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Identity, mobility and the throwaway society

Gregson, N.; Metcalfe, A.; Crewe, L.

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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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