“They Were Built to Last”: Anticonsumption and the Materiality of Waste in Obsolete Buildings

Abstract

Previous consumer research on waste has prioritized disposable and low-involvement possessions. The authors extend scholarship into the context of obsolete buildings as a means to better engage with the complex materiality of waste and to explore the role anticonsumption plays in consumers' valuations of end-stage consumption. This study focuses on the phenomenon of urban exploration, a subculture who seek to discover and explore derelict buildings. Drawing on an ethnographic study including in-depth interviews, the authors reveal how anti-consumption manifests in the urban environment in terms of alternative understandings of value. In contrast to the economic valuations that often dominate public policy decision making, this study highlights the need for policy makers to consider diverse, and perhaps conflicting, value regimes. The authors propose an Obsolescence Impact Evaluation that enables a systematic assessment of the stakeholders potentially impacted by redevelopment and demolition, differing regimes of valuation relevant to the decision and potential uses of the buildings. The authors suggest various ways that public policy makers can take advantage of this tool.

What we know about anticonsumption: An attempt to nail jelly to the wall

“…Figure shows the largest clusters of theoretical and empirical interest that scholars subsume under the umbrella of anticonsumption. The most prominent cluster focuses on consumer resistance (i.e., Amine & Gicquel, ; Chalamon, ; Izberk‐Bilgin, ; Nepomuceno & Laroche, ), followed by green/sustainable consumption (e.g., Black, ; Black & Cherrier, ; Garcia‐de‐Frutos & Ortega‐Egea, ), boycotts/consumer activism (e.g., Makarem & Jae, ), voluntary simplicity (i.e., Craig‐Lees & Hill, ; Shaw & Newholm, ), brand/product/product category avoidance (e.g., Cherrier & Hill, ; Lee et al, 2009), ethical/moral consumption (e.g., Eckhardt et al, ; Sudbury‐Riley & Kohlbacher, ; Thompson, ), alternative consumption (e.g., Anderson, Hamilton, & Tonner, ; Ozanne & Ballantine, ), and symbolic consumption (e.g., Hogg, Banister, & Stephenson, ).…”

The Journal of Public Policy & Marketing at 40: Celebrating History and Impact

“…In this decade, Social Policy remains a critical topic in the Journal, encouraged in large part by multiple special issues devoted to the TCR movement. Additional topics in this category include policies around neighborhood gentrification (Grier and Perry 2018), anticonsumption and materialism (Anderson, Hamilton, and Tonner 2018), and tax compliance (Lamberton 2013).…”

The Persistence of the Victorian Prison: Alteration, Inhabitation, Obsolescence, and Affirmative Design

“…In this and related work (e.g. Nutt & Sears 1972, Bryson 1997, Anderson et al 2018, obsolescence has relevance primarily to the buildings themselves; to decisions about refurbishment, demolition and end-of-life processes.…”