Extending objects’ lifespan, a distinctive practice? Consumption and class boundaries in affluent households
Type de matériel :
97
The consumption of conspicuous goods and services has been widely studied in relation to the dynamics of status affirmation in the upper classes. However, ordinary consumption practices also favour the strengthening of class boundaries and may help in identifying complex mechanisms of social distinction. This article studies the ways in which practices aimed at extending durable goods’ lifespan contribute, within well-off households, to renewed forms of social distinction vis-à-vis other households (from the working classes but also from the upper classes). We employ Michèle Lamont’s notion of “symbolic boundaries” to study the interaction between several distinctive repertoires. Relying on statistical data and interviews, we show that the practice of extending objects’ lifespan remains associated with poverty, both statistically and in qualitative representations. We then show how the presence of such practices among well-off households comes with an ambivalent positioning across the socioeconomic boundary. However, these practices serve as a support for the affirmation of other symbolic boundaries –ethical, technical, and aesthetic– and contribute to creating an identity as members of an anti-consumerist elite.
Réseaux sociaux