Products for life

Julie Madon’s work is adapted from the doctoral thesis in sociology that she devoted, between 2018 and 2023, to sustainability activists in France: sympathizers of the Halte association in planned obsolescence, volunteers and public of repair cafes, followers of DIY and “ zero waste ». However, it relates less to their commitment to these structures than to their daily relationship with the objects of their home, thus crossing sociology of social movements and ethnography of material culture.

This double empirical contribution is more than welcome. Indeed, most of the trials on planned obsolescence published in France over the past fifteen years had tended to be supported only by technical surveys or botched and erroneous historical stories. Julie Madon, for her part, reports and analyzes data from her multisituated land: interviews, photographs and observations concerning the relationship with consumer objects certainly informed, but banal. The banality is even at the heart of the investigation, people being invited to talk about their private material environment and their steps to maintain it. It is indeed an object of research both heuristic (objects, it speaks to everyone !) And problematic (daily life does not interest anyone !). According to their anecdotes, concerns, revolts, the respondents are invited to put words on the often silent management of the material environment, showing strategies, efforts and “ Longevity practices ». It is up to the author to analyze sociologically the causes of these practices, by making the link between consumer goods and “ life stories, human relations, social norms “(P. 6),” career of the object And trajectory of the subject (p. 20).

“” Which today prolongs the life of objects ? Asks the researcher (p. 11). His answer notably takes the form of a typology, showing that there are variable profiles of “ lodge “: These are not just young urban graduates and environmentalists. The most recurring profiles are also elderly rural households, “ installed »In spaces with equipment and room to tinker, store ; THE “ consumerist », Was well who likes to replace their equipment nine, are indifferent to environmental issues, but fear to be done« rip »» ; THE “ city ​​dwellers », Strongly constrained by budget and space, careful without being able to be handy. This typology has the advantage of complicating the spontaneous categorization of movements for sustainability (associated with the eternal rejecting figure of the boho). It could go further, undoubtedly suffering from the limits of the sample, which the author indicates that it is not diversified enough and presents a recruitment bias. It should be expanded, and in particular deepen the category of “ urban In order to make it representative of the French population. We could thus fully test one of the most interesting challenges of the work, namely the fact that the social circulation of identical practices makes the judgment of them vary, even the perception that we have: “ The same practices with low ecological impact can be highly valued when adopted by favored classes which associate them with an ecological discourse, and on the contrary be delegitimized when they are adopted by popular classes forced in their consumption. (P. 233). Such a remark shows the importance of sociology for ecological strategies, and can account for the grip of the spontaneous categorization with which the author had to confront itself.

The typology of the different senses of “ last Is also very welcome, because it is finer and more empirical than those offered for example by ADEME.

Another fundamental aspect of the work is to show that, as soon as there is a desire to make it last, there is work. An insistence that politicizes the subject, showing that to make it last is to deviate from the consumer norm (according to which “ We don’t consume anything of what we produce, and we don’t produce anything we consume ) And that this generates power relations. In particular, this confronts the gendered division of domestic work, well restored by the author, who notes that men specialize in DIY and cultural goods, women in care practices and household equipment. It also shows that, contrary to the idea that we no longer transmit anything from one generation to another, the intergenerational donation remains frequent (or even arrives more often, since people are more frequently renewed their accommodation and their furniture) and is often provided by elderly women. The book thus constitutes a solid contribution to feminist criticism of the field, which notably showed the role of women in maintenance and zero waste. A wider sample of respondents would undoubtedly identify other power relationships.

We regret finding in the book a certain number of recurring problems in the media and political treatment of the planned obsolescence at XXI^e century. Thus, the typology of the three forms of obsolescence (technical, psychological, programmed), sea serpent of controversies on the subject, remains wobbly, which leads to simplifications: phenomena such as “ weariness, mode, technological evolution Are put in the same bag and not very detailed, while these are crucial points to understand the renewal of goods (p. 83). We would like to understand more this interviewee who, after trying to justify a change of coffee machine, says: “ I don’t know, I wanted to change (P. 177). Are we not dealing here with one of these “ Magnificent Tautology (s) by which the evidence of the social »Of which Bourdieu speaks ? It would be necessary to develop, to refine the distinctions, to overcome this evidence.

In the same way, Madon speaks both of “ political discourse “And” Rhetoric of suspicion (P. 200) to qualify the words of an interviewed complaining of the high cost and ineffectiveness of the After -sales service Consulted for its broken printer. Why reproduce this equivalence, dear to all journalists, politicians, representative of companies which, for 15 years, have presented criticisms of planned obsolescence as conspirators and ideologists ? Madon’s work also shows that it is not only the speeches heard that lead consumers to the diagnosis of planned obsolescence: reading the manuals, the visit to After -sales service Or the experience of repairs (happy or unhappy), in other words material and social experiences, forces them. Perhaps this aspect would come better if the author had made room for observations in his work, for the moment focused on the stories obtained by interviews.

This concession to “ suspicion “Perhaps also explains that the researcher excludes from the investigation” Consumable products (plastic cups, ball pens, etc.), made to be thrown, less relevant to talk about lifespan (P. 13). Why would they be less relevant ? These products “ consumables ” (Or “ disposable ) Are examples of planned obsolescence and it is not true that their lifespan, to be prescribed, is more obvious than that of other objects studied – that using them does not entail “ Daily arbitrations (P. 34) and strategies in sustainability activists. It is even a safe bet that their use is particularly problematic for the latter, since these products are not all “ for single use », Exhausting in a gesture of consumption: they have variable lifes of life and are often the subject of quantity of« adaptations », In ways of living with the dysfunctional of which the author speaks so well. In fact, at least one quote from the book shows that this subject is relevant to understand the motivations of the respondents (p. 134). Excluding disposable products from the study on obsolescence and sustainability, as most of the actors of controversies have done on this subject, is therefore not justified, and tends to accredit the approach by “ suspicion In a tautological way: by focusing only on objects whose lifespan is not officially limited, the study is restricted to objects whose lifespan is limited in a deceptive, hidden manner. This approach is an aspect of the field (this is the association of the obsolescence planned for “ scam “, Dear to” consumerist ) That must be objectified by analysis, and not reproduce in the analysis.

We would also have liked one of the strong words of the title, “ deconst », Found developments in the body of the text, because it is an ambiguous word, used as slogan by many actors, without being well defined. It could usefully take advantage of the author’s undeniable ability to complicate, by empirical analysis, so many subjects simplified by their political use: if, as the work clearly shows, the watchword “ make things “Is far from being simple to understand and apply, what about the watchword” deconst »» ?