Social practices and identity-work: Life course changes as sites for clothing and textile disposal

While consumption and identity have been intimately connected in both everyday life and academic research, the practice-theoretical turn has led to identity being sidelined in consumption research. This paper explores how people make their identities discursively available through accounts of textile disposal and how identity affects what makes sense for them to do. Based on interviews with Norwegian households, two major life transitions, cohabitation and parenthood, are examined as sites for negotiations of clothing and textile disposal. Findings suggest that cohabitation alters the physical location and context of relationships, requiring couples to negotiate shared material arrangements while navigating expectations of proper cohabitation. Similarly, transitioning to parenthood reshapes daily practices, as parents navigate competing practices of sustainability and family life. Findings reveal a parental learning process in which understandings of consumption evolve, shifting what is seen as “appropriate” or “necessary”. This paper contributes to a nuanced understanding of consumption as it views individual identity as influencing the performance of practices and the materials deemed necessary, thereby extending the understanding of consumption beyond mere engagement in practices. Individual variations in practice enactment highlights consumption as a complex process encompassing both mundane, routinized behaviors and reflexive practices of accounting for these behaviors.