'Does it Spark Joy?': KonMari Decluttering in the UK
Does it spark joy?’: a question put forward by the Japanese tidying up expert Marie Kondo that has attracted attention in the West since her first book was published in English in 2014 (Kondo, 2014). The KonMari method was designed by Kondo to help others declutter and organise their homes by connecting with what brings them joy (Kondo, 2014). This research aims to identify the reasons underpinning KonMari’s global popularity through ethnographic fieldwork and analysis of a similar rising trend in the West: minimalism. The anthropological theoretical frameworks of material culture, object biographies, and the economics of emotions will be used to contextualise human relationships with the material, and how Kondo’s method may be changing these relationships. Nine female volunteers from KonMari Facebook groups were interviewed about their experiences of decluttering their homes, and what ‘spark joy’ means to them. Three overarching themes of pride, freedom and peace were identified from the informants’ relationships with their homes post-decluttering. Discussing the Japanese influences on the KonMari method, this research concludes by suggesting that where minimalism confines itself within strict boundaries, Kondo’s method accepts the ambiguous instead. ‘spark joy’ celebrates the emotional power of objects and aims to work alongside them, rather than dismissing them.
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