Getting your stuff together: The role of storage and decluttering services in the management of domestic materiality over the life course

作为一个社会，人们认为我们的房子比以往任何时候都小，但拥有的财产比以往任何时候都多；拥有更多的流动生活方式和不确定的生活，但渴望稳定。拟议的研究金的目的是通过开发证明我们在生命过程中与物质事物和我们的家园的关系不断变化的方法来促进对这些当代现象的理解。在我博士研究的新见解的基础上，这个奖学金将进一步探索和交流以下问题：(1)缺乏存储物品和存储空间的理论；(2)存储在处理丧亲和悲痛中的作用；(3)随着年龄的增长，我们管理财产的能力。这个奖学金的第一个主要目的是根据我通过博士研究获得的见解，为文化和社会地理的学术领域做出具体贡献。这项工作的很大一部分将以撰写三篇我的博士论文的形式进行，以便在声誉良好的国际期刊上发表。这一目标的另一个重要方面将包括通过在曼彻斯特大学摩根日常生活中心花一个月的时间，为其他学者主持一个为期一天的会议，研究家庭生活中被羞辱的方面，并在两个国际会议上发表演讲，进一步在学术网络中建立强大的立足点。第二，我将在这一奖学金中每周花相当于一天的时间进行新的研究，采访那些需要第三部门清理服务的老年人，以腾出空间进行必要的家居改善、缩小规模或进入住宿护理。与负责整个南威尔士阁楼项目的Cymru建立了联系。就像自助储物服务一样，清理服务的增长可以与当代不同的“与物共存”实践联系在一起，从而建立在我博士研究的主题之上，即在生命周期中，家庭物质与家庭空间之间不断变化的关系。希望这项额外的研究将证明在随后的博士后资助申请中进行更大规模研究的可行性，以及对第三部门清理志愿者和受益者的额外采访，也将检查那些提供和使用所谓的专业清理人员付费服务的人。最后，通过这项奖学金可用的时间和资源将被用于改善我的研究的影响。提高我向非学术受众传播调查结果的技能将是这项工作的重要组成部分，我将参加培训讲习班，学习如何自信地与媒体接触(ESRC媒体培训)，以及如何为非学术受众写作(对话)。最终，这次培训将意味着我将更好地为2020年10月的新一代思想家计划做好准备，但与此同时，这些技能将被用来为《对话》、《丢弃研究》和《自我存储焦点杂志》撰写客座文章和博客文章。这项小规模研究的结果将反馈给Cymru，并作为向Age UK和POST进行政策简报的基础。我还将在第三部门和行业会议-加的夫的保养和维修年会和欧洲自助存储协会年会上展示我的发现，并参加清理人员和专业组织者协会，为我未来的研究议程建立联系。

As a society it is thought that we have smaller homes but own more possessions than ever; have more mobile lifestyles and uncertain lives yet desire stability. The aim of the proposed fellowship is to contribute to understandings of these contemporary phenomenon by developing approaches which attest to our changing relationships with material things and our homes over the lifecourse. Building on novel insights from my PhD research this fellowship will further explore and communicate issues of (1) a lack of theorisations of stored objects and storage spaces; (2) the role of storage in dealing with bereavement and grief; (3) and our ability to manage our possessions as we get older.The first major aim of this fellowship is to make specific contributions to the academic fields of cultural and social geography from the insights gained through my PhD research. A large proportion of this work will be in the form of writing three articles from my PhD for publication in well-regarded international journals. The other significant strand of this aim will involve further developing a strong foothold in academic networks through spending a month at the Morgan Centre for Everyday Life at the University of Manchester, hosting a one-day conference for other academics studying stigmatised aspects of domestic life, and presenting at two international conferences.Secondly, I will spend the equivalent of one-day per week of this fellowship undertaking new research interviewing older people who require the assistance of third sector decluttering services to clear space for necessary home improvements, downsize or move into residential care. Links have been made with Care and Repair Cymru who run the Attic Project across South Wales. Like self-storage, the growth in decluttering services can be linked to different contemporary practices of 'living with things', thereby building upon themes in my PhD research regarding the changing relationship between domestic materiality and home spaces over the lifecourse. It is hoped that this additional research will demonstrate the feasibility for a larger study in a subsequent postdoctoral grant application, which as well as additional interviews of third sector decluttering volunteers and beneficiaries would also examine those supplying and using 'paid for' services from, so called, professional declutterers.Finally, the time and resources available through this fellowship will be utilised to improve the impact of my research. Improving my skills in the dissemination of findings to non-academic audiences will constitute an important part of this, and I will attend training workshops to learn how to confidently engage with the media (ESRC media training), and how to write for a non-academic audience (The Conversation). Culminatively this training will mean I am better equipped to apply to the New Generation Thinkers scheme in October 2020, but in the meantime these skills would be utilised in the production of guest articles and blogs posts for The Conversation, Discard Studies and Self Storage Focus Magazine. The findings of the small-scale study will be fed back to Care and Repair Cymru, as well as being the basis for policy briefings to Age UK and POST. I will also present my findings at third sector and trade conferences - the Care and Repair Annual Conference in Cardiff and the European Self Storage Association Annual Conference, and attend the Association of Declutterers and Professional Organisers to make connections for my future research agenda.