尽管家庭在资源利用、塑造社会创新和作为环境政策的目标方面发挥着作用，但该领域的现有文献仅以有限和​​分散的方式与家庭接触。该论文询问：如何在可持续性转型中对家庭进行概念化，以及如何在未来的研究中进一步发展？本文使用系统回顾来探索文献目前如何与家庭互动。我们发现了两种主要的家庭方法：封闭式方法和开放式方法。封闭式方法将家庭作为一个固定的分析单位，而不关注内部动态以及它们如何与系统级变化相互作用，而开箱方法将家庭作为多尺度和其他社会单位背景下的动态社会单位和物质环境。这两种方法都进一步讨论了它们如何作为用户、站点和来源与家庭互动。在分析的基础上，本文提出了转型研究中家庭的综合定义，并确定了未来可持续转型研究的四个领域：家庭和住户的能动性；打开家庭动态；跨规模和社会技术系统的家庭创新；和家庭参与政策和治理。本文提出了转型研究中家庭的综合定义，并确定了未来可持续转型研究的四个领域：家庭和住户的机构；打开家庭动态；跨规模和社会技术系统的家庭创新；和家庭参与政策和治理。本文提出了转型研究中家庭的综合定义，并确定了未来可持续转型研究的四个领域：家庭和住户的机构；打开家庭动态；跨规模和社会技术系统的家庭创新；和家庭参与政策和治理。