Thinking Allowed

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Thinking Allowed: The Value of Things

The Value of Things

BBC Radio 4 - Thinking Allowed, The Value of Things

The value of things: why do we hang on to objects?

The value of things: Laurie Taylor explores our attachment to objects in a disposable world.

The value of things: At a time when many of us are sorting through Christmas presents, both wanted and unwanted, Laurie Taylor explores the value of attachment in a disposable world.  Christine Harold, Professor of Communication at the University of Washington, asks why we hang on to certain objects and discard others. How might our emotional investment in things be harnessed to create less wasteful practices? Also, clutter in our homes, from the meaningless to the meaningful.  Sophie Woodward, Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester, challenges the moralistic view of clutter, one which sees it  as a sign of individual failure to organise one’s domestic life. Instead, she argues, it is central to the ways we  negotiate and manage our intimate relationships.

Producer: Jayne Egerton

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