Business & Economics

Living with Things

Name: Living with Things
Author: Nicky Gregson
ISBN: 9781907774072

by Nicky Gregson

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Synopsis

This major work addresses central concerns of consumption studies, the sociology of the contemporary home and family, and material culture studies. It focuses on an issue of concern to all: how do we negotiate the movement of things, so as to make our homes `accommodating to our families? Based on ethnographic study conducted, primarily, in a former coal-mining village in North east England, the book explores a number of practices of inhabitation, from the relatively exceptional, such as moving in or being modernised, to the daily accommodation of sleep and children. It provides a demonstration of what happens to consumption research when it `comes home and is positioned not in sites of exchange but within the home and in households. Presenting complex arguments in a clear, accessible and engaging style, suitable for both undergraduates and postgraduates, it concludes that homes, identities and social relations are made as much by disposal as by acquisition of things.