Enchanting the Home: Rituals of Disposal

Abstract

“Enchanting the Home: Rituals of Disposal” examines the contemporary decluttering trend in the United States including movements such as Marie Kondo, Minimalism, Swedish Death Cleaning, Homesteading, and Feng Shui. Although these movements are ostensibly distinct, they all involve shedding excess possessions in order to achieve health, happiness, freedom, and even salvation. Drawing on material culture and media studies methods, this project trains attention on the ways in which religious material practices are shaped by decay and disposal. The following project argues that the decluttering trend enchants the home by attuning people to the dangerous and harmful power their possessions exert over them. It further shows that the enchantments of the home are mitigated through rituals of disposal, but these rituals produce waste and subsequently obscure it. Ultimately, this project contends that the enchantment of consumer capitalism relies on disposability, as much as it does on marketing, purchasing, and consuming.