Abstract
Article for JOMEC special issue: Secondhand Cultures in Unsettled Times
House clearance companies frequently operate as the first brokers of goods as they move from first-hand usage to second-hand repurposing or to disposal. Especially in their end-of-life formation, house clearers process and disperse diverse ranges of unwanted goods, accumulated over lifetimes, making commercial decisions at speed about their next directions. The small-scale study of UK house clearance practice is underpinned by empirical observation of disposal and dispersal processes at three key points - the cleared house, the waste processing site and the reselling location – and by interviews with those who make the choices about what to keep and what to trade, as well as with those who buy it and sell it on. It examines how garments can move, in less than a week, out of wardrobes and into the domain of secondhand dealers and consumers, through declining scales of value, until garments are given away for free. What remains unwanted at the end of this process is culturally marked by many rejecting hands and constitutes the lowest ebb of utility and desirability, shedding light on how cultural and financial value is constructed and deconstructed through local and global circuits of manufacture and reuse, and ultimately how waste is classified and produced.
House clearance companies frequently operate as the first brokers of goods as they move from first-hand usage to second-hand repurposing or to disposal. Especially in their end-of-life formation, house clearers process and disperse diverse ranges of unwanted goods, accumulated over lifetimes, making commercial decisions at speed about their next directions. The small-scale study of UK house clearance practice is underpinned by empirical observation of disposal and dispersal processes at three key points - the cleared house, the waste processing site and the reselling location – and by interviews with those who make the choices about what to keep and what to trade, as well as with those who buy it and sell it on. It examines how garments can move, in less than a week, out of wardrobes and into the domain of secondhand dealers and consumers, through declining scales of value, until garments are given away for free. What remains unwanted at the end of this process is culturally marked by many rejecting hands and constitutes the lowest ebb of utility and desirability, shedding light on how cultural and financial value is constructed and deconstructed through local and global circuits of manufacture and reuse, and ultimately how waste is classified and produced.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 34-54 |
| Number of pages | 20 |
| Journal | JOMEC: Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies Journal |
| Volume | 17 |
| Publication status | Published - 9 Dec 2022 |