A small cluster of social scientists working in the allied fields of consumer and material culture have developed useful theory in relation to DIY. Most notable is the recent work carried out by Shove et al. (2007; also see Watson & Shove, 2008) who have used the British DIY case to explore the nuances of what they call “ordinary consumption”. This concept extends post-structural or “post-social” (Gabriel & Jacobs, 2008) theorising in the field of consumer and material culture by pointing out that while some material goods or ‘commodities’ are purchased in order to construct and convey a desirable individual or group identity (i.e., they have semiotic/symbolic value – for a full discussion see Featherstone, 1991), a good deal more are bought and used in the practical execution and accomplishment of everyday life, often in “pressingly mundane” ways (Watson & Shove, 2008, p.70; also see Shove et al.,2007). This is no better seen, Shove et al. (2007) argue, than in the everyday act of doing DIY projects where the co-dependent relationship between people, tools and other very ordinary commodities (nails, wood, sandpaper, paint, glue, plastic pipe, wire, nuts and bolts etc.) is plainly obvious. Shove et al’s (2007) qualitative data (interviews with DIYers) reveals that as DIY projects are carried out by practitioners, with the help of tools and new DIY technologies, their competence and confidence grows and, as a result, new possibilities for future projects emerge which, in turn, have implications for “future patterns of consumption” (Shove et al., 2007, p.43).
To inform their theorising, Shove et al. (2007) draw on Campbell’s (2005) conceptualisation of “craft consumption” – an idea which blends consumption aspects of DIY (i.e., the need for tools and materials and the desire to have a ‘nice’ house) with its obvious creative dimensions. Campbell (2005) begins his theorising with a useful description of the three dominant images of the consumer in the social science literature (also see Clarke et al., 2003; Paterson, 2006) and then develops his argument for the inclusion of a fourth category – the overlooked ‘craft consumer’. The first image, which is most palpable in the field of economics, is that of the ‘rational actor’ – a person, who with perfect market knowledge, judiciously approaches the purchase of goods and services in order to maximise utility and profit or, put more simply, acquiring the most for the least. The second image Campbell (2005) alludes to is that of ‘passive dupe’ whose consumption and purchasing choices are influenced by market mechanisms (such as advertising) which aim to maintain or generate wants and needs (also see Clarke et al., 2003, p.135). The third and most recent image – one developed by postmodern social scientists – is that of an ‘agent’ who buys market
39 commodities and then uses them to convey an image of self or to display their “buy in” to a particular lifestyle, group or community (Campbell, 2005). Campbell (2005) contends that while this three-pronged model of consumer types – dupe, rational actor and “postmodern- identity seeker” – provides a useful typology of consumption practices, it fails to account for the increasing number of people who purchase often very ordinary commodities (and, again, nails and screws spring to mind) and then, through the application of skill, judgement, desire and care, make something new, often for the sake of the ‘making’ experience itself. Campbell (2005) calls this fourth category of consumer practice, ‘craft consumption’. Elaborating, he writes:
This model … rejects any suggestion that the contemporary consumer is simply the helpless puppet of market forces. On the other hand, it does not foreground rational self-interested conduct, nor does it presume, as is the case with the postmodern model, that the consumer has an overwhelming concern with image, lifestyle or identity. Rather the assumption here is that individuals consume principally out of a desire to engage in creative acts of self-expression … they already have a clear and stable sense of identity … (Campbell, 2005, p.24).
Campbell (2005) suggests that obvious examples of craft consumption can be identified in the world of DIY home improvement where homeowners produce items for their homes from assemblages of raw materials – one strand of craft consumption which he labels “ensemble activity”. Important here, Campbell (2005) purports, is that the artefacts which the craft consumer constructs can in fact be purchased in finished form from the marketplace or, alternatively, one can pay a professional to do the work; but craft consumers, he argues, reject this option, instead choosing to make the end product themselves (a DIY approach). In essence, craft consumption – which may take many forms (weaving, cooking or building a deck or garden, etc.) – involves some ‘thing’ being designed and made by the same person, most likely the end user, from tools and materials accessed from the marketplace. Most important to the craft consumer is control over all aspects of the project – conceptualisation, product design, purchasing the necessary materials and also doing the work. “Thus one may say that the craft producer is one who invests his or her personality of self into the object produced” (Campbell, 2005, p.27).
In many ways, Campbell’s (2005) ideas mirror the recent thoughts of Richard Sennett (2008) in his book the Craftsman. While not explicitly concerned with DIY, nor based on primary data analysis, Sennett (2008) argues that as people engage in the act of making some ‘thing’ (from beginning to end) they develop a sense of pride in their work – pride being the reward
40 for perseverance, skill and commitment. Sennett (2008) suggests that despite the divide which has emerged between maker and user (producer and consumer) in modern society, most people carry the predisposition or impulse to make something for its own sake and, as such, we are all potential craftsmen. But he also points out that ‘making’ relies on people being curious about the tools and materials they have at hand and what they might be able to do with them.