Professor Nicola Gregson nicky.gregson@durham.ac.uk
Emeritus Professor
Identity, mobility and the throwaway society
Gregson, N.; Metcalfe, A.; Crewe, L.
Authors
A. Metcalfe
L. Crewe
Abstract
This paper provides a critique of the concept of the throwaway society. Drawing on two years of intensive qualitative research, we argue that the concept of the throwaway society does not bear scrutiny. Rather than throwing things away, households are shown consistently to engage in simultaneous practices of saving and wasting when getting rid of consumer objects. Saving and wasting are shown to be critical to materialising identities and the key social relations of family and home. Focusing on self, the couple relation, and the mother – child relation, we show how wasting things is intimately connected to the narration of self and to the enactment of specific love relations. The paper also shows how wasting things is central to moving home, constituting a surplus and then an excess of household possessions. The paper concludes by arguing that to understand the increasing amount of matter being turned to waste in the UK requires a focus on love relations and mobility, and not on the trajectories of things themselves.
Citation
Gregson, N., Metcalfe, A., & Crewe, L. (2007). Identity, mobility and the throwaway society. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 25(4), 682-700. https://doi.org/10.1068/d418t
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Publication Date | Jan 1, 2007 |
Deposit Date | Dec 22, 2011 |
Publicly Available Date | Apr 2, 2013 |
Journal | Environment and Planning D: Society and Space |
Print ISSN | 0263-7758 |
Electronic ISSN | 1472-3433 |
Publisher | SAGE Publications |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 25 |
Issue | 4 |
Pages | 682-700 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1068/d418t |
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Copyright Statement
Nicky Gregson, Alan Metcalfe, Louise Crewe, 2007. The definitive peer-reviewed and edited version of this article is published in
Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 25(4) 682-700, 10.1068/d418t
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