PERFORMANCE AND POSSESSION - RETHINKING THE ACT OF PURCHASE IN THE LIGHT OF THE CAR BOOT SALE

This paper provides both an empirical account of the act of purchase w ithin the car boot sale and an evaluation of the implications of these findings for theoretical debates on consumption. The paper begins by urging the need to rethink the act of purchase within consumption stud ies: whilst theoretical accounts have presumed much about the act of p urchase, these same accounts are argued to exhibit serious deficiencie s, some of which can be located in their assumption that the act of pu rchase (and consumption more generally) is confined to conventional re tail environments. In contrast, car boot sale purchasing is shown to i nvolve both separately and simultaneously theatricality and performanc e, unpredictability and the unexpected, skill, thrift and pleasure and desire. Furthermore, such characteristics are argued to exert conside rable influence on the rituals of possession, personalization and re-e nchantment that are shown to accompany much car boot sale purchasing. We conclude the paper by emphasizing the continued need for research o n consumption to connect the act of purchase to what is done with/to p articular items; by examining the implications of our findings for the oretical narratives of risk; and by posing a number of questions for r esearch on the act of purchase in conventional retail environments.