Negotiating the Norms of Consumption: an Exploration of Ordinary Practices of Disposing
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NEGOTIATING THE NORMS OF CONSUMPTION: AN EXPLORATION OF ORDINARY PRACTICES OF DISPOSING A Ph.D. Dissertation by MELTEM TÜRE Department of Management İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University Ankara July 2013 To my sister and best friend Mehlika NEGOTIATING THE NORMS OF CONSUMPTION: AN EXPLORATION OF ORDINARY PRACTICES OF DISPOSING Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences of İhsan Doğramacı Bilkent University by MELTEM TÜRE In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE DEPARTMENT OF MANAGEMENT İHSAN DOĞRAMACI BİLKENT UNIVERSITY ANKARA July 2013 I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management. Prof. Dr. Güliz Ger --------------------------------- Supervisor I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Management. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özlem Sandıkçı --------------------------------- Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management. Assist. Prof. Dr. Nedim Karakayalı --------------------------------- Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management. Assist. Prof. Dr. Eminegül Karababa --------------------------------- Examining Committee Member I certify that I have read this thesis and have found that it is fully adequate, in scope and in quality, as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management. Assist. Prof. Dr. Olga Kravets --------------------------------- Examining Committee Member Approval of the Graduate School of Economics and Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Erdal Erel --------------------------------- Director ABSTRACT NEGOTIATING THE NORMS OF CONSUMPTION: AN EXPLORATION OF ORDINARY PRACTICES OF DISPOSING Türe, Meltem Ph.D., Department of Management Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Güliz Ger July 2013 Recently, disposing has attracted lots of research attention. While some researchers frame disposing as a practice of ordering, identity management, and psychological relief, others associate it with overconsumption, waste of usable resources, and environmental hazard. Although disposing is related to such seemingly conflicting meanings and consumption practices, consumer researchers mostly bypass the broader structures, grand practices, and ideological and discursive meaning systems underlying disposing practices. Using ethnographic methods, this study explores disposing as a mundane practice, embedded in contexts with socio-cultural, economic, historical, and political dimensions. The research aims to reveal when and how consumers practice disposing by highlighting the normative and ideological structures that help constructing these practices. It also aims to shed light on how disposing might relate to other consumption practices. The results depict disposing as embedded in four meta-practices at the intersection of various tensions and ideologies feeding these. Steeped in these grand discourses of consumption, disposing helps moralizing consumption and allows consumers to experience morality without standing against consumerism or adopting new lifestyles. Rather than just facilitating consumer resistance, disposing also helps consumers to compromise with the market. The results complicate the linear framing of consuming as acquiring-using-disposing by highlighting how disposing reflects on the object’s consumption and is constructive of its value. The study also reveals new practices through which consumers negotiate disposing and highlight a new dimension of object attachment. The results have important implications for the disposition, moral consumption, and value research. Keywords: Disposing, Moral Consumption, Value, Object Attachment. iii ÖZET TÜKETİMLE UZLAŞMA: ELDEN ÇIKARTMA PRATİKLERİ ÜZERİNE BİR ARAŞTIRMA Türe, Meltem Doktora, İşletme Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. Güliz Ger Temmuz 2013 Elden çıkartma pratikleri, giderek daha fazla ilgi çeken bir tüketim alanına dönüşmüştür. Bazı araştırmalar, elden çıkartma pratiklerini, temizlik, düzen, kimlik yönetimi ve psikolojik rahatlama davranışları ile ilişkilendirirken; diğer çalışmalar, elden çıkartma süreci ile aşırı tüketim, kaynak ziyanı ve çevresel kirlilik arasındaki ilişkiye dikkat çekerler. Elden çıkartmayı bu çelişkili anlam ve pratiklerle açıklayan literatür, bunların altında yatabilecek ideolojiler, anlam sistemleri ve meta pratikler konusunda ise büyük oranda sessizdir. Etnografik metodlar kullanılarak yapılan bu araştırmada, elden çıkartma, sosyo-kültürel, ekonomik, tarihsel ve politik boyutları olan gündelik bir tüketim pratiği olarak ele alınmıştır. Çalışmanın amacı tüketicilerin nasıl ve ne zaman eşyalarını elden çıkarttıklarını irdelemek ve bu pratikleri oluşturan normatif ve ideolojik yapıları açığa çıkartmaktır. Ayrıca, elden çıkartma sürecinin diğer tüketim süreçleriyle olan bağının da ortaya çıkartılması amaçlanmaktadır. Çalışmanın sonuçları, elden çıkartma pratiklerini, çeşitli gerilim ve ideolojilerin odağında bulunan dört meta pratikle ilişkilendirmektedir. Bu pratikler ve söylemlerce şekillenen elden çıkartma süreci, bir çeşit ahlakileştirme pratiğine dönüşürken, tüketicilerin tüketim kültürüne direnmeden veya hayat tarzlarını değiştirmelerine gerek kalmadan etik davranmalarına olanak sağlamaktadır. Böylece, elden çıkartma süreci, tüketicilerin pazar kültürüne karşı durabilmeleri dışında, pazarla ve tüketimle uzlaşmalarını da sağlamaktadır. Çalışma, elden çıkartma sürecinin, eşyaların tüketimi ve değerlerinin oluşmasına yaptığı etkileri göstererek, alım-kullanma-elden çıkartma doğrusal üçlemesinde kurgulanan tüketim süreci algısını sorgulamaktadır. Ayrıca, tüketicilerin elden çıkartmadan kaçınmak için başvurdukları yöntemler ve sıradan eşyalara bağlılığı arttıran bazı süreçler de ortaya çıkartılmıştır. Sonuç olarak, bu çalışma, elden çıkartma, ahlaki tüketim ve değer araştırmalarına önemli katkılarda bulunmaktadır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Elden Çıkartma, Ahlaki Tüketim, Değer, Eşya Bağımlılığı. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This research is the fruit of a five-year study, which improved and took its final form as numerous people contributed to it knowingly or unknowingly. I would like to express my gratitude to these people, who helped me get through this long, challenging, and equally rewarding adventure. I would like to thank Güliz Ger for being a great advisor and for her supportive, encouraging, selfless, and challenging mentoring. She knew when to push me to work harder and when to tell me to relax. I am grateful that she believed in my skills and capacity to improve myself even when I did not. I am also thankful for Özlem Sandıkçı, who provided me with insightful comments and clear directions for my thesis. She always set an excellent example for being a productive researcher. I would like to convey my gratitude to Nedim Karakayalı, whose calm demeanour always helped me to relax and focus on my studies while his vast knowledge gave me new perspectives in approaching my research. I would like to thank Eminegül Karababa, whose thoughtful comments improved this research greatly. Her academic experiences and career encouraged me to continue with my PhD studies. I am extremely grateful for Olga Kravets, who, as a friend and mentor, always supported and encouraged me. I also thank Ahmet Ekici for sharing his own experiences and encouraging me in my studies. v I am forever grateful for my family, who accompanied me through the joys and difficulties of my PhD studies. Without my sister’s compassion, constant support, and encouragement, I could not have finished this journey. I thank her for always being there when I needed her. I would like to thank my mother who supported my decision to pursue a PhD and endured the difficulties with me. I thank my father and aunt, who have always believed in my skills and capabilities. I would also like to thank my friend Cem Baş for his contributions to my thesis. I thank my dear friends with whom I shared the difficulties and anxieties of this long and challenging process. I am grateful for the sisterly and warm friendship of Berna Tarı, who always cheered me up and helped me enjoy the life in academia. Her company made academic seminars and conferences more enjoyable and productive for me. I would like to thank Şahver Ömeraki for being a reliable friend. Her sincere and considerate personality helped me in various ways. I am thankful for having Alev Kuruoğlu during the most difficult times of my PhD studies. Her presence supported me through my courseload, qualifying exam, and thesis proposal. I would also like to thank Figen Güneş and Arzu Büyükkaragöz Demirtaş for their friendship and contributions to my research. I thankfully acknowledge The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) for providing me with financial support during my PhD studies. I thank all the professors and faculty staff in Bilkent University, Faculty of Business Administration for creating a stimulating and enjoyable workplace. I am especially grateful for Erdal Erel, Zeynep Önder, and Rabia Hırlakoğlu for their help and constant support. Finally, I am thankful for all my informants for making this research possible by sincerely and helpfully sharing their