Rubbish ritual performances in the use and disposition of clothing of rubbish value in Southwest Nigeria

Motajo, Abayomi Ibrahim (2025) Rubbish ritual performances in the use and disposition of clothing of rubbish value in Southwest Nigeria. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Extant theorisation following the social lives of consumption objects has yet to answer the question at the durable-rubbish interface of Thompson's (1979; 2017)Rubbish theory. Similarly, extant theorisation on divestment rituals has yet to transcend McCracken's (1986) transfer and reconfiguration of the cultural meanings of consumption objects. This is despite the bourgeoning works in both fields theorising the social lives of consumption objects that enter second-hand economies. Fashion objects remain consumption objects whose social life continues to attract significant attention since around the late 1960s (e.g. Winakor, 1969). The fashion industry is one of the world’s largest industries with a significant impact on both the environment and society. Fashion contributes significantly to global pollution (Brenot, Chuffart, Coste-Maniere, et al., 2019; Chavero, 2017; Colnago, 2019). The industry’s business model is one of “vertical disintegration and global dispersion of successive processes” (Niinimäki et al., 2020, 190). This model runs a linear system on a finite planet (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017). Fashion's unsustainability is further complicated by ultra-fast fashion and throwaway consumption culture (Castellani et al., 2015; Hanson, 1980; Payne & Binotto, 2017; Weber, Lynes, & Young, 2017; Chavero, 2017; Dwyer, 2010; WRAP, 2012, 2017, 2017b; House of Commons, 2019).

The contributions of fashion to the current global climate crisis are necessitating actions like the value redefinition from unwanted to second-hand (Garcia Martin, 2016; Zamani, Sandin, & Peters, 2017) and other efforts to ‘fix fashion’ in the UK (DEFRA, 2018; House of Commons, 2019). Some UK fashion consumers are responding to calls to adopt reuse. Encouraged and supported by governance institutions and infrastructure, these consumers are diverting used clothing items from landfill by donating them to charity organisations (Bianchi & Birtwistle, 2010;Ha-Brookshire & Hodges, 2009a; Joung & Park-Poaps, 2013; Lee et al., 2013; Prosic-Dvornic, 2022; Shim, 1995; Wai Yee et al., 2016). However, millions of tonnes of the UK’s donated used clothing items are shipped to destinations outside the UK without traceability (House of Commons, 2021; WRAP, 2017b), where official trade records about the used clothing market are either missing or inaccurate (Brooks, 2019; Sumo et al., 2023). Moreover, as the epigraph at the beginning of this chapter illustrates, the future lives of used clothing donated to global second-hand economies have yet to receive significant research attention. To address this disconnect, this study examines the fate of the UK’s donated used clothing that is shipped to Nigeria. Theoretically, it answers the unaddressed question of transfer at the durable-rubbish interface of Thompson's (1979; 2017)Rubbish theory, i.e., where do objects in the durable category end up? It also uncovers the ritual dimensions that manifest through the use and disposal of the UK’s donated used clothing, which is shipped to Nigeria.

Three rubbish ritual performances are uncovered by following clothing items of rubbish value to their final destinations. These are deodourising, sanctifying and burning. Deodourising expands extant divestment rituals during the reacquisition of used clothing items. Deodourising is enacted to remove public meaning – i.e., the peculiar odour of second-handedness – and add private meanings – i.e., the consumers’ preferred fragrance. Deodourising helps them manage their identity and self-image and establish who they are. Sanctifying and burning are two novel divestment ritual dimensions used during the disposition of used clothing. Sanctifying represents a novel divestment ritual dimension enacted to ensure the safe transfer of meanings in used clothing without the detriment of reverse contagion. Sanctifying and burning reveals that previous users are gravely concerned about potential harm coming to them due to strangers accessing their essence that permeates their used possessions. The third novel divestment ritual that the study finds is burning. Although burning unwanted consumer objects is not new, burning used clothing to manage identity and prevent reverse contagion, as the current study finds, is a novel approach. Burning constitutes a divestment ritual with the intention of destroying rather than transferring meaning. Burning thus extends extant theorising on divestment rituals beyond its current
theorisation as meaning reconfiguration and transfer. Burning as a ritual performance also answers the unanswered question about the transfer at the durable-rubbish interface of Thompson’s rubbish theory. The findings in the current study evidence that the transfer at the durable-rubbish interface of the rubbish theory does occur. As a new permanent clothing disposition pathway, burning also extends extant taxonomy for clothing disposition

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Subjects: H Social Sciences > HM Sociology
• Colleges/Schools: College of Social Sciences > Adam Smith Business School > Management
• Supervisor's Name: Duffy, Dr. Katherine, Shaw, Professor Deirdre and Anderson, Dr. Stephanie
• Date of Award: 2025
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2025-85083
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 23 Apr 2025 11:15
• Last Modified: 23 Apr 2025 11:17
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85083
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85083