Disposability and Dispossession in the Twentieth Century
Top Cited Papers
- 1 March 2002
- journal article
- Published by SAGE Publications in Journal of Material Culture
- Vol. 7 (1) , 5-22
- https://doi.org/10.1177/1359183502007001303
Abstract
This article addresses the issue of disposability in modern Anglo-American society, through a historical and archaeological perspective of late 19th- and 20th-century practices surrounding waste. Starting from what is identified as a dilemma in disposability, caught between two moral systems of the household - thrift and hygiene - this article discusses these systems in terms of waste and the activities surrounding it. Through examination of various practices and drawing on several examples and case studies, it is argued that the issue of disposability is intimately linked to consumption, specifically through the problem of inalienability and its effect on dispossession or the shedding off of domestic and personal objects.Keywords
This publication has 10 references indexed in Scilit:
- Purity and DangerPublished by Taylor & Francis ,2003
- The ‘Casser Maison’ RitualJournal of Material Culture, 2001
- Sanitation practices, depositional processes, and interpretive contexts of Minneapolis PriviesHistorical Archaeology, 2000
- Theoretical and methodological considerations for excavating priviesHistorical Archaeology, 2000
- Filth, garbage, and rubbish: refuse disposal, sanitary reform, and nineteenth-century yard deposits in Washington, D. C.Historical Archaeology, 2000
- The Imperative of Health: Public Health and the Regulated BodyPublished by SAGE Publications ,1995
- Public Health Spaces and the Fabrication of IdentitySociology, 1993
- Medicine in SocietyPublished by Cambridge University Press (CUP) ,1992
- Second time around: A look at bottle reuseHistorical Archaeology, 1987
- Waste Not, Want Not: An Ethnoarchaeological Study of Reuse in Tucson, ArizonaPublished by Elsevier ,1981