Shove, Elizabeth and Southerton, D (2000) Defrosting the freezer: From novelty to convenience - A narrative of normalization. Journal of material culture, 5 (3). pp. 301-319. ISSN 1359-1835
Full text not available from this repository.Abstract
This article examines the 'normalization' of the British freezer. It defines three phases in this process: an initial period oriented around the utility of preserving home produce; a second stage marked by the development of a frozen food infrastructure and the establishment of the freezer as a part of the efficient domestic economy; and a third subtle but significant redefinition of the primary benefits of freezing in terms of convenience. Cast in their new role as 'time machines', freezers are sold as a means of managing contemporary pressures associated with the scheduling and co-ordination of domestic life. At one level, this is a story of the gradual acceptance of a relatively standardized object. Yet this narrative suggests that the freezer's promised benefits and functions change along the way. Developing this point, we argue that the normalization of the chameleon-like freezer can only be understood in the context of similarly changing systems of food provisioning, patterns of domestic practice and allied technological devices.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Journal or Publication Title: | Journal of material culture |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | co-determination ; convenience ; domestic technology ; everyday life ; normalization |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HM Sociology |
| Departments: | Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences > Sociology |
| ID Code: | 52990 |
| Deposited By: | ep_importer_pure |
| Deposited On: | 15 Mar 2012 09:58 |
| Refereed?: | Yes |
| Published?: | Published |
| Last Modified: | 26 Jul 2012 20:11 |
| Identification Number: | |
| URI: | http://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/52990 |
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