{"id":1577,"date":"2009-07-16T01:35:28","date_gmt":"2009-07-16T06:35:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/thickculture\/?p=1577"},"modified":"2009-07-17T03:56:52","modified_gmt":"2009-07-17T08:56:52","slug":"ikea-and-the-disposable-society","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/thickculture\/2009\/07\/16\/ikea-and-the-disposable-society\/","title":{"rendered":"IKEA and the Disposable Society"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Ikea
Ikea "Fashion" ad campaign, 2007. Agency::DDB Oslo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Crossposted on <\/em>Rhizomicomm<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

I was reading a review on Salon<\/a><\/strong> of Ellen Shell’s Cheap<\/em><\/a><\/strong>. \u00a0The premise is an intriguing one. \u00a0The world wants cheap, mass-produced items that are relatively disposable, but we are often unaware of the global implications of our desires, in terms of labour and the environment. \u00a0I’m currently revising a manuscript on innovation, technology, and China, so these concepts are top-of-mind. \u00a0One of the arguments that Shell makes is that downward wage pressures in low-wage nations are used to keep wages in the U.S. down through threats of downsizing and outsourcing. \u00a0The linchpin of the argument is one of costs, i.e.<\/em>, keeping them low, which revises quality expectations and feeds the corporate oligarchy. \u00a0Shell goes on to use IKEA as an example of a company selling disposability at the expense of true craftsmanship. \u00a0Sure, there is design that goes into the pieces, but the materials used and the mass-produced nature are indicative of a society that values disposable furnishings with cutesy names. \u00a0Palahniuk used what he called the “Ikea nesting instinct” as a social critique on consumption providing meaning, which Fincher captures in his adaptation of Fight Club<\/a><\/strong> {1999}::
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I think that IKEA is doing what all mass-cult brands do. \u00a0They sell a meaning system, but this meaning system is increasingly tied to a fashion system {Roland Barthes<\/a>; Grant McCracken<\/a><\/strong>}. \u00a0So, it’s not that we just want new things, but we want new things that have the right meanings. \u00a0After all, that’s the key to happiness. \u00a0While this may seem cynical, I think that this reflects a trend towards impermanence in our lives, in terms of jobs, where we live, and relationships.<\/p>\n

Where’s the loyalty, where’s the love?<\/p>\n

It’s in places like Red Hook<\/a>, Emeryville<\/a>, East Palo Alto<\/a>, Coquitlam<\/a>, Etobicoke<\/a>, Boucherville<\/a>…<\/p>\n

Is IKEA that bad? \u00a0They could stand to do a better job of living up to their positioning, but I think Shell is right to make us think about our own culpable actions. \u00a0I think we need to be more conscious of what we value.<\/p>\n

Twitterversion<\/a>:: <\/strong>New book by Ellen Ruppel Shell takes on IKEA&what we value.Is the disposable society increasingly pervasive?#ThickCulture http:\/\/url.ie\/22bq\u00a0@Prof_K<\/a><\/p>\n

Song::<\/strong> Ikea – Jonathan Coulton<\/a><\/p>\n

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Crossposted on Rhizomicomm I was reading a review on Salon of Ellen Shell’s Cheap. \u00a0The premise is an intriguing one. \u00a0The world wants cheap, mass-produced items that are relatively disposable, but we are often unaware of the global implications of our desires, in terms of labour and the environment. \u00a0I’m currently revising a manuscript on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":160,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1678,1681,1682,1680,1677,1675,1679,1676],"class_list":["post-1577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-cheap","tag-consumerism","tag-disposable-society","tag-ellen-ruppel-shell","tag-grant-mccracken","tag-ikea","tag-jonathan-coulton","tag-roland-barthes"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/thickculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/thickculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/thickculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/thickculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/160"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/thickculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1577"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/thickculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1597,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/thickculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1577\/revisions\/1597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/thickculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/thickculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/thickculture\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}