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Confronting the Material Convoy in Later Life
Smith, Gabriella V. Ekerdt, David J.
Smith, Gabriella V.
Ekerdt, David J.
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Abstract
We adapt a metaphor from life course studies to designate the whole of one’s possessions, across time, as a convoy of material support. This dynamic collection of things supports daily life and the self, but it can also present difficulty in later life. To alleviate the purported burdens of the material convoy, a discourse has arisen that urges elders and their family members to reduce the volume of possessions. An analysis of 11 such possession management texts shows authors addressing two distinct audiences about elders’ need to downsize: family members and elders themselves. Authors who speak to family members do so with an urgent, unsentimental tone that echoes mainstream clutter-control advice about disorderly, overfull households. In texts for elders, the standard critique about consumption and unruly lives is gentler, more sensitive to the meaning of things, and underplays the emotions of divestment. There is stress on the responsibility to spare the next generation and control one’s legacy. These latter texts seem to respect that downsizing in later life symbolizes a narrowing of the life world.
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This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Smith, G. V. and Ekerdt, D. J. (2011), Confronting the Material Convoy in Later Life*. Sociological Inquiry, 81: 377–391. doi:10.1111/j.1475-682X.2011.00378.x, which has been published in final form at http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-682X.2011.00378.x. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Self-Archiving.
Date
2011-08-01
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Wiley
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Keywords
Aging, Life course, Family, Consumption
Citation
Smith, G. V. and Ekerdt, D. J. (2011), Confronting the Material Convoy in Later Life*. Sociological Inquiry, 81: 377–391. doi:10.1111/j.1475-682X.2011.00378.x