My research primarily focuses on the intersection of material culture, religion, media, consumption, and waste in the context of the United States by considering several key questions: what counts as sacred, what counts as waste, and how do things move between these categories and/or occupy these categories simultaneously? How is consumer capitalism in the United States, and the processes of disposal on which consumer capitalism depends, shaped by religion and, vice versa? How is religion constituted online—in and through popular trends?
My dissertation project “Enchanting the Home: Rituals of Disposal” traces the American decluttering trend, which has gained a significant following in the last decade. The decluttering trend is comprised of ideologically and geographically diverse movements such as Marie Kondo, Minimalism, Swedish death cleaning, Homesteading, Hygge, and Feng Shui, among others. Although many of these movements share little in common, they all involve ridding the home of excess possessions in order to achieve health, happiness, freedom, and even salvation. By historicizing this trend, I argue that the decluttering trend enchants the home by attuning people to the dangerous and harmful power their possessions exert over them. I also analyze decluttering rituals and show how these rituals are predicated on the production of waste. By focusing on the elimination of goods, I show how the enchantment of consumer capitalism relies on disposability, as much as it does on marketing, purchasing, and consuming.
Given the urgency of climate change and the endless proliferation of waste, my research on the relationship between religion and waste is part of an emerging field that has many potential directions. My future scholarship will explore how waste, decay, and rot shape the material efficacy and devotional practices of American religion.