# Assistant conversation PT7SY8

- Canonical URL: <https://sheaf.less.rest/PT7SY8>
- Resource IRI: <https://sheaf.less.rest/PT7SY8>
- Type: assistant conversation
- Mode: quick

## Transcript

### 1. User

can you tell me about the hobson 2021 thing where they somehow call for work on developing the consumption work research beyond households, towards community/public sites? what's that about, i would like to read the quote and understand it and how it relates to the thesis draft

### 2. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `search_text`

```json
{
  "limit": 5,
  "query": "Hobson 2021 consumption work beyond households community public sites"
}
```

### 3. Tool result: search_text

Exact matches

1. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 102
  Context:
    #KBKAA9 Concluding discussion
      #92JYP3 Research contributions
        #TZ262D Retail market materialities creating more work for consumers
  Matching excerpt #YMBNUF:
      Instead of reducing or simplifying the work of consumers in the CE (Hobson et al., 2021), circularity offerings often produce not only additional consumer work to be performed in households but also work that is difficult to carry out due to a lack of focus on enabling the created work. Firstly, the different circularity offerings suggest various chores to be performed with a demonstration of care and attending to assigned garment vulnerabilities and responsibilities. Instead of assisting consumers to perform circular consumption in stores, the circular chores are generally created as additional consumption work (Hobson et al., 2021) in households, such as repairing, upcycling or carrying out better forms of maintenance and cleaning. This extends the discussion of circular consumption work beyond the questions of how consumers manage the additional work (Hobson et al., 2021; Mesiranta et al., 2024; Sutcliffe, 2022) by pointing to how retailers take part in patterning circular consumption by creating some of the additional work for consumers in the CE. Secondly, this dissertation also shows that retail market materialities complicate the performance of this created consumption work. In other words, instead of providing the much-needed support (Greene et al., 2024; Hobson et al., 2021) the issue is not only that retail market materialities assign more work to consumers, but also that they limit the possibilities to carry out this work. As the findings of this dissertation illustrate, the studied retail settings only offer limited support for completing the assigned tasks. For instance, the findings on the divergence in responsabilization show that while consumers are assigned moral responsibilities, the 'response-abilities' are hidden in most stores, if made available at all. These findings demonstrate how retail settings and their materialities, complicate the work of consumers in the CE and the performance of circular consumption.

2. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 71
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #FGYNDY Methodology: studying practices ethnographically in retail and household settings
        #PQNQPZ Study 2 – Ethnographic field trial in household settings
          #VPDN4A Ethnographic field trial
  Matching excerpt #BHVTU3:
      In consumption studies focused on the sustainability of household practices, such a non-positivist approach to intervening in real-life settings is an increasingly discussed and called for methodological approach (Davies and Doyle, 2015; Devaney and Davies, 2017; Doyle and Davies, 2013; Hobson et al., 2021; Sutcliffe, 2022). For instance, Devaney and Davies (2017: 826) developed an “experimental HomeLabs challenge” to intervene with eating-related household practices and trial more sustainable forms. Such small-scale, longer and intervening methods with households have been called for in circular consumption research as well (Hobson et al., 2021). This work has been commenced by, for instance, Sutcliffe (2022), who designed a handbook with instructions for circular consumption strategies for participating households in an intervention-based study. Moreover, Wethal and Hoff (2024) studied the introduction of municipal circularity initiatives in Norway, and how those have been used by residents in the area. In our ethnographic field trial, we asked households to try out digital platforms that are part of clothing markets. Choosing clothing market-based platforms for the trial is well-aligned with my understanding of consumption as being shaped by both markets and everyday lives.

3. Source: Care and circularity: how the enactment of care enables and shapes the circular consumption of clothing (#AVNZLE), Christian Fuentes, Réka Tölg, p. 1
  Context:
    #S6NTVJ Care and circularity: how the enactment of care enables and shapes the circular consumption of clothing
      #QR437R Introduction
  Matching excerpt #B6BCMX:
      In pursuing a practice approach to care and circular consumption, we align ourselves with the small but dynamic body of work exploring the social, cultural and economic practices and processes involved in the performance of circular consumption (Hobson et al, 2021; Rabiú and Jaeger-Erben, 2022; Greene et al, 2024). Among other things, this research has shown that circular consumption is deeply embedded in contemporary consumer culture and that the recirculation of goods is not necessarily driven by environmental values and can conversely lead to the normalisation of surplus (Gregson et al, 2013). Research in this vein has also emphasised the need to draw attention to the materialities involved in circular consumption and take into account how diverse circular consumption practices are both ‘socially and materially embedded in the choreographies of everyday life’ (Holmes, 2018: 146). Finally, sociological research has also drawn attention to the consumption work required of households to develop and maintain everyday circular consumption practices (Hobson et al, 2021;

4. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #SVS6HK Introduction
  Matching paragraph #6G862E:
      This thesis extends the consumption work framework in two directions. First, it examines consumption work at a semi-public site rather than within the domestic sphere. In discussion of research agenda for circular economies Hobson et al. (2021) call explicitly for research that moves beyond the household to examine how consumption work is organised and distributed in community and public initiatives. Brīvbode is such a space: a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition becomes briefly visible and socially acknowledged, and a site where also public volunteer labor – sorting, curating, maintaining quality standards, managing social dynamics – sustains a service, itself a form of consumption work that is continuous with the domestic labour it serves.

5. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 16
  Context:
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #9KXLER Conclusion
  Matching excerpt #G26N4U:
      Finally, conceptualizing these activities and tasks as 'consumption work' helps to understand the work that consumers are required to engage in as part of the transition to more circular forms of consumption. For example, the requirement on consumers to bring their own containers to reuse-refill stores results in several processual forms of labour, primarily that of decanting and recirculating . Whilst these activities may be interpreted as domestic labour due to them being household-based, we argue that they play a key role in the wider circuits of the reuse economy, extending well beyond the home. Allied to this, our sensitivity to how labour is distributed along the supply chain (Hobson et al., 2021) allows us to offer a rejoinder to the dominant framing of the role of 'consumers' in the circular economy. In contrast to the prevailing idea that the onus is on consumers to take up and 'accept' new business models and products, our work suggests that more emphasis should be placed on the retail sector to adapt to consumers' existing practices. Differentiating between reuse-refill and reuse-return methods of provisioning (EMF, 2019), raises questions about the nature and amount of consumption work and domestic labour involved in these different systems (Wheeler & Glucksmann, 2015b). Future studies could usefully turn their attention to this complexity and nuance. Our approach also raises questions about who (state, market, or household) is required to do what work to ensure the success of reuse systems. As things stand, most of the work falls to individuals who are required to source, prepare, and maintain objects ( recirculate ) in refill systems, integrating these practices into their existing domestic routines. With a growing interest in transitioning towards a shared packaging economy (reuse-return), it is imperative to think about how best to recognize and formalize the work carried out by households whilst also questioning how responsibility and care should be reconfigured and formalized across the wider supply-chain.

Approximate matches

1. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 40
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #SBM22B Circular consumption and the sociology of consumption
  Score: 0.644
  Related excerpt #ZLWV9W:
      Hobson et al. (2021) argue for understanding the increased consumption work involved in the performance of circular consumption. Consumption work

2. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 26
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #LZ9AW5 The challenges of circular consumption
  Score: 0.628
  Related excerpt #5YZB8A:
      Furthermore, there is another, less explored side to the challenges of circular consumption, which concerns the arrangement of the wider landscape within which circular consumption is to be brought about. Sociological circular consumption research mostly focuses on how consumers do circular consumption as part of household practices (e.g., Hebrok and Heidenstrom, 2019; Mylan et al., 2016). While there are some calls for discussing how different provisioning systems and institutional arrangements shape circular consumption (Greene et al., 2024), there is little empirical investigation and conceptualisation within this area (e.g., Holmes, 2018). As Hobson et al. (2021) argue there has been little focus on how the additional work moved to the sphere of consumption implicates consumers; what is expected of them, and what is made possible for them.

3. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #SVS6HK Introduction
  Score: 0.66
  Related paragraph #6G862E:
      This thesis extends the consumption work framework in two directions. First, it examines consumption work at a semi-public site rather than within the domestic sphere. In discussion of research agenda for circular economies Hobson et al. (2021) call explicitly for research that moves beyond the household to examine how consumption work is organised and distributed in community and public initiatives. Brīvbode is such a space: a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition becomes briefly visible and socially acknowledged, and a site where also public volunteer labor – sorting, curating, maintaining quality standards, managing social dynamics – sustains a service, itself a form of consumption work that is continuous with the domestic labour it serves.

4. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #SVS6HK Introduction
  Score: 0.648
  Related paragraph #FYJU8R:
      As Hobson et al. (2021) argue, research should examine non-domestic spaces where individuals come together around circular practices – regardless of whether these activities are explicitly labeled as “circular economy”. Other authors have reinforced this call for studies of community based dimensions of circular consumption (Luukkonen et al., 2024, Mesiranta et al., 2025). Brīvbode is such a space: a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition can become visible and socially acknowledged, and where volunteer labour sustains infrastructure continuous with the domestic labour it serves.

5. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #BA7Z5L LIST OF SOURCES
  Score: 0.63
  Related paragraph #DNUZ6F:
      Hobson, K., Holmes, H., Welch, D., Wheeler, K. and Wieser, H. (2021) ‘Consumption work in the circular economy: a research agenda’, Journal of Cleaner Production, 321, 128969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128969

### 4. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `search_text`

```json
{
  "document_kind": "literature",
  "limit": 10,
  "query": "Consumption work in the circular economy research agenda community public initiatives household Hobson Holmes Welch Wheeler Wieser"
}
```

### 5. Tool result: search_text

Exact matches

1. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 40
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #SBM22B Circular consumption and the sociology of consumption
  Matching excerpt #6FKLDY:
      However, sociological circular consumption research has also started to address some less discussed aspects of sustainable consumption in everyday life and answer the call of situating consumption in wider societal shifts and economic processes (e.g., Evans, 2020; Warde, 2022). This is due to circular consumption being called for in relation to a wider economic reorganisation programme, i.e., the circular economy. Thus, circular consumption is closely connected to economic and market processes. The mapping of this connection has been commenced in circular consumption research, first and foremost through the notion of consumption work (Wheeler and Glücksmann, 2015a, 2015b) and its re-organisation due to this economic reorganisation programme (Hobson et al., 2021).

2. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 107
  Context:
    #KBKAA9 Concluding discussion
      #92JYP3 Research contributions
        #GA7H2G Implications for future research
  Matching excerpt #JHTY3R:
      It also follows from the findings of this dissertation that the work of consumers in the CE is shaped by retail markets. Studying further the making of consumption work through retail markets can be of interest to sociology of consumption scholars who are engaged with understanding consumption in relation to wider economic arrangements. Future research could continue with taking a 'practice theories' approach (Evans, 2020), and explore how the work of consumers is formed in other empirical contexts. Although consumption work is central to the CE (Greene et al., 2024; Hobson et al., 2021), and the concept has been developed through studies focused on household recycling (e.g., Wheeler and Glucksmann, 2015a, 2015b), the concept is not limited to circular economies (Glucksmann, 2009, 2016). The role of retailers in this reorganisation of consumer labour can be explored in contexts other than the CE. For instance, how does the work of consumers become re-arranged as part of various social or environmental challenges, leading to, for instance, food scarcity or challenged access to other commodities and essential goods? Through such studies, further light can be shed on the possibilities to re-allocate work in the case of different challenging situations impacting societies.

3. Source: Care and circularity: how the enactment of care enables and shapes the circular consumption of clothing (#AVNZLE), Christian Fuentes, Réka Tölg, p. 1
  Context:
    #S6NTVJ Care and circularity: how the enactment of care enables and shapes the circular consumption of clothing
      #QR437R Introduction
  Matching excerpt #B6BCMX:
      In pursuing a practice approach to care and circular consumption, we align ourselves with the small but dynamic body of work exploring the social, cultural and economic practices and processes involved in the performance of circular consumption (Hobson et al, 2021; Rabiú and Jaeger-Erben, 2022; Greene et al, 2024). Among other things, this research has shown that circular consumption is deeply embedded in contemporary consumer culture and that the recirculation of goods is not necessarily driven by environmental values and can conversely lead to the normalisation of surplus (Gregson et al, 2013). Research in this vein has also emphasised the need to draw attention to the materialities involved in circular consumption and take into account how diverse circular consumption practices are both ‘socially and materially embedded in the choreographies of everyday life’ (Holmes, 2018: 146). Finally, sociological research has also drawn attention to the consumption work required of households to develop and maintain everyday circular consumption practices (Hobson et al, 2021;

4. Source: Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review (#PSBVW7), Casper Boks, Ida Nilstad Pettersen, Juana Camacho-Otero, p. 0
  Context:
    #HHKK3Q Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review
  Matching excerpt #N94NFW:
      Abstract: A circular economy (CE) aims at decoupling value creation from waste generation and resource use by radically transforming production and consumption systems. Recent reviews on the topic of the circular economy have indicated that cultural barriers are a significant factor hindering the diffusion of so-called ‘circular’ business models, particularly the lack of consumer—or user—acceptance. However, none of them has provided an overview of the existing literature addressing such issues that can help academics and practitioners better understand consumption considerations when addressing the circular economy. Motivated by these observations, this paper presents the results of a literature review that summarises and discusses insights from 111 articles in terms of the problem area, theoretical approaches, methods, and tools that have been used to collect and analyse data, the main issues, and identified research gaps. The results show that most of the existing scientific work on the circular economy and circular solutions addressing consumption has focussed on identifying factors that drive or hinder the consumption of circular solutions. A smaller but expanding set of articles has focussed on offering insights into the nature, meaning, and dynamics of consumption in the context of the circular economy. According to this set of articles, consumption in the circular economy is anonymous, connected, political, uncertain, and based on multiple values, not only utility. A smaller set of papers has explored the integration of user and consumer perspectives into design processes. Although these contributions are relevant, opportunities for further research are still open, particularly regarding socio-material and cultural aspects of consumption in the context of the circular economy, and the role of digitalisation. In addition, more work could be done regarding strategies to foster not only acceptance but also the adoption and diffusion of the circular economy. Based on the findings of this literature review, some ideas for a research agenda on the issue of consumption in the circular economy are outlined.

5. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 16
  Context:
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #9KXLER Conclusion
  Matching excerpt #G26N4U:
      Finally, conceptualizing these activities and tasks as 'consumption work' helps to understand the work that consumers are required to engage in as part of the transition to more circular forms of consumption. For example, the requirement on consumers to bring their own containers to reuse-refill stores results in several processual forms of labour, primarily that of decanting and recirculating . Whilst these activities may be interpreted as domestic labour due to them being household-based, we argue that they play a key role in the wider circuits of the reuse economy, extending well beyond the home. Allied to this, our sensitivity to how labour is distributed along the supply chain (Hobson et al., 2021) allows us to offer a rejoinder to the dominant framing of the role of 'consumers' in the circular economy. In contrast to the prevailing idea that the onus is on consumers to take up and 'accept' new business models and products, our work suggests that more emphasis should be placed on the retail sector to adapt to consumers' existing practices. Differentiating between reuse-refill and reuse-return methods of provisioning (EMF, 2019), raises questions about the nature and amount of consumption work and domestic labour involved in these different systems (Wheeler & Glucksmann, 2015b). Future studies could usefully turn their attention to this complexity and nuance. Our approach also raises questions about who (state, market, or household) is required to do what work to ensure the success of reuse systems. As things stand, most of the work falls to individuals who are required to source, prepare, and maintain objects ( recirculate ) in refill systems, integrating these practices into their existing domestic routines. With a growing interest in transitioning towards a shared packaging economy (reuse-return), it is imperative to think about how best to recognize and formalize the work carried out by households whilst also questioning how responsibility and care should be reconfigured and formalized across the wider supply-chain.

6. Source: New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning (#XATD2A), Helen Holmes, p. 2
  Context:
    #AHCZ2X New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning
      #4F5EEN 2. Situating provisioning
        #38LM6C 2.2. Circular economy and sharing economy
  Matching excerpt #56AZCA:
      In a previous study with others (Mylan et al., 2016), I argue for recognition of the domestic as a site of CE; where practices that constitute domestic life, including food sharing, repurposing and recycling, already involve the circularity of materials. Similarly, Hobson (2016: 96) alludes to the importance of the household, and the materials which flow in and out, in expanding CE's realm. In addition, and as already noted, connections are being made between CE and SE. Lacy and Rutqvist (2015) describe the sharing platform, and the likes of Uber and Lyft Inc, as CE business models. Whilst not expressively stating the varying forms of economy at work, research by Niinimäki and Hassi (2011) likewise draws upon the links between PSS schemes involving fashion items, and more sustainable, circular modes of consumption. Thus, it is evident that the division between SE/CE is blurred and the two are often interwoven. Hobson (2016) also makes these connections to PSS and the interweaving of CE/SE, referencing models such as Zipcar. However, Hobson (2016) pushes at this further, referring to social enterprises and 'generative spaces' (p.98) of everyday activism, such as repair cafes, as spaces of the CE. Hobson's work bridges the lacunae between the sharing and circular economies, opening up the possibilities that diverse economic spaces offer to issues of circularity, sustainability and activism. As Hobson states (2016: 99), there is potential for 'rich engagement, through both further conceptual and empirical exploration'. This article empirically fleshes out what such spaces look like and how they engage in practices of circulating and sharing.

Approximate matches

1. Source: From circular consumers to carriers of (unsustainable) practices: socio-spatial transformations in the Circular City (#4AE86F), Kersty Hobson, p. 1
  Context:
    #7TWE3G From circular consumers to carriers of (unsustainable) practices: socio-spatial transformations in the Circular City
      #XUQXYU KEYWORDS
  Score: 0.735
  Related excerpt #39YZES:
      Circular economy; consumption; practice theory

2. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 41
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #SBM22B Circular consumption and the sociology of consumption
  Score: 0.764
  Related excerpt #XRXFBJ:
      involves “all work necessary for the purchase, use, re-use and disposal of consumption goods and services” (Wheeler and Glucksmann, 2015a: 37). This form of work undertaken by consumers is necessary for the completion as well as complementation of economic processes (Glucksmann, 2016). For instance, self-assembling furniture or installation of different software is necessary before some goods can be appropriated and appreciated. While consumption work is also part of linear economies, in a circular system, previous consumption work activities need to be scaled, and new practices need to be adopted (Hobson et al., 2021). For instance, even if a household already practised waste sorting and recycling according to circularity principles, they also need to enact further practices such as repairing broken belongings or sharing household tools. These increased levels of consumption work in the CE can further contribute to an unequal distribution of labour in terms of gender, class and employment forms (Hobson et al., 2021). Furthermore, it can be challenging to manage the time required for this increased work due to other personal or professional commitments, as the study of Sutcliffe (2022) demonstrates.

3. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 40
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #SBM22B Circular consumption and the sociology of consumption
  Score: 0.757
  Related excerpt #ZLWV9W:
      Hobson et al. (2021) argue for understanding the increased consumption work involved in the performance of circular consumption. Consumption work

4. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 26
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #LZ9AW5 The challenges of circular consumption
  Score: 0.748
  Related excerpt #5YZB8A:
      Furthermore, there is another, less explored side to the challenges of circular consumption, which concerns the arrangement of the wider landscape within which circular consumption is to be brought about. Sociological circular consumption research mostly focuses on how consumers do circular consumption as part of household practices (e.g., Hebrok and Heidenstrom, 2019; Mylan et al., 2016). While there are some calls for discussing how different provisioning systems and institutional arrangements shape circular consumption (Greene et al., 2024), there is little empirical investigation and conceptualisation within this area (e.g., Holmes, 2018). As Hobson et al. (2021) argue there has been little focus on how the additional work moved to the sphere of consumption implicates consumers; what is expected of them, and what is made possible for them.

5. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 40
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #SBM22B Circular consumption and the sociology of consumption
  Score: 0.735
  Related excerpt #6FKLDY:
      However, sociological circular consumption research has also started to address some less discussed aspects of sustainable consumption in everyday life and answer the call of situating consumption in wider societal shifts and economic processes (e.g., Evans, 2020; Warde, 2022). This is due to circular consumption being called for in relation to a wider economic reorganisation programme, i.e., the circular economy. Thus, circular consumption is closely connected to economic and market processes. The mapping of this connection has been commenced in circular consumption research, first and foremost through the notion of consumption work (Wheeler and Glücksmann, 2015a, 2015b) and its re-organisation due to this economic reorganisation programme (Hobson et al., 2021).

6. Source: Care and circularity: how the enactment of care enables and shapes the circular consumption of clothing (#AVNZLE), Christian Fuentes, Réka Tölg, p. 1
  Context:
    #S6NTVJ Care and circularity: how the enactment of care enables and shapes the circular consumption of clothing
      #QR437R Introduction
  Score: 0.741
  Related excerpt #B6BCMX:
      In pursuing a practice approach to care and circular consumption, we align ourselves with the small but dynamic body of work exploring the social, cultural and economic practices and processes involved in the performance of circular consumption (Hobson et al, 2021; Rabiú and Jaeger-Erben, 2022; Greene et al, 2024). Among other things, this research has shown that circular consumption is deeply embedded in contemporary consumer culture and that the recirculation of goods is not necessarily driven by environmental values and can conversely lead to the normalisation of surplus (Gregson et al, 2013). Research in this vein has also emphasised the need to draw attention to the materialities involved in circular consumption and take into account how diverse circular consumption practices are both ‘socially and materially embedded in the choreographies of everyday life’ (Holmes, 2018: 146). Finally, sociological research has also drawn attention to the consumption work required of households to develop and maintain everyday circular consumption practices (Hobson et al, 2021;

7. Source: Care and circularity: how the enactment of care enables and shapes the circular consumption of clothing (#AVNZLE), Christian Fuentes, Réka Tölg, p. 1
  Context:
    #S6NTVJ Care and circularity: how the enactment of care enables and shapes the circular consumption of clothing
      #QR437R Introduction
  Score: 0.724
  Related excerpt #ZDP99W:
      In recent years, the circular economy has attracted considerable scholarly and societal attention (Merli et al, 2018; Hobson, 2020). Circularity advocates – such as the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (2013) – and policy documents – such as the European Commission (2020) – argue for the transition to a more circular and therefore also a more materially efficient economy (Ortega Alvarado et al, 2021). The circular economy programme sets out to break with the take-make-dispose linear economy, instead establishing a circular system in which materials are kept in circulation through ‘closed’ production and consumption loops (Hobson, 2016; Mylan et al, 2016). While much of the circular economy research focuses on production and recycling processes, typically geared towards the electronics, metal and waste management industries (Ghisellini et al, 2016; Merli et al, 2018), the role of consumers in making the circular economy possible is beginning to be acknowledged (Hobson et al, 2021).

8. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 1
  Context:
    #ZKYDXP Reuse practices and household consumption work
      #N73JMC KEYWORDS
  Score: 0.759
  Related excerpt #NMRYAA:
      Consumption work; circular economy; package-free shopping; reuse; household practices

9. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 2
  Context:
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #UTZZ6F Introduction
  Score: 0.754
  Related excerpt #6U9397:
      With a growing emphasis on the 'Circular Economy' in debates on consumption, sustainability and everyday life, systems of reuse are increasingly attracting attention (for example (EMF, 2019), (Greenpeace, 2020)) in transforming 'production-consumption systems towards enhanced material circularity' (Greene et al., 2024, p. 1). For example, the UK Plastics Pact emphasizes the need for a series of technical and design-based solutions in 'eliminating problematic plastics' and 'creating a circular economy for plastics' (WRAP, n.d.). At the same time, there is a strong emphasis on 'hard hitting campaigns' that encourage citizens to 'recycle more of the right things' (WRAP, n.d.) and a widespread sense that consumers must 'do their bit' by, for example, switching from single-use plastics to reusable packaging. 1 Within social science work, the role of 'consumer-users' and the labour involved in achieving a more sustainable circular economy has been identified as a critical, but often overlooked, component of citizen participation (Greene et al., 2024; Hobson, 2020; Hobson et al., 2021). Hobson's work suggests that any successful transition towards a circular economy requires a shift beyond prevailing individualistic perspectives on consumer behaviour that have dominated policy approaches against the backdrop of technocratic changes (cf. Shove, 2010). This paper contributes to these debates, focusing on the dynamics of existing household consumption practices to better understand how these might enable or inhibit the development of systems of reuse.

10. Source: The Assembling of Circular Consumption: A sociomaterial practice approach (#Y3CFPX), Christian Fuentes, Elina Närvänen, Nina Mesiranta, p. 0
  Context:
    #SP7ZUD Introduction
  Score: 0.73
  Related excerpt #ZUYWH3:
      Consumption plays a pivotal role in the transition to a circular economy (CE). The ways in which we, as consumers, buy and use products and services, how we take care of these through maintenance and repair, and how we get rid of and circulate things no longer needed or wanted are crucial for such a change towards a CE (Hobson et al., 2021; Sijtsma et al., 2020).

### 6. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `list_documents`

```json
{}
```

### 7. Tool result: list_documents

- #FYG32U Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia [draft] - 2026 | Ieva Lange

Journal articles (89)
- #QUD55H 'Saving' the city: Collective low-budget organising and urban practice - 2015 | Birke Otto, Hans Vollmer, Heike Derwanz, Paula Bialski | ephemera: theory & politics in organization | 20 pp.
- #K52UPR A Critical Review of the Role of Repair Cafés in a Sustainable Circular Transition - 2021 | Mette Alberg Mosgaard, Rikke Marie Moalem | Sustainability | 26 pp. | doi:10.3390/su132212351
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- #EDFB5G “If I don’t do it, it feels wrong”: embodying environmental ethical reflexivity through cultivation and enactment of practices [cited] - 2024 | Anne Sofie Møller Askholm | Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy | 12 pp. | doi:10.1080/15487733.2024.2350204
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Books (20)
- #GABXSA Acknowledging Consumption: A Review of New Studies - 1995 | Daniel Miller | 350 pp.
- #UX42KU Anthropology and the Economy of Sharing [cited] - 2016 | Thomas Widlok | 240 pp. | doi:10.4324/9781315671291
- #VC6397 Clothing Poverty: The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-hand Clothes - 2015 | Andrew Brooks | 298 pp. | doi:10.5040/9781350219243
- #8J3FXD Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience: The Social Organization of Normality [cited] - 2003 | Elizabeth Shove | 236 pp. | doi:10.5040/9781474214605
- #2EDLQU Elusive Consumption - 2004 | Helene Brembeck, Karin M. Ekström | 254 pp. | doi:10.5040/9781474214704
- #BJ6B3C From the Cult of Waste to the Trash Heap of History: The Politics of Waste in Socialist and Postsocialist Hungary - 2007 | Zsuzsa Gille | 266 pp.
- #4LST57 Household Recycling and Consumption Work [cited] - 2015 | Kathryn Wheeler, Miriam Glucksmann | 249 pp. | doi:10.1057/9781137440440
- #R26U48 Materiality - 2005 | Daniel Miller | 302 pp.
- #Y3KME8 My Life with Things: The Consumer Diaries - 2016 | Elizabeth Chin | 248 pp. | doi:10.1515/9780822374268
- #B5KMLA Second-Hand Cultures and Economies of Reuse, Repair, Sharing, and Care - 2025 | Petra Kuppinger | Palgrave Macmillan | 28 pp. | doi:10.1007/978-3-031-99875-1
- #VKBZ23 Social Practices: A Wittgensteinian Approach to Human Activity and the Social - 1996 | Theodore R. Schatzki | 256 pp. | doi:10.1017/CBO9780511527470
- #5AXAEJ The Dynamics of Social Practice: Everyday Life and How It Changes [cited] - 2012 | Elizabeth Shove, Matt Watson, Mika Pantzar | 206 pp. | doi:10.4135/9781446250655
- #83R4U2 The Ethics of Waste: How We Relate to Rubbish - 2006 | Gay Hawkins | 80 pp.
- #R49AUC The Nexus of Practices: Connections, constellations, practitioners - 2017 | Allison Hui, Elizabeth Shove, Theodore Schatzki | 237 pp. | doi:10.4324/9781315560816
- #3LSRBZ The Perception of the Environment: Essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill - 2000 | Tim Ingold | 480 pp.
- #6J5MKL The Practice Turn in Contemporary Theory - 2001 | Eike von Savigny, Karin Knorr Cetina, Theodore R. Schatzki | 253 pp. | doi:10.4324/9780203977453
- #RCRP8Z The World of Goods: Towards an anthropology of consumption - 1996 | Baron Isherwood, Mary Douglas | 198 pp.
- #BX2YWY Thinking Through Things: Theorising Artefacts Ethnographically - 2007 | Amiria Henare, Martin Holbraad, Sari Wastell | 248 pp.
- #8YF7LY Thrift and its Paradoxes: From Domestic to Political Economy - 2022 | Catherine Alexander, Daniel Sosna | 232 pp. | doi:10.3167/9781800734623
- #3N7TTE Time, Consumption and Everyday Life: Practice, Materiality and Culture - 2009 | Elizabeth Shove, Frank Trentmann, Richard Wilk | 251 pp. | doi:10.5040/9781474215862

Book chapters (12)
- #TNE9JN Habits and Their Creatures - 2012 | Elizabeth Shove | The Habits of Consumption | Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies | pp. 100-112 | 13 pp.
- #EVCWDH Introduction. Storing and storying the serendipity of objects - 2013 | Patrick Laviolette | Things in Culture, Culture in Things | Approaches to Culture Theory | pp. 13-33 | 11 pp.
- #PB2Z6X Introduction: commodities and the politics of value [cited] - 1986 | Arjun Appadurai | The Social Life of Things | Cambridge University Press | pp. 3-63 | 31 pp. | doi:10.1017/CBO9780511819582.003
- #WMSENQ Sustainable consumption as a systemic challenge: inter- and transdisciplinary research and research questions - 2015 | Philip J. Vergragt, Sylvia Lorek | Handbook of Research on Sustainable Consumption | Edward Elgar Publishing | pp. 19-31 | 14 pp. | doi:10.4337/9781783471270.00008
- #V4V7XC Sustainable Consumption, Behaviour Change Policies and Theories of Practice [cited] - 2012 | Andrew McMeekin, Dale Southerton, David Evans | The Habits of Consumption | Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies | pp. 113-129 | 17 pp.
- #BZ63DX Sustainable practices: social theory and climate change - 2013 | Elizabeth Shove, Nicola Spurling | Sustainable Practices | Routledge | pp. 17-30 | 22 pp. | doi:10.4324/9780203071052-6
- #Y3CFPX The Assembling of Circular Consumption: A sociomaterial practice approach - 2023 | Christian Fuentes, Elina Närvänen, Nina Mesiranta | The Routledge Handbook of Catalysts for a Sustainable Circular Economy | Routledge | pp. 535-549 | 15 pp. | doi:10.4324/9781003267492-30
- #9DHD6K The cultural biography of things: commoditization as process - 1986 | Igor Kopytoff | The Social Life of Things | Cambridge University Press | pp. 64-92 | 15 pp. | doi:10.1017/CBO9780511819582.004
- #3SKV2A The cultural dimension of sustainable consumption practices: an exploration in theory and policy - 2013 | Gert Spaargaren | Innovations in Sustainable Consumption | Edward Elgar Publishing | 13 pp. | doi:10.4337/9781781001349.00022
- #72GVQ9 The Habits of Consumption [cited] - 2012 | Alan Warde, Dale Southerton | The Habits of Consumption | Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies | pp. 1-25 | 25 pp.
- #KWZ2A4 Theories of Practice and Sustainable Consumption [cited] - 2015 | Alan Warde, Daniel Welch | Handbook of Research on Sustainable Consumption | Edward Elgar Publishing | pp. 84-100 | 17 pp. | doi:10.4337/9781783471270.00013
- #Q8AKGZ Towards a Better Accounting of the Roles of Body, Things and Habits in Consumption - 2012 | Harold Wilhite | The Habits of Consumption | Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies | pp. 87-99 | 13 pp.

Doctoral theses (3)
- #QRRZP2 Consumption and Practice: Unfolding Consumptive Moments and the Entanglement with Productive Aspects - 2013 | Benjamin Julien Hartmann | 157 pp.
- #ZC3PHV Patchworks of Care: Ethics and Practice of Care in the Organic Food Movement in Latvia - 2020 | Agnese Bankovska | 234 pp.
- #8EVNK8 The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings - 2025 | Réka Tölg | 138 pp.

Reports (1)
- #XBPXDL Inconspicuous consumption: the sociology of consumption and the environment - 1998 | Alan Warde, Elizabeth Shove | 17 pp.

Spreadsheet (1)
- #XGCWS4 Ieva coded excerpt spreadsheet

### 8. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `get_document`

```json
{
  "id": "FYG32U"
}
```

### 9. Tool result: get_document

THESIS #FYG32U
Title: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia

Outline:
  - 1 #SVS6HK Introduction
    - 1.1 #QXGS6P Policies
    - 1.2 #L2U838 Latvian context and background
    - 1.3 #PESH7N Research questions
    - 1.4 #AKBRP4 A note on terms
    - 1.5 #CHZ8HG The structure of the thesis
  - 2 #W8HHQV Circulation, Practice, and Consumption Work: A Theoretical Framework
    - 2.1 #L2J4AM Theories of Practice
    - 2.2 #3DTHL8 Theories of Practice to Study Alternative Practices?
    - 2.3 #UF33B6 Consumption practices
    - 2.4 #LMKLTZ Consumption Work
    - 2.5 #Q3A3ZZ Conclusion
  - 3 #YNEV47 Research methodology: In The Field To Freecycle
    - 3.1 #V98SCK The site
    - 3.2 #L5LL6E Setting the scene: A day in Brīvbode
    - 3.3 #54NUTA Ethnography of Practice
    - 3.4 #LEHJ6B Participant observation
    - 3.5 #KVQFHZ Interviews
    - 3.6 #PNY46U Data analysis
    - 3.7 #9RFZZ6 Research ethics
  - 4 #3X7JKL The circulation of things and things that sustain it
    - 4.1 #M45HLW Incoming Flow: Divestment From Home
    - 4.2 #WY6KPH Managing the flow on site
      - 4.2.1 #C2AQ4D Material elements in Brīvbode: the physical site and infrastructure
      - 4.2.2 #FUQJQ5 Circulation norms and competencies
      - 4.2.3 #QLVPVE Meanings: the moral economy of exchange
    - 4.3 #V753D5 Non-monetary exchange and attachment: competencies of letting go
    - 4.4 #Z7Y86N Plural meanings of acquisition that sustain participation in Brīvbode
    - 4.5 #6535KC Quiet or reflected sustainability?
    - 4.6 #QS26PQ Conclusion
  - 5 #F2943E The Work of Circular Consumption
    - 5.1 #KWZ8DM Volunteer labour and sufficiency lifestyle
    - 5.2 #L5PE5X Valuation work without the context of price
    - 5.3 #A43655 Modal labour across socioeconomic modes
    - 5.4 #38335C Processual labour: exchange networks and gendered work
      - 5.4.1 #GGGPNV Conclusion
  - 6 #P4YU8Y CONCLUSION
  - 7 #W4BGDH SUMMARY
  - 8 #BA7Z5L LIST OF SOURCES
  - 9 #XR3UUN KOKKUVÕTE

### 10. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `search_text`

```json
{
  "limit": 10,
  "query": "community initiatives public spaces non domestic spaces consumption work circular economy research agenda"
}
```

### 11. Tool result: search_text

Exact matches

1. Source: Freecycling Markets as Sustainable Materialist Movements? Closing Reuse Circularity Loops in Singapore (#FHZZ6U), Brenda S.A. Yeoh, Qian Hui Tan, p. 4
  Context:
    #G8CYCS 4. METHODOLOGY: A CASE STUDY APPROACH
  Matching excerpt #CTPPLS:
      We gathered the empirical data for this paper using a combination of ethnographic participation in two ground-up freeycling markets (i.e. our case studies) and a textual analysis of state/popular discourses. While ethnographic participation enabled us to reap fine-grained details about these initiatives, an analysis of state/popular discourses on plastic consumption, domestic recycling as well as circular economies offered broad brush strokes of state directives and general sentiments. In order to capture current state narratives on these themes, we conducted a LexisNexis database search of Singapore Government News from 2020 to July 2023 using 'circular economy' as keywords. This was complemented by a search of Singapore's widely read daily English newspaper called The Straits Times from 2020 to July 2023 with 'circular economy', 'freegan' and 'freeycling' as key words to get a sense of the public's attitudes on these topics deemed as news-worthy. Collectively, these state/popular discourses constitute the dominant socio-cultural context within which our case studies were situated.

2. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #SVS6HK Introduction
  Matching paragraph #6G862E:
      This thesis extends the consumption work framework in two directions. First, it examines consumption work at a semi-public site rather than within the domestic sphere. In discussion of research agenda for circular economies Hobson et al. (2021) call explicitly for research that moves beyond the household to examine how consumption work is organised and distributed in community and public initiatives. Brīvbode is such a space: a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition becomes briefly visible and socially acknowledged, and a site where also public volunteer labor – sorting, curating, maintaining quality standards, managing social dynamics – sustains a service, itself a form of consumption work that is continuous with the domestic labour it serves.

3. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #SVS6HK Introduction
  Matching paragraph #FYJU8R:
      As Hobson et al. (2021) argue, research should examine non-domestic spaces where individuals come together around circular practices – regardless of whether these activities are explicitly labeled as “circular economy”. Other authors have reinforced this call for studies of community based dimensions of circular consumption (Luukkonen et al., 2024, Mesiranta et al., 2025). Brīvbode is such a space: a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition can become visible and socially acknowledged, and where volunteer labour sustains infrastructure continuous with the domestic labour it serves.

4. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #BA7Z5L LIST OF SOURCES
  Matching paragraph #DNUZ6F:
      Hobson, K., Holmes, H., Welch, D., Wheeler, K. and Wieser, H. (2021) ‘Consumption work in the circular economy: a research agenda’, Journal of Cleaner Production, 321, 128969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128969

5. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #F2943E The Work of Circular Consumption
      #A43655 Modal labour across socioeconomic modes
  Matching paragraph #4PNKDC:
      Brīvbode brings together different forms of work – unpaid volunteering, household management, neighbourly help, care work, and informal exchange – in ways that blur distinctions between market and non-market activity and make the labour difficult to recognise as work at all, even though the system depends on it. As Mesiranta et al. (2025) describe, community-based circular consumption initiatives perform care work that more marketised arrangements cannot. Sequential reuse, as Hobson (2020) argues, depends not on material availability alone but on the social circularities – the relational labour – that keep things moving between people.

6. Source: Acknowledging Consumption: A Review of New Studies (#GABXSA), Daniel Miller, p. 247
  Context:
    #MRLJ29 PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACHES TO CONSUMPTION
      #47A7NB Varieties of Research—Past, Present and Future
        #7T3PFG THE ORIGINS AND DEVELOPMENT OF ECONOMIC PSYCHOLOGY
  Matching excerpt #9Q4PEL:
      Through these concerns Katona established an agenda for economic psychology that is still highly influential. This includes making a clear distinction between the economic and the social psychological variables in any theoretical or methodological position, and consequently, between objective and subjective views of the economy. Much work following Katona has therefore focused on investigating social perception of economic indicators. For Katona social psychological processes work at the level of the individual as opposed to the group or the public. Economic behaviour is understood as the aggregated perceptions and behaviours of individuals, thus representing the public as a mass. This has resulted in an emphasis in substantive research on decision-making in consumption.

7. Source: Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review (#PSBVW7), Casper Boks, Ida Nilstad Pettersen, Juana Camacho-Otero, p. 0
  Context:
    #HHKK3Q Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review
  Matching excerpt #N94NFW:
      Abstract: A circular economy (CE) aims at decoupling value creation from waste generation and resource use by radically transforming production and consumption systems. Recent reviews on the topic of the circular economy have indicated that cultural barriers are a significant factor hindering the diffusion of so-called ‘circular’ business models, particularly the lack of consumer—or user—acceptance. However, none of them has provided an overview of the existing literature addressing such issues that can help academics and practitioners better understand consumption considerations when addressing the circular economy. Motivated by these observations, this paper presents the results of a literature review that summarises and discusses insights from 111 articles in terms of the problem area, theoretical approaches, methods, and tools that have been used to collect and analyse data, the main issues, and identified research gaps. The results show that most of the existing scientific work on the circular economy and circular solutions addressing consumption has focussed on identifying factors that drive or hinder the consumption of circular solutions. A smaller but expanding set of articles has focussed on offering insights into the nature, meaning, and dynamics of consumption in the context of the circular economy. According to this set of articles, consumption in the circular economy is anonymous, connected, political, uncertain, and based on multiple values, not only utility. A smaller set of papers has explored the integration of user and consumer perspectives into design processes. Although these contributions are relevant, opportunities for further research are still open, particularly regarding socio-material and cultural aspects of consumption in the context of the circular economy, and the role of digitalisation. In addition, more work could be done regarding strategies to foster not only acceptance but also the adoption and diffusion of the circular economy. Based on the findings of this literature review, some ideas for a research agenda on the issue of consumption in the circular economy are outlined.

8. Source: Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review (#PSBVW7), Casper Boks, Ida Nilstad Pettersen, Juana Camacho-Otero, p. 16
  Context:
    #HHKK3Q Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review
      #6V5T6G 5. Discussion
  Matching excerpt #AQP56S:
      The second question that the literature considered refers to the nature, meanings, and dynamics of consumption. Research addressing this area explored the symbolic and systemic aspects of consumption addressing the concerns about the relationship between the circular economy and consumption [8]. Findings by the studies suggest that the nature and meaning of consumption in the circular economy are characterised by five features, i.e., anonymity, connection, multiple values, political consumerism, and uncertainty. Regarding the dynamics of consumption, researchers have provided different accounts of how consumers move from a linear form of consumption to a circular one. According to studies investigating this question, practices that involve circularity were able to recruit participants due to the (re)configuration of the elements of practice, meanings, materiality, competencies, rules, and the opportunities for embodiment [132], or the linkages between elements and between practices, as suggested by Mylan [135]. Others explored how the interactions between actors (human and non-human) in a PSS resulted in different levels of adoption [136]. This set of papers is rather small compared to the contributions in the previous group, and is mostly about high-income economies. Thus, more work addressing these issues using data from middle and low-income economies could be beneficial.

9. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 4
  Context:
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #ZZ3Y5X Literature review
  Matching excerpt #SWUR48:
      It is often argued that practices of reuse are less convenient and more demanding for consumers (Zeiss, 2018), requiring more planning and consideration of which bags, jars and other receptacles are needed (Fuentes et al., 2019). Accepting that consumption is a process that reaches far beyond the act of shopping, it may also require additional effort in preparing food items when back at home (Kemper et al., 2024); having to rethink or expand storage spaces to accommodate multiple containers (WRAP, 2022); and needing to clean containers thoroughly to avoid potential food safety risks in store (Beitzen-Heineke et al., 2017). Yet despite the acknowledgement of these actions, there has been limited research on exploring these activities, unpacking their role, and understanding their potential significance in facilitating circular economy transformations. As such, we extend these perspectives by looking beyond 'shopping' – and the attendant focus on reusable packaging – to explore a range of other domestic practices associated with practices of reuse. In this, our research contributes to the research agenda proposed by Hobson et al. (2021), addressing the questions of who

10. Source: New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning (#XATD2A), Helen Holmes, p. 2
  Context:
    #AHCZ2X New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning
      #4F5EEN 2. Situating provisioning
        #38LM6C 2.2. Circular economy and sharing economy
  Matching excerpt #56AZCA:
      In a previous study with others (Mylan et al., 2016), I argue for recognition of the domestic as a site of CE; where practices that constitute domestic life, including food sharing, repurposing and recycling, already involve the circularity of materials. Similarly, Hobson (2016: 96) alludes to the importance of the household, and the materials which flow in and out, in expanding CE's realm. In addition, and as already noted, connections are being made between CE and SE. Lacy and Rutqvist (2015) describe the sharing platform, and the likes of Uber and Lyft Inc, as CE business models. Whilst not expressively stating the varying forms of economy at work, research by Niinimäki and Hassi (2011) likewise draws upon the links between PSS schemes involving fashion items, and more sustainable, circular modes of consumption. Thus, it is evident that the division between SE/CE is blurred and the two are often interwoven. Hobson (2016) also makes these connections to PSS and the interweaving of CE/SE, referencing models such as Zipcar. However, Hobson (2016) pushes at this further, referring to social enterprises and 'generative spaces' (p.98) of everyday activism, such as repair cafes, as spaces of the CE. Hobson's work bridges the lacunae between the sharing and circular economies, opening up the possibilities that diverse economic spaces offer to issues of circularity, sustainability and activism. As Hobson states (2016: 99), there is potential for 'rich engagement, through both further conceptual and empirical exploration'. This article empirically fleshes out what such spaces look like and how they engage in practices of circulating and sharing.

Approximate matches

1. Source: From circular consumers to carriers of (unsustainable) practices: socio-spatial transformations in the Circular City (#4AE86F), Kersty Hobson, p. 1
  Context:
    #7TWE3G From circular consumers to carriers of (unsustainable) practices: socio-spatial transformations in the Circular City
      #XUQXYU KEYWORDS
  Score: 0.684
  Related excerpt #39YZES:
      Circular economy; consumption; practice theory

2. Source: The Advent of Practice Theories in Research on Sustainable Consumption: Past, Current and Future Directions of the Field (#5FD8BE), Filippo Corsini, Francesco Paolo Appio, Franziska Meinherz, Luca Mora, Rafael Laurenti, p. 10
  Context:
    #9UFH98 The Advent of Practice Theories in Research on Sustainable Consumption: Past, Current and Future Directions of the Field
      #NXE7XV 5. Discussion
  Score: 0.706
  Related excerpt #WUATC2:
      Circular economy and sharing economy are fertile and promising areas for future applications of social practice theory. Indeed, the commonly used linear production model has been recently contested by developments in the field of circular economy, a concept that conceives of production systems by extending the useful life of goods, materials and resources beyond their use as consumer goods (e.g., by means of reusing and sharing practices [130]) and waste management conscious behaviour [131] (e.g., such as waste prevention behaviours [132]). Within this field of research, a significant body of research related to sharing, repair and reuse behaviour seems to be emerging from the streams 'business and governance', 'sustainable consumption and production' and 'urban living' (Figure 4). More in detail, we envisage a significant stream of emerging research dealing with the diffusion of access-based consumption and business models, and examination of its dynamics in the context of the

3. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 41
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #SBM22B Circular consumption and the sociology of consumption
  Score: 0.68
  Related excerpt #XZD2AL:
      The discussion around increased consumption work in the CE, developed and often discussed from a Systems of Provision perspective (e.g., Greene et al., 2024; Wheeler, 2022) shows the close link between circular consumption and economic processes. To further the understanding of how everyday consumption is shaped by economic processes, and study how circular consumption is practically and socio-materially patterned through (retail) markets, I combine the theories of practice approach to consumption with concepts developed in market studies literature (see also Evans, 2020; Evans and Mylan, 2019; Fuentes and Samsioe, 2020). As I outline in the following section, drawing on the market studies approach helps to take a closer look at how circular consumption is produced in retail settings.

4. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 40
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #SBM22B Circular consumption and the sociology of consumption
  Score: 0.677
  Related excerpt #6FKLDY:
      However, sociological circular consumption research has also started to address some less discussed aspects of sustainable consumption in everyday life and answer the call of situating consumption in wider societal shifts and economic processes (e.g., Evans, 2020; Warde, 2022). This is due to circular consumption being called for in relation to a wider economic reorganisation programme, i.e., the circular economy. Thus, circular consumption is closely connected to economic and market processes. The mapping of this connection has been commenced in circular consumption research, first and foremost through the notion of consumption work (Wheeler and Glücksmann, 2015a, 2015b) and its re-organisation due to this economic reorganisation programme (Hobson et al., 2021).

5. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #SVS6HK Introduction
  Score: 0.742
  Related paragraph #FYJU8R:
      As Hobson et al. (2021) argue, research should examine non-domestic spaces where individuals come together around circular practices – regardless of whether these activities are explicitly labeled as “circular economy”. Other authors have reinforced this call for studies of community based dimensions of circular consumption (Luukkonen et al., 2024, Mesiranta et al., 2025). Brīvbode is such a space: a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition can become visible and socially acknowledged, and where volunteer labour sustains infrastructure continuous with the domestic labour it serves.

6. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #SVS6HK Introduction
  Score: 0.694
  Related paragraph #6G862E:
      This thesis extends the consumption work framework in two directions. First, it examines consumption work at a semi-public site rather than within the domestic sphere. In discussion of research agenda for circular economies Hobson et al. (2021) call explicitly for research that moves beyond the household to examine how consumption work is organised and distributed in community and public initiatives. Brīvbode is such a space: a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition becomes briefly visible and socially acknowledged, and a site where also public volunteer labor – sorting, curating, maintaining quality standards, managing social dynamics – sustains a service, itself a form of consumption work that is continuous with the domestic labour it serves.

7. Source: Material culture and the circular economy (#R69WZQ), Elizabeth Shove, Jenny Rinkinen, p. 0
  Context:
    #J8TDC3 Material culture and the circular economy
      #7H9E6C KEYWORDS
  Score: 0.691
  Related excerpt #EUZWN7:
      circular economy, material culture, object relations, repair, sharing, re-use, material flow

8. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 1
  Context:
    #ZKYDXP Reuse practices and household consumption work
      #N73JMC KEYWORDS
  Score: 0.717
  Related excerpt #NMRYAA:
      Consumption work; circular economy; package-free shopping; reuse; household practices

9. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 2
  Context:
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #UTZZ6F Introduction
  Score: 0.684
  Related excerpt #6U9397:
      With a growing emphasis on the 'Circular Economy' in debates on consumption, sustainability and everyday life, systems of reuse are increasingly attracting attention (for example (EMF, 2019), (Greenpeace, 2020)) in transforming 'production-consumption systems towards enhanced material circularity' (Greene et al., 2024, p. 1). For example, the UK Plastics Pact emphasizes the need for a series of technical and design-based solutions in 'eliminating problematic plastics' and 'creating a circular economy for plastics' (WRAP, n.d.). At the same time, there is a strong emphasis on 'hard hitting campaigns' that encourage citizens to 'recycle more of the right things' (WRAP, n.d.) and a widespread sense that consumers must 'do their bit' by, for example, switching from single-use plastics to reusable packaging. 1 Within social science work, the role of 'consumer-users' and the labour involved in achieving a more sustainable circular economy has been identified as a critical, but often overlooked, component of citizen participation (Greene et al., 2024; Hobson, 2020; Hobson et al., 2021). Hobson's work suggests that any successful transition towards a circular economy requires a shift beyond prevailing individualistic perspectives on consumer behaviour that have dominated policy approaches against the backdrop of technocratic changes (cf. Shove, 2010). This paper contributes to these debates, focusing on the dynamics of existing household consumption practices to better understand how these might enable or inhibit the development of systems of reuse.

10. Source: New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning (#XATD2A), Helen Holmes, p. 2
  Context:
    #AHCZ2X New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning
      #4F5EEN 2. Situating provisioning
        #38LM6C 2.2. Circular economy and sharing economy
  Score: 0.684
  Related excerpt #56AZCA:
      In a previous study with others (Mylan et al., 2016), I argue for recognition of the domestic as a site of CE; where practices that constitute domestic life, including food sharing, repurposing and recycling, already involve the circularity of materials. Similarly, Hobson (2016: 96) alludes to the importance of the household, and the materials which flow in and out, in expanding CE's realm. In addition, and as already noted, connections are being made between CE and SE. Lacy and Rutqvist (2015) describe the sharing platform, and the likes of Uber and Lyft Inc, as CE business models. Whilst not expressively stating the varying forms of economy at work, research by Niinimäki and Hassi (2011) likewise draws upon the links between PSS schemes involving fashion items, and more sustainable, circular modes of consumption. Thus, it is evident that the division between SE/CE is blurred and the two are often interwoven. Hobson (2016) also makes these connections to PSS and the interweaving of CE/SE, referencing models such as Zipcar. However, Hobson (2016) pushes at this further, referring to social enterprises and 'generative spaces' (p.98) of everyday activism, such as repair cafes, as spaces of the CE. Hobson's work bridges the lacunae between the sharing and circular economies, opening up the possibilities that diverse economic spaces offer to issues of circularity, sustainability and activism. As Hobson states (2016: 99), there is potential for 'rich engagement, through both further conceptual and empirical exploration'. This article empirically fleshes out what such spaces look like and how they engage in practices of circulating and sharing.

### 12. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `read`

```json
{
  "blocks": [
    "6G862E",
    "FYJU8R",
    "LMKLTZ",
    "F2943E",
    "4PNKDC"
  ],
  "expand": true
}
```

### 13. Tool result: read

THESIS #FYG32U
Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia

PARAGRAPH #6G862E
  This thesis extends the consumption work framework in two directions. First, it examines consumption work at a semi-public site rather than within the domestic sphere. In discussion of research agenda for circular economies Hobson et al. (2021) call explicitly for research that moves beyond the household to examine how consumption work is organised and distributed in community and public initiatives. Brīvbode is such a space: a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition becomes briefly visible and socially acknowledged, and a site where also public volunteer labor – sorting, curating, maintaining quality standards, managing social dynamics – sustains a service, itself a form of consumption work that is continuous with the domestic labour it serves.

THESIS #FYG32U
Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia

PARAGRAPH #FYJU8R
  As Hobson et al. (2021) argue, research should examine non-domestic spaces where individuals come together around circular practices – regardless of whether these activities are explicitly labeled as “circular economy”. Other authors have reinforced this call for studies of community based dimensions of circular consumption (Luukkonen et al., 2024, Mesiranta et al., 2025). Brīvbode is such a space: a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition can become visible and socially acknowledged, and where volunteer labour sustains infrastructure continuous with the domestic labour it serves.

THESIS #FYG32U
Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia

SECTION #LMKLTZ Consumption Work

PARAGRAPH #6JKEPZ
  If practice theory explains how the circulation of goods is socially organised, consumption work names what that circulation costs. Practice theory’s focus on competencies – the skills and know-how through which practices are enacted – tends to emphasize how things are done rather than the effort and resources required to do them. Labor-centric views (e.g. through the concepts of consumption work or care work) instead highlight the laborious aspects of these practices, including the work of acquiring, managing, and disposing of goods and can address this gap directly. This is important in order to examine how circular consumption creates responsibilities and in what ways new forms of consumption work are distributed through populations.

PARAGRAPH #796DZS
  Wheeler and Glucksmann (2015) contend that secondhand markets involve consumption work – sorting, cleaning, repairing. “Consumption work”, for them, refers to the range of tasks required of consumers, before or after they consume, on which consumption itself is predicated – the work that must be done before or after the moment of exchange for consumption to be possible at all. Their framework encompasses technical dimensions – the allocation of tasks and skills to different people; modal dimensions – interdependencies of work across different social and economic arrangements; and processual dimensions – the connections of labour across the full span of a consumption process (Wheeler & Gluckmann, 2015: 35-36). In circular economy contexts, Hobson et al. (2021) argue, this work intensifies: responsible divestment requires more effort than simply throwing things away, and the additional demands fall disproportionately on those who are already doing most of the household management work.

PARAGRAPH #HVHQYS
  In a recent study of household reuse practices, Beswick-Parsons, Evans and Jackson (2025) identify specific forms of consumption work involved in everyday circular consumption – decanting, stock management, recirculating – and argue that reuse practices are more prevalent and more varied than existing policy commentary assumes. Their analysis provides empirical precedent for examining consumption work and for attending to the range of tasks that participation in reuse practices requires. They conclude that future transitions to reuse might depend less on establishing new practices, driven by narratives of green consumerism, but rather greater attention should be paid to wider changes, including the transformation of supply chains to align with and facilitate the range of ‘reuse work’ currently observed within everyday domestic spaces.

PARAGRAPH #HDN32L
  [“Recent research at the intersection of practice theory and circular consumption has begun to foreground the labour involved in sustaining material circulation. Drawing on a practice-theoretical approach, Réka Tölg shows that circular consumption – particularly in the context of clothing – relies on the ongoing enactment of care in everyday practices. This involves not only acquiring and using garments, but also maintaining, repairing, and eventually parting with them in ways that enable their continued circulation. Such practices require the development of skills, awareness, and a sense of responsibility, and are often shaped by socio-material arrangements in both household and retail contexts. At the same time, Tölg highlights that these practices are not straightforward to accomplish, but are characterised by tensions, dilemmas, and constraints within systems still largely organised around linear consumption. In this sense, circular consumption can be understood not as a simple behavioural shift, but as an ongoing accomplishment that entails effort, coordination, and engagement – what has been conceptualised elsewhere as “consumption work” (Hobson et al., 2021).”]

PARAGRAPH #U9VL8L
  The thesis also attends to the gendered distribution of this work. Ethnographic research has demonstrated that consumption is often organised around care for others, and that women often function as moral agents in household consumption, regulating what goes in and out of households (Miller, 1998, Reno, 2016). Shopping and consumption practices can be seen as acts of care, where people choose items with loved ones in mind, reflecting their role in family and social networks.

PARAGRAPH #9NPNTZ
  [Second hand source that I should check] (Lindsay et al. 2024) Lindsay et al. (2024) and Organo et al. (2013) find that women consistently spend more time on sustainable household practices than men, and that “sustainability labour” tends to be more absorbed into existing patterns of gendered domestic work rather than redistributed.]

PARAGRAPH #PV4SZY
  Consumption work and practice theory in this thesis are complementary frameworks. Following the argument developed above in section 2.2., consumption work describes what practices demand from their carriers rather than what individuals choose to do. The labour is in the practice; the questions of what kind of labour and who bears it are questions about the social organisation of practice and whose bodies and time it recruits.

THESIS #FYG32U
Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia

SECTION #F2943E The Work of Circular Consumption

PARAGRAPH #AFFP4F
  In one conversation Brīvbode manager Rasa compared the operation of the swapshop to the flight of a bumblebee as it is often said to defy conventional laws of aerodynamics, yet somehow manages to fly in practice. The comparison foregrounds the felt fragility of the initiative, even though it has operated consistently for years now. The swaphsop is sustained collectively, by volunteer labour and curation work, by the participation of visitors and their acquisition and divestment work and the informal networks through which things move between households and the swapshop. The operation of Brīvbode depends on substantial labour that is unpaid, unevenly distributed and absorbed into existing practices of household management.

PARAGRAPH #DKNKM6
  In this chapter I examine what this work consists of and how it is performed. The analytical framework for this is Wheeler and Glucksmann’s (2015) concept of consumption work – the activities, skills and labour that consumers engage in to acquire, use, manage and dispose of goods. Wheeler and Glucksmann’s framework distinguishes three dimensions: technical labour – the division of tasks and skills across different people; modal labour – the interdependencies of work across different socio-economic arrangements (paid and unpaid, formal and informal); and processual labour – the connections across the full span of production and consumption process (Wheeler & Gluckmann, 2015: 35-36). In circular economy contexts, becoming a circular consumer requires varied and unevenly distributed forms of consumption work whose nature and scope have been underplayed in circular economy debates, but which has significant implications for whether such initiatives can succeed (Hobson et al., 2021). As Mesiranta et al. (2025: 25) observe, even frontrunner consumers who have integrated circular practices into their lives perceive them as laborious and at times troublesome.

PARAGRAPH #VFVNL8
  Work and care are close and overlapping concepts in this account. As Bankovska (2020: 13) observes, drawing on Graeber (2018: 156), care is not always a joyful or pleasant act – it involves unanticipated effort, obligation, hesitation, and sometimes disgust. In this sense care resembles work: activities performed because they need to be done rather than because they are intrinsically rewarding. The chapter uses consumption work as its organising framework while recognising that the boundaries between consumption work, volunteer labour, and care work are difficult to maintain in practice, and that this difficulty is itself analytically significant.

SECTION #KWZ8DM Volunteer labour and sufficiency lifestyle

PARAGRAPH #FR59SD
  Brīvbode is sustained by volunteers for many of whom participation is only possible because their lives are organized around sufficiency – a practice cluster in its own right, characterised by flexible time, low monetary consumption, and small combined income streams. As Tan and Yeoh (2024) note, while material inputs in freecycling markets are readily available, the human labour required to organise and run them is consistently short in supply. As Viesturs puts it: “I understand that the lifestyle I live is complete luxury these days, at least for this part of the world. To have free time, to decide myself what to do with my time – that is the main resource. The most important thing that a person can donate to Brīvbode is their time.”

PARAGRAPH #QD63FV
  The sufficiency orientation is visible in how volunteers approach the management of resources in Brīvbode as well. When a new stove was needed, Rasa and her partner welded one themselves using upcycled components: gas canisters, springs from an old sofa, a drain fitting (in return for his invested time, she promised him a week of help sanding his DIY boat). Rasa framed it matter-of-factly: “But what do you do if you don’t want to pay €1000 for a stove? You pick up the angle grinder yourself.” This is repair and upcycling competency, sufficiency orientation and collaborative volunteer labour combined in prioritising making do with what is available as both a practical skill and life orientation. Rasa described similar approach to her own consumption practices: it is more advantageous for her to work less in formal employment and rather invest time in planning meals, researching purchases and visiting secondhand shops than to earn more and consume more easily to keep her preferred level of wellbeing.

SECTION #L5PE5X Valuation work without the context of price

PARAGRAPH #ZU8ZS9
  In retail, price is a formal evaluation that functions to slows acquisition and signals value. When price is removed a moral and more relational valuation comes to the fore. Valuation work is the ongoing effort of assessing what is worth taking and bringing, and what should be left or discarded. As Beswick-Parsons et al. (2025) note, those committed to reuse develop an ability to perceive value where others do not, and this evaluative skill is a key to circulation work.

PARAGRAPH #ZJG8XW
  The gap between donor self-assessment and actual quality is a recurring burden for volunteers. Anna describes she has developed her intuition: "I really know it won't be good even before I've opened the bag. I ask them: 'Is everything really okay in there?' 'Yes, yes, only the best!' And you open it, and there are moth-eaten pillows, piss-soaked blankets." This competency has been developed over years of handling what arrives. The work of maintaining quality – assessing, sorting, deciding what goes out and what does not – is constant and largely invisible to visitors who mostly only the finished presentation.

PARAGRAPH #737NYX
  Curation extends valuation work beyond sorting into knowing and managing people's needs. Rasa describes it as having "a filter". She sometimes holds specific items for specific regular visitors based on accumulated knowledge about their life circumstances: a particular colour of top for a visually impaired visitor, a wedding gift set aside for a regular who recently moved from homelessness into social housing. This is care work and consumption work simultaneously – relational knowledge that cannot be systematised or delegated, and that makes Brīvbode function as something more than a drop-off point.

PARAGRAPH #MSGHYR
  On the taking side, valuation work means learning what the absence of price actually requires. As a novice to freecycling practice, Madara was able to recall how disorienting the freeness was on her first visit: "At first it felt a bit like I was stealing." She resolved this by reframing the transaction: "I see it as exchange. I somehow switch off the word 'free'." For her, freeness activates restraint rather than acquisition: "Someone maybe sees 'free' and thinks – everything is free, let's take, take, take. For me it works the opposite way." The absence of price shifts valuation work onto participants, requiring them to develop frameworks of evaluation that the market would otherwise supply automatically.

PARAGRAPH #HM3BWV
  The labour of divestment also varies by route. Selling online is preferred when an item retains monetary value, and it requires photographing, writing descriptions, communicating with buyers, arranging delivery or meetings. As one participant noted, for items that might still have some value, "you have to pull yourself together, photograph it and put it somewhere." Brīvbode lowers this work considerably: it is a known, walkable destination where divestment requires neither finding a buyer nor judging a recipient. In Wheeler and Glucksmann's terms, Brīvbode redistributes consumption work – absorbing some of it through volunteer labour while releasing participants from other forms of it.

SECTION #A43655 Modal labour across socioeconomic modes

PARAGRAPH #HGVGLS
  Wheeler and Glucksmann’s modal dimension attends to how labour is distributed across different socioeconomic arrangements – market and non-market, paid and unpaid, formal and informal. In their original context of waste recycling, household consumption work feeds into municipal waste management system: people prepare, wash, sort and transport materials, performing labour that contributes to a formal insitutional process.

PARAGRAPH #5ZQLP4
  While Brīvbode is indirectly embedded in wider textile collection infrastructure, its operation as an informal volunteer initiative is modally different. The chain of work usually connects one household to another. Objects leaving one home pass through the swaphsop and arrive in someone elses home where a new set of consumption work tasks begin – storing, integrating, eventually deciding what to do when the object might no longer be wanted.

PARAGRAPH #4PNKDC
  Brīvbode brings together different forms of work – unpaid volunteering, household management, neighbourly help, care work, and informal exchange – in ways that blur distinctions between market and non-market activity and make the labour difficult to recognise as work at all, even though the system depends on it. As Mesiranta et al. (2025) describe, community-based circular consumption initiatives perform care work that more marketised arrangements cannot. Sequential reuse, as Hobson (2020) argues, depends not on material availability alone but on the social circularities – the relational labour – that keep things moving between people.

PARAGRAPH #SP2V6Q
  Some participants choose Brīvbode precisely because they do not want to perform labour for formal waste management institutions – they prefer the more relational, informal route. This is a modal choice: the same divestment work takes a different socioeconomic form depending on the route chosen, and Brīvbode's modal distinctiveness is part of what recruits and retains its participants.

SECTION #38335C Processual labour: exchange networks and gendered work

PARAGRAPH #73NW5B
  Wheeler and Glucksmann's processual dimension attends to how labour is distributed across the full span of a consumption process. In Brīvbode, this dimension is most visible in the extended divestment networks through which household surplus reaches the swapshop. The work that sustains Brīvbode is continuous with domestic consumption work  which is consistently organised through women's labour.

PARAGRAPH #8QVYKY
  Miller's (1998) research on shopping demonstrates that consumption is often organised around care for others rather than individual satisfaction, and that women frequently function as moral agents in household consumption as they are the ones acquiring, managing, and disposing of goods in relation to the needs of children, partners, and wider social networks. Wheeler and Glucksmann (2015) find the same gendered pattern in recycling: women typically take responsibility for sorting while men handle transport. The fieldwork conducted for this thesis reflects this consistently. Anna states it directly: "It's on me. I'm the one who supplies everyone with clothes and shoes." Silvija organises all divestment decisions in her household and says her husband "would just throw it in the bin." Men's role, where it appears, is typically transport and carrying the bags that women have sorted, selected, and prepared.

PARAGRAPH #JY7V8V
  The reach of Brīvbode extends considerably beyond those who physically visit it. Several of the most embedded participants perform substantial divestment work not only for themselves but for neighbours, colleagues, and family members, functioning as logistics nodes through which others' surplus flows to the freeshop. Marija's neighbours give her things to take to Brīvbode as she is a frequent visitor and the role has naturalised into her social identity in the building. Māra coordinates pickups from at least five neighbours, takes requests for specific items, and is the only one of her immediate network who actually visits – the rest route their divestment through her. Anna's work colleagues prepare parcels for her to deliver: "They use me. They prepare the bags I need to bring to Brīvbode. And then they say: 'Can you look for something for my teenage daughter?'"

PARAGRAPH #DGLFX7
  Madara does divestment work for her aunt whose belief that worn objects carry the energy of previous owners prevents her from donating. In order to get to Brīvbode, the objects must pass through Madara first. "I know that most likely they would simply be thrown away or burned." The most laborious divestment case came from Aiga, who spent months coordinating the recirculation of her relatives' possessions after a relocation, making thirty trips to Brīvbode. A single call to a clearance firm would have resolved everything in one visit, Aiga says, but she chose the harder route because she could not allow things to be discarded: "Sometimes you really do want to just throw it out, but that inner feeling simply won't let me." This is consumption work as self-imposed ethical burden of activities that need to be done out of obligation.

PARAGRAPH #LQTPNH
  Consumption work is both currently gendered and being transmitted along gendered lines. Kristīne takes her daughters to Brīvbode and uses the visits as occasions for explicit moral education: discussing why they are giving things away, what makes a good divestment decision, what is too worn to donate. She sometimes goes without them to avoid the tears when they want things back; other times the difficulty is the point. "It's also an opportunity to talk about things." The children are learning material quality, the ethics of giving, and the difference between good enough to donate and good enough only to discard.

SECTION #GGGPNV Conclusion

PARAGRAPH #8JXBYH
  This chapter has examined the labour that sustains freecycling in Brīvbode, finding it distributed across structural, ethical, and gendered dimensions that existing circular economy frameworks tend to overlook. Wheeler and Glucksmann's consumption work concept names the structure: tasks that paid institutions would perform in formal retail or waste management contexts are here absorbed by unpaid volunteers and participants, distributed across modal and processual dimensions that stretch well beyond the freeshop itself. Bankovska and Graeber name the motivation: much of this labour is not transferred from institutions onto reluctant consumers but self-imposed through ethical commitment and care – activities people perform because they cannot bring themselves not to. Miller names who bears it: consistently and disproportionately women, from household sorting and routing to managing others' generosity to transmitting these competencies to the next generation.

PARAGRAPH #T5LNZ9
  Circular consumption requires substantial labour, and that labour is unevenly distributed. Sustainability of initiatives like Brīvbode depends on a structural condition – the sufficiency-oriented, time-rich, predominantly female volunteer and participant base that circular economy policy rarely names or supports (Hobson et al., 2021). Some of this labour is unreflexive and habituated – Aiga's inner feeling that prevents easy disposal, Marija's building logistics naturalised into her social role. Some is deliberate and effortful – Kristīne's category-by-category method, Madara working on her impulse-acquiring. Both are labour, but they are differently visible, and the unreflexive forms are the hardest to see and the hardest for policy to reach.

PARAGRAPH #WQCQ9A
  CONCLUSION

PARAGRAPH #ENZMT5
  Naming the forms and distribution of consumption work is the chapter's contribution. Circular consumption requires substantial labor; that labor is unevenly distributed; and the sustainability of initiatives like Brīvbode depends on a structural condition – the sufficiency-oriented, time-rich, mostly female volunteer and participant base.

PARAGRAPH #JJA5J6
  Some of this work is unreflexive and habituated, some is deliberate and effortful (Madara working on her own impulse-acquiring, Kristīne's category-by-category method). Both are labor, but they are differently visible – and the unreflexive forms are the hardest to see and the hardest for policy to reach.

PARAGRAPH #ANCRJA
  Transactions of consumption work: “Rasa saka, ka darbs Brīvbodē dažreiz ļauj viņai nejusties vainīgai par to, ka viņa nesašķiro atkritumus.”

PARAGRAPH #YNFMZ5
  An example of acquisition functioning as a concerted social practice is found in Daniel Miller’s study of flea markets and antiques. For the participants, visiting these markets is a "highly regular commitment"–often a weekly ritual–focused on the constant circulation, exchange, and re-acquisition of objects. In this context, the routine of trading and collecting is more important than the individual objects themselves. This suggests that for some, the practice is not "using" the thing, but the rhythm of the search and the acquisition itself.

PARAGRAPH #H77SJA
  Līva L.: "Tā drēbju stanga... man liekas, viņa vēl kādam varētu noderēt. Un es neesmu to vēl tā kā izrisinājusi." A clothes rail that no longer has a place in her apartment but which she cannot yet bring herself to take anywhere – the sense that something is still good, someone could use it, but the act of routing it somewhere requires a decision and work to execute it (and appropriate divestment infrastructure).

PARAGRAPH #MC4GH7
  Visitors perhaps do not witness the complete material streams, but they see –

PARAGRAPH #QJNPTQ
  [No Singapūras pētījuma] Campbell-Johnston et al.’s (2020) argument that an item’s sequential (re)use is not a given. Rather, (re)use is underpinned by relational labour bound up in what Hobson (2020) calls social circularities.

PARAGRAPH #GDAK2E
  “As suggested by these researchers, joint efforts involving various types of actors, such as non-profit organisations and local communities, can help balance marketised care. Examples of this within circular consumption include repair cafés, clothes-swapping events, and community fridges for sharing leftover food in the neighbourhood. Community-based aspects of circular consumption have recently been highlighted (for a review, see Luukkonen et al., 2024), and the role of local communities in adopting and appropriating circular consumption and care should be further examined. Frontrunner consumers may have a significant role to play in establishing these communities and crafting policies that are built from the bottom-up and aligned with their everyday lives.” (Mesiranta et al. 2025: 26)

THESIS #FYG32U
Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia

PARAGRAPH #4PNKDC
  Brīvbode brings together different forms of work – unpaid volunteering, household management, neighbourly help, care work, and informal exchange – in ways that blur distinctions between market and non-market activity and make the labour difficult to recognise as work at all, even though the system depends on it. As Mesiranta et al. (2025) describe, community-based circular consumption initiatives perform care work that more marketised arrangements cannot. Sequential reuse, as Hobson (2020) argues, depends not on material availability alone but on the social circularities – the relational labour – that keep things moving between people.

### 14. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `search_text`

```json
{
  "limit": 10,
  "query": "\"Consumption work in the circular economy\" \"research agenda\" \"who\" \"work\" \"household\""
}
```

### 15. Tool result: search_text

Exact matches

1. Source: The Advent of Practice Theories in Research on Sustainable Consumption: Past, Current and Future Directions of the Field (#5FD8BE), Filippo Corsini, Francesco Paolo Appio, Franziska Meinherz, Luca Mora, Rafael Laurenti, p. 0
  Context:
    #9UFH98 The Advent of Practice Theories in Research on Sustainable Consumption: Past, Current and Future Directions of the Field
  Matching excerpt #VMZY9X:
      Abstract: The application of practice theories in the domain of sustainability research in consumer studies is increasingly advocated based on the premise that this allows to analyse consumption as a social phenomenon. Consequently, the applications of social practice theories to this field are expanding geometrically and to date, little retrospective work on this evolution has been made. We conduct a bibliometric analysis of applications of practice theories in the domain of sustainability research in consumer studies. Our results show a temporal succession of research trends: 'consumer identity' dominated the field between 2009 and 2012, 'business and governance' between 2012 and 2014, 'sustainable consumption and production' between 2013 and 2014, 'urban living and policy' between 2014 and 2015 and 'household energy' from 2015 until the present. We see a high potential of future applications of practice theories in the fields of the sharing and circular economy, as well as in research on smart cities. We provide new insights into the evolution and future trends of applications of social practice theory to domains that are relevant for research on sustainability and consumer studies.

2. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 107
  Context:
    #KBKAA9 Concluding discussion
      #92JYP3 Research contributions
        #GA7H2G Implications for future research
  Matching excerpt #JHTY3R:
      It also follows from the findings of this dissertation that the work of consumers in the CE is shaped by retail markets. Studying further the making of consumption work through retail markets can be of interest to sociology of consumption scholars who are engaged with understanding consumption in relation to wider economic arrangements. Future research could continue with taking a 'practice theories' approach (Evans, 2020), and explore how the work of consumers is formed in other empirical contexts. Although consumption work is central to the CE (Greene et al., 2024; Hobson et al., 2021), and the concept has been developed through studies focused on household recycling (e.g., Wheeler and Glucksmann, 2015a, 2015b), the concept is not limited to circular economies (Glucksmann, 2009, 2016). The role of retailers in this reorganisation of consumer labour can be explored in contexts other than the CE. For instance, how does the work of consumers become re-arranged as part of various social or environmental challenges, leading to, for instance, food scarcity or challenged access to other commodities and essential goods? Through such studies, further light can be shed on the possibilities to re-allocate work in the case of different challenging situations impacting societies.

3. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 71
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #FGYNDY Methodology: studying practices ethnographically in retail and household settings
        #PQNQPZ Study 2 – Ethnographic field trial in household settings
          #VPDN4A Ethnographic field trial
  Matching excerpt #BHVTU3:
      In consumption studies focused on the sustainability of household practices, such a non-positivist approach to intervening in real-life settings is an increasingly discussed and called for methodological approach (Davies and Doyle, 2015; Devaney and Davies, 2017; Doyle and Davies, 2013; Hobson et al., 2021; Sutcliffe, 2022). For instance, Devaney and Davies (2017: 826) developed an “experimental HomeLabs challenge” to intervene with eating-related household practices and trial more sustainable forms. Such small-scale, longer and intervening methods with households have been called for in circular consumption research as well (Hobson et al., 2021). This work has been commenced by, for instance, Sutcliffe (2022), who designed a handbook with instructions for circular consumption strategies for participating households in an intervention-based study. Moreover, Wethal and Hoff (2024) studied the introduction of municipal circularity initiatives in Norway, and how those have been used by residents in the area. In our ethnographic field trial, we asked households to try out digital platforms that are part of clothing markets. Choosing clothing market-based platforms for the trial is well-aligned with my understanding of consumption as being shaped by both markets and everyday lives.

4. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #BA7Z5L LIST OF SOURCES
  Matching paragraph #DNUZ6F:
      Hobson, K., Holmes, H., Welch, D., Wheeler, K. and Wieser, H. (2021) ‘Consumption work in the circular economy: a research agenda’, Journal of Cleaner Production, 321, 128969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128969

5. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #SVS6HK Introduction
  Matching paragraph #6G862E:
      This thesis extends the consumption work framework in two directions. First, it examines consumption work at a semi-public site rather than within the domestic sphere. In discussion of research agenda for circular economies Hobson et al. (2021) call explicitly for research that moves beyond the household to examine how consumption work is organised and distributed in community and public initiatives. Brīvbode is such a space: a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition becomes briefly visible and socially acknowledged, and a site where also public volunteer labor – sorting, curating, maintaining quality standards, managing social dynamics – sustains a service, itself a form of consumption work that is continuous with the domestic labour it serves.

6. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #W8HHQV Circulation, Practice, and Consumption Work: A Theoretical Framework
      #LMKLTZ Consumption Work
  Matching paragraph #796DZS:
      Wheeler and Glucksmann (2015) contend that secondhand markets involve consumption work – sorting, cleaning, repairing. “Consumption work”, for them, refers to the range of tasks required of consumers, before or after they consume, on which consumption itself is predicated – the work that must be done before or after the moment of exchange for consumption to be possible at all. Their framework encompasses technical dimensions – the allocation of tasks and skills to different people; modal dimensions – interdependencies of work across different social and economic arrangements; and processual dimensions – the connections of labour across the full span of a consumption process (Wheeler & Gluckmann, 2015: 35-36). In circular economy contexts, Hobson et al. (2021) argue, this work intensifies: responsible divestment requires more effort than simply throwing things away, and the additional demands fall disproportionately on those who are already doing most of the household management work.

7. Source: Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review (#PSBVW7), Casper Boks, Ida Nilstad Pettersen, Juana Camacho-Otero, p. 0
  Context:
    #HHKK3Q Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review
  Matching excerpt #N94NFW:
      Abstract: A circular economy (CE) aims at decoupling value creation from waste generation and resource use by radically transforming production and consumption systems. Recent reviews on the topic of the circular economy have indicated that cultural barriers are a significant factor hindering the diffusion of so-called ‘circular’ business models, particularly the lack of consumer—or user—acceptance. However, none of them has provided an overview of the existing literature addressing such issues that can help academics and practitioners better understand consumption considerations when addressing the circular economy. Motivated by these observations, this paper presents the results of a literature review that summarises and discusses insights from 111 articles in terms of the problem area, theoretical approaches, methods, and tools that have been used to collect and analyse data, the main issues, and identified research gaps. The results show that most of the existing scientific work on the circular economy and circular solutions addressing consumption has focussed on identifying factors that drive or hinder the consumption of circular solutions. A smaller but expanding set of articles has focussed on offering insights into the nature, meaning, and dynamics of consumption in the context of the circular economy. According to this set of articles, consumption in the circular economy is anonymous, connected, political, uncertain, and based on multiple values, not only utility. A smaller set of papers has explored the integration of user and consumer perspectives into design processes. Although these contributions are relevant, opportunities for further research are still open, particularly regarding socio-material and cultural aspects of consumption in the context of the circular economy, and the role of digitalisation. In addition, more work could be done regarding strategies to foster not only acceptance but also the adoption and diffusion of the circular economy. Based on the findings of this literature review, some ideas for a research agenda on the issue of consumption in the circular economy are outlined.

8. Source: Towards a Better Accounting of the Roles of Body, Things and Habits in Consumption (#Q8AKGZ), Harold Wilhite, p. 0
  Context:
    #55BXFT Towards a Better Accounting of the Roles of Body, Things and Habits in Consumption
      #MW234F Introduction
  Matching excerpt #TPF35P:
      Policy is informed by theory, whether explicitly or implicitly. In the domain of sustainable energy consumption, the dominant theory poses consumption as consisting of reflexive, individual consumers who make consumption happen through rational and purposive decision making. The sustainable energy policy framework is oriented to changing consumer's minds and attitudes through various forms for information and price incentives. We now have 40 years of post-oil shock evidence of the failures of this policy agenda to deliver reductions in OECD household energy consumption. The clock has timed out on the usefulness of this individualist-rationalist theoretical framework. A robust theory of consumption and change is desperately needed in light of climate change and other environmental consequences of energy use. Recent work grounded in social practice theory shows promise in reinvigorating the research and policy agendas for transforming energy consumption. However, from a policy perspective, much conceptual work remains to be done in clarifying the constituents of a practice, how practices become habits, and how the strength of habits varies. I will discuss these distinctions, shape a theory of strong and weak habits and exemplify its applications in sustainable energy policy. I will apply the concept 'distributed agency' to this task, which I

9. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 16
  Context:
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #9KXLER Conclusion
  Matching excerpt #G26N4U:
      Finally, conceptualizing these activities and tasks as 'consumption work' helps to understand the work that consumers are required to engage in as part of the transition to more circular forms of consumption. For example, the requirement on consumers to bring their own containers to reuse-refill stores results in several processual forms of labour, primarily that of decanting and recirculating . Whilst these activities may be interpreted as domestic labour due to them being household-based, we argue that they play a key role in the wider circuits of the reuse economy, extending well beyond the home. Allied to this, our sensitivity to how labour is distributed along the supply chain (Hobson et al., 2021) allows us to offer a rejoinder to the dominant framing of the role of 'consumers' in the circular economy. In contrast to the prevailing idea that the onus is on consumers to take up and 'accept' new business models and products, our work suggests that more emphasis should be placed on the retail sector to adapt to consumers' existing practices. Differentiating between reuse-refill and reuse-return methods of provisioning (EMF, 2019), raises questions about the nature and amount of consumption work and domestic labour involved in these different systems (Wheeler & Glucksmann, 2015b). Future studies could usefully turn their attention to this complexity and nuance. Our approach also raises questions about who (state, market, or household) is required to do what work to ensure the success of reuse systems. As things stand, most of the work falls to individuals who are required to source, prepare, and maintain objects ( recirculate ) in refill systems, integrating these practices into their existing domestic routines. With a growing interest in transitioning towards a shared packaging economy (reuse-return), it is imperative to think about how best to recognize and formalize the work carried out by households whilst also questioning how responsibility and care should be reconfigured and formalized across the wider supply-chain.

10. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 4
  Context:
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #ZZ3Y5X Literature review
  Matching excerpt #8EF7DD:
      Within the context of household waste management practices, economies of consumer recycling remain a predominant focus in household work. Through a variety of recycling tasks and activities including cleaning, squashing, disassembling, sorting, storing, and transporting items, Wheeler and Glucksmann (2015a) highlight the interdependencies of such work within the home, with work tasks conducted by other waste management actors/technologies (see also Chappells & Shove, 1999; Middha & Horne, 2024). Seldom recognized as 'work', but rather portrayed as 'a conscious green act' (Oates & McDonald, 2006, p. 421), recycling activities are often enacted through a moral economy of resource stewardship and environmental citizenship. They are also, however, embedded within relations of familial care, conventions of household order in keeping one's house tidy, norms of cleanliness and hygiene, and conveniences more generally (Pedersen & Manhece, 2020; Wheeler & Glucksmann, 2015b). Contributions such as Lindsay and colleagues on consumption work in low waste households, not only emphasize debates about sustainability and transition to a circular economy failing to recognize the amount of additional labour often required, but also the gender disparity in enacting this (Lindsay et al., 2024). They draw to attention the inclusion of 'sustainability labour' as part of existing household dynamics and gendered practices (see also Wheeler & Glucksmann, 2015a), in attempts to reduce plastic consumption involving new and additional modes of shopping and relying on other domestic activities, such as meal planning. These ideas build on earlier work by Organo, Head and Waitt, who found that women spent more time on sustainable practices than men and did so more often (Organo et al., 2013). Referring to waste management in apartment living, Horne et al. (2022) refer to the temporalities and rhythms of plastic waste being intensified due to space requirements, or lack thereof, with practices of sorting, recycling, and disposing of plastic waste important in maintaining household hygiene, convenience, and emotions of living in apartment spaces.

Approximate matches

1. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 41
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #SBM22B Circular consumption and the sociology of consumption
  Score: 0.759
  Related excerpt #XRXFBJ:
      involves “all work necessary for the purchase, use, re-use and disposal of consumption goods and services” (Wheeler and Glucksmann, 2015a: 37). This form of work undertaken by consumers is necessary for the completion as well as complementation of economic processes (Glucksmann, 2016). For instance, self-assembling furniture or installation of different software is necessary before some goods can be appropriated and appreciated. While consumption work is also part of linear economies, in a circular system, previous consumption work activities need to be scaled, and new practices need to be adopted (Hobson et al., 2021). For instance, even if a household already practised waste sorting and recycling according to circularity principles, they also need to enact further practices such as repairing broken belongings or sharing household tools. These increased levels of consumption work in the CE can further contribute to an unequal distribution of labour in terms of gender, class and employment forms (Hobson et al., 2021). Furthermore, it can be challenging to manage the time required for this increased work due to other personal or professional commitments, as the study of Sutcliffe (2022) demonstrates.

2. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 87
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #CJTF2K Research paper findings
        #AUQREL Research paper 2
          #C2V6Q5 Title: Scripting Circular Consumption: The Role of Materiality in Consumer Responsibilization
  Score: 0.731
  Related excerpt #BHMVVF:
      How do then consumers try to manage the allocated tasks and responsibilities while performing circular consumption outside retail settings? The following two papers approach the question of circular consumption in households. Paper 3 sheds light on how care is enacted in circular consumption, while paper 4 draws out how consumers try to perform valuation work as part of circular consumption.

3. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 40
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #SBM22B Circular consumption and the sociology of consumption
  Score: 0.717
  Related excerpt #6FKLDY:
      However, sociological circular consumption research has also started to address some less discussed aspects of sustainable consumption in everyday life and answer the call of situating consumption in wider societal shifts and economic processes (e.g., Evans, 2020; Warde, 2022). This is due to circular consumption being called for in relation to a wider economic reorganisation programme, i.e., the circular economy. Thus, circular consumption is closely connected to economic and market processes. The mapping of this connection has been commenced in circular consumption research, first and foremost through the notion of consumption work (Wheeler and Glücksmann, 2015a, 2015b) and its re-organisation due to this economic reorganisation programme (Hobson et al., 2021).

4. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 6
  Context:
    #LULSD6 Abstract:
  Score: 0.715
  Related excerpt #BBDZ25:
      Key words: circular consumption, retail market materialities, households, care, responsibility, valuation work

5. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #BA7Z5L LIST OF SOURCES
  Score: 0.758
  Related paragraph #DNUZ6F:
      Hobson, K., Holmes, H., Welch, D., Wheeler, K. and Wieser, H. (2021) ‘Consumption work in the circular economy: a research agenda’, Journal of Cleaner Production, 321, 128969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128969

6. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #W8HHQV Circulation, Practice, and Consumption Work: A Theoretical Framework
      #LMKLTZ Consumption Work
  Score: 0.729
  Related paragraph #HVHQYS:
      In a recent study of household reuse practices, Beswick-Parsons, Evans and Jackson (2025) identify specific forms of consumption work involved in everyday circular consumption – decanting, stock management, recirculating – and argue that reuse practices are more prevalent and more varied than existing policy commentary assumes. Their analysis provides empirical precedent for examining consumption work and for attending to the range of tasks that participation in reuse practices requires. They conclude that future transitions to reuse might depend less on establishing new practices, driven by narratives of green consumerism, but rather greater attention should be paid to wider changes, including the transformation of supply chains to align with and facilitate the range of ‘reuse work’ currently observed within everyday domestic spaces.

7. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 1
  Context:
    #ZKYDXP Reuse practices and household consumption work
      #N73JMC KEYWORDS
  Score: 0.788
  Related excerpt #NMRYAA:
      Consumption work; circular economy; package-free shopping; reuse; household practices

8. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 16
  Context:
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #9KXLER Conclusion
  Score: 0.752
  Related excerpt #G26N4U:
      Finally, conceptualizing these activities and tasks as 'consumption work' helps to understand the work that consumers are required to engage in as part of the transition to more circular forms of consumption. For example, the requirement on consumers to bring their own containers to reuse-refill stores results in several processual forms of labour, primarily that of decanting and recirculating . Whilst these activities may be interpreted as domestic labour due to them being household-based, we argue that they play a key role in the wider circuits of the reuse economy, extending well beyond the home. Allied to this, our sensitivity to how labour is distributed along the supply chain (Hobson et al., 2021) allows us to offer a rejoinder to the dominant framing of the role of 'consumers' in the circular economy. In contrast to the prevailing idea that the onus is on consumers to take up and 'accept' new business models and products, our work suggests that more emphasis should be placed on the retail sector to adapt to consumers' existing practices. Differentiating between reuse-refill and reuse-return methods of provisioning (EMF, 2019), raises questions about the nature and amount of consumption work and domestic labour involved in these different systems (Wheeler & Glucksmann, 2015b). Future studies could usefully turn their attention to this complexity and nuance. Our approach also raises questions about who (state, market, or household) is required to do what work to ensure the success of reuse systems. As things stand, most of the work falls to individuals who are required to source, prepare, and maintain objects ( recirculate ) in refill systems, integrating these practices into their existing domestic routines. With a growing interest in transitioning towards a shared packaging economy (reuse-return), it is imperative to think about how best to recognize and formalize the work carried out by households whilst also questioning how responsibility and care should be reconfigured and formalized across the wider supply-chain.

9. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 2
  Context:
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #UTZZ6F Introduction
  Score: 0.746
  Related excerpt #6U9397:
      With a growing emphasis on the 'Circular Economy' in debates on consumption, sustainability and everyday life, systems of reuse are increasingly attracting attention (for example (EMF, 2019), (Greenpeace, 2020)) in transforming 'production-consumption systems towards enhanced material circularity' (Greene et al., 2024, p. 1). For example, the UK Plastics Pact emphasizes the need for a series of technical and design-based solutions in 'eliminating problematic plastics' and 'creating a circular economy for plastics' (WRAP, n.d.). At the same time, there is a strong emphasis on 'hard hitting campaigns' that encourage citizens to 'recycle more of the right things' (WRAP, n.d.) and a widespread sense that consumers must 'do their bit' by, for example, switching from single-use plastics to reusable packaging. 1 Within social science work, the role of 'consumer-users' and the labour involved in achieving a more sustainable circular economy has been identified as a critical, but often overlooked, component of citizen participation (Greene et al., 2024; Hobson, 2020; Hobson et al., 2021). Hobson's work suggests that any successful transition towards a circular economy requires a shift beyond prevailing individualistic perspectives on consumer behaviour that have dominated policy approaches against the backdrop of technocratic changes (cf. Shove, 2010). This paper contributes to these debates, focusing on the dynamics of existing household consumption practices to better understand how these might enable or inhibit the development of systems of reuse.

10. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 4
  Context:
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #ZZ3Y5X Literature review
  Score: 0.72
  Related excerpt #8EF7DD:
      Within the context of household waste management practices, economies of consumer recycling remain a predominant focus in household work. Through a variety of recycling tasks and activities including cleaning, squashing, disassembling, sorting, storing, and transporting items, Wheeler and Glucksmann (2015a) highlight the interdependencies of such work within the home, with work tasks conducted by other waste management actors/technologies (see also Chappells & Shove, 1999; Middha & Horne, 2024). Seldom recognized as 'work', but rather portrayed as 'a conscious green act' (Oates & McDonald, 2006, p. 421), recycling activities are often enacted through a moral economy of resource stewardship and environmental citizenship. They are also, however, embedded within relations of familial care, conventions of household order in keeping one's house tidy, norms of cleanliness and hygiene, and conveniences more generally (Pedersen & Manhece, 2020; Wheeler & Glucksmann, 2015b). Contributions such as Lindsay and colleagues on consumption work in low waste households, not only emphasize debates about sustainability and transition to a circular economy failing to recognize the amount of additional labour often required, but also the gender disparity in enacting this (Lindsay et al., 2024). They draw to attention the inclusion of 'sustainability labour' as part of existing household dynamics and gendered practices (see also Wheeler & Glucksmann, 2015a), in attempts to reduce plastic consumption involving new and additional modes of shopping and relying on other domestic activities, such as meal planning. These ideas build on earlier work by Organo, Head and Waitt, who found that women spent more time on sustainable practices than men and did so more often (Organo et al., 2013). Referring to waste management in apartment living, Horne et al. (2022) refer to the temporalities and rhythms of plastic waste being intensified due to space requirements, or lack thereof, with practices of sorting, recycling, and disposing of plastic waste important in maintaining household hygiene, convenience, and emotions of living in apartment spaces.

### 16. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `read`

```json
{
  "blocks": [
    "56AZCA",
    "G26N4U",
    "XRXFBJ",
    "5YZB8A"
  ],
  "expand": false
}
```

### 17. Tool result: read

PAPER EXCERPT #56AZCA
Document: #XATD2A New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning
Context:
  #XATD2A New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning
    #AHCZ2X New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning
      #4F5EEN 2. Situating provisioning
        #38LM6C 2.2. Circular economy and sharing economy
          #56AZCA excerpt

In a previous study with others (Mylan et al., 2016), I argue for recognition of the domestic as a site of CE; where practices that constitute domestic life, including food sharing, repurposing and recycling, already involve the circularity of materials. Similarly, Hobson (2016: 96) alludes to the importance of the household, and the materials which flow in and out, in expanding CE's realm. In addition, and as already noted, connections are being made between CE and SE. Lacy and Rutqvist (2015) describe the sharing platform, and the likes of Uber and Lyft Inc, as CE business models. Whilst not expressively stating the varying forms of economy at work, research by Niinimäki and Hassi (2011) likewise draws upon the links between PSS schemes involving fashion items, and more sustainable, circular modes of consumption. Thus, it is evident that the division between SE/CE is blurred and the two are often interwoven. Hobson (2016) also makes these connections to PSS and the interweaving of CE/SE, referencing models such as Zipcar. However, Hobson (2016) pushes at this further, referring to social enterprises and 'generative spaces' (p.98) of everyday activism, such as repair cafes, as spaces of the CE. Hobson's work bridges the lacunae between the sharing and circular economies, opening up the possibilities that diverse economic spaces offer to issues of circularity, sustainability and activism. As Hobson states (2016: 99), there is potential for 'rich engagement, through both further conceptual and empirical exploration'. This article empirically fleshes out what such spaces look like and how they engage in practices of circulating and sharing.

PAPER EXCERPT #G26N4U
Document: #V9QTJP Reuse practices and household consumption work
Context:
  #V9QTJP Reuse practices and household consumption work
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #9KXLER Conclusion
        #G26N4U excerpt

Finally, conceptualizing these activities and tasks as 'consumption work' helps to understand the work that consumers are required to engage in as part of the transition to more circular forms of consumption. For example, the requirement on consumers to bring their own containers to reuse-refill stores results in several processual forms of labour, primarily that of decanting and recirculating . Whilst these activities may be interpreted as domestic labour due to them being household-based, we argue that they play a key role in the wider circuits of the reuse economy, extending well beyond the home. Allied to this, our sensitivity to how labour is distributed along the supply chain (Hobson et al., 2021) allows us to offer a rejoinder to the dominant framing of the role of 'consumers' in the circular economy. In contrast to the prevailing idea that the onus is on consumers to take up and 'accept' new business models and products, our work suggests that more emphasis should be placed on the retail sector to adapt to consumers' existing practices. Differentiating between reuse-refill and reuse-return methods of provisioning (EMF, 2019), raises questions about the nature and amount of consumption work and domestic labour involved in these different systems (Wheeler & Glucksmann, 2015b). Future studies could usefully turn their attention to this complexity and nuance. Our approach also raises questions about who (state, market, or household) is required to do what work to ensure the success of reuse systems. As things stand, most of the work falls to individuals who are required to source, prepare, and maintain objects ( recirculate ) in refill systems, integrating these practices into their existing domestic routines. With a growing interest in transitioning towards a shared packaging economy (reuse-return), it is imperative to think about how best to recognize and formalize the work carried out by households whilst also questioning how responsibility and care should be reconfigured and formalized across the wider supply-chain.

PAPER EXCERPT #XRXFBJ
Document: #8EVNK8 The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings
Context:
  #8EVNK8 The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #SBM22B Circular consumption and the sociology of consumption
          #XRXFBJ excerpt

involves “all work necessary for the purchase, use, re-use and disposal of consumption goods and services” (Wheeler and Glucksmann, 2015a: 37). This form of work undertaken by consumers is necessary for the completion as well as complementation of economic processes (Glucksmann, 2016). For instance, self-assembling furniture or installation of different software is necessary before some goods can be appropriated and appreciated. While consumption work is also part of linear economies, in a circular system, previous consumption work activities need to be scaled, and new practices need to be adopted (Hobson et al., 2021). For instance, even if a household already practised waste sorting and recycling according to circularity principles, they also need to enact further practices such as repairing broken belongings or sharing household tools. These increased levels of consumption work in the CE can further contribute to an unequal distribution of labour in terms of gender, class and employment forms (Hobson et al., 2021). Furthermore, it can be challenging to manage the time required for this increased work due to other personal or professional commitments, as the study of Sutcliffe (2022) demonstrates.

PAPER EXCERPT #5YZB8A
Document: #8EVNK8 The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings
Context:
  #8EVNK8 The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #LZ9AW5 The challenges of circular consumption
        #5YZB8A excerpt

Furthermore, there is another, less explored side to the challenges of circular consumption, which concerns the arrangement of the wider landscape within which circular consumption is to be brought about. Sociological circular consumption research mostly focuses on how consumers do circular consumption as part of household practices (e.g., Hebrok and Heidenstrom, 2019; Mylan et al., 2016). While there are some calls for discussing how different provisioning systems and institutional arrangements shape circular consumption (Greene et al., 2024), there is little empirical investigation and conceptualisation within this area (e.g., Holmes, 2018). As Hobson et al. (2021) argue there has been little focus on how the additional work moved to the sphere of consumption implicates consumers; what is expected of them, and what is made possible for them.

### 18. Assistant

Yes — the basic “Hobson 2021 thing” is about **not treating circular consumption as just a matter of individual consumers choosing better**, but asking: **what extra work does circularity require, who does that work, where is it done, and how is it supported or ignored?**

Important caveat: I do **not** see the actual Hobson et al. 2021 article in the corpus, only your source-list entry for it #DNUZ6F and later authors citing/summarising it. So I can’t give you the exact Hobson quote from the paper itself from Sheaf. But the surrounding literature gives you very usable wording and context.

## The closest useful quotes in the corpus

### 1. Circular consumption work is extra work, and it is unevenly distributed

Tölg summarises Hobson et al. like this:

> “While consumption work is also part of linear economies, in a circular system, previous consumption work activities need to be scaled, and new practices need to be adopted (Hobson et al., 2021). For instance, even if a household already practised waste sorting and recycling according to circularity principles, they also need to enact further practices such as repairing broken belongings or sharing household tools. These increased levels of consumption work in the CE can further contribute to an unequal distribution of labour in terms of gender, class and employment forms.” #XRXFBJ

This is the core point: circular economy does not magically make things circulate. It asks people to **sort, repair, store, transport, clean, evaluate, donate, share, maintain, and coordinate**. Tiny little utopia, powered by unpaid admin goblins.

### 2. The field has focused too much on households

This is probably the bit you remembered:

> “Sociological circular consumption research mostly focuses on how consumers do circular consumption as part of household practices … While there are some calls for discussing how different provisioning systems and institutional arrangements shape circular consumption … there is little empirical investigation and conceptualisation within this area … As Hobson et al. (2021) argue there has been little focus on how the additional work moved to the sphere of consumption implicates consumers; what is expected of them, and what is made possible for them.” #5YZB8A

This does not quite say “go study community/public sites” in the fragment we have, but it **opens exactly that door**: move from “what households do” to “how wider arrangements organise and distribute circular work.”

### 3. Consumption work extends beyond the home

Evans, Jackson and Beswick-Parsons make this very clearly:

> “Whilst these activities may be interpreted as domestic labour due to them being household-based, we argue that they play a key role in the wider circuits of the reuse economy, extending well beyond the home.” #G26N4U

And then:

> “Our approach also raises questions about who (state, market, or household) is required to do what work to ensure the success of reuse systems.” #G26N4U

This is very relevant for Brīvbode, because your site is exactly where household work becomes connected to a wider reuse infrastructure.

### 4. Community/public circular spaces precedent: Holmes 2018

Holmes gives the nice “public/community sites” bridge, via Hobson 2016:

> “Hobson (2016) pushes at this further, referring to social enterprises and ‘generative spaces’ … of everyday activism, such as repair cafes, as spaces of the CE.” #56AZCA

And:

> “Hobson’s work bridges the lacunae between the sharing and circular economies, opening up the possibilities that diverse economic spaces offer to issues of circularity, sustainability and activism.” #56AZCA

This is probably the best source for saying: circular economy is not only households or markets; it also happens in **repair cafés, sharing spaces, social enterprises, free shops, swapshops**.

## How it relates to your thesis draft

You already have two draft paragraphs doing this work:

- #6G862E says your thesis extends consumption work to a **semi-public site**, Brīvbode, where private labour of divestment/acquisition becomes visible and where volunteer labour sustains circulation.
- #FYJU8R says Brīvbode is a non-domestic space where people gather around circular practices even if they do not call them “circular economy.”

The argument is strong, but I would slightly soften the claim that Hobson et al. “call explicitly” for community/public initiatives unless you check the original PDF. Based on what is in the corpus, a safer version would be:

> Building on Hobson et al.’s (2021) research agenda on consumption work in the circular economy, this thesis shifts attention from household-based circular practices to the semi-public site where such work is organised, redistributed, and made visible. Existing work notes that circular consumption requires additional labour from consumers and that research has focused largely on household practices, with less attention to the wider institutional and community arrangements that make circularity possible (#XRXFBJ; #5YZB8A). Brīvbode offers such a case: it is a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition becomes socially visible, and where volunteer work — sorting, curating, maintaining quality standards, managing social dynamics — sustains the infrastructure through which things continue to circulate.

## In plain thesis-argument terms

Hobson et al. help you say:

1. Circular economy depends on **work**, not only values or attitudes.  
2. That work is often shifted onto “consumers” without being recognised.  
3. Much research has looked at this inside households.  
4. Brīvbode lets you examine what happens when that work moves into a **semi-public/community infrastructure**.  
5. Your empirical contribution is showing how this work is redistributed between households, volunteers, visitors, neighbours, and the swapshop itself.

The cleanest relation to your Chapter 5 is already in #DKNKM6 and #8JXBYH: Brīvbode reveals the technical, modal, and processual labour that circular economy frameworks tend to hide.

### 19. User

oh ok yeah i imported that hobson research agenda paper now

### 20. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `search_text`

```json
{
  "limit": 10,
  "query": "Consumption work in the circular economy research agenda Hobson community household public"
}
```

### 21. Tool result: search_text

Exact matches

1. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 25
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #LZ9AW5 The challenges of circular consumption
  Matching excerpt #JNPX7C:
      that the socio-material and cultural set-up of everyday life contributes to this. In this regard, sociological circular consumption research has identified that doing circular consumption is difficult for consumers (e.g., Hobson et al., 2021). A central issue is the increased efforts required from consumers in the CE (Hobson et al., 2021). Consumers need to extend previous activities, such as recycling household waste more extensively, and develop new skills too, for instance, repairing and upcycling their belongings (Hobson et al., 2021). Being able to perform such extended forms of consumption work is required for successfully enacting circular practices and shifting towards more circular economies (Greene et al., 2024; Hobson et al., 2021). However, this form of work can be challenging to perform.

2. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 40
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #SBM22B Circular consumption and the sociology of consumption
  Matching excerpt #6FKLDY:
      However, sociological circular consumption research has also started to address some less discussed aspects of sustainable consumption in everyday life and answer the call of situating consumption in wider societal shifts and economic processes (e.g., Evans, 2020; Warde, 2022). This is due to circular consumption being called for in relation to a wider economic reorganisation programme, i.e., the circular economy. Thus, circular consumption is closely connected to economic and market processes. The mapping of this connection has been commenced in circular consumption research, first and foremost through the notion of consumption work (Wheeler and Glücksmann, 2015a, 2015b) and its re-organisation due to this economic reorganisation programme (Hobson et al., 2021).

3. Source: Care and circularity: how the enactment of care enables and shapes the circular consumption of clothing (#AVNZLE), Christian Fuentes, Réka Tölg, p. 1
  Context:
    #S6NTVJ Care and circularity: how the enactment of care enables and shapes the circular consumption of clothing
      #QR437R Introduction
  Matching excerpt #B6BCMX:
      In pursuing a practice approach to care and circular consumption, we align ourselves with the small but dynamic body of work exploring the social, cultural and economic practices and processes involved in the performance of circular consumption (Hobson et al, 2021; Rabiú and Jaeger-Erben, 2022; Greene et al, 2024). Among other things, this research has shown that circular consumption is deeply embedded in contemporary consumer culture and that the recirculation of goods is not necessarily driven by environmental values and can conversely lead to the normalisation of surplus (Gregson et al, 2013). Research in this vein has also emphasised the need to draw attention to the materialities involved in circular consumption and take into account how diverse circular consumption practices are both ‘socially and materially embedded in the choreographies of everyday life’ (Holmes, 2018: 146). Finally, sociological research has also drawn attention to the consumption work required of households to develop and maintain everyday circular consumption practices (Hobson et al, 2021;

4. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #SVS6HK Introduction
  Matching paragraph #6G862E:
      This thesis extends the consumption work framework in two directions. First, it examines consumption work at a semi-public site rather than within the domestic sphere. In discussion of research agenda for circular economies Hobson et al. (2021) call explicitly for research that moves beyond the household to examine how consumption work is organised and distributed in community and public initiatives. Brīvbode is such a space: a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition becomes briefly visible and socially acknowledged, and a site where also public volunteer labor – sorting, curating, maintaining quality standards, managing social dynamics – sustains a service, itself a form of consumption work that is continuous with the domestic labour it serves.

5. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #BA7Z5L LIST OF SOURCES
  Matching paragraph #DNUZ6F:
      Hobson, K., Holmes, H., Welch, D., Wheeler, K. and Wieser, H. (2021) ‘Consumption work in the circular economy: a research agenda’, Journal of Cleaner Production, 321, 128969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128969

6. Source: Consumption Work in the circular economy: A research agenda. (#NUEUVY), Dan Welch, Harald Wieser, Helen Holmes, Katy Wheeler, Kersty Hobson, p. 0
  Context:
    #N9U32S Consumption Work in the circular economy: A research agenda.
      #VCKC56 ABSTRACT
  Matching excerpt #629UVN:
      Circular Economy frameworks have become central to debates and interventions that aim to reduce global resource use and environmental despoliation. As pathways to both systemic and micro-scale transformations, there remain many challenges to making Circular Economy actionable. One such challenge is facilitating the emergence of the 'circular consumer'. Here, we are all encouraged to shift everyday practices to consume new products and services and/or participate in the 'Sharing Economy': all of which are claimed, in some prominent debates, to automatically offer more 'convenience' for the consumer. In response, this paper argues that viewing such debates through the lens of Consumption Work offers a different picture of what it takes to be, and what we need to know about, the circular consumer. Consumption Work refers to the labour integral to the purchase, use, re-use and disposal of goods and services. This paper argues that the nature and scope of such work has been underplayed in Circular Economy debates to date, and that becoming a circular consumer requires varied and unevenly distributed forms of Consumption Work, which in turn, has significant implications for the success of Circular Economy. This paper thus proposes a research agenda into this topic, outlining five, inter-related, critical issues that a Circular Economy research agenda must address, including questions of who undertakes Consumption Work; to what ends; and how its multiple forms are coordinated within and beyond the household.

7. Source: Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review (#PSBVW7), Casper Boks, Ida Nilstad Pettersen, Juana Camacho-Otero, p. 0
  Context:
    #HHKK3Q Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review
  Matching excerpt #N94NFW:
      Abstract: A circular economy (CE) aims at decoupling value creation from waste generation and resource use by radically transforming production and consumption systems. Recent reviews on the topic of the circular economy have indicated that cultural barriers are a significant factor hindering the diffusion of so-called ‘circular’ business models, particularly the lack of consumer—or user—acceptance. However, none of them has provided an overview of the existing literature addressing such issues that can help academics and practitioners better understand consumption considerations when addressing the circular economy. Motivated by these observations, this paper presents the results of a literature review that summarises and discusses insights from 111 articles in terms of the problem area, theoretical approaches, methods, and tools that have been used to collect and analyse data, the main issues, and identified research gaps. The results show that most of the existing scientific work on the circular economy and circular solutions addressing consumption has focussed on identifying factors that drive or hinder the consumption of circular solutions. A smaller but expanding set of articles has focussed on offering insights into the nature, meaning, and dynamics of consumption in the context of the circular economy. According to this set of articles, consumption in the circular economy is anonymous, connected, political, uncertain, and based on multiple values, not only utility. A smaller set of papers has explored the integration of user and consumer perspectives into design processes. Although these contributions are relevant, opportunities for further research are still open, particularly regarding socio-material and cultural aspects of consumption in the context of the circular economy, and the role of digitalisation. In addition, more work could be done regarding strategies to foster not only acceptance but also the adoption and diffusion of the circular economy. Based on the findings of this literature review, some ideas for a research agenda on the issue of consumption in the circular economy are outlined.

8. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 2
  Context:
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #UTZZ6F Introduction
  Matching excerpt #6U9397:
      With a growing emphasis on the 'Circular Economy' in debates on consumption, sustainability and everyday life, systems of reuse are increasingly attracting attention (for example (EMF, 2019), (Greenpeace, 2020)) in transforming 'production-consumption systems towards enhanced material circularity' (Greene et al., 2024, p. 1). For example, the UK Plastics Pact emphasizes the need for a series of technical and design-based solutions in 'eliminating problematic plastics' and 'creating a circular economy for plastics' (WRAP, n.d.). At the same time, there is a strong emphasis on 'hard hitting campaigns' that encourage citizens to 'recycle more of the right things' (WRAP, n.d.) and a widespread sense that consumers must 'do their bit' by, for example, switching from single-use plastics to reusable packaging. 1 Within social science work, the role of 'consumer-users' and the labour involved in achieving a more sustainable circular economy has been identified as a critical, but often overlooked, component of citizen participation (Greene et al., 2024; Hobson, 2020; Hobson et al., 2021). Hobson's work suggests that any successful transition towards a circular economy requires a shift beyond prevailing individualistic perspectives on consumer behaviour that have dominated policy approaches against the backdrop of technocratic changes (cf. Shove, 2010). This paper contributes to these debates, focusing on the dynamics of existing household consumption practices to better understand how these might enable or inhibit the development of systems of reuse.

9. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 16
  Context:
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #9KXLER Conclusion
  Matching excerpt #G26N4U:
      Finally, conceptualizing these activities and tasks as 'consumption work' helps to understand the work that consumers are required to engage in as part of the transition to more circular forms of consumption. For example, the requirement on consumers to bring their own containers to reuse-refill stores results in several processual forms of labour, primarily that of decanting and recirculating . Whilst these activities may be interpreted as domestic labour due to them being household-based, we argue that they play a key role in the wider circuits of the reuse economy, extending well beyond the home. Allied to this, our sensitivity to how labour is distributed along the supply chain (Hobson et al., 2021) allows us to offer a rejoinder to the dominant framing of the role of 'consumers' in the circular economy. In contrast to the prevailing idea that the onus is on consumers to take up and 'accept' new business models and products, our work suggests that more emphasis should be placed on the retail sector to adapt to consumers' existing practices. Differentiating between reuse-refill and reuse-return methods of provisioning (EMF, 2019), raises questions about the nature and amount of consumption work and domestic labour involved in these different systems (Wheeler & Glucksmann, 2015b). Future studies could usefully turn their attention to this complexity and nuance. Our approach also raises questions about who (state, market, or household) is required to do what work to ensure the success of reuse systems. As things stand, most of the work falls to individuals who are required to source, prepare, and maintain objects ( recirculate ) in refill systems, integrating these practices into their existing domestic routines. With a growing interest in transitioning towards a shared packaging economy (reuse-return), it is imperative to think about how best to recognize and formalize the work carried out by households whilst also questioning how responsibility and care should be reconfigured and formalized across the wider supply-chain.

10. Source: New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning (#XATD2A), Helen Holmes, p. 2
  Context:
    #AHCZ2X New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning
      #4F5EEN 2. Situating provisioning
        #38LM6C 2.2. Circular economy and sharing economy
  Matching excerpt #56AZCA:
      In a previous study with others (Mylan et al., 2016), I argue for recognition of the domestic as a site of CE; where practices that constitute domestic life, including food sharing, repurposing and recycling, already involve the circularity of materials. Similarly, Hobson (2016: 96) alludes to the importance of the household, and the materials which flow in and out, in expanding CE's realm. In addition, and as already noted, connections are being made between CE and SE. Lacy and Rutqvist (2015) describe the sharing platform, and the likes of Uber and Lyft Inc, as CE business models. Whilst not expressively stating the varying forms of economy at work, research by Niinimäki and Hassi (2011) likewise draws upon the links between PSS schemes involving fashion items, and more sustainable, circular modes of consumption. Thus, it is evident that the division between SE/CE is blurred and the two are often interwoven. Hobson (2016) also makes these connections to PSS and the interweaving of CE/SE, referencing models such as Zipcar. However, Hobson (2016) pushes at this further, referring to social enterprises and 'generative spaces' (p.98) of everyday activism, such as repair cafes, as spaces of the CE. Hobson's work bridges the lacunae between the sharing and circular economies, opening up the possibilities that diverse economic spaces offer to issues of circularity, sustainability and activism. As Hobson states (2016: 99), there is potential for 'rich engagement, through both further conceptual and empirical exploration'. This article empirically fleshes out what such spaces look like and how they engage in practices of circulating and sharing.

Approximate matches

1. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 40
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #SBM22B Circular consumption and the sociology of consumption
  Score: 0.756
  Related excerpt #ZLWV9W:
      Hobson et al. (2021) argue for understanding the increased consumption work involved in the performance of circular consumption. Consumption work

2. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 41
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #SBM22B Circular consumption and the sociology of consumption
  Score: 0.743
  Related excerpt #XRXFBJ:
      involves “all work necessary for the purchase, use, re-use and disposal of consumption goods and services” (Wheeler and Glucksmann, 2015a: 37). This form of work undertaken by consumers is necessary for the completion as well as complementation of economic processes (Glucksmann, 2016). For instance, self-assembling furniture or installation of different software is necessary before some goods can be appropriated and appreciated. While consumption work is also part of linear economies, in a circular system, previous consumption work activities need to be scaled, and new practices need to be adopted (Hobson et al., 2021). For instance, even if a household already practised waste sorting and recycling according to circularity principles, they also need to enact further practices such as repairing broken belongings or sharing household tools. These increased levels of consumption work in the CE can further contribute to an unequal distribution of labour in terms of gender, class and employment forms (Hobson et al., 2021). Furthermore, it can be challenging to manage the time required for this increased work due to other personal or professional commitments, as the study of Sutcliffe (2022) demonstrates.

3. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 26
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #LZ9AW5 The challenges of circular consumption
  Score: 0.731
  Related excerpt #5YZB8A:
      Furthermore, there is another, less explored side to the challenges of circular consumption, which concerns the arrangement of the wider landscape within which circular consumption is to be brought about. Sociological circular consumption research mostly focuses on how consumers do circular consumption as part of household practices (e.g., Hebrok and Heidenstrom, 2019; Mylan et al., 2016). While there are some calls for discussing how different provisioning systems and institutional arrangements shape circular consumption (Greene et al., 2024), there is little empirical investigation and conceptualisation within this area (e.g., Holmes, 2018). As Hobson et al. (2021) argue there has been little focus on how the additional work moved to the sphere of consumption implicates consumers; what is expected of them, and what is made possible for them.

4. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #BA7Z5L LIST OF SOURCES
  Score: 0.785
  Related paragraph #DNUZ6F:
      Hobson, K., Holmes, H., Welch, D., Wheeler, K. and Wieser, H. (2021) ‘Consumption work in the circular economy: a research agenda’, Journal of Cleaner Production, 321, 128969. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128969

5. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #SVS6HK Introduction
  Score: 0.75
  Related paragraph #6G862E:
      This thesis extends the consumption work framework in two directions. First, it examines consumption work at a semi-public site rather than within the domestic sphere. In discussion of research agenda for circular economies Hobson et al. (2021) call explicitly for research that moves beyond the household to examine how consumption work is organised and distributed in community and public initiatives. Brīvbode is such a space: a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition becomes briefly visible and socially acknowledged, and a site where also public volunteer labor – sorting, curating, maintaining quality standards, managing social dynamics – sustains a service, itself a form of consumption work that is continuous with the domestic labour it serves.

6. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #SVS6HK Introduction
  Score: 0.743
  Related paragraph #FYJU8R:
      As Hobson et al. (2021) argue, research should examine non-domestic spaces where individuals come together around circular practices – regardless of whether these activities are explicitly labeled as “circular economy”. Other authors have reinforced this call for studies of community based dimensions of circular consumption (Luukkonen et al., 2024, Mesiranta et al., 2025). Brīvbode is such a space: a site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition can become visible and socially acknowledged, and where volunteer labour sustains infrastructure continuous with the domestic labour it serves.

7. Source: Consumption Work in the circular economy: A research agenda. (#NUEUVY), Dan Welch, Harald Wieser, Helen Holmes, Katy Wheeler, Kersty Hobson, p. 0
  Context:
    #N9U32S Consumption Work in the circular economy: A research agenda.
      #VCKC56 ABSTRACT
  Score: 0.734
  Related excerpt #629UVN:
      Circular Economy frameworks have become central to debates and interventions that aim to reduce global resource use and environmental despoliation. As pathways to both systemic and micro-scale transformations, there remain many challenges to making Circular Economy actionable. One such challenge is facilitating the emergence of the 'circular consumer'. Here, we are all encouraged to shift everyday practices to consume new products and services and/or participate in the 'Sharing Economy': all of which are claimed, in some prominent debates, to automatically offer more 'convenience' for the consumer. In response, this paper argues that viewing such debates through the lens of Consumption Work offers a different picture of what it takes to be, and what we need to know about, the circular consumer. Consumption Work refers to the labour integral to the purchase, use, re-use and disposal of goods and services. This paper argues that the nature and scope of such work has been underplayed in Circular Economy debates to date, and that becoming a circular consumer requires varied and unevenly distributed forms of Consumption Work, which in turn, has significant implications for the success of Circular Economy. This paper thus proposes a research agenda into this topic, outlining five, inter-related, critical issues that a Circular Economy research agenda must address, including questions of who undertakes Consumption Work; to what ends; and how its multiple forms are coordinated within and beyond the household.

8. Source: Material culture and the circular economy (#R69WZQ), Elizabeth Shove, Jenny Rinkinen, p. 0
  Context:
    #J8TDC3 Material culture and the circular economy
      #CNF67G 1. Introduction
  Score: 0.732
  Related excerpt #NKRBD6:
      Interpretations of the circular economy and its wide-reaching political mandate have an impact on the roles of resources and objects in the “consumer” society. As illustrated above, the discourse surrounding the circular economy has largely centered on the lives of objects, with a focus on repair, sharing, and re-use, with the general aim being the efficient handling of matter through systems of provision. This has implications for how the consumer’s role is understood. For example, Hobson et al. (2021) write about efforts to engage households in the circular economy, and to enhance their capacity to use, manage and preserve objects.

9. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 1
  Context:
    #ZKYDXP Reuse practices and household consumption work
      #N73JMC KEYWORDS
  Score: 0.767
  Related excerpt #NMRYAA:
      Consumption work; circular economy; package-free shopping; reuse; household practices

10. Source: Reuse practices and household consumption work (#V9QTJP), David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons, p. 2
  Context:
    #YDJM7S Prácticas de reutilización y trabajo de consumo doméstico
      #UTZZ6F Introduction
  Score: 0.748
  Related excerpt #6U9397:
      With a growing emphasis on the 'Circular Economy' in debates on consumption, sustainability and everyday life, systems of reuse are increasingly attracting attention (for example (EMF, 2019), (Greenpeace, 2020)) in transforming 'production-consumption systems towards enhanced material circularity' (Greene et al., 2024, p. 1). For example, the UK Plastics Pact emphasizes the need for a series of technical and design-based solutions in 'eliminating problematic plastics' and 'creating a circular economy for plastics' (WRAP, n.d.). At the same time, there is a strong emphasis on 'hard hitting campaigns' that encourage citizens to 'recycle more of the right things' (WRAP, n.d.) and a widespread sense that consumers must 'do their bit' by, for example, switching from single-use plastics to reusable packaging. 1 Within social science work, the role of 'consumer-users' and the labour involved in achieving a more sustainable circular economy has been identified as a critical, but often overlooked, component of citizen participation (Greene et al., 2024; Hobson, 2020; Hobson et al., 2021). Hobson's work suggests that any successful transition towards a circular economy requires a shift beyond prevailing individualistic perspectives on consumer behaviour that have dominated policy approaches against the backdrop of technocratic changes (cf. Shove, 2010). This paper contributes to these debates, focusing on the dynamics of existing household consumption practices to better understand how these might enable or inhibit the development of systems of reuse.

### 22. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `get_document`

```json
{
  "id": "NUEUVY"
}
```

### 23. Tool result: get_document

DOCUMENT #NUEUVY
Title: Consumption Work in the circular economy: A research agenda.

Outline:
  - 1 #N9U32S Consumption Work in the circular economy: A research agenda.
    - 1.1 #46SCUP ARTICLE INFO
      - 1.1.1 #NKGBV8 Keywords:
    - 1.2 #VCKC56 ABSTRACT
    - 1.3 #A5NUHL 1. Introduction: circular economy and Consumption Work
    - 1.4 #8BJQQ9 2. Consumers and consumption in CE: from acceptance to engagement
    - 1.5 #3D3TKM 3. Consumption Work in the circular economy
      - 1.5.1 #WXP5SH 3.1. The concept of consumption work and its relevance to the circular economy
      - 1.5.2 #8G4TEL 3.2. The consumption work of the sharing economy
    - 1.6 #9LCL7B 4. The circular economy and Consumption Work: a research agenda
    - 1.7 #VNRSC7 5. Concluding comments
      - 1.7.1 #TYSNJH assertion that is far from proven to date.
    - 1.8 #2Y58MZ CRediT authorship contribution statement
    - 1.9 #ZK4JBT Declaration of competing interest
    - 1.10 #Z2J293 Acknowledgements
    - 1.11 #TP4LY2 References

### 24. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `read`

```json
{
  "blocks": [
    "9LCL7B",
    "VCKC56"
  ],
  "expand": true
}
```

### 25. Tool result: read

DOCUMENT #NUEUVY
Consumption Work in the circular economy: A research agenda.

SECTION #9LCL7B 4. The circular economy and Consumption Work: a research agenda

EXCERPT #H6G94V p. 3
  As the previous section outlined, research already offers some insight into the importance of considering CW in the reconfiguration of consumers' practices as part of CE. Yet, more much information is still needed, and this section sets out some key questions. For one, extant knowledge of CE CW remains fragmented, in terms of both terminology and empirical focus. Existing relevant research does explore the

EXCERPT #TYRK4Q p. 3

EXCERPT #727T73 p. 4

EXCERPT #PVVPR3 p. 4

EXCERPT #RTD7YB p. 4
  demands of CE CW to some extent, often under the guise of different concepts such as (in)convenience, effort, domestic labour and/or co-creation. However, these different concepts make it challenging to undertake direct comparisons between examples. As such, CW has thus far not been studied systematically in the CE context, beyond Wheeler and Glucksmann's research on domestic recycling (ibid.). This is a notable gap, as supposed benefits, like added convenience, represent an important value proposition for CE proponents. And yet the actual work consumers need to undertake, to invest in new practices compared to traditional ('linear') modes of provision, remains under-explored. While CE advocates make claims of 'hassle-free' services, studies show there is often significant effort required in doing repairs, purchasing second-hand, or participating in peer-to-peer sharing. How these all add up to helping create the 'circular consumer' (or not) remains to be seen.

EXCERPT #GLJYR8 p. 4
  There are several areas of research that stem from the above point. For one—while case studies of recycling, product service systems, and sharing platforms make up the bulk of the literature—it is notable that the practices of leasing, purchasing long-lasting products, co-ownership, and pooling are understudied (Wieser, 2019). This is a clear omission, as many of these practices are heavily implicated in current CE debates and policies. For example, the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy considers prolonging product lifetimes as an important component of the CE (European Commission, 2015), exemplified in the 2019 'Right to Repair' legislation, which is a part of this overall strategy (Ehgartner and Hirth, 2019; Harrabin, 2019b). Therefore, question here include what forms of CW are involved in realising this goal; how are the prerequisites for this work (e.g. access to information) currently distributed; and what is needed, to address any barriers that additional CW might create for consumers?

EXCERPT #6W8FF8 p. 4
  As well as particular practices that require further research, various components of CW are also under-studied. For one, some consumer engagements with the CE involve degrees of skill and creativity. While research has shown these can be lacking in some areas—e.g. identifying long-lasting products at the point of purchase—other research outlines how experience over time enables consumers to feel confident and competent in engaging with particular modes of consumption e.g. when shopping at second hand markets (Crewe and Gregson, 1998). In addition, CW can entail forms of emotional work that are only partially explored in research to date. For one, some CE modes of provision appear to make consumers feel obliged to take care of, and be responsible for, the condition of goods. One example can be found in a refillable milk bottle scheme (Vaughan et al., 2007) where consumers took extra care of, and felt some stewardship towards, the reused and returned bottles even though this was not required for them to participate in the service. However, other studies report the opposite effect i.e. consumers taking less care with sequentially accessed goods (e.g. Bardhi and Eckhardt, 2012). This suggests that more attention needs to be paid to variations across different modes of provisioning, and in what ways consumers (are made to) feel responsible for the goods that pass through their hands, plus the impacts all of the above have on the take-up of new practices.

EXCERPT #B8L975 p. 4
  One notable feature of the research to date has been how it often examines one consumption practice at a time e.g. repairing goods, renting goods, or participating in a new product service system. For there to be a fuller understanding of the scope and changes to CW if the CE is to become a domestic reality, there also needs to be explorations of how CW is coordinated across household activities, along with the temporal dimensions of such activities. We already know that the adoption of one form of domestic practice can have (sometimes undesirable) knock-on effects on others e.g. more domestic recycling often leads to less CW in other waste prevention behaviours in a household (e.g. Cox et al., 2010). Yet, we do not currently know how potential conflicts between competing CE solutions play out. Nor, how any conflicts are, or are not, resolved amongst householders. Is there a ceiling to consumers' participation in the CE? And if so, what combinations of CE practices are tenable for what types of households? And what forms of

EXCERPT #6ZGR3W p. 4
  supporting infrastructures are required to foster yet more engagement, to the point where household emissions are brought down to the levels recommended by the Committee on Climate Change (ibid.)?

EXCERPT #MQNE8N p. 4
  A key factor in addressing these questions are issues of divisions of labour. This is an area rarely included in discussions of the CE but one that the concept of CW is especially attuned to. Research on household CW does show that there is an unequal distribution of labour, especially in terms of the gendered division of domestic labour (e.g. see Glucksmann, 2016 on recycling). However, there exists little knowledge about if, and how, CE CW differs from established arrangements in terms of domestic division of labour. In this respect, comparative research could provide valuable insights. Such research could take account both the gendered division of labour within CE CW activities, and how other socio-demographic factors such as household make-up, class, employment type/patterns, race and ethnicity all influence the uptake and engagement of CE CW. In short, who is doing the CW; why; and; to what effect?

EXCERPT #NABM28 p. 4
  Finally, there are questions of where and how to do CW research. For one, there currently exists a limited range of extant and easily visible form of consumption-based CE practice, which would allow researchers to trace the requirements they make of consumers and their impacts. In particular, while the uptake of singular CE activities is reasonably well-documented (e.g. numbers joining car sharing schemes), less is known about how many households are undertaking multiple forms of CE practice, which would enable questions of coordination to be addressed. Furthermore, there is the methodological challenge of how to conduct research on CW that forms part of private, domestic realms, that is often habitual and conditioned by unarticulated norms (e.g. see Wonneck and Hobson, 2017). Methodologically, such research has precedents in 'practice theory' research (Halkier et al., 2011; Warde et al., 2017), which often deploys detailed qualitative, in situ approaches, utilising small n samples to understand in detail the rationales and outcomes of particular consumption practices (e.g. Gram-Hanssen, 2010). While much of this work is descriptive of current practices, research into CE CW would need to adopt a more action-research ethos (e.g. see Doyle and Davies, 2013), wherein research happens alongside householders experimenting in consciously changing their practices e.g. recruiting a small sample of households to live like 'circular citizens' for several months (see Davies and Doyle, 2015).

EXCERPT #6SZJVB p. 4
  Finally, research into CE CW needs to move beyond the domestic sphere and space of the household, to consider engagement with consumption-based practices in other spaces. This could be individuals coming together once a month to participate in a local Repair Café, or household engagements with community-based CE business models, whether they are explicitly labelled as such. This is because some consumer-based CE practices are not bound to the home, but are rather implicated in establishing new patterns of, for example, mobility practices: practices, which in turn, influence CE CW household dynamics.

DOCUMENT #NUEUVY
Consumption Work in the circular economy: A research agenda.

SECTION #VCKC56 ABSTRACT

EXCERPT #629UVN p. 0
  Circular Economy frameworks have become central to debates and interventions that aim to reduce global resource use and environmental despoliation. As pathways to both systemic and micro-scale transformations, there remain many challenges to making Circular Economy actionable. One such challenge is facilitating the emergence of the 'circular consumer'. Here, we are all encouraged to shift everyday practices to consume new products and services and/or participate in the 'Sharing Economy': all of which are claimed, in some prominent debates, to automatically offer more 'convenience' for the consumer. In response, this paper argues that viewing such debates through the lens of Consumption Work offers a different picture of what it takes to be, and what we need to know about, the circular consumer. Consumption Work refers to the labour integral to the purchase, use, re-use and disposal of goods and services. This paper argues that the nature and scope of such work has been underplayed in Circular Economy debates to date, and that becoming a circular consumer requires varied and unevenly distributed forms of Consumption Work, which in turn, has significant implications for the success of Circular Economy. This paper thus proposes a research agenda into this topic, outlining five, inter-related, critical issues that a Circular Economy research agenda must address, including questions of who undertakes Consumption Work; to what ends; and how its multiple forms are coordinated within and beyond the household.

### 26. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `read`

```json
{
  "blocks": [
    "WXP5SH"
  ],
  "expand": true
}
```

### 27. Tool result: read

DOCUMENT #NUEUVY
Consumption Work in the circular economy: A research agenda.

SECTION #WXP5SH 3.1. The concept of consumption work and its relevance to the circular economy

EXCERPT #W6YXBD p. 2
  Since early industrialization social researchers have been keenly interested in questions of divisions of labour. Initially focusing on the workplace, research explored how the specialization of jobs and skills have far-reaching ramifications for socio-economic equality, and thus broader distributions of political agency and power. Subsequent focus has included unpaid forms of labour e.g. gender divisions within households (Glucksmann, 2000) as well as how informal economies constitute networks of communal and household reciprocity (Pahl, 1984). Miriam Glucksmann (2009, 2013, 2016) has further extended these arguments (see also Wheeler and Glucksmann, 2013, 2015a, 2015b) highlighting how a key part of unpaid labour is CW. That is, the forms of labour 'necessary for the purchase, use, re-use and disposal of consumption goods and services' (2015a: 37). This labour includes consumption enacted through varying modes of provision, whether ownership or access-based.

EXCERPT #WZAUUT p. 2
  CW is thus not about any form of domestic labour. Specifically, it concerns the work that householders 'regularly perform' which 'is integral to the completion of a process of production or service provision' (Wheeler and Glucksmann, 2015a: 3). Glucksmann (2013: 11) notes

EXCERPT #R4JTGD p. 2
  how many CW activities thus go unrecognised as labour but should be classified and analysed as such given how integral CW is to 'material social reproduction' (ibid.: 13). For example, studies of environmental labour within the domestic sphere (e.g. practices such as recycling and preventing food waste) have shown that women do more of this work (e.g. Organo et al., 2013), which means that 'men and women are differently affected by sustainable consumption policy' (Middlemiss, 2018: 46). And as the forms of labour required by us all to consume continue to shift—e.g. the rise of self-service supermarket check-outs and self-assembly furniture (Wheeler and Glucksmann, 2015a)—so do the requirements and divisions of these forms of labour. Such requirements are not just a matter of having more or less time available to spend on said tasks. They also speak to the need for consumers to have access to particular skills, knowledge and/or other resources (e.g. tools for self-assemble furniture) as well as personal attributes (confidence, willingness): all of which are not evenly distributed amongst populations.

EXCERPT #HQTGMV p. 2
  New forms of CW include practices that are a pivotal part of CE. The labour required for domestic recycling—cleaning, sorting, and putting items on the kerb, or taking them to a recycling station—is vital to the successful functioning of contemporary waste management industries and systems (Wheeler and Glucksmann, 2015a), with their incorrect execution being one of the main challenges for the modern recycling industry (Walsh, 2019). Add to that the other consumer/user practices that CE foregrounds (e.g. repairing, reusing and sharing) and it quickly becomes apparent that the consumers' roles in the CE is far beyond that of 'acceptance' of novel products and business models. And while it can be claimed that household eco-efficient technologies and products can sidestep some of these issues, doing most of the work for the household, research has shown non-trivial forms of 'green labour' are still involved in the operation and management of, for example 'smart' domestic technologies (Farbotko, 2018). Thus, it is arguable that without the widespread adoption of the forms of CW that the CE necessitates, the entire project becomes untenable, particularly given comments that current CE framings and policies fail to resonate with citizens (Repo et al., 2018).

EXCERPT #FBXZMU p. 2
  To be clear, the concept of the CW is not deployed here to bemoan the unpaid labour of consumers, as an exploitative facet of current systems per se. Nor does it go to the other extreme, celebrating the multiple benefits that CE practices are often charged with ushering in, for example, through forms of 'collaborative consumption' (see Botsman and Rogers, 2011) that are claimed to create other social 'goods' (see Penz et al., 2018). Rather, its work here is that of a conceptual intervention, the empirics of which are argued to shed new and important light on the reconfiguration of divisions of labour presupposed by CE visions and models, which includes the possibilities for their successful realisation, and for unintended consequences. As the next section will explore, this argument can be illustrated well through notions of the 'sharing economy': a central focus of CE debates to date. focus of CE debates to date.

### 28. Assistant

Great — now we have the exact quote. And yes, your memory was basically right.

The key passage is this one:

> “Finally, research into CE CW needs to move beyond the domestic sphere and space of the household, to consider engagement with consumption-based practices in other spaces. This could be individuals coming together once a month to participate in a local Repair Café, or household engagements with community-based CE business models, whether they are explicitly labelled as such. This is because some consumer-based CE practices are not bound to the home, but are rather implicated in establishing new patterns of, for example, mobility practices: practices, which in turn, influence CE CW household dynamics.” #6SZJVB

So you **can** keep the “explicit call” wording in your intro. It is actually explicit. Academic memory: occasionally not lying to us.

The abstract also gives you the general framing:

> “Consumption Work refers to the labour integral to the purchase, use, re-use and disposal of goods and services.” #629UVN  
>  
> They argue that circular consumerhood requires “varied and unevenly distributed forms of Consumption Work” and that the research agenda should ask “who undertakes Consumption Work; to what ends; and how its multiple forms are coordinated within and beyond the household.” #629UVN

## What it means

Hobson/Welch/Holmes/Wheeler/Wieser are saying:

- circular economy debates often imagine the “circular consumer” as if people will just accept new models — repair, sharing, reuse, product-service systems — because they are more convenient;
- but actually these practices require **labour**: sorting, repairing, learning, storing, moving, coordinating, caring for things, taking responsibility;
- this labour is unevenly distributed by gender, class, time, skill, household structure, etc.;
- research has focused too much on domestic/household settings;
- therefore, consumption work research needs to follow circular practices into **other spaces**: Repair Cafés, community-based CE business models, shared infrastructures, and initiatives not necessarily labelled “circular economy” #6SZJVB.

## How this plugs into your draft

Your paragraph #6G862E is now very well supported. You write:

> “Hobson et al. (2021) call explicitly for research that moves beyond the household to examine how consumption work is organised and distributed in community and public initiatives.” #6G862E

That is basically correct. I would only tweak “public initiatives” to “other spaces and community-based initiatives” because the Hobson quote says “other spaces” and “community-based CE business models,” not exactly “public initiatives.”

A slightly tightened version:

> Hobson et al. (2021) argue that research into circular economy consumption work must “move beyond the domestic sphere and space of the household” to examine consumption-based practices in other spaces, including Repair Cafés and community-based circular economy models, whether or not these are explicitly labelled as such (#6SZJVB). Brīvbode is such a space: a semi-public site where the ordinarily private labour of divestment and acquisition becomes visible and socially acknowledged, and where volunteer labour — sorting, curating, maintaining quality standards, and managing social dynamics — sustains the infrastructure through which things continue to circulate.

That would fit beautifully in the intro or theoretical framework. It also connects directly to Chapter 5, especially your claim that Brīvbode redistributes consumption work across households, volunteers, neighbours, and informal exchange networks #8JXBYH.

### 29. User

can you read the hobson 2015 thing i just imported, also?

### 30. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `search_text`

```json
{
  "limit": 10,
  "query": "Hobson 2015"
}
```

### 31. Tool result: search_text

Exact matches

1. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 38
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #BDRQSR A practice theories approach to producing and performing circular consumption
        #6W7W3E The practice turn in the sociology of consumption
  Matching excerpt #RJ67A3:
      Practice theoretical consumption research has dealt with questions of sustainability to a great extent (Sahakian et al., 2022; Shove, 2010; Welch and Warde, 2015). More recently, within this stream, there is also an emerging interest in circular consumption (e.g., Greene et al., 2024; Hobson et al., 2021; Mylan et al., 2016). I discuss this literature in the following section.

2. Source: The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings (#8EVNK8), Réka Tölg, p. 71
  Context:
    #T6KQ92 Introduction
      #FGYNDY Methodology: studying practices ethnographically in retail and household settings
        #PQNQPZ Study 2 – Ethnographic field trial in household settings
          #VPDN4A Ethnographic field trial
  Matching excerpt #BHVTU3:
      In consumption studies focused on the sustainability of household practices, such a non-positivist approach to intervening in real-life settings is an increasingly discussed and called for methodological approach (Davies and Doyle, 2015; Devaney and Davies, 2017; Doyle and Davies, 2013; Hobson et al., 2021; Sutcliffe, 2022). For instance, Devaney and Davies (2017: 826) developed an “experimental HomeLabs challenge” to intervene with eating-related household practices and trial more sustainable forms. Such small-scale, longer and intervening methods with households have been called for in circular consumption research as well (Hobson et al., 2021). This work has been commenced by, for instance, Sutcliffe (2022), who designed a handbook with instructions for circular consumption strategies for participating households in an intervention-based study. Moreover, Wethal and Hoff (2024) studied the introduction of municipal circularity initiatives in Norway, and how those have been used by residents in the area. In our ethnographic field trial, we asked households to try out digital platforms that are part of clothing markets. Choosing clothing market-based platforms for the trial is well-aligned with my understanding of consumption as being shaped by both markets and everyday lives.

3. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #W8HHQV Circulation, Practice, and Consumption Work: A Theoretical Framework
      #LMKLTZ Consumption Work
  Matching paragraph #796DZS:
      Wheeler and Glucksmann (2015) contend that secondhand markets involve consumption work – sorting, cleaning, repairing. “Consumption work”, for them, refers to the range of tasks required of consumers, before or after they consume, on which consumption itself is predicated – the work that must be done before or after the moment of exchange for consumption to be possible at all. Their framework encompasses technical dimensions – the allocation of tasks and skills to different people; modal dimensions – interdependencies of work across different social and economic arrangements; and processual dimensions – the connections of labour across the full span of a consumption process (Wheeler & Gluckmann, 2015: 35-36). In circular economy contexts, Hobson et al. (2021) argue, this work intensifies: responsible divestment requires more effort than simply throwing things away, and the additional demands fall disproportionately on those who are already doing most of the household management work.

4. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #F2943E The Work of Circular Consumption
  Matching paragraph #DKNKM6:
      In this chapter I examine what this work consists of and how it is performed. The analytical framework for this is Wheeler and Glucksmann’s (2015) concept of consumption work – the activities, skills and labour that consumers engage in to acquire, use, manage and dispose of goods. Wheeler and Glucksmann’s framework distinguishes three dimensions: technical labour – the division of tasks and skills across different people; modal labour – the interdependencies of work across different socio-economic arrangements (paid and unpaid, formal and informal); and processual labour – the connections across the full span of production and consumption process (Wheeler & Gluckmann, 2015: 35-36). In circular economy contexts, becoming a circular consumer requires varied and unevenly distributed forms of consumption work whose nature and scope have been underplayed in circular economy debates, but which has significant implications for whether such initiatives can succeed (Hobson et al., 2021). As Mesiranta et al. (2025: 25) observe, even frontrunner consumers who have integrated circular practices into their lives perceive them as laborious and at times troublesome.

5. Source: Consumption Work in the circular economy: A research agenda. (#NUEUVY), Dan Welch, Harald Wieser, Helen Holmes, Katy Wheeler, Kersty Hobson, p. 2
  Context:
    #N9U32S Consumption Work in the circular economy: A research agenda.
      #8BJQQ9 2. Consumers and consumption in CE: from acceptance to engagement
  Matching excerpt #4MWQCP:
      On similar lines, single product case studies exist that outline the numerous barriers to consumer uptake of CE business models and practices (e.g. Canulli and Reed, 2017; Lieder et al., 2018). These include personal characteristics, price, confidence in the offer, convenience, and knowledge (Camacho-Otero et al., 2018; Schallehn et al., 2019). Thus, it appears there are many challenges in getting the consumer on board with the CE, particularly with more 'circular' products and services being brought into already crowded and competitive markets (e.g. consumer electronics: see Hobson et al., 2018), made more challenging by the 'inherent irrationality of consumer behaviour' (Planing, 2015: 7).

6. Source: The limits of the loops: critical environmental politics and the Circular Economy (#UMYA27), Kersty Hobson, p. 12
  Context:
    #WE2KWR The limits of the loops: critical environmental politics and the Circular Economy
      #XK6L5Q The user-consumer in Circular Economy: beyond competitive prices and increased efficiencies
  Matching excerpt #8EFZWA:
      There are also critiques. These argue that, in sum, renting, borrowing, exchanging, and/or pooling resources takes place in contexts where access is not always seamless and impacts not always evenly felt. That is, participating in the SE can require time, money, human and social capital, assets, skills, and capabilities that are not evenly distributed amongst populations to begin with (see Hobson et al. forthcoming). All are potentially further impacted by the SE, for better or worse (e.g. Appau et al. 2015; Schor 2016, Murillo et al. 2017). Indeed, much more detailed empirical work on the redistributive impacts of forms of sharing is sorely needed, as some work to date suggest that localised and/or collective environmental actions can act as scaled-down forms of 'green accumulation' along lines of class, ethnicity, and education (e.g. see Franklin et al. 2011, Norgaard et al. 2011). In addition, research has highlighted how SE participation, rather than enabling greater convenience and cost-efficiency at the tap of an app, enacts diverse forms of ethics, relating, and belonging (e.g. Richardson 2015, Holmes 2018) in ways that do not necessarily foreground the lessening of overall environmental impacts of practices (Gregson et al. 2015).

7. Source: The limits of the loops: critical environmental politics and the Circular Economy (#UMYA27), Kersty Hobson, p. 10
  Context:
    #WE2KWR The limits of the loops: critical environmental politics and the Circular Economy
      #XK6L5Q The user-consumer in Circular Economy: beyond competitive prices and increased efficiencies
  Matching excerpt #7QG5FA:
      In addition, the logic of ‘consumer acceptance’ invariably requires that new products and services are able to compete in and through existing market mechanisms: price signals, novelty, and quality. When this is the case, research has shown that often consumer evaluations of ‘circular business models’ – such as hiring or leasing goods rather than owning them, or buying products designed to be repaired and/or have longer use-life – suggest we are a long way off from securing widespread ‘acceptance’ of new business offers. Although there is clear willingness by participants to pay more and proffer concern for the environmental impacts of one’s consumption (ING 2020), in reality, more ‘circular’ market offers are often seen as inconvenient, too costly, and/or requiring non-existent trust in services and/or providers (e.g. see Hobson et al. 2018). In addition, research into attitudes towards reuse and refurbishment show similar trends, along with a lack of take-up of product ‘take back’ schemes (e.g. Ylä-Mella et al. 2015, Hobson et al. 2018): a crucial stage in moving materials back into the CE loops (as in Figure 1). As such, it appears that in the current marketplace, CE goods and services cannot out-compete existing offers.

8. Source: New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning (#XATD2A), Helen Holmes, p. 2
  Context:
    #AHCZ2X New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning
      #4F5EEN 2. Situating provisioning
        #38LM6C 2.2. Circular economy and sharing economy
  Matching excerpt #56AZCA:
      In a previous study with others (Mylan et al., 2016), I argue for recognition of the domestic as a site of CE; where practices that constitute domestic life, including food sharing, repurposing and recycling, already involve the circularity of materials. Similarly, Hobson (2016: 96) alludes to the importance of the household, and the materials which flow in and out, in expanding CE's realm. In addition, and as already noted, connections are being made between CE and SE. Lacy and Rutqvist (2015) describe the sharing platform, and the likes of Uber and Lyft Inc, as CE business models. Whilst not expressively stating the varying forms of economy at work, research by Niinimäki and Hassi (2011) likewise draws upon the links between PSS schemes involving fashion items, and more sustainable, circular modes of consumption. Thus, it is evident that the division between SE/CE is blurred and the two are often interwoven. Hobson (2016) also makes these connections to PSS and the interweaving of CE/SE, referencing models such as Zipcar. However, Hobson (2016) pushes at this further, referring to social enterprises and 'generative spaces' (p.98) of everyday activism, such as repair cafes, as spaces of the CE. Hobson's work bridges the lacunae between the sharing and circular economies, opening up the possibilities that diverse economic spaces offer to issues of circularity, sustainability and activism. As Hobson states (2016: 99), there is potential for 'rich engagement, through both further conceptual and empirical exploration'. This article empirically fleshes out what such spaces look like and how they engage in practices of circulating and sharing.

9. Source: New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning (#XATD2A), Helen Holmes, p. 2
  Context:
    #AHCZ2X New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning
      #4F5EEN 2. Situating provisioning
        #38LM6C 2.2. Circular economy and sharing economy
  Matching excerpt #S3VRD9:
      However, where consensus is reached is that the internet is facilitating a new era of sharing (Belk, 2014a), with a focus on 'access' as opposed to 'ownership' of goods (Botsman and Rogers, 2011) through digital platforms (Schor et al., 2015). Likewise, it is worth noting how scholars are linking the sharing economy to sustainable forms of consumption (Heinrichs, 2013; Martin, 2016; Botsman and Rogers, 2011). Such work refers to how the sharing of resources can reduce environmental impacts, such as car sharing reducing an individual's carbon footprint. However, they also reference the impacts of sharing on wider issues of waste. Heinrichs (2013: 230), for example, mentions upcycling and finding new uses for items; and indeed websites such as Freecycle and Yerdle are often deemed part of SE (Walker in Schor et al., 2015). Likewise, Product Service Systems (PSS) is a term which is beginning to creep into social science literature, referring to a business model which can foster schemes that enable the renting, upgrading and redesigning of materials (Tukker, 2015; Hobson, 2016; Piscielli et al., 2015).

10. Source: The Assembling of Circular Consumption: A sociomaterial practice approach (#Y3CFPX), Christian Fuentes, Elina Närvänen, Nina Mesiranta, p. 2
  Context:
    #QQDSF8 Practice theory in the field of consumption
  Matching excerpt #C3JGLE:
      Practice theory is widely used in consumption studies and has been employed to analyse a wide array of topics, including food consumption (Halkier, 2009), everyday household practices (Hand et al., 2005), and recreational practices (Shove & Pantzar, 2005). However, its main area of application has been sustainable consumption (Evans, 2019). In this area, practice theory has been used to understand the diffusion of sustainable product-service systems (Mylan, 2015), explore and assess the role of smart technologies in reducing energy consumption (Hargreaves et al., 2010), investigate the difficulties of promoting package-free shopping (Fuentes et al., 2019), analyse how food practices can be made more sustainable through design interventions (Devaney & Davies, 2017; Sirola et al., 2019) and speculative experimentation (Kaljonen et al., 2019), and, for our analysis, to conceptualise circular consumption (Hobson & Lynch, 2016; Hobson et al., 2021; Mylan et al., 2016).

Approximate matches

1. Source: Household Recycling and Consumption Work (#4LST57), Kathryn Wheeler, Miriam Glucksmann, p. 140
  Context:
    #3SXB7F The Three Stages of Recycling Consumption Work
      #V9VWQE Processual division of labour
  Score: 0.505
  Related excerpt #E9PBFB:
      (Sher, 2011)

2. Source: Austerity Ireland, the New Thrift Culture and Sustainable Consumption (#9MNC8T), Fiona Murphy, p. 14
  Context:
    #2XHWBW Austerity Ireland, the New Thrift Culture and Sustainable Consumption
      #G55U9F References
  Score: 0.513
  Related excerpt #UNSKZ4:
      Hart, K. 2010 The Human Economy . UK: Polity Press

3. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #BA7Z5L LIST OF SOURCES
  Score: 0.536
  Related paragraph #EK4EWA:
      Hobson, K. (2020) ‘“Small stories of closing loops”: social circularity and the everyday circular economy’, Climatic Change, 163(1), pp. 99–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-019-02480-z

4. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #BA7Z5L LIST OF SOURCES
  Score: 0.522
  Related paragraph #GLK89D:
      Holmes, H. (2018) ‘New spaces, ordinary practices: circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning’, Geoforum, 88, pp. 138–147. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geoforum.2017.11.022

5. Source: Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia (#FYG32U), Ieva Lange
  Context:
    #F2943E The Work of Circular Consumption
      #38335C Processual labour: exchange networks and gendered work
        #GGGPNV Conclusion
  Score: 0.522
  Related paragraph #QJNPTQ:
      [No Singapūras pētījuma] Campbell-Johnston et al.’s (2020) argument that an item’s sequential (re)use is not a given. Rather, (re)use is underpinned by relational labour bound up in what Hobson (2020) calls social circularities.

6. Source: The Nexus of Practices: Connections, Constellations and Practitioners (#R49AUC), Allison Hui, Elizabeth Shove, Theodore Schatzki, p. 36
  Context:
    #U8ANZK QUALITIES OF CONNECTIVE TISSUE IN HOSPITAL LIFE
  Score: 0.561
  Related excerpt #Y9SEJT:
      (Slessor, 2015: 5)

7. Source: The Nexus of Practices: Connections, Constellations and Practitioners (#R49AUC), Allison Hui, Elizabeth Shove, Theodore Schatzki, p. 187
  Context:
    #HWFWXX PLACING POWER IN PRACTICE THEORY
      #ARCLGB How is the conduct of conduct practised?
  Score: 0.529
  Related excerpt #HR3PWE:
      (2015b)

8. Source: New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning (#XATD2A), Helen Holmes, p. 1
  Context:
    #AHCZ2X New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning
      #NMW2HP 1. Introduction
  Score: 0.533
  Related excerpt #EZH56N:
      Studies by Hobson (2016) and Hall and Ince (2017) have made a crucial step along this path. The latter illuminate the everyday embeddedness of sharing as economic practice 'existing beyond or at the edge of the commodified sphere' (p. 4). Their edited collection draws upon a variety of compelling case studies to convey not only the complexity and ambiguity of sharing, but also how mutuality, solidarity and resourcefulness are a crucial component of sharing practices in times of crisis. The former similarly notes the embeddedness of economic practice. Bridging the lacunae between CE and SE, Hobson (2016) advocates the potential for 'rich engagement' (p. 99) with the 'generative spaces' (p. 98) and social enterprises of everyday activism. Such a focus enables an unrestricted approach to the possible realms of CE and SE, not bound by scale or space.

9. Source: New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning (#XATD2A), Helen Holmes, p. 0
  Context:
    #AHCZ2X New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning
      #NMW2HP 1. Introduction
  Score: 0.517
  Related excerpt #TEYGUR:
      widening inequality gap created by global recession. Although such models are as diverse as they are similar, as a collective they promote progressive values around wellbeing, social justice and sustainability (Morgan, 2015). In the UK the impact of neoliberal austerity has been acute. In 2014 3.9 million people were in persistent poverty and 32.5% of the UK population reported experiencing relative income poverty at least once between 2011 and 2014 (ONS, 2016). With a persistent housing crisis (Shelter, 2016), continued uncertainty regarding the fallout from Brexit, and the yet to be felt long-term effects of benefits changes, alternative provisioning strategies have been developed across UK cities and towns with the aim of helping communities in financial hardship. Yet alongside more well-known and structured networks, such as The Trussell Trust, Incredible Edible, and The Real Junk Food Café, operates a plethora of other smaller often informal endeavours. The alterity of such strategies is up for debate and, as I illustrate, the concept of alternative provisioning is in itself an umbrella for an assortment of often paradoxical activities. Yet, these diverse endeavours demonstrate the heterogeneity of contemporary economic activity and the emergence of new economic spaces through which various forms of 'economy' are practiced and made material.

10. Source: New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning (#XATD2A), Helen Holmes, p. 2
  Context:
    #AHCZ2X New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning
      #4F5EEN 2. Situating provisioning
        #38LM6C 2.2. Circular economy and sharing economy
  Score: 0.508
  Related excerpt #PV6Q9Y:
      Yet this paper pushes further at Hobson's argument into its focus on these activities being forms of ordinary practice, organised and structured in original and novel ways. The notion of the diverse economy echoes the sentiments made in Pahl's (1984) earlier seminal work 'Divisions of Labour' to reveal taken for granted, mundane, everyday economic activities. As Pahl (1984:251) concludes, such practices are 'not so much a coping mechanism of the poor, as a reflection of a particular kind of lifestyle based on the skills and reciprocities of the work of everyday life'. The work of Richard White (2009) offers an updated confirmation of Pahl's earlier conclusions, noting how 'mutual aid' in both deprived and affluent neighbourhoods plays a vital social role yet is still underestimated. Similarly, conclusions are made in the work of Hall and Ince (2017:9) and their recognition that sharing is not just a response to crisis (see also: Hall and Holmes, 2017; Smith and Stenning, 2006) but something which is 'embedded in everyday politics, ethics and relationalities'. As Belk (2014a: 1595) notes, the sharing economy is not the new economic exemplar that it is purported to be, but rather is a 'phenomenon as old as humankind'. Likewise, the work of Clarke (2001) on the circulations of children's clothing through both informal networks and organised events, alongside that of Angela McRobbie (1989) on second hand clothing, not only highlights that notions of circularity, sharing and CE/SE have always been features of everyday, what we might term 'ordinary', economic practice, but also how the structures and spaces of such practices are changing.

### 32. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `list_documents`

```json
{}
```

### 33. Tool result: list_documents

- #FYG32U Practices of Divestment, Acquisition and Circulation of Things in a Swapshop in Riga, Latvia [draft] - 2026 | Ieva Lange

Journal articles (91)
- #QUD55H 'Saving' the city: Collective low-budget organising and urban practice - 2015 | Birke Otto, Hans Vollmer, Heike Derwanz, Paula Bialski | ephemera: theory & politics in organization | 20 pp.
- #K52UPR A Critical Review of the Role of Repair Cafés in a Sustainable Circular Transition - 2021 | Mette Alberg Mosgaard, Rikke Marie Moalem | Sustainability | 26 pp. | doi:10.3390/su132212351
- #4EFC4F After Practice? Material Semiotic Approaches to Consumption and Economy [cited] - 2020 | David M. Evans | Cultural Sociology | 17 pp. | doi:10.1177/1749975520923521
- #9D34UM After taste: Culture, consumption and theories of practice - 2014 | Alan Warde | Journal of Consumer Culture | 25 pp. | doi:10.1177/1469540514547828
- #5Y2AD9 An order of distinction (or, how to tell a collection from a hoard) - 2018 | Katie Kilroy-Marac | Journal of Material Culture | 19 pp. | doi:10.1177/1359183517729428
- #FQRNAE Austerity and everyday life: Perspectives on practices of consumption and thrift - 2019 | Alison Hulme | Journal of Consumer Culture | 7 pp. | doi:10.1177/1469540519872079
- #9MNC8T Austerity Ireland, the New Thrift Culture and Sustainable Consumption - 2017 | Fiona Murphy | Journal of Business Anthropology | 17 pp. | doi:10.22439/jba.v6i2.5410
- #59QUM6 Blurring the boundaries: Prosumption, circularity and online sustainable consumption through Freecycle [cited] - 2017 | Sally Eden | Journal of Consumer Culture | 21 pp. | doi:10.1177/1469540515586871
- #X8QHRR Calculating the Environmental Impact Reduction Due to Extended Lifespan of Clothing Through Clothing Swaps - 2025 | Agnė Jučienė, Inga Gurauskienė, Jolita Kruopienė | Sustainability | 22 pp. | doi:10.3390/su17104411
- #AVNZLE Care and circularity: how the enactment of care enables and shapes the circular consumption of clothing [cited] - 2025 | Christian Fuentes, Réka Tölg | Consumption and Society | 19 pp. | doi:10.1332/27528499y2024d00000032
- #XUHRZA Changing understandings of waste reduction and avoidance in moralities of thrift: A comparison of Mass Observers' narratives three decades apart [cited] - 2022 | Helen Holmes, Ulrike Ehgartner | Geoforum | 10 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2022.10.014
- #BQ2W57 Circular Consumption Practices as Matters of Care [cited] - 2025 | Elina Närvänen, Malla Mattila, Nina Mesiranta, Outi Koskinen | Journal of Business Ethics | 19 pp. | doi:10.1007/s10551-024-05888-5
- #57LWKZ Cities of care: A platform for urban geographical care research - 2020 | Emma R. Power, Miriam J. Williams | Geography Compass | 12 pp. | doi:10.1111/gec3.12474
- #JXXRQJ Citizen-Consumers as Agents of Change in Globalizing Modernity: The Case of Sustainable Consumption - 2010 | Gert Spaargaren, Peter Oosterveer | Sustainability | 22 pp. | doi:10.3390/su2071887
- #8ZKAT7 Closing the loop or squaring the circle? Locating generative spaces for the circular economy - 2016 | Kersty Hobson | Progress in Human Geography | 17 pp. | doi:10.1177/0309132514566342
- #MCJT5Q Connecting the multi-level-perspective and social practice approach for sustainable transitions - 2022 | Léon Francis Hirt, Margit Keller, Marlyne Sahakian | Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions | 15 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.eist.2022.05.004
- #UB9EAT Consumer engagement in the circular economy: Exploring clothes swapping in emerging economies from a social practice perspective [cited] - 2019 | Casper Boks, Ida Nilstad Pettersen, Juana Camacho-Otero | Sustainable Development | 16 pp. | doi:10.1002/sd.2002
- #Q3G2WY Consumption - 2011 | David Graeber | Current Anthropology | 24 pp. | doi:10.1086/660166
- #N7FUYP Consumption and Commodities - 1995 | D. Miller | Annual Review of Anthropology | 22 pp. | doi:10.1146/annurev.anthro.24.1.141
- #RZ8QTE Consumption and Theories of Practice [cited] - 2005 | Alan Warde | Journal of Consumer Culture | 23 pp. | doi:10.1177/1469540505053090
- #PSBVW7 Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review - 2018 | Casper Boks, Ida Nilstad Pettersen, Juana Camacho-Otero | Sustainability | 25 pp. | doi:10.3390/su10082758
- #NUEUVY Consumption Work in the circular economy: A research agenda. [cited] - 2021 | Dan Welch, Harald Wieser, Helen Holmes, Katy Wheeler, Kersty Hobson | Journal of Cleaner Production | 8 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.128969
- #MNFABA Disposal and simple living: exploring the circulation of goods and the development of sacred consumption - 2009 | Hélène Cherrier | Journal of Consumer Behaviour | 14 pp. | doi:10.1002/cb.297
- #YBKS64 Everyday life after downshifting: Consumption, thrift, and inequality - 2020 | Jo Lindsay, Kim Humphery, Ruth Lane | Geographical Research | 15 pp. | doi:10.1111/1745-5871.12396
- #TBPJS6 Exploring the role of community-based enterprises in consumers' voluntary clothing disposition via UK swapping events using theory of social practice [cited] - 2023 | Aurelie Le Normand, Claudia E. Henninger, Lucie Počinková, Marta Blazquez Cano | Social Enterprise Journal | 21 pp. | doi:10.1108/sej-02-2023-0017
- #N5VYH8 Food practices as part of daily routines: A conceptual framework for analysing networks of practices - 2021 | Aricia F.M. Castelo, Martina Schäfer, Minelle E. Silva | Appetite | 10 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.appet.2020.104978
- #FHZZ6U Freecycling Markets as Sustainable Materialist Movements? Closing Reuse Circularity Loops in Singapore [cited] - 2024 | Brenda S.A. Yeoh, Qian Hui Tan | Worldwide Waste: Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies | 15 pp. | doi:10.3197/whpww.63857928646673
- #SJ3K7R Friends, family and the circulation of used goods: overlooked sustainability practices - 2025 | Dharma Arunachalam, Jo Lindsay, Rob Raven, Ruth Lane | Environmental Sociology | 13 pp. | doi:10.1080/23251042.2025.2510410
- #4AE86F From circular consumers to carriers of (unsustainable) practices: socio-spatial transformations in the Circular City - 2020 | Kersty Hobson | Urban Geography | 5 pp. | doi:10.1080/02723638.2020.1786329
- #4UEQN8 Gift or commodity: what changes hands in the U.S. garage sale? - 1997 | Gretchen M. Herrmann | American Ethnologist | 21 pp. | doi:10.1525/ae.1997.24.4.910
- #B6FWAN Governing transitions in the sustainability of everyday life [cited] - 2010 | Elizabeth Shove, Gordon Walker | Research Policy | 6 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.respol.2010.01.019
- #MRANHJ Grey greening: quiet sustainability at auto salvage yards - 2022 | Pavel Mašek | Geografie | 19 pp. | doi:10.37040/geografie2022127010055
- #MBXQXR Growing in Motion: The Circulation of Used Things on Second-hand Markets [cited] - 2015 | Anna Bohlin, Staffan Appelgren | Culture Unbound | 26 pp. | doi:10.3384/cu.2000.1525.1571143
- #B3CVMW Harnessing the Unruly: Anthropological Contributions in Applied Reuse Projects - 2020 | Anna Bohlin, Staffan Appelgren | kritisk etnografi: Swedish Journal of Anthropology | 17 pp. | doi:10.33063/diva-432451
- #YW8AYL Home and the extended-self: Exploring associations between clutter and wellbeing - 2021 | Caroline J. Rogers, Dr Rona Hart | Journal of Environmental Psychology | 10 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101553
- #ZB3YSD Household consumption at the crossroads: A bibliometric decoding of global sustainability trends, research gaps, and collaborative networks (2015-2025) - 2025 | B.K. Prahani, Hendry Cahyono, Iszan Hana Kaharudin, Kukuh Arisetyawan, Ladi Wajuba Perdini Fisabilillah, M. Satriawan, M.A. Ghofur, N. Suprapto, Ruth Eviana Hutabarat, S. Andari, Wenny Restikasari, Zain Fuadi Muhammad RoziqiFath | E3S Web of Conferences | 10 pp. | doi:10.1051/e3sconf/202564001017
- #UGBANU How temporal orientations trigger, nurture and sustain deep engagement with consumption practices - 2025 | Benjamin Rosenthal | Marketing Theory | 21 pp. | doi:10.1177/14705931241264535
- #9GQP2Z In Defense of Consumer Critique: Revisiting the Consumption Debates of the Twentieth Century - 2007 | Juliet B. Schor | The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science | 15 pp. | doi:10.1177/0002716206299145
- #4Y4DVC Incidental sustainability? Notes from a thrift store in Germany - 2023 | Petra Kuppinger | Critique of Anthropology | 20 pp. | doi:10.1177/0308275x231194259
- #XUS5YJ Learning like a Minimalist—Learning from a Minimalist. Consumers as Disseminators for Sustainable Clothes Usage - 2021 | Journal of Sustainability Research | 24 pp. | doi:10.20900/jsr20210017
- #QWH9YU Lifestyles of enough exploring sufficiency-oriented consumption behavior from a social practice theory perspective - 2023 | Maren I Kropfeld | Journal of Consumer Culture | 22 pp. | doi:10.1177/14695405221095008
- #VGCYKU Linking social practice theories to the perceptions of green consumption: An overview - 2025 | Samira Jabin, Shah Md Atiqul Haq | Social Sciences & Humanities Open | 12 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101455
- #R69WZQ Material culture and the circular economy - 2023 | Elizabeth Shove, Jenny Rinkinen | Frontiers in Sustainability | 4 pp. | doi:10.3389/frsus.2023.1158079
- #ARE7AL Materials changing the performance of the household energy consumption practices - 2025 | Eliisa Kylkilahti, Henna Syrjälä, Liisa Kääntä, Sara-Ellen Laitinen | Journal of Consumer Culture | 19 pp. | doi:10.1177/14695405251321405
- #FYWZFY My Journey within Practice-Based Approaches Bandwagon - 2019 | Mika Pantzar | Sociologica | 8 pp. | doi:10.6092/issn.1971-8853/10203
- #XATD2A New spaces, ordinary practices: Circulating and sharing within diverse economies of provisioning [cited] - 2018 | Helen Holmes | Geoforum | 10 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2017.11.022
- #R9KEKQ Not moving things along: hoarding, clutter and other ambiguous matter - 2009 | Neil Maycroft | Journal of Consumer Behaviour | 12 pp. | doi:10.1002/cb.298
- #VJ8G58 Object Relations in Accounts of Everyday Life - 2015 | Elizabeth Shove, Jenny Rinkinen, Mikko Jalas | Sociology | 16 pp. | doi:10.1177/0038038515577910
- #CUWPC9 On Materiality and Meaning: Ethnographic Engagements with Reuse, Repair &amp; Care - 2019 | Cindy Isenhour, Joshua Reno | Worldwide Waste | 8 pp. | doi:10.5334/wwwj.27
- #D8EAVV Online Clothing Resale: A Practice Theory Approach to Evaluate Sustainable Consumption Gains - 2020 | Cosette M. Joyner Armstrong, Hyejune Park | Journal of Sustainability Research | 24 pp. | doi:10.20900/jsr20200017
- #AG36RW Paradoxes of openness and distinction in the sharing economy - 2016 | Connor Fitzmaurice, Emilie Dubois Poteat, Juliet B. Schor, Lindsey B. Carfagna, Will Attwood-Charles | Poetics | 18 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.poetic.2015.11.001
- #86EHHS Practice theory approach to Gen Z’s sustainable clothing consumption in Finland [cited] - 2024 | Olga Gurova | Young Consumers | 19 pp. | doi:10.1108/yc-06-2023-1765
- #XAYNBH Practice-ing behaviour change: Applying social practice theory to pro-environmental behaviour change - 2011 | Tom Hargreaves | Journal of Consumer Culture | 21 pp. | doi:10.1177/1469540510390500
- #WVG7HV Quiet sustainability: Fertile lessons from Europe’s productive gardeners [cited] - 2013 | Joe Smith, Petr Jehlicka | Journal of Rural Studies | 10 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.jrurstud.2013.05.002
- #4YG3VP Repair for a Broken Economy: Lessons for Circular Economy from an International Interview Study of Repairers - 2021 | Duncan McLaren, Johan Niskanen, Jonas Anshelm | Sustainability | 15 pp. | doi:10.3390/su13042316
- #AY4Z4C Repair Work as Care: On Maintaining the Planet in the Capitalocene - 2025 | Julia E. Corwin, Vinay Gidwani | Antipode | 21 pp. | doi:10.1111/anti.12791
- #V9QTJP Reuse practices and household consumption work [cited] - 2026 | David M. Evans, Peter Jackson, Rorie Beswick-Parsons | Social &amp; Cultural Geography | 21 pp. | doi:10.1080/14649365.2025.2549709
- #HJXUZN Selling Thrift: Work Practices in an American Thrift Store [cited] - 2023 | Frederik Larsen | Journal of Business Anthropology | 19 pp. | doi:10.22439/jba.v12i1.6914
- #ANC583 Social bases of material consumption: The relationship between social groups and possession of household appliances in Denmark - 2019 | Mette Hove Jacobsen | Journal of Consumer Culture | 20 pp. | doi:10.1177/1469540516684190
- #NE9YL5 Sustainability as a Moral Discourse: Its Shifting Meanings, Exclusions, and Anxieties - 2022 | Al Lim, Lav Kanoi, Michael R. Dove, Shoko Yamada, Vanessa Koh | Sustainability | 17 pp. | doi:10.3390/su14053095
- #EPZXEW Sustainable Consumption and Practice Theories: Connecting Elements of Clothing Sharing - 2024 | Marcia de Freitas Duarte, Minelle E. Silva, Márcia R. Cavalcante Costa | BBR, Braz. Bus. Rev. | 25 pp. | doi:10.15728/bbr.2021.1182.en
- #5FD8BE The Advent of Practice Theories in Research on Sustainable Consumption: Past, Current and Future Directions of the Field - 2019 | Filippo Corsini, Francesco Paolo Appio, Franziska Meinherz, Luca Mora, Rafael Laurenti | Sustainability | 19 pp. | doi:10.3390/su11020341
- #GAZV32 The communities and materials of repair: collectively reflecting on repair practices of everyday artefacts - 2026 | Bilge Merve Aktaş, Hazal Gümüş Çiftçi | CoDesign | 21 pp. | doi:10.1080/15710882.2025.2452575
- #P7EWHQ The Force of Things - 2004 | Jane Bennett | Political Theory | 27 pp. | doi:10.1177/0090591703260853
- #7VNTAB The gift of waste: The diversity of gift practices among dumpster divers - 2023 | Olli Pyyhtinen, Turo-Kimmo Lehtonen | Anthropological Theory | 23 pp. | doi:10.1177/14634996221117318
- #Q24SW5 The Gift, the Indian Gift and the 'Indian Gift' - 1986 | Jonathan Parry | Man | 22 pp. | doi:10.2307/2803096
- #UMYA27 The limits of the loops: critical environmental politics and the Circular Economy - 2021 | Kersty Hobson | Environmental Politics | 20 pp. | doi:10.1080/09644016.2020.1816052
- #UTEUAD The logics of frugality: Reproducing tastes of necessity among affluent climate change activists - 2017 | Jean Léon Boucher | Energy Research & Social Science | 10 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.erss.2017.06.001
- #P88564 The Minimalist Universe of Things. Living with Less in German Speaking Households - 2023 | Heike Derwanz | Home Cultures | 18 pp. | doi:10.1080/17406315.2024.2338007
- #LB5ACW The Political Economy of Circular Economies: Lessons from Future Repair Scenario Deliberations in Sweden - 2023 | Duncan McLaren, Johan Niskanen | Circular Economy and Sustainability | 25 pp. | doi:10.1007/s43615-021-00128-8
- #7RVN6J The Simple Bare Necessities: Scales and Paradoxes of Thrift on a London Public Housing Estate - 2022 | Catherine Alexander | Comparative Studies in Society and History | 32 pp. | doi:10.1017/s0010417522000159
- #RRPNRF The Sustainability of an Anthropology of the Anthropocene - 2022 | Thomas Hylland Eriksen | Sustainability | 11 pp. | doi:10.3390/su14063674
- #NM4W8T Theories of practices: Agency, technology, and culture - 2011 | Gert Spaargaren | Global Environmental Change | 10 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2011.03.010
- #GKZ9HP There is no sustainable circular economy without a circular society - 2021 | Charlotte Jensen, Florian Hofmann, Jakob Zwiers, Melanie Jaeger-Erben | Resources, Conservation and Recycling | 2 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2021.105476
- #XDUQVM Through the practice lens: Where is the bandwagon of practice-based studies heading? - 2010 | Gessica Corradi, Luca Verzelloni, Silvia Gherardi | Management Learning | 19 pp. | doi:10.1177/1350507609356938
- #MB6S7L Toward an Ecology of Materials - 2012 | Tim Ingold | Annual Review of Anthropology | 20 pp. | doi:10.1146/annurev-anthro-081309-145920
- #7BM5AQ Uncontained accumulation: Hidden heterotopias of storage and spillage - 2018 | Sasha Newell | History and Anthropology | 6 pp. | doi:10.1080/02757206.2017.1397647
- #6EFDXH Unpicking contemporary thrift: Getting on and getting by in everyday life - 2019 | Helen Holmes | The Sociological Review | 17 pp. | doi:10.1177/0038026118797837
- #SHZ6RT Valuation in action: Ethnography of an American thrift store - 2019 | Frederik Larsen | Business History | 18 pp. | doi:10.1080/00076791.2017.1418330
- #N7DKM2 Vogel's Net - 1996 | Alfred Gell | Journal of Material Culture | 25 pp. | doi:10.1177/135918359600100102
- #S54TH3 Waste and the superfluous: an introduction - 2017 | Elisabeth Schober, Thomas Hylland Eriksen | Social Anthropology | 6 pp. | doi:10.1111/1469-8676.12422
- #6C82ER Waste is not the end. For an anthropology of care, maintenance and repair - 2017 | Francisco Martínez | Social Anthropology | 5 pp. | doi:10.1111/1469-8676.12436
- #UBF5U3 What does that shirt mean to you? Thrift-store consumption as cultural capital - 2020 | Shelly Steward | Journal of Consumer Culture | 21 pp. | doi:10.1177/1469540517745707
- #LB72BP What future for collaborative consumption? A practice theoretical account - 2019 | Gert Spaargaren, Walter Fraanje | Journal of Cleaner Production | 10 pp. | doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2018.09.197
- #9X3WKH Whose Collection Is It Anyway? An Autoethnographic Account of `Dividing the Spoils' upon Divorce - 2007 | Jackie Goode | Cultural Sociology | 19 pp. | doi:10.1177/1749975507082055
- #ZNC4FL WITH and WITHOUT THINGS. AN INTRODUCTION - 2023 | Francisco Martínez, Tomás Errázuriz | Home Cultures | 15 pp. | doi:10.1080/17406315.2024.2347703
- #ZJUEY4 ‘It will Keep Circulating’: Loving and Letting Go of Things in Swedish Second-hand Markets - 2019 | Anna Bohlin | Worldwide Waste | 11 pp. | doi:10.5334/wwwj.17
- #VWPB2S ‘It's Kind of Saving them a Job isn't it?’ The Consumption Work of Household Recycling - 2015 | Kathryn Wheeler, Miriam Glucksmann | The Sociological Review | 19 pp. | doi:10.1111/1467-954x.12199
- #UTUMYN ‘Nothing Comes Without Its World’: Thinking with Care - 2012 | María Puig de la Bellacasa | The Sociological Review | 20 pp. | doi:10.1111/j.1467-954x.2012.02070.x
- #EDFB5G “If I don’t do it, it feels wrong”: embodying environmental ethical reflexivity through cultivation and enactment of practices [cited] - 2024 | Anne Sofie Møller Askholm | Sustainability: Science, Practice and Policy | 12 pp. | doi:10.1080/15487733.2024.2350204
- #3F4AVR “Still good life”: On the value of reuse and distributive labor in “depleted” rural Maine [cited] - 2020 | Brieanne Berry, Cindy Isenhour | Economic Anthropology | 16 pp. | doi:10.1002/sea2.12176

Books (20)
- #GABXSA Acknowledging Consumption: A Review of New Studies - 1995 | Daniel Miller | 350 pp.
- #UX42KU Anthropology and the Economy of Sharing [cited] - 2016 | Thomas Widlok | 240 pp. | doi:10.4324/9781315671291
- #VC6397 Clothing Poverty: The Hidden World of Fast Fashion and Second-hand Clothes - 2015 | Andrew Brooks | 298 pp. | doi:10.5040/9781350219243
- #8J3FXD Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience: The Social Organization of Normality [cited] - 2003 | Elizabeth Shove | 236 pp. | doi:10.5040/9781474214605
- #2EDLQU Elusive Consumption - 2004 | Helene Brembeck, Karin M. Ekström | 254 pp. | doi:10.5040/9781474214704
- #BJ6B3C From the Cult of Waste to the Trash Heap of History: The Politics of Waste in Socialist and Postsocialist Hungary - 2007 | Zsuzsa Gille | 266 pp.
- #4LST57 Household Recycling and Consumption Work [cited] - 2015 | Kathryn Wheeler, Miriam Glucksmann | 249 pp. | doi:10.1057/9781137440440
- #R26U48 Materiality - 2005 | Daniel Miller | 302 pp.
- #Y3KME8 My Life with Things: The Consumer Diaries - 2016 | Elizabeth Chin | 248 pp. | doi:10.1515/9780822374268
- #B5KMLA Second-Hand Cultures and Economies of Reuse, Repair, Sharing, and Care - 2025 | Petra Kuppinger | Palgrave Macmillan | 28 pp. | doi:10.1007/978-3-031-99875-1
- #VKBZ23 Social Practices: A Wittgensteinian Approach to Human Activity and the Social - 1996 | Theodore R. Schatzki | 256 pp. | doi:10.1017/CBO9780511527470
- #5AXAEJ The Dynamics of Social Practice: Everyday Life and How It Changes [cited] - 2012 | Elizabeth Shove, Matt Watson, Mika Pantzar | 206 pp. | doi:10.4135/9781446250655
- #83R4U2 The Ethics of Waste: How We Relate to Rubbish - 2006 | Gay Hawkins | 80 pp.
- #R49AUC The Nexus of Practices: Connections, constellations, practitioners - 2017 | Allison Hui, Elizabeth Shove, Theodore Schatzki | 237 pp. | doi:10.4324/9781315560816
- #3LSRBZ The Perception of the Environment: Essays on livelihood, dwelling and skill - 2000 | Tim Ingold | 480 pp.
- #6J5MKL The Practice Turn in Contemporary Theory - 2001 | Eike von Savigny, Karin Knorr Cetina, Theodore R. Schatzki | 253 pp. | doi:10.4324/9780203977453
- #RCRP8Z The World of Goods: Towards an anthropology of consumption - 1996 | Baron Isherwood, Mary Douglas | 198 pp.
- #BX2YWY Thinking Through Things: Theorising Artefacts Ethnographically - 2007 | Amiria Henare, Martin Holbraad, Sari Wastell | 248 pp.
- #8YF7LY Thrift and its Paradoxes: From Domestic to Political Economy - 2022 | Catherine Alexander, Daniel Sosna | 232 pp. | doi:10.3167/9781800734623
- #3N7TTE Time, Consumption and Everyday Life: Practice, Materiality and Culture - 2009 | Elizabeth Shove, Frank Trentmann, Richard Wilk | 251 pp. | doi:10.5040/9781474215862

Book chapters (12)
- #TNE9JN Habits and Their Creatures - 2012 | Elizabeth Shove | The Habits of Consumption | Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies | pp. 100-112 | 13 pp.
- #EVCWDH Introduction. Storing and storying the serendipity of objects - 2013 | Patrick Laviolette | Things in Culture, Culture in Things | Approaches to Culture Theory | pp. 13-33 | 11 pp.
- #PB2Z6X Introduction: commodities and the politics of value [cited] - 1986 | Arjun Appadurai | The Social Life of Things | Cambridge University Press | pp. 3-63 | 31 pp. | doi:10.1017/CBO9780511819582.003
- #WMSENQ Sustainable consumption as a systemic challenge: inter- and transdisciplinary research and research questions - 2015 | Philip J. Vergragt, Sylvia Lorek | Handbook of Research on Sustainable Consumption | Edward Elgar Publishing | pp. 19-31 | 14 pp. | doi:10.4337/9781783471270.00008
- #V4V7XC Sustainable Consumption, Behaviour Change Policies and Theories of Practice [cited] - 2012 | Andrew McMeekin, Dale Southerton, David Evans | The Habits of Consumption | Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies | pp. 113-129 | 17 pp.
- #BZ63DX Sustainable practices: social theory and climate change - 2013 | Elizabeth Shove, Nicola Spurling | Sustainable Practices | Routledge | pp. 17-30 | 22 pp. | doi:10.4324/9780203071052-6
- #Y3CFPX The Assembling of Circular Consumption: A sociomaterial practice approach - 2023 | Christian Fuentes, Elina Närvänen, Nina Mesiranta | The Routledge Handbook of Catalysts for a Sustainable Circular Economy | Routledge | pp. 535-549 | 15 pp. | doi:10.4324/9781003267492-30
- #9DHD6K The cultural biography of things: commoditization as process - 1986 | Igor Kopytoff | The Social Life of Things | Cambridge University Press | pp. 64-92 | 15 pp. | doi:10.1017/CBO9780511819582.004
- #3SKV2A The cultural dimension of sustainable consumption practices: an exploration in theory and policy - 2013 | Gert Spaargaren | Innovations in Sustainable Consumption | Edward Elgar Publishing | 13 pp. | doi:10.4337/9781781001349.00022
- #72GVQ9 The Habits of Consumption [cited] - 2012 | Alan Warde, Dale Southerton | The Habits of Consumption | Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies | pp. 1-25 | 25 pp.
- #KWZ2A4 Theories of Practice and Sustainable Consumption [cited] - 2015 | Alan Warde, Daniel Welch | Handbook of Research on Sustainable Consumption | Edward Elgar Publishing | pp. 84-100 | 17 pp. | doi:10.4337/9781783471270.00013
- #Q8AKGZ Towards a Better Accounting of the Roles of Body, Things and Habits in Consumption - 2012 | Harold Wilhite | The Habits of Consumption | Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies | pp. 87-99 | 13 pp.

Doctoral theses (3)
- #QRRZP2 Consumption and Practice: Unfolding Consumptive Moments and the Entanglement with Productive Aspects - 2013 | Benjamin Julien Hartmann | 157 pp.
- #ZC3PHV Patchworks of Care: Ethics and Practice of Care in the Organic Food Movement in Latvia - 2020 | Agnese Bankovska | 234 pp.
- #8EVNK8 The (im)possibilities of circular consumption: Producing and performing circular clothing consumption in retail and household settings - 2025 | Réka Tölg | 138 pp.

Reports (1)
- #XBPXDL Inconspicuous consumption: the sociology of consumption and the environment - 1998 | Alan Warde, Elizabeth Shove | 17 pp.

Spreadsheet (1)
- #XGCWS4 Ieva coded excerpt spreadsheet

### 34. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `get_document`

```json
{
  "id": "8ZKAT7"
}
```

### 35. Tool result: get_document

DOCUMENT #8ZKAT7
Title: Closing the loop or squaring the circle? Locating generative spaces for the circular economy

Outline:
  - 1 #ECVDXM Closing the loop or squaring the circle? Locating generative spaces for the circular economy
    - 1.1 #BWE4XA Abstract
    - 1.2 #7JJN4G Keywords
    - 1.3 #YYPBP6 1 Introduction
      - 1.3.1 #DJ6AEM Corresponding author:
    - 1.4 #S7EQE3 II What is the circular economy and how do we get there?
    - 1.5 #R4GEYE III Governing the circular economy: The case of WEEE and the modernist myth
    - 1.6 #75DDTN IV Distributing politics and markets in the CE
    - 1.7 #MWMXE8 V Being a circular economy citizen: Pathways to radical product service systems?
    - 1.8 #ACNZ3L VI Concluding comments
    - 1.9 #RNUQ2A Funding and Acknowledgements
    - 1.10 #QKAYNE References
    - 1.11 #T8RC4F Author biography

### 36. Assistant tool calls

#### Tool call: `read`

```json
{
  "blocks": [
    "BWE4XA",
    "YYPBP6",
    "MWMXE8",
    "ACNZ3L"
  ],
  "expand": true
}
```

### 37. Tool result: read

DOCUMENT #8ZKAT7
Closing the loop or squaring the circle? Locating generative spaces for the circular economy

SECTION #BWE4XA Abstract

EXCERPT #AKL7LC p. 0
  Heightened concerns about long-term sustainability have of late enlivened debates around the circular economy (CE). Defined as a series of restorative and regenerative industrial systems, parallel socio-cultural transformations have arguably received less consideration to date. In response, this paper examines the contributions human geographical scholarship can make to CE debates, focusing on ‘generative spaces’ of diverse CE practices. Concepts infrequently discussed within human geography such as product service systems and ‘prosumption’ are explored, to argue that productive potential exists in bringing these ideas into conversation with ongoing human geographical research into practices, materialities, emergent political spaces and ‘everyday activism’.

DOCUMENT #8ZKAT7
Closing the loop or squaring the circle? Locating generative spaces for the circular economy

SECTION #YYPBP6 1 Introduction

EXCERPT #JYA93C p. 0
  The need to go ‘beyond incremental efficiency gains to deliver transformative change’ (Preston, 2012: 1) is a long-standing entreaty within socio-environmental sustainability debates. However, what sort of change, transforming in what direction, and by what means remain undoubtedly highly contested questions. One framework that has of late received increasing political, research and civil society attention is that of the circular economy (CE) – the focus of this paper.

EXCERPT #XRHFEU p. 0
  The CE has been defined as:

EXCERPT #QL2VAQ p. 0
  an industrial system that is restorative or regenerative by intention and design. It replaces the end-of-life concept with restoration, shifts towards the use of renewable energy, eliminates the use of toxic chemicals, which impair reuse

EXCERPT #9NU2JN p. 0
  and return to the biosphere, and aims for the elimination of waste through the superior design of materials, products, systems and business models. (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013b: 2; see also Aldersgate Group, 2012; Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2013a, 2014; Lee et al., 2012)

EXCERPT #Y3CQAJ p. 0
  As such, moving towards a CE necessitates substantial transformations in design, production, consumption, use, waste and reuse practices. Overall, the goal is to keep valuable materials in circulation through a series of systemic

SECTION #DJ6AEM Corresponding author:

EXCERPT #4PDLPU p. 0
  Kersty Hobson, School of Geography and the Environment, Dyson Perrins Building, South Parks Road, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QY, UK.

EXCERPT #A6DWSM p. 0
  Email: kersty.hobson@ouce.ox.ac.uk

EXCERPT #TDE8FL p. 1

EXCERPT #J7WMYD p. 1

EXCERPT #FBN5U5 p. 1
  feedback loops between life-cycle stages, powered through resource-efficient industrial processes.

EXCERPT #KBL8VY p. 1
  Calls for a significant shift towards a more CE through approaches such as closed loop manufacturing have existed for decades, emanating mostly from the field of Industrial Ecology (e.g. Lyle, 1994). While initially such calls were founded upon hypothetical systems of production and reuse, advances in technological, design and retrieval processes are rendering the theory of CE a more realistic proposition. This agenda has recently gained further impetus through political concern about issues such as 'resource security', believed to be creating price volatility and thus threatening long-term economic sustainability (e.g. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2012). As such, solutions that fundamentally reconfigure current production-consumption patterns have made their way into high-level political agendas of late. For one, the European Commission has stated that resource efficiency and a move towards the CE is one of its seven 'Europe 2020' flagship initiatives, as 'the EU has no choice but to go for the transition to a resource-efficient and ultimately regenerative circular economy' (European Commission, 2011: 1). This transition is argued by the European Commission as a promising pathway to regional prosperity, enabling the 'reindustrialisation of the European economy on the basis of resource-efficient growth that will last' (European Commission, 2011: 1).

EXCERPT #D98KVL p. 1
  As well as such high hopes at the European level, the UK Government's 'Resource Security Action Plan' (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2012) includes interventions that aim to foster the CE. Beyond formal policy circles, an array of non-governmental organizations is gathering around the possibilities of the CE. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, for example, was founded with the sole purpose of promoting the CE and has been gaining notable political and business traction recently, such

EXCERPT #MUW9UM p. 1
  as being placed front and centre at the 2014 World Economic Forum (see Confinio and Holtum, 2014).

EXCERPT #EQ56XU p. 1
  Given all of the above, the impetus for this paper is that it is arguably apposite and timely to interrogate the implications of the CE. Extant academic, policy and business-led analyses frame transformations towards the CE as predominantly issues of innovation, technical systems, fiscal and business incentives, and reformulated business models. While these interventions are not dismissed here, this paper is prompted by the observation that, within prevailing CE debates, little has been said about the socio-political implications and possibilities for shifting current production-consumption-use-waste practices. In addition, scant consideration has been given to other 'transformative' pathways and practices, currently elided by a focus on industrial systems and sustained economic growth. As such, crucial questions require greater consideration, such as the forms and processes of governance that would facilitate an effective and equitable CE. In addition, what are the implications of a CE for quotidian spaces and practices, as the patterns and rhythms of everyday socio-materiality are potentially reconfigured? Is the CE yet another iteration of capitalist crisis, reproduction and survival (Harvey, 2010, 2006), or does it productively merge disparate discourses and actors to garner much-needed action around the manifold issues of global sustainability? And what forms of research/intervention might critical social scientists such as human geographers contribute to explore the above questions, informed by which streams of conceptual and empirical debate?

EXCERPT #PD7DJG p. 1
  This paper aims to examine some of these questions, arguing that human geographers are well placed to make critical contributions to debates about the CE, given the fundamental disciplinary understanding that 'Production is... entangled with biophysical, social, political and cultural processes' (Sheppard, 2011:

EXCERPT #WXYE3U p. 2

EXCERPT #A8XNAJ p. 2

EXCERPT #88RBG4 p. 2
  324; see also Berndt and Boeckler, 2011). In making this argument, this paper adopts a generative stance (e.g. Head and Gibson, 2012). That is, it aims to locate and foster emergent research spaces, with an eye to the 'virtual presences' (Dittmer, 2014: 388) of contingent futures that remain underexplored within prevailing CE frameworks and advocates. As the concept of the CE touches on so many processes, peoples and places, no one paper can offer a complete dissection of its contents and implications. Therefore this paper focuses predominantly on questions of socio-material practices as a key area where human geographical debate has arguably much to contribute. Specifically, it aims to bring work around materiality, emergence, and everyday activism into conversation with concepts less often discussed in human geography – such as product service systems and 'prosumption' – to map out fertile areas of debate and research. In doing so, the paper begins with an elaboration of the concept of the CE, discussing existing research that intersects human geography with industrial ecology. It then discusses some of the governmental implications of the CE, drawing on an example of electronic waste. The final section examines the possibilities for citizen engagement and reconfigured material practices around the CE, suggesting possible sites and topics for future research.

DOCUMENT #8ZKAT7
Closing the loop or squaring the circle? Locating generative spaces for the circular economy

SECTION #MWMXE8 V Being a circular economy citizen: Pathways to radical product service systems?

EXCERPT #TRN47D p. 8
  What then is the perceived role of the citizen within the CE, in both mainstream renditions of the concept and alternate visions? Under a linear, non-circular economy, the role of the citizen is for the most part arguably elided with that of the consumer. Here, the individual is willing and able to make well-informed and rational purchase choices, as well as undertaking the correct waste disposal behaviour, all in the name of the environment (Lane and Watson, 2012). This includes buying more ‘sustainable’, ‘green’ or ‘ethical’ goods and recycling as much waste as possible from these (and other) goods. Such a framing of everyday sustainability has been roundly critiqued for its individualized and overly-rationalized rendition of what are fundamentally collective practices and challenges (e.g. Barnett et al., 2005; Burgess et al., 2003; Cohen et al., 2010; Dowling, 2010; Princen et al., 2002; Watson, 2012). Indeed, seemingly mundane behaviours, such as carbon offsetting and recycling, are argued as governmental devices that at once depoliticize the discourses of environmentalism while engendering forms of environmental citizenship in keeping with the aims of weak ecological modernization (e.g. Hobson, 2006, 2013; Marres, 2011; McDonald et al., 2009).

EXCERPT #R68RGU p. 8
  For the most part, mainstream advocates of the CE do not envisage new roles or recalibrated modes of engagement for the consumer, but

EXCERPT #ML6SVB p. 8
  rather rehearse the above norms of the linear economy. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation for one claims that the CE ‘largely replaces the concept of the consumer with that of a user’ (Ellen MacArthur Foundation 2013a: 7), and creates ‘a new contract between businesses and their customers’ (p. 7). The main barrier to such a shift is argued as one of ‘consumer acceptance’ (e.g. Aldersgate Group, 2012) of altered systems of production and consumption, made palatable through consumer education and engagement (e.g. Lee et al., 2012).

EXCERPT #PABS54 p. 8
  This movement from ‘consumer’ to ‘user’ pertains to the business models forwarded by CE advocates. For example, goods that are now purchased and owned, such as carpets, washing machines or garden tools, are instead leased. This allows (in theory) consumers to access goods when needed, and businesses to recycle, repair and reuse goods through maintaining control of ownership. Within current CE debates, such business models are uncontroversial, and successful examples exist, such as carpet leasing company Interface. However, within CE debates little consideration has been given to what exactly is at stake vis-à-vis the acceptance or rejection of these modes of consuming by citizens. For example, how and to what ends do such business models shift or clash with perceptions of consumption, consumerism and private property? How might becoming a ‘user’ alter the spatial-temporal patterns of how households and other collectives locate, exchange and return goods? If goods now not only have ‘after lives’ (Crang et al., 2013) but also ‘on going’ and multiple lives, how do the current ways that households deal with unwanted goods – that include gifting, swapping, selling on, recycling, and storage (Bulkeley and Gregson, 2009; Crang et al., 2013; Gregson and Crang, 2010; Lane, 2011; Moore, 2012) – become enlivened, enrolled and/or reconfigured in the CE?

EXCERPT #BGXDTS p. 8
  The concepts of the Product Service System (PSS) and ‘servitization’ provide useful means to think through some of the above questions.

EXCERPT #HDZLQX p. 9

EXCERPT #ZWCEMT p. 9

EXCERPT #QYXLEK p. 9
  These frameworks and attendant literatures may be unfamiliar territory to many social scientists, with debates around these concepts appearing for the most part in industry, management and operations publications such as Journal of Cleaner Production (e.g. see Beuren et al., 2013; Lightfoot et al., 2013). However, there is an emergent literature within the social sciences that speaks to ideas of PSS through connecting work on theories of practice with debates about socio-technical transformations. That is, rather than seeing individual behaviours as the necessary unit of social change, work on practices emphasizes how patterns of action (e.g. showering) are co-constituted by histories, technologies, norms and preferences around issues of cleanliness. As such, making practices more sustainable requires questioning how and why current needs are met, and thinking creatively about other ways to meet needs such as mobility, warmth, cooling and cleanliness (e.g. Davies et al., 2014; Givoni and Banister, 2013; Watson, 2012): in short, reworking the ways products and services are calibrated to meet human needs.

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  Tukker (2004, 2013) has mapped out the range of possible PSSs along a continuum. At one end, there are business models that remain for the most part product orientated with a few extra services included, such as leasing, renting and sharing components of a practice. One example is the much-lauded rise of car-sharing schemes, which provide rented, short-term (i.e. one hour and upwards) access to a communal car, thus aiming to alter entrenched travel habits (see Kent and Dowling, 2013). However, car sharing arguably does little to challenge the centrality of the car as the predominant mode of mobility and has been captured as a model for business expansion by large corporations, such as Avis' recent purchase of Zipcar. At the other end of the PSS spectrum are 'result-oriented' services where the client and provider agree in principle upon the result required with no predetermined product involved. Such indeterminacy and openness to the ways and means of

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  meeting needs is considered the more 'radical' end of the PSS spectrum. That is, an approach with potential to challenge current patterns of resource intensity and overuse, but also the most difficult to envisage, enact and create. Perhaps, then, there are ways in which human geographers can be part of envisioning and exploring the possibilities of radical PSSs, starting not so much from planning them on paper as an exercise in abstraction but rather paying attention to the emergent properties of current and nascent socio-material assemblages that speak to the inherent openness of radical PSSs.

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  To explain, in this journal Dittmer (2014) argues for consideration of the capacities rather than just the properties of geopolitical assemblages, understood as 'emergent wholes defined by their properties, tendencies, and capacities' (p. 392). Here, while features and structures matter in terms of outcomes, so does how properties interact with other assemblages, creating a range of contingent futures that may not yet be realized in material form but still can exert a 'virtual presence'. Arguably, traces of such virtual presences can be located in current practices reshaping the ambit and forms of engagement with everyday consumer goods and services, potentially opening up spaces for forms of radical PSS to emerge. In this context, the role of human geographical research could be to look closer for the 'possibility spaces' (Dittmer, 2014: 392) amidst these practices, with an eye on the 'vitality' of the materialities at play (Gregson and Crang, 2010).

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  But what practices are being referenced here? There have of late been claims about an apparent demise of prevailing consumption patterns and norms, wherein the sovereign consumer is being usurped by the rise of the 'prosumer' (e.g. Ritzer et al., 2012). This term – an amalgamation of producer and consumer – does in part hark back to a past when most humans produced and consumed food, clothes, etc., for themselves and their communities (Ritzer et al., 2012). In its current iteration however, the idea

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  of the prosumer encapsulates a wider range of processes only tenable under the conditions of (post)modernity. These range from productive practices (e.g. ideas, designs) being taken up and co-created by external agents such as for-profit companies with the aim of producing and capturing value: to more 'hands on' and localised practices of do-it-yourself, crafts, and other examples of so-called 'post-consumerism' (Belk, 2014; Botsman and Rogers, 2011; Cohen, 2013). In relation to the former, it is feasible to argue that processes that aim to co-create value between citizens and organizations are another example of capitalist exploitation and co-option in the face of shrinking margins (Rifkin, 2014). However, there are other examples of joint value-creation that may – and, indeed, on paper seek to – go beyond the creation of a new good or service, to potentially create the emergent assemblages that Dittmer (2014) writes of.

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  For example, the social enterprise Fairphone ( http://www.fairphone.com ) is a Netherlands-based organization whose core business is the creation of a smartphone made with conflict-free minerals, with a design that allows recovery, repair and recycling in line with CE principles. The Fairphone website states that their key principle is that of 'responsible design' which considers the life cycle of the phone and 'gives you complete control over how to use and configure it. Our adopted manifesto is "If you can't open it, you don't own it"' (see http://www.fairphone.com/2013/05/17/three-years-in-the-making-road-to-a-fairer-phone ). For the Fairphone user, this 'complete control' requires learning how to 'use and configure' the Fairphone, which takes place virtually via website information and online discussion forums. A quick glance at the content of these online forums highlights the challenges of learning to configure a smartphone and negotiate the responsibilities and challenges of electronic devices that have functional and material flexibility built into them. But it also highlights the capacities and

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  willingness of citizens to engage with the technical specifications of coding and configuring, potentially fostering an emergent 'Fairphone movement' that the social enterprise speaks of on its website. This movement is based not just on the technical components of the smartphone but also on 'creating the fairer economy'. Such an economy is one where exploitative extractive practices are eliminated through conflict-free resources, with capital generated through crowd-sourced financing. For Fairphone this generation of capital entailed several thousand individuals purchasing the phone before it could go into production – a move that they state aimed to displace the politics and power of 'old capital', engaging online communities of interest and shared ethics (e.g. see Gibson-Graham, 2006).

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  This is not to hero-worship Fairphone or to assume that all that appears on their website mirrors what happens in practice. But then that is partially the point. That is, the above example raises questions about what emerges from assemblages such as Fairphone, as they seek to co-create a PSS that takes on board CE thinking whilst bringing in agendas of fairness, participation and socio-material engagement of citizens. Indeed, how do investors/users/participants – and, indeed, people who are all three at once – become enrolled into and/or create new 'possibility spaces' through engagement with the contingent functionality of the Fairphone, which requires being more than a standard phone user? And how do these emergent properties speak to other generative spaces, such as Repair Cafés (see http://repaircafe.org ), that form in-person, temporary collectives around repairing everyday goods? And finally, what forms of 'everyday activism' emerge, wherein individuals and groups 'self-manage and develop workable and replicable models for a better life' (Chatterton and Pickerill, 2010: 476; see also Chatterton, 2010; Pickerill and Chatterton, 2006)? While research into forms of everyday activism has not foregrounded the

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  socio-material engagements of emergent political practices, it does focus attention on 'the social and spatial settings where matters of importance get politicized' (Hakli and Kallio, 2014: 189). Such an approach to locating and fostering spaces of activism stands in contrast to those that predetermine what can be and is labelled as political around the issues of sustainable production and consumption (cf. Hultmann and Corveleco, 2012). Instead, it requires paying close attention to spaces where disparate forms of the CE may emerge and/or be fostered in forms and ways that current analyses of the CE omits or at least obscures from view.

DOCUMENT #8ZKAT7
Closing the loop or squaring the circle? Locating generative spaces for the circular economy

SECTION #ACNZ3L VI Concluding comments

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  This paper has aimed to bring recent and growing debates around ideas of the CE into conversation with some facets of human geographical research. The aim is to outline how research into a CE requires much broader analytical lenses than are currently deployed, given the profound 'transformative change' advocates speak of. The purpose here was to provisionally locate generative spaces and practices that embody a CE which goes beyond re-jigged industrial systems and business models. Rather, the case is made that any consideration of the CE must encompass forms of 'everyday activism' that foreground the 'vital materialism' (Gregson et al., 2010: 853) necessary to rethink, re-envision, recreate, reuse and 'move on' the goods and services that currently meet everyday needs. In other disciplines, researchers and practitioners talk of addressing unsustainable production and consumption through frameworks such as product service systems. This (perhaps rather dry) phrase is not found a great deal in human geographical work, but it does intersect with – and arguably has much to contribute to – research that explores practices embedded within, and enacted through, multi-scale socio-technical systems (Davies et al., 2014; Watson, 2012).

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  Advocates of the CE appear to consider the role of citizens as being the acceptance (or not) of practices that have been formulated on their behalf by designers, engineers, economists and policy-makers. One key aim of this paper has been to highlight how this presents an impoverished view of the properties and capacities that new assemblages of the CE are bringing forth, or could potentially create. That is, a seemingly narrow set of practices and spaces for citizen action (e.g. the High Street) are supplemented and/or challenged by the multifarious practices of the designer-consumer-user-repairer citizen. Indeed, as mentioned above, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation suggests that a new contract is emerging between business and the consumer. In their understanding, this relates to a direct and legally binding agreement between two or more parties. Yet this paper is essentially arguing that broader notions of a contract can be evoked here, where roles, competencies and responsibilities are redistributed and reconfigured throughout the lifetime of products and services, recalibrating the social relations and arrangements that currently favour the purchasing-ownership-disposal model of citizen-consumer practices. Such socially transformative enactments of the CE are thus implicit but under-explored within current debates, and this paper has aimed to highlight the potential for rich engagement, through both further conceptual and empirical exploration.

### 38. Assistant

Yes — I found it. It’s the one Sheaf lists as **Hobson 2016**, but the DOI suggests it may have been online-first in 2015: **“Closing the loop or squaring the circle? Locating generative spaces for the circular economy”** #8ZKAT7.

## What this Hobson paper is about

This is an earlier, more conceptual Hobson paper than the 2021 consumption work agenda. The main argument is:

**Circular economy debates focus too much on industrial systems, business models, design, efficiency, and “closing loops,” and not enough on the socio-political, everyday, citizen-based practices through which circularity might actually be lived.**

Hobson says that CE is usually framed as a technical/economic transition — better materials, better product design, better recycling systems, new business models. But she asks: what about citizens, households, users, repairers, activists, communities, and mundane practices of using, maintaining, repairing, sharing, reusing, and moving things on?

The abstract puts it clearly:

> CE is often discussed as “restorative and regenerative industrial systems,” while “parallel socio-cultural transformations have arguably received less consideration to date.” Hobson therefore focuses on “‘generative spaces’ of diverse CE practices” and connects CE to “practices, materialities, emergent political spaces and ‘everyday activism’.” #AKL7LC

## The most useful quotes for your thesis

### 1. CE needs attention to everyday socio-material life

This is very relevant for positioning Brīvbode:

> “Within prevailing CE debates, little has been said about the socio-political implications and possibilities for shifting current production-consumption-use-waste practices. In addition, scant consideration has been given to other ‘transformative’ pathways and practices, currently elided by a focus on industrial systems and sustained economic growth.” #EQ56XU

This gives you a theoretical justification for why an ethnography of Brīvbode matters: it studies one of those “other transformative pathways” that policy/business CE framings tend to miss.

### 2. Consumer → user is not enough; ask what happens to everyday practices

Hobson critiques the idea that CE simply turns consumers into “users” of leased/shared goods:

> “Within CE debates little consideration has been given to what exactly is at stake vis-à-vis the acceptance or rejection of these modes of consuming by citizens. For example, how and to what ends do such business models shift or clash with perceptions of consumption, consumerism and private property? How might becoming a ‘user’ alter the spatial-temporal patterns of how households and other collectives locate, exchange and return goods?” #PABS54

This is very Brīvbode: people are not simply “accepting” a circular model; they are learning new meanings of ownership, obligation, restraint, generosity, quality, and letting go.

### 3. Household practices of moving unwanted goods already matter

This quote is gold for your divestment/acquisition topic:

> “If goods now not only have ‘after lives’ … but also ‘on going’ and multiple lives, how do the current ways that households deal with unwanted goods – that include gifting, swapping, selling on, recycling, and storage … – become enlivened, enrolled and/or reconfigured in the CE?” #PABS54

This maps almost perfectly onto your thesis: Brīvbode is where gifting, swapping, storage, recycling avoidance, and “moving things on” become organised into a semi-public practice.

### 4. “Generative spaces” = the concept you probably want

Hobson gives examples like Fairphone and Repair Cafés, asking what new social/material/political possibilities emerge from them:

> “How do these emergent properties speak to other generative spaces, such as Repair Cafés … that form in-person, temporary collectives around repairing everyday goods? And finally, what forms of ‘everyday activism’ emerge, wherein individuals and groups ‘self-manage and develop workable and replicable models for a better life’?” #CKFDRW

For Brīvbode, you can say it is a **generative space** in Hobson’s sense: not just a place where goods pass through, but a place where alternative competencies, social relations, responsibilities, and moral meanings of circulation are produced.

### 5. The conclusion: CE should include everyday activism and material practice

This is probably the strongest quote for your theoretical framework:

> “Any consideration of the CE must encompass forms of ‘everyday activism’ that foreground the ‘vital materialism’ … necessary to rethink, re-envision, recreate, reuse and ‘move on’ the goods and services that currently meet everyday needs.” #NB8CR8

And the next passage links directly to roles and responsibilities:

> “Broader notions of a contract can be evoked here, where roles, competencies and responsibilities are redistributed and reconfigured throughout the lifetime of products and services, recalibrating the social relations and arrangements that currently favour the purchasing-ownership-disposal model of citizen-consumer practices.” #4G9UV6

This is a very good bridge into your consumption work chapter: Brīvbode redistributes roles, competencies, and responsibilities across donors, takers, volunteers, households, neighbours, and objects.

## How it relates to the thesis draft

This paper supports the **big frame** of your thesis more than the technical “consumption work” frame.

- Hobson 2016 gives you the argument that CE must be studied in **generative, everyday, socio-material spaces**, not only industrial loops and business models.
- Hobson et al. 2021 gives you the more specific argument that these circular practices require **consumption work**, distributed within and beyond households.
- Your Brīvbode thesis combines them: Brīvbode is both a **generative space** of everyday circularity and a site where circular consumption work becomes visible.

A possible sentence for the theoretical framework:

> Hobson argues that circular economy research must look beyond industrial systems and business models to the “generative spaces” where citizens, users and repairers reconfigure everyday relations with goods (#AKL7LC; #CKFDRW). Brīvbode can be understood as such a space: it is not simply an outlet for unwanted things, but a site where roles, competencies and responsibilities are redistributed across the lifetimes of objects, challenging the purchasing–ownership–disposal model of consumption (#4G9UV6).

This also reinforces your Chapter 5 argument: what looks like “free exchange” is actually a complex reorganisation of labour, responsibility, care, and social relations.