The Glass Cliff of Ordinary Life

1. Consumption, Gender and Class The Glass Cliff of Ordinary Life Roberta Sassatelli (Università di Milano) Email: roberta .sassatelli@unimi.it http://www.sociol.unimi.it/docenti/sassatelli/ Bilkent, June 2015

2. Impact of the financial and economic crisis on middle-class families Expectations Ordinary practices

3. medium-term: loss of middle classjobs Middle-class jobs (middle-paying occupations) have in general been declining throughout Western countries from 1993 to 2006 while lower and higher-paying occupations have typically been growing ( Eurozone average respectively - 8%, + 1%, + 6%)

4. Precariousness A rising tide does NOT lift all ships

5. Household saving rates are more mixed and complex to interpret: some countries display fairly stable saving rates from 2006 to present, in some others consumers had the resources to respond quickly to the perceived crisis with (slight) increased savings, in others - like Italy - there has been a remarkable decline overall (from 9, 5 % in 2006 to 4,3% in 2012) (OECD 2012). In Italy after 2006 there has been a remarkable increase of families that consider their disposable income insufficient for saving (40% in 1990 to 65% at present) facing an increase in families that consider fundamental to save (from 75% to 95%) (BankItalia 2013)

6. Expectations “we are managing, just, because my parents helped buy this house, and we get one salary, so I could take a more risky job, use my education […] but we can’t save, we will not be able to do this for our child … it’s a different world […] don’t really feel middle-class […] you must re-value everyday what it means in they way you spend your money” (Focus Group 3)

7. A lot of work is to be done by consumption

8. Looking into consumer practices and how they get mobilized is a powerful tool to consider how the economic crisis is perceived and faced in everyday life

9. THEMATIZING “CRISIS” we are caught into a contradiction […] Now with the crisis there’s less money, we need to go out less … and you take 4 beers and invite friends at home, you become imaginative, you are forced to, but you also need to keep an image up, even though we may criticize ostentation […] my lifestyle got downscaled, too much is too much, I learned new things, also to teach my children …[Int. 14] I think that in Italy, there is not enough consumption … we still come out of “poverty” […] the problem is that everyone was pushed to consume, like a sort of democratization, but this cannot be, we need to have those who can that consume, and consume a lot, and the others, well […] We have been forced to live with the illusion that every one could consume, but some must and some don’t …[Int.52]

10. Strong aversion towards consumer credit on cognitive and moral grounds “don’t trust banks” “if one does not have the money, does not buy it, it’s wrong” “you must do what it is within your means, it gets really messy otherwise”

11. Not only survival strategies but also creativity and resourcefulness

12. Small, Local, Live “I like contemporary art, cultural events, especially small local ones, concerts, festivals … anything which is live” [int 12] Global from below “Culture is […] everywhere. You can take a book in French, English, Italian or Spanish, you download it, and read it, you can see the biggest art museums in the world via internet […] with my friends, we went to listen to fagots, no one is really interested in them, a fagots concert, we got there gratis in a bookshop, a marvellous concert, full of people, really enjoing it, then we got a Coke in the bar the other side of the street, a great night” [FG 1]

13. Back to basic, homemade “There is no time, and less money … I used to buy preprocessed food, now I don’t … Fresh, seasonal food is always best … Work, obviously and you don’t have time, so the thing is to get simple […] and adapt to what you find [on the market]” [int.9] “I am learning to shop cunningly, I plan, I think in advance […] you avoid waste and use your time better … and pasta is ealthy and fast” [int. 51] Quality, sobriety and affectivity “To eat: the most important thing is to take time for it, keep it simple but balanced, make it into a moment of being together” [int.39]

14. Futurescapes and “Projects of Security” … CURRENTLY IN JEOPARDY Large expenditures with a status component (housing, discretionary items for the home) among the fasted shrinking markets “we have not bought a new set of nice dinner dishes yet, but then I tell myself, and tell the others, well ‘when we move in the new home, we’ll do that’. It’s like a justification” (int.35) Imagined future of greater prosperity not yet replaced

15. Consumer PracticesStructure and Strategies increasing commercialization obsolescence-driven consumer market competitive luxuries sustainability service goods decencieswaste DIY

16. Realizing middle-class consumership during the Crisis From discourses of the brand (distinction, tribe value) to price/quality/time valuations

17. Consumption as the “glass cliff” of ordinary life Whenwatersgetstroubled unlikelycaptains are calledupon Families Women Emotion work Time Propriety

18. NegotiatingLifestyle: emotion work as “futurework” Necessities • Time saving commodities • Quality of food (health) • Sociability-related expenses • Culture as re-creation Luxuries • cars • emotional release • snobbish expenses (keep-up with the Jonses)

19. (right) value for (right) money Reappraisal of economic opportunities (discounts, second hand, e-bay, etc.) which were felt as incompatible with status identification Addressing uneven opportunities via visions of the common good (sustainability) Addressing commercialization of the home/relationships

20. Sustainabilityas a script of coherencedrawingpossiblefuturescapes Saving and sobriety: reference to the common good in terms of sustainablity and environmental security as a way to keep contradictions between status display and economic possibilities at bay “I cant really see people buying three portable a year, its’a waste which generates stupid fashions and really messes society up” [int. 73] “I do not like waste [spreco], it’s wrong, it’s stupid, it’s against nature … thinking about it [don’t waste water/ electricity] it’s a bit of sobriety for nature and the people around you” [int 13]

21. Consumption as relational work demanding time whose time and affectivity?