Debted Objects: Homemaking in an Era of Mortgage-Enabled Consumption

This paper assesses the relevance of mortgage-led consumption for the assemblage of home. Drawing on qualitative research completed in the UK, we show how the materials and meanings of owner-occupation are constituted by, and experienced through, the accumulation and deployment of secured debt. This...

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Main Authors: Cook, N., Smith, Susan, Searle, B.
Format: Journal Article
Published: Routledge 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63052
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author Cook, N.
Smith, Susan
Searle, B.
author_facet Cook, N.
Smith, Susan
Searle, B.
author_sort Cook, N.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description This paper assesses the relevance of mortgage-led consumption for the assemblage of home. Drawing on qualitative research completed in the UK, we show how the materials and meanings of owner-occupation are constituted by, and experienced through, the accumulation and deployment of secured debt. This is enabled by a particular financial regime, in which the proceeds of equity borrowing are freed for discretionary expenditure. Homes and their contents thus acquire the status of 'debted objects', and these form an interface between the financial and familial values comprising residential space. By attending to these mortgage-enabled purchases, we expose and evaluate the myriad ways in which equity borrowings animate the assemblage of home, adding value to property, linking domestic space with distant geographies and inspiring the art of dwelling. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
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publishDate 2013
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-630522018-02-06T06:23:29Z Debted Objects: Homemaking in an Era of Mortgage-Enabled Consumption Cook, N. Smith, Susan Searle, B. This paper assesses the relevance of mortgage-led consumption for the assemblage of home. Drawing on qualitative research completed in the UK, we show how the materials and meanings of owner-occupation are constituted by, and experienced through, the accumulation and deployment of secured debt. This is enabled by a particular financial regime, in which the proceeds of equity borrowing are freed for discretionary expenditure. Homes and their contents thus acquire the status of 'debted objects', and these form an interface between the financial and familial values comprising residential space. By attending to these mortgage-enabled purchases, we expose and evaluate the myriad ways in which equity borrowings animate the assemblage of home, adding value to property, linking domestic space with distant geographies and inspiring the art of dwelling. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63052 10.1080/14036096.2013.767280 Routledge restricted
spellingShingle Cook, N.
Smith, Susan
Searle, B.
Debted Objects: Homemaking in an Era of Mortgage-Enabled Consumption
title Debted Objects: Homemaking in an Era of Mortgage-Enabled Consumption
title_full Debted Objects: Homemaking in an Era of Mortgage-Enabled Consumption
title_fullStr Debted Objects: Homemaking in an Era of Mortgage-Enabled Consumption
title_full_unstemmed Debted Objects: Homemaking in an Era of Mortgage-Enabled Consumption
title_short Debted Objects: Homemaking in an Era of Mortgage-Enabled Consumption
title_sort debted objects: homemaking in an era of mortgage-enabled consumption
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63052