Minimalists and the 'one in, one out' mentality: a problematic approach to living simply.
Insights are based on my PhD research which is one of the first in-depth academic investigations into the world of tiny houses, including touring homes, attending events and festivals, staying in a tiny house community, and interviewing dozens of ‘tiny housers’.
Unsurprisingly in an era of economic uncertainty, lifestyles that promote and glorify the need to self-regulate and sacrifice, such as minimalism, anti-consumption, and simplification, have gained popularity. These lifestyles are featured prevalently on social media, from showcasing beautifully crafted Instagram pages with high-resolution photos of the latest reusable utensils and sustainable clothing to YouTube videos on ‘100 Things to Get Rid of Today - Minimalism and Decluttering’. Ignited by a recession or not, the promotion of these lifestyles has the potential to inspire more intentionality and purposefulness around buying new items. However, probing exposed how motivations for adoption of such lifestyles are not straightforward. Pringle and Thompson (1999), Berlant, (1997), Zavestoski (2002), and Binkley (2006) argue that civic responsibility and anti-consumption mentalities have been widely reduced to self-realization, self-actualization, and personal growth. This highlights the need to investigate underlying factors (i.e. financial) that can lead individuals to ‘become’ these types of ‘more ethical’ consumers and the actualities of long-term change in mentality.
This observation is supported by my research on the tiny home lifestyle, which similarly gained popularity in this era of economic instability and encompasses aspects of all of these lifestyles. Notably, when I asked dwellers about buying less ‘stuff’, the mentality of ‘one out, one in’ arose. Dwellers stated that in order to bring in new items, old items must go (either for donation or being thrown away). Interestingly, most were unbothered by relaying this message, and many previously claimed to be more conscious of their consumption since going ‘tiny’. The tiny house lifestyle often forced the purging of material items due to spatial restrictions, as most dwellers lived in larger spaces prior to going ‘tiny’.
After spending several hours in a YouTube ‘blackhole’ on all things minimalism, I was surprised to discover that this ‘one in, one out’ mentality is promoted frequently within the minimalism and anti-consumption lifestyles. This mentality, while not inherently problematic, should not be adopted blindly. Our consumer ‘throw away’ culture, supported by fast fashion and the availability of anything at the click of a button, could easily ‘slip in’ and be excused by this ‘minimalistic’ rule. Indeed, several tiny house dwellers acknowledged their continued addiction to TJ Maxx and the ease of getting rid of an item to bring in something new, suggesting that the minimalism enacted by these dwellers was more the result of spatial restriction than a change in mentality. The questions remain, will these lifestyle choices move off the idyllic social media feed and translate to intentional and thoughtful consumption at the everyday, and will these changes persist beyond financial unease?
Sources:
Berlant, L.G. (1997) The Queen of America Goes to Washington City: Essays on Sex and Citizenship. Durham: Duke University Press.
Binkley, S. (2006) ‘The perilous freedoms of consumption: towards a theory of the conduct of consumer conduct’, Journal for Cultural Research, 10(4), pp. 343-362.
Pringle, H. and Thompson, M. (1999) Brand Spirit: How Cause Related Marketing Builds Brands. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
Zavestoski, S. (2002) ‘The social-psychological bases of anti-consumption attitudes’, Psychology and Marketing, 19(2), pp. 149-165.
