Affect and public health – Choreographing atmospheres of movement and participation

•Paper argues that public health research has overlooked the potential of thinking about affect.•Suggests that in order to develop better public health research and initiatives theories of affect hold considerable promise.•Two ethnographic vignettes think through the possibilities of choreographing space for movement, participation, and public health research.•Concludes by outlining offer a series of ideas to choreograph affect to encourage physical activity participation.

Attempts at improving physical activity rates among the population are central to many government, public health, and third sector approaches to encouraging health behaviours. However, to date there has been little attempt by public health to embrace different theoretical-methodological approaches, relying instead upon largely quantitative techniques. This paper argues that through a development of a framework of affect amplification, public health approaches to physical activity should incorporate the choreographing of spaces of movement. Drawing on two case studies, both incorporating ethnographic methodologies, this paper complicates the idea that public health can rely on individual or population level approaches that overlook affective and spatial entanglements. This paper concludes by outlining offer a series of ideas to encourage physical activity participation.