Appropriating the State on the Council Estate

7/31/2019 Appropriating the State on the Council Estate

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Appropriating the State on the Council Estate

Author(s): Daniel MillerReviewed work(s):Source: Man, New Series, Vol. 23, No. 2 (Jun., 1988), pp. 353-372Published by: Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and IrelandStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2802810 .

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APPROPRIATING THE STATE ONTHE COUNCIL ESTATEDANIEL MILLER

Universityollege ondonThis articlesconcernedwith henature fconsumptionn an ndustrialociety. t nvestigatesthe manner n which tenants n a London Council Estatehave decorated nd alteredtheirkitchens. triking ifferencesn the ability f tenants o appropriate acilities rovidedby thecouncil are considered n relation o gender, thnicitynd otherfactors. uch a perspectiveillustrateshedialectical ature fgender ategoriesnder ertain onditions.t alsohighlightshedynamic otential f ong-term onsumptions an arena hroughwhich ocialgroups ttemptotransformlienable oods into nalienableulture, utareoften nabletoaccomplish hisgoal.

Introduction:he heoreticalackgroundThe key analytical ermsto be employed n this article re alienation ndappropriation. hese are derivedfrom considerable iterature ithinwhichanthropologists ave attempted o utilise onceptswhich arose out ofcriticaldebates s to the nature f ndustrialocieties nd apply them o smaller-scalecommunities. keypoint fdeparture asbeen Thegift yMauss 1954), fromwhicha polarity as beendevelopedbetween commodity' ocieties,used toexemplifyhe tate f lienation,nd gift' ocieties, sed tocharacterisehe tateof nalienabilitye.g. Gregory 982).Thispolarity asbeenmostmarkednwritingsnthePacificwhere series frecent nalyseshave followed fromSahlins's representation1974: I49-83),followingMauss, ofcultural trategiess a form fpre-emptivetrikegainstthepossibilityf alienatione.g. Munn I977; Strathern985; Weiner 985). Itwould seem worthwhileoutilise urunderstandingf such cultural trategiesderived fromthe studyof non-industrialocieties, nd return hem to thecontextwithin which the problematicwas first ncountered-to see, forexample,whethermagesof culture s inalienabilityan also berecovered romethnographictudywithin n ndustrialociety.In completinghis ircle, shiftn thefocus f concern eems warranted. nMelanesia,theformation fprocesses uch as gender nd exchange nsure hatobjectsare ntegral o theformation f social relations. y contrast, iventheinfluence f Marx on this expressivist' radition, he main thrust f socialcriticism ithin ndustrial ontexts asbeen evelled gainst onditionswhichcreate alienation s estrangementromthe productsof labour, regarded shavingbeen nvestedwith spects fthe ocialbeingoftheproducer. tshould

ManiN S ) 23, 353-372


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354 DANIEL MILLERbe evident y the 980's, however, hat his orm f critical heorymayby nowbe anachronistic.heexperience f lienation s estrangement ay ncompassmuch wider pectrum f nteractionetween ocialgroups and their eceivedenvironmenthan hat ftherelationsfproductionwhichhave been thefocusof conventional ocialism. Within n industrialontext, he very cale of theinstitutions hich onstructnd distributetsproductsmay makealienation nintrinsic ondition. n such circumstances hatmust be looked for are not'pre-emptive trikes', utrather response n the formofan appropriation,understood s a re-socialisation,f the rtefactualnvironment.The problemof housing,whichprovidesthe background o my study,exemplifieshecomplexityf thecurrentelationship etween ociety nd itsartefacts.elf-built ousing, espitetspoliticalppeal, snever ikely o be morethan minority ossibility,nlesswe wantto renew he ntire ousing tock tvery hort ntervals. theory fhousing hereforeas to be largely theory fconsumption. he distributive echanisms-that s, the market nd the tate-are clearly roblematic andidatess thedirect ourceof social dentificationor affectiveommunity. hismeansthatwhethers council enants r owneroccupiers,households are likelyto receive theirbuilt environments theproduct f systemwhichwould notberegardedsan nvestmentftheir ocialbeing. f hey retodevelop heirelf-conceptionshouseholds ndneighbour-hoodsitmustbe throughome form fconsumptions appropriation,houghtheirpossibilities f accomplishing histaskmaywell be coloured by theirconsumptiontatus.The aimofthis rticleboutworkonthehome asconsumptionsthereforeoexcavate henature fthevalue which onfirmsuch abour s a socialactivity.This s not omeabsolute uality utrather erives rom heparticular ositionofconsumptionn thecontext fmoregeneral haracterisationsf industrialsociety. Our current otion of consumers s extremely onstraining, sedmainly n relation o thepurchase f commodities r of status n respect oownership, nd the connotationsregenerally egative, degenerationromthe previous tateof users' (e.g. R. Williams 980). Thereis a considerableliterature n what s wroingwithconsumption, ut very ittle boutwhatanactivitywhich s integralo all industrial ocieties ughttobe like.Consump-tionmay,however, ereformulatednvalue-relatederms san deal. One suchmodel might nvolvea process by which social groupsare formed roundactivities hroughwhichthey attempt withvariabledegreesof success) torenderwhat s inevitablymet s alienating henreceived hroughhedistribu-tive institutionsf the nation-state,nto inalienable culture Miller I987:I78-2I7). Our concern houldtherefore e increasingly ith the mannerbywhich relations f production nd distribution ontribute r constrain hisproject fconsumptions the onstructionf nalienability.

The particularubject f this nalysiss anaspect fthebuilt nvironmentnBritain.At thepresent imethere remany ncentives o establishinglterna-tives to the dual means of housingdistribution ith theirconsequenceofpotential lienationf ections fourownsociety rom he nvironment hichthey ccupy.These area strong entralistlanning ureaucracy hichduringtheperiodofhighmodernismppearsto havealienated herecipientsf this


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DANIEL MILLER 355aspect fwelfare tate olicy, nd, on theother and, private ousingmarket,either ented r, especially oday,owner-occupied, hich eaves only declin-ing and clearly nferior ousing ection o thoseunableto oin thefray LabourHousing Group 984).In developing uch alternativeshe drivehas been towards more partici-patory nd dynamic elationshipetweenplanners nd consumers, ncludingdifferentorms fcollective wnership nd communityonstructionsuch ashousing co-operatives) r possibilities f self-build nd self-control. hesechanges re associatedwithgroups s diverse s thefar eft nd the monarchy(McDonald I986; Ward 985). Recent cademicwriting n these rendse.g.Saunders 984; P. Williams 986) often mploys erminologyuchas 'aliena-tion', affectiveommunity', nd most recentlyontological ecurity'whichevokes process eyond he onstructionfhousing nd mplies concernwiththe subsequentrelationship etween the housingand its occupants. Here,however,researchsrelativelyparse.Therehavebeenparticipantbservationprojects nhousing statese.g. Andrews 979) but theorientation as been tothepublicdomain andtheemergence fphenomena uch as tenants' ssocia-tionsor the use ofpublicfacilities. he problemforresearch s thatonce thebuildings recompletemostof the ction akesplace n that athernaccessiblearea behind hefront oors.Such informations is available bout this ong-term elationships mainlygleanedfrom articularymptoms,uch s the ncidence fvandalism, ases ofdepression, ifferentialistrict ouseprices nd so forth. ften,however, hissrelated o specific roups within he mass and it is hard to gauge the actualheterogeneity,omethingwhich merges trongly rom esearch uch as TonyParker's nterview-basedccount f a London estate, ublished s Thepeople fprovidenceI983). Therehavealso been a series f user studies, suallyunder-taken fter relativelyhort eriod foccupation nd concernedargelywith hefunctional uccessof specific esignfeaturese.g. DOE I972, though ee alsoDarke I984). Exceptionshave been studies based on the transformationfbuilding ormsn a widevariety f social contexts,uch asKing's researchntothedevelopmentfthebungalow I984), and a study fthe ppropriationf LeCorbusier'svillage'ofLe Pressac Boudon 972) (though hiss a rather typicalcase).

Descriptionffieldworkn northondonstateThe materialwhichforms hebasisofthis tudy s takenfrom single ouncilestatennorth ondon.Thisestatewas built ntheearly 970's andconsists fflatsn low-rise,high-densitylocks.It clearly xhibits he streetsn theair'philosophy f deck-accessblockscurrent decadeearlier, reflectionf theextended eriodbetweennitial lanningndcompletion. heestatewas ocallyconsidered nfavourablys against lternativestates n thearea.The atmos-pherewas generally nfriendlynd itwas known ocallyas a 'valium' estate.The initial settlement ased on the firstphase of buildingwas relativelysuccessfulwitha dynamic enants' ssociation,manyof thetenants oming


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356 DANIEL MILLERfrom nearby rea,but s the state rew o thepresent ize of over 00 flats ndmaisonettes onflicts merged specially ver noise and fights etweenestatechildren, ho were short f play areas. The tenants' ssociation olded nd didnot arise gain for decade. Tenantsnoted the argenumber fpetty uarrelsbetween neighboursbut on the other hand considered t a relatively on-violent safe' area, and some at east uggested hat ts negative eputation as'undeserved'.I interviewed orty enants thiswas around 3 per cent.of thetotal, n flatsranging rom edsitterso three edrooms).Thirty-fourf them llowed me tophotographhekitchennteriorsnthe tate heyhappened o be inat the ime.The majority fthese ouseholdswere ither riginal enants'rhad ivedon theestate or decadeormore;only fifth adbeen ess than iveyears n the state.The interviews oncentratedn basicbackgroundnformationboutthehouse-hold andquestions egardinghekitchen,ncluding etails boutpatterns fuseand decorationuchas how individualmembers f thehouseholdregarded hekitchen nd what ctivities hey ssociatedwith t,thepatternfvisits, ttitudesto the estate,and the processeswhich resulted n the presentpatternofdecorations.The information obtainedwas thereforeitchen-based, ut asnoted ntheMass Observation tudy f 94I-2, kitchenswerethe key deter-minate f general ousing atisfactionI943: 55), and remarks o that ffectrecommonfrom ousewives oday'.

Wherepossiblethe nterviews ererelativelynformalllowing nformantsto raisea variety f ssues,so relativelyewquantifiableorms f nformationweregiven.The aimwasnot formalample urvey, ut oconsider ualitativefactors ifficultoexpressn anguageorto excavate rom ractices, ut whichmight emergeas general trends.Additionalbackground nformationwasobtainedfrom nterviewswith ndividualsn a positionto assessthegeneralsocialdevelopmentf the state uchas a member fa housing ctiongroup,caretakerndthehead of the enants' ssociation. did not ive on the state uttried o observepatternsfvisitingnd use ofpublic reaswhenpossible.The intentionfmy studywas toexaminehowessentiallydentical acilitiesprovided ythe ouncilhavebeendifferentiallymployednthe ongterm. hetenants tartedwith the same blank canvas' and the data consist of theirself-designver theyears.One possiblefocus ould havebeenon the ymbol-ismofthedecorations nd theprinciplesf order' stablished,ut nthis rticlethe mphasiswillberather n thedegree o which particularousehold, acedwiththeprovision fa rangeoffurnishingselected ythecouncil, ppears ohaveengaged nsomeform f appropriation' hroughransformationnd thefactors hich eemed o have facilitatedr constraineduch lterations. lmostall thekitchenswere basedononeoftwobasicpatterns.Most were ongbut ataround2.4mwidth ather arrow.They already ada system fmodern ittedcupboards nd thenormal lumbing ndenergy upplies, utallother acilitieswereprovided ythe enants. t the woextremesherewerecases nwhich hekitchenwasvirtuallynaltered rom tsoriginal tate, sagainst ases where heoccupantshad thrown out all the fitmentsheywere providedwith andpurchased commercial itted itchen.My aim was to detect atternsnthesetransformations,r ack ofthem, nd account or hem.


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DANIEL MILLER 357Therewere imits o what he enants ould do without ngaging n structuralalterations iven hepositions fcupboards nd energy nd water ources.Theywere modernfitted itchenswiththeusual worksurfacesnd work triangle'.Eatingwithin hekitchens as difficultecausetheywere ong and narrow; hethree-bedroom aisonettesad a hatcheading o an areaof the ounge nwhichtenantswere expected oputa table. Obvious subjects or hange ncluded heblacklinofloor, urtains nd decorations,white wares (mosthad purchasedfridges, ookers ndwashingmachines) nd thecupboardswhich, partfromthe recentlynstalled itchenswhichhadlaminate urfaces,wereofwood andhardboardndrequired ainting.

Some elevantariablesWhen conducting specific nalysiswithinan area such as contemporaryLondon there rea vastnumber fpossiblerelevant ariables nd questions.Before xamining he results f this nquiry, everal uch key areas ofdebatemaybe very rieflyxamined.Councilestates, espite ften eing nspired yavariety f socialist ndwelfare hilosophies, ave commonly een regardedshavingfailed to promotethe intended ociability.This has been associatedwith enants' onsciousness hat hey remerely assiverecipientsf omethingwhichtheywould otherwisehave wished to have controlover, and indeedcouncilshave traditionallymposed tightrestrictionspon the alterationsoccupants re allowedtomaketotheir roperties.Any evidencefor lienation xpressedntenants' efusal o feel at home' asoccupantsmaybe associatedwith n antagonism ither-more narrowly-tothe state s expressednthecouncil,or-more generally-to the condition fclass andpovertyuchthat enants eel hemselves onceived fas the ymbolic'other' to theprivate ector. The modernist mage of council housing s areflectionf thecontrol xerted y the tate n general nd s a reflectionf thecontrol xerted y capitalism ver boththeworkplace nd thedistributionfresources Miller 984).Generalisationrom hissituation, s found n current oliticaldebates, sproblematic. t should not be assumed that tenancy s some universalisticcondition, r thatprivateownershiphas some necessary ntologicalconse-quences. naffluentountriesuchas Sweden,WestGermany nd Switzerlandtheproportionfhomeownershipmaybe low and nothers uchas Canada indecline Agnew I98I: 67). It is in Britain n particularhatthisrelationshipoperates,wherethe house and gardenhavebecomean almost universal oalwithin setofrelationshipsetween ndividualismnd the tate, nd the ountryand the ity,which rehard o assimilate o continental odels see R. WilliamsI973).The focus on thekitchenmplicates nother eries of debatesaroundthenature fhousewifery.herehasbeena considerablenterestn thehistory fthekitchen, mphasisingn theone hand thedevelopment fdomestic cienceandattemptsoconstruct setof normativemodelsforkitchen se, andon theother he argenumber falternativendradical chemeswhich challenge he


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358 DANIEL MILLERprimacyof thehousewife-kitchenelationships it has developed (HaydenI98I). A parallel oncentrationfresearchnd critique asbeen on theplace ofhousework s unpaid abour, n whichprivatedomaintherelativelysolatedhousewifesreduced oa series fvicarious ursuits. hese ensure erremovalfrom ny of themore mportant olitical ndpublicdomains, nd constructnelaborate ub-culture f women's domestic ffairsostered ymediasuch aswomen'smagazineswhichreproduce his deologicalform fpatriarchye.g.Barrett McIntosh 982; Coward I984; Davidoff 978).A possible lternativeerspectivemaybe related o certain rends mergentfrom ecent tudiesby sociologists nd economists.tmaybe arguedthat hedomestic phere riginateds the hrine f spirituality' hichdeterminedheremovalof females rom hepublicdomain Zaretsky976). With decline nthe mportancef theworkplace, owever,hascomeanincreasingrientationtowards the home and theprivate phereas thesourceforfuture ffectiverelations. he householdhas also reemergeds a keyarenafor hepoolingofresources, s in Pahl's research I984) on thearticulation etween differentforms f labour. Somewhatneglecteds theconsumption-equivalentithinwhich themale may be re-constructed ithina new role whichprovidesfora complementary enderrelationship. here is evidence forthisfromGershuny's ork I978; I983; I985) on thedo-it-yourselfthosbased onreplacing ervicendustriesywork within hehome.

In the one comparable tudy vailable,based on a sampleoffifty-fourothowner-occupied nd council tenantsn Guildfordwhichdid not, however,examine the actualdecorative rder)JohnstonI980) proposedthreemajorgroupingsngender elations.On theone hand therewere thosewomen whofollowed raditionalolemodels, nd wereconcernedokeepthevarious oomsinthehouseasfunctionallypecificnd resentedmen nthekitchen. tthe therend were householdswheretheroom divisionshad brokendown as had thegender specificityf manyhouseholdtasks,and the home was essentiallyregardeds a largely e-segregatedamily omain.Thethird roup onsisted fthosewomen who underthe nfluence ffeminismooked towardsthe attermodel butwereconstrainedopractiseccording o the raditional odel and twas here hat issatisfactionaspronounced.t shouldbenoted,however, hatthe argest roup nJohnston'surveywasowner-occupied, hich salso wherefeministdeaswere nevidence.A further ajorcontextual actorsthe onsiderablempact fthe dvertisingoutputof the fitted itchenndustry.Many tenants re readersof women'smagazinesand know of companies uch as Hygena. In seeingwhat counciltenants o it s worth ememberinghevery arge umsspent n fitted itchensby owner-occupiersnan ndustry orth round . 5 billion ounds. Most suchcommercialkitchens re based on essentiallydenticalmelamine-faced hip-board carcasses nd functional ifferencesre minor.The tradeournal listsprices rom round 300 to?4,ooobasedonkitchensllstoring he ame amountofobjects, heonlysubstantive ifferenceeingthe tyles ndmaterials f thedoorsand nameofthe ompany. .e. mostprivate ouseholdsmaybe willing ospend up to thousands fpounds purely n stylewith virtually o functionalconsequences. analysed sample f oo such dvertisementsromhe ompany


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DANIEL MILLER 359brochures romwhich t was evident hat hemajororganising imensionwasthe evocationoftime fordetails eeMillerforthcoming).hat is, therewerethree ominant lasses:a) solid wood doors evokingan olde-worldenostalgia tyle ssociatedwithcarved nsets, eadedglass, temsofcopper ndbrass,preserves, riedplants,old mastersndpewter;b) A laminatefrontedmodernist ormassociated with geometricdesigns,bright olours, potlights, on kitchen quipment, tainlessteel,fruitnd cutflowers;c) A mixture f aminate ndwood associatedwitha mixing fnostalgic ndmodern itemsand more often associatedwith practicalfunctions uch ascooking.Underlying hetemporal ymbolismweretwo modes oforganisation.Onthe one hand was heterogeneityndbricolagewith for xamplechina fromnumber f differentets,such that heobjectswerenotunited s visualstylebut mpliedmemorabilia elated o thehouseholder's wn past.The oppositeorganisational rinciplewas one of homogeneity,n whichall items relatedstylisticallyo all others, nd it was thevisualcohesionwhichdetermined hemeaning ndacceptabilityfparticularorms. hese advertisementsre usefulbecausethey avea clarityndeveloping he ogicofcertainrganisational rin-cipleswhich swe shall ee srarely qualled nordinary eople's ctualkitchens.

Therearesignificantifferencesetween he ssumptionsfadvertisingndtheexperience f consumers.For example, n advertisementsheyoungareshown withmodernist orms ndtheelderlywiththenostalgia tyle.Histori-callyhowever he arliest itted itchensnthe 950's wereuniversallymodern-ist,themixedpineand aminate eveloped nthe 960's and thenostalgia tylebased on oak did not takeoffuntilthe I970's. For the presentgeneration,therefore,t s modernismhat shistorical, ostalgia hat s relatively ew. Ininterviewingn the estate t was the elderlywho most oftenpreferredhemodernistbrightred and whiteformsout of a sample of advertisementstheywere shown, while theyoung tended to go for the nostalgia styles,althoughseveralof the elderlynoted thattheywere supposed to like thenostalgiaforms ndwould probablyhave responded ccordingly o a simpleverbalquestionnaire. his is thefirstfa series fexamples ndicatinghegulfbetweenwhatpeople felt heyweresupposedto like and whatthey ctuallyidentified ith.A final ontextual actorsthe mpact f differencesnavailableresources.nthe ommercialworld t sgenerallyssumed hatdoing up' yourkitchens thework of owner-occupiers s part of a more general strategy f financialinvestment,nd counciltenantswould thereforeave little easonto becomeinvolved. Surprisinglyohnston ound thatcouncil tenantswere as likelytohavemadesignificantlterationsotheir itchenss those ntheprivate ector(I980: I20). Thisis despite hefact hat ouncil enantswould make no moneyout oftheir itchens,nd ndeed ntheNorthLondongroupmostbelieved heywouldhave toremove lltheir lterationsnd returnhekitchen o itsoriginalstatebefore heywent, lthoughnpracticehiswas not actually he ase.One possible explanationfor thisfindingmighthave been thatcouncil


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360 DANIEL MILLERkitchens ere essadequate han hose n owner-occupied ousing nd thereforerequired unctionalmprovements. ohnston, hosebackgroundwas in homeeconomics,carefullynvestigated number fstandard ood preparation ndsimilar asks:although he alterationsmadedid increase atisfaction iththekitchenhiswas notassociatedwith nyactual mprovementn thefunctionalenvironmentccordingoergonomicriteriaI980: I33). Whateverhe easonsbehind uch alterationsheywere therefore ot reducibleust to a searchforefficiency.Certainlymaterial nd social resources revariable, nd thisvariationwasevidentn thenorth ondonstudygroup,which ncludedninehouseholdsofretired eople, six whose adultswere unemployed, our ingle women withchildren, utalso two withfour dults nemployment.twould, however,besurprisingf resourceswere a major determinantincein periods of over adecade, and usingmaterialswhich were not costly,retired eople were inpractice s likely o haveundertaken.suchhanges s households f employedadults,with the exceptionof the installation f an expensive commercialkitchen.An alternative ould be toassumethat heobjective onditions fworkingclass ncomes constitute onsiderable onstraintss compared o middle classlife. The key question then would be about the characterisationf theseconstraintsnd whatpermitsertain roups oemerge s creativeppropriatorsof theirenvironments, ignifyingn abilityto transcend uch oppressiveconditions. ucha task shelpedno morebyromanticisingheworking lassasan immanent ociety r deriding hem s a mass. We needto learn from hedifferentialuccess n this truggle; hismeans earning rom eople's actions,whichoftenproject spirations eyondthemuch morecodified ndperhapsdeadeningweight f anguage nd egitimacy.Kitchenss canvasesThe estate studiedwas roughly ivided ntothreemainpopulations, f Black(West ndian), rish nd ocalorigin.Aswill become evident hemaincleavagein terms f the materials sed in this urveywas betweenthe ocal and Irishpopulation s againstthe Black (and continentaluropean) populations. n-itially will focuson the kitchens f the former. he following escriptionsorganised roundnormativelusters asedprimarilyponthedegree owhichthekitchens adbeentransformed.hese are then ssociated irstwithhouse-hold form and secondlywith householdattitudes o the kitchenbased oninterview ata. Thesegroupswere thereforeolytheticategories xemplifiedthrough articularasesandwithout nvariantoundary efinitions.The first roupconsisted fthree ases ofsinglewhite males.These wereconspicuous by markedconservation f the originalkitchenfeatures.Anexamplewas a retiredmale ivingna bed-sittingoomwho hadno familyndfewfriends, r, as he put t, 'you see I'm one of those people . . . I keep tomyself'.He did not eave theflat xceptto shoporvisit he ibrary ut n hisbedsithe had onlythe kitchen nd bedroomtodwellin. Despite livingtherethirteenearsnothing adbeendone: therewas theoriginal lack inoflooring


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DANIEL MILLER 36Iandtheunits s theyhadfirst een nstalled,withonlya lightshadedded;- etsinceretirementheproportionftimehespent lone n thekitchenwouldrivalthat f a prisonernsolitaryonfinement. notherndividual ppeared quallyisolatedsocially.The third,who was much more inclined o bringfriendsaroundtodrink,hada fewdecorationsn thekitchen,mainly aintings ftheVirginMary.Incontrast othesewasthe oleexample f nuclear amilynwhich hemaleclaimedto dominatehousehold ctivities. ere thework done was of a classicdo-it-yourselfariety, esultingnconsiderablehysical hangebut a completeheterogeneityfeffect.herewasa new inoflooring,nd inohad also beencutintosquaresand put up as substitutetiles' over the cookerand by thesink.Additionalwork-surfaces ad been constructed ut of two quite dissimilarlaminates,withnumerous dditionsncluding neon ight.The overallresultwas somewhat haotic.The secondgroupconsisted f fivehouseholds, our ouplesand one singlemother.Althoughnnoinstances idthey pproach he omplete onservatismofthefirst,he lterationsmade werefairly light.All had netcurtainsndhadmadeat eastonechange fsurface,uch sa new ino floor r awallpapered rpaintedwall, buttheyretained he basic orderoftheoriginalfitments. hisdegree f decorativeworkwas closely ssociatedwith setof nterviews hichcame closest o the mageof the solated nddepressedwomanidentifiedn anumberof studiesof housewiferynd the mage of thisparticularvalium'estate.They expressedfearsabout whether heywould sound 'common',complained bout coloureds' orsquatters,alked bouttheunfriendlytmos-phereon theestate, rmade statementsuch as 'there s a tenants' ssociationwhereyoucanhave a moanbutnothings everdone about t'.Theyvaried romthe singlemotherwheretheweightof choresappearedoverwhelming, ohouseholdswith everalwagedworkerswhoseproblems eemed o relatemoreto theunappreciatedtatus fhousewifery.The clustermaybe widenedby the ddition fparallel asessuch s that fanimmigrant romSpain who expressed trongly hefeeling hat such places'were only forthe poor, and showed considerabledisassociationfromhersurroundings.One of the most nervous and depressive ntervieweeswasassociatedwithone of themost radically ransformed itchens. t emerged,however, that hese tronglyoloured nd largelyntegrated ecorations adbeencarried utbyher ister romwhomshe hadinherited heflat.Althoughshe referred isparagingly o the ghastly'orange, n the eightyears of heroccupation he had neverbeenable tochange hesenheritedecorations.Suchhouseholds epresentedheminorityn my urvey, lthough he amplewas very likelybiased towards the sociable by those who refused o beinterviewed. he largest luster omprised itchenswhere ubstantial hangeshad beenmade tothedecorative rder.Although he upboardswerewood andrequiredperiodicrepainting,hesekitchens etained he originalplainwhitesurfaces.nstead largenumber fadditional bjectshad beenbrought nandused, as it were, to cover the cupboards up. Objects such as teatowels,breadboards,eacosies ndtrayswerevery ommon nd often ssociatedwithparticularestheticf argebold flowers,ats,dogs andbright atterns. swell


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362 DANIEL MILLERas being placed on surfaces,breadboards nd trays were typicallyplacedverticallygainst hewallswith heir aceforward o emphasise heir ecorativenature.Post-cards, ouvenirs, uttings rommagazines nd pictorial alendarsmight ll be hungor stuck n thewalls. Sometimes hiswas used n matchingsets,buttherewas also the biographical' atternn whichno attempt as madeto find rder tthe evelofdesign, ather achpiece ppeared obeamemento ffamily r holidays, s in the commercial ostalgia tyle n which the relationbetweenobjectswas maintainedn thememoriesof theoccupantsbut notexpressed isually.The heterogeneityfeffect ithin ny ndividual ouseholdwas, however,contrasted ith he xtent o which imilar uchobjectswerefound hroughoutthegroup. ndeed hese bjects nd their ecorative esigns re quitefamiliarsa prevalentworking-class estheticn Britain nd are available nmanyof thelargechain tores.Theyaredistinguished y their ecorative ormswhich arelarge, takingup mostoftheavailablesurface fthe object, with bright oldcolouring rawing he ttention. s suchthey reoften egarded y the rbitersoftaste s 'vulgar'as against hemoresubtlebutexpensivedecorationswhichare intendedmerely o enhanceor 'frame' he object of attentionGombrich'979).It may well be that hisparticular orm f popular aste, ound n the state,was inpart ccounted or ythe equirementor setofconsumer bjects, ftengivenas gifts,which could thenbe employed o personalise roperties hichdid notbelongto theoccupants.This tenants' esthetic as used to coveroverand draw attentionwayfromwhattheoccupants learly aw as the ntrusivesignifiersf theirhousing tatus.The cupboardswere,ofcourse,utilised uthereremained lien,to be submergedn a welter fbricolage.This strategy,whichmight e complementaryoothersfor xample nother ooms withinthe flats),was also especiallyassociatedwith single (including widowed)women, nvolving s itdidno physical lteration o thekitchen utmerely norganisationfconsumer oods.Incomplete ontrasto this trategy fewwomen ppeared o havedevelopeda verypowerful elationship iththekitchenvidentn their ecorative rderand associated with informants'dentification ith traditionalnetworksthroughwhich hey ecamewhatone of the nformantseferredoas kitchen-birds'.Here the upboards adbeencoveredwith strong oloured aminate rpaintand all decorationsuchas curtains,wallpaper nd floorcoveringshadbeencarefullyhosen ocreate n effectfcomplete omogeneity ithinwhichall items nthevisual field o-ordinated s a colour cheme.Forkitchen-birds,thekitchenwas a focaldomainfor emale, utnotmale,visitors. he aestheticemphasis n thekitchen s tself he ontext or ea-drinkingxchange isitswascomparableto Gullestad's I984) study n Bergen, Norway of a farmoredeveloped kitchen-table'ocietybased on very powerfulfemalenetworks.Interview vidence uggested hat n this state, s invirtually very tudy fBritishworking-class etworks,hedominant elationships ere withfamily,for xamplevisitingisters ndmothers,withfriendshipsually aking econdplace.Thefinal wogroups onsisted fonly wocases ach. Two kitchens ad been


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DANIEL MILLER 363transformedo the xtent hat heywerevirtually eplacement itted itchens.none the fitted nitswere argely etained ut thedoorsreplacedwithwoodendoors, ndthewall coveredwithwood panelling. herewerea variety fotherwooden objects uch sbreadbinsplacedon theworksurface.he effect asnotentirely omogeneous, s some ofthewoods varied and thedoors were thewrong izefor he upboards nd had had to beput ideways n. All suchdoorswerecarved n whatthe commercial ectorterms cathedral rch'style.Theother aseemployed imilar oors of differentoods but with an astonishingbackdrop.The occupanthad takensome old wood, stained t black, andarrangedt n a series ffour ake oak' beamsgoing cross he eiling nd downthewalls.Furthermorenoneside hadbeen constructedfake himney reastwhich ed downto whathadbeenmadeto ook likea 'medieval'openfireplace'converted'ntoa spacefor toring aucepans nd suchlike.The floor overingwas a mottledold stone'effectino.Finally ametwo instances freplacementitted itchens oughtcommer-cially.The first, stimated o costaround 2,000, was carried utduring heperiodof study.On thefirst isit, hekitchen adbeencloser o thebricolagecover-up esthetic, ith omematchinglements. he newfitted itchenwaswhitewithclassic' nternalectangulareading nd awhiteworktop.Thiswasset gainst heblue-greyoundnthenewflooringnd curtainsnd pickedup bya variety f objects uch as a set of three ylindricalontainers, cassette adioand a grey raywith n internal hiterectanglendsome blue and white hinapieces.Virtually othing emained rom hepreviouskitchen,ven the rray fhouseplantswas replacedby one in a dominantgreyceramicplantpot. Theentirety ashighlighted ya series fceiling potlights.The overall ook, evoking the pictures n advertising rochures,was alsofound n the otherpurchasedkitchen,which ooked to have been stillmoreexpensive,thoughno cost was given. The degreeof orderand stylewascomparable,althoughthiskitchenhad been built fouryearspreviously. tincorporatedsplitevelovenand extractoran,neon trip ighting,wallpaperoffake terracotta'iles nd a floor f fake' stone.Apartfrom doublespicerack, some matching hinaand a utensilrack therewas a marked ack ofadditional bjects.The particular ature fthedominant atterns evealed y this equencewasfurtherlarifiedhroughtscontrast ith nother opulationwhichhad reactedin a very differentashion o the same circumstances. here was no a priorireason to expect that thnicity ould represent major ine ofcleavage and,partly nder he nfluencef study fhousehold bjects nChicago Csikszent-mihalyi& Rochberg-Halton98I) and Wallman'swork in Battersea I982;I984), Iwasanticipatinghattwould be atmost secondaryssue. Thiswas notthecase,however.

There were several ases whichcouldbestbe understoodnterms fspecificethnicity:or xample, he ingle outhAsianhouseholdwith ts rrays ftraysofvegetables omparable o thecontext romwhich t hadrecentlyrrived, rtheSpanishfamilyworking or heirmbassywith tsvery argewinerack ndextensive ollection fceramics,winepourers ndother ouvenirs.The majorcontrast, owever, ay between he endencyustdescribed either ocover up


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364 DANIEL MILLERor toreplacefitments),ndthetypical atternmongstblackhouseholders: oconstructtrong isualpatterns asedonpaintingheunits ndusingthe ameor contrastive olours forfloors,walls and ornaments.Brown, orangeandpurplewerethedominant olours,whilewhenthewhite enants id paintunitstheywere more ikely ouseblueandgreen.Therealsotended obe a differentuse of ornament,whichwas less central o the design organisation.Oneexample onsisted ffittednits aintedight rown.Allwood workwithin hekitchen ad beenpainted he same colourand thiswas complemented y thepainting fthe eiling, ake rown tiles'on thefloor nd nthewallpaper, setofwoodenchairs nda smokedglass ight hade. Morecommonwas theuseofbrighterrange ndpurple ncontrastivemodes,as indiagonaleffects ithintiling.Not onlyblacktenantsmployed hisdecorative rder.A Cypriot asewas conspicuous by the lack of object bricolageand homogeneityof itsmatching rowncolour cheme.This strategywas dominant mongstthe blackpopulationbut was by nomeans rule.Therewasanoverlap etween hedifferentopulations,speciallyamongst heyoung, ndmanykitchens ad elements rom ifferenttrategies,such as a 'biographical' over-up trategy hich till mployed fewmatchingitems.Attheirmost xtreme hedominant ecorativetrategiesfthe wo mainpopulationsconstitutedn inversion.One was centred n the structural l-ementsto which additionalobjectswere subservient, he othermade thestructural itmentsntirelyubservient o theobjectbricolage.The 'kitchen-bird'form, owever, arried hisnversionwithin hewhitepopulation.Another ifference as theusemadebysomeblackhouseholds fthebackofthekitchen.At tsmost xtremehis reawas coveredfrom loor o ceiling yamassivepileof disparate bjects uch as broken ewingmachines nd piecesoffurniture.n the two cases ofa three-generationemalehousehold,one exhi-bited hisdisorder osuch anextreme s tosuggest n nability ocope, buttheothernvery imilar ircumstanceshowed no suchtendency. ne of theothercasescommented nthe ituationntheform f china poonhungon onewallon whichwas inscribedI likemy kitchen obe cleanenoughtobe healthynduntidy nough obehappy'.Analysis:he ocial eterminantsf ecorativetrategiesAlthough oth nterview nd visualdatahavebeenprovidednthe bovesurveythere was one substantial iscrepancy etween them. While discussionsfchangescarried ut or intended mphasised unctional onsiderationsuch astheproblems fcooking,of smells r ofserving ood,these idnotemerge s amajorfactornthe ctual hangesmade. Boudon noted nidentical istinctionin his tudy f householdersn Le Corbusier's illage f Pessac.He suggests hatwhile the functionalogic ofany particular ouseholderwas clear,taken s agroupthedegreeof contradictionuggested hatthe actualkey factors ayelsewhereI972: 83). IntheLondongroupone householder'smple space was,for nother,totallynadequate' withno evident orrelation ithnumbers fchildren nd similar actors)ndfeelingsboutwhere ndividual tems houldbeplaced variedconsiderably.This echoesJohnston's I980) more systematic


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DANIEL MILLER 365survey fthedisparities etween rgonomic unctions,anguage nd observablechanges.This may in part account for differencesn thesefindings nd those ofBourdieu I984). His construction f the majordimensions y which taste sorganisednFrance s largely ased on verbalresponses o questionnaires. isconclusions egarding orking-classaste s summarised s Necessity mposesa taste ornecessity hich mplies form f daption ndconsequent cceptanceof thenecessary'I984: 372). This ooksvery trange hen etagainsthetraditional ritishparlour Roberts 973) devoted to unused space and itsdecorationswhichBourdieureduced o mere ffectI984: 379-80). Still oday,when parlours re effectivelyorbidden y thearchitecturalrofession, hetwo-thirds f tenantswho mentioned his ubjectkept special rea n themainroom for heir est,brought ut atChristmasf t all.Although hey ould be onlyroughly etermined,inancial esources id notemerge s a significantactor xceptnthe wocasesofa purchased itchen,ndeven therenone case it was theresources f childrenivingoutsidetheestatewhichwas crucial.By contrast,sevident rom othverbal ndvisual vidence,thefact fbeing tenant idconsiderablyffecthe ivesofmany fthese eople(thismightwell be less true n a terraced treetwhere ne'shousing tatuswasnot so immediately vident).Most revealingwere thedisjuncturesn whatpeople said. For example,several nformants laimed that what they reallywantedwas a 'fitted itchen'.This suggested hat lthough hey lreadyhad afittedrray f floor ndwallunits, s inadvertisementsorfitted itchens, orthema 'real' fitted itchenwas one purchased, ot allocated. Certaintenantswhen sked o select referredtyles romxamples, oted hat heywouldhavechosenthenostalgiamode butforthe fact hat heywerein a councilestate-that is,the dealsthey ssociated hemselves ithwererendered retentiousbytheir ircumstances. here was also a claimed ack ofknowledge bouttheI980 HousingActwhich ubstantiallymproved enants' ightsf lterationndindependencentheir seoftheir roperties. enantsmostly eldthatwhateverwas done would have to be putback to itsoriginal tatebefore eavingtheproperty, lthoughnpractice hishad hardly verhappened. n general herewas a marked ntipathyo the councilwhich was seen as failing obe presentwhen needed forrepairs or xample),but at the ame time n alienpresencearound hem.Theexamples freplacement,r near-replacement,itchens ere nterestinghere. The images portrayedn the commercialbrochures ssociated suchkitchens nd their arved r beaded doors with middle-class'ife-styles.tmaybe no coincidence hatthetwo householdswithreplacement itchenswereamongstthe few who providedunsolicited nd quitevehement tatementsaboutbeing ordinary orking-class olk',whichnevery ther espect,uch spresentrprevious ccupation,wasclearlyhe ase.Negativefeelingsboutthecouncilwereexpressednother tatementsuch s they tickn a cupboardhereanda cupboard here ndsaythat's lright, hey're nlycommonpeople, theywon't know thedifference'.On thewhole then herewas considerable vidence osuggest hat hewhitepopulationfelt deep unease about theirhouseholdconsumption tatus as


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366 DANIEL MILLERtenants, eflectedn resentmentndfeelingsfbeing tigmatised.urthermorethey learly ssociated hefitmentsrovidednthekitchenwiththecouncil, sobjects mbodyingn theirmaterialityhe ntrusiveignificationftheirtatus.Three main strategies ereevidentnresponse o this ituation falienation.One waspassive, nwhich lienation as nteriorisedsthefutilityf ction ndan inability o appropriatehematerial nvironment ithinwhichone lived.The second was an attempt o use aesthetic onstruction o impose a facadewhich s far spossibledrew ttentionwayfrom hefixturesnd towards temsdirectlyhosenbyor associatedwiththetenants.And finally, critical ointwas reachedwherethe alien formswere themselves xpelledor thoroughlytransformedndreplacedwith either urchased r built constructionsy thetenants.n sucha situation t seemed that n practice uchcommoditieswereviewedas havingmuchgreater otential or dentificationhan temsprovidedbythe tate.This, however,mustbe set within heparticulartructuref social nequal-ities.That therewas no intrinsicinkagebetween orms fdistributionnd theexperience falienationwas evident rom contrastwithin heestatewiththeremaining hird f thepopulation. nterviews ithblacktenants onfirmedheevidenceof theirdecorative trategies.Althoughvarious other resentmentswereexpressed, he actualfact fbeingtenants id notseemanythingikeascentral o theirdentity. heyweregenerally egative boutthis tatus ut awit more often s transitionalo something lse,andinthat espect rovidingvaluable opportunity. hey did not appearto have thefeeling f alienationderivedfrom n introjectionfthiscondition s integral o theirdentity.Asnoted above, theconnotationsfhousing onsumptiontatus n Britain iffermarkedly rom,forexample,continentalurope, and the blackpopulation,in constructingts identity s a group, mightwell on occasion have beeninteriorisingheir xperience ontrastively ith theirneighbours ather hanempathetically.The same contrasts uggestthat the interview vidence should not beinterpreteds direct videncefor ny objective aultsn the ocal council. Thecouncilherewas a projection ythe enantsntheir onstructionfself-imagesas victims r combatants.The attitude o the council was often mbivalent,becauseat the ame time ll tenants aw themselvessworking lass andmanywouldfavourably ompare heir resentituationwithpreviousprivate entedaccommodationor the alternative f bed and breakfastslums'. For somepeople, such an ambivalencemightbe debilitating,incefullappropriationappeared o be assisted ya relativelylear enseofovercoming. artre erhapsover-abstractedhese ensionsnhis aterwork I976) wherehe mplies hat ruesocial relations nly emerge n the union ofterrorismgainst n oppressiveorder, ut tthismoremundane evel nagonistic rameworkppeared ohelp.

The appropriationfthestate, ouldnot, however,be separated fffromequally mportantontextualactors,fwhich hemost ignificantas gender.InJohnston's urvey he dea and deals offeminism nd sexualequalityhad amarked ffect n thefeelings fassociation nd disassociation ouseholdsfeltfor theirkitchens. n my own study,however,whichdid not includetheowner-occupied ector, herewas remarkablyittle vidence f such deasand


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DANIEL MILLER 367values;themostcommonly xpressed eelingwas that hekitchenwas essen-tiallya woman's domain in which men helpedin a few specific asks butotherwisehould tay ut. Themale'sown distaste or hekitchen as strongestamongst he rish mmigrantsnd weakest mongstWest ndian mmigrants.But if a decadeof apparently opularfeminism ad permeatedittle nto thisarea, therelatively nremarked ransformationn male conceptions f theirhome rolehadhad a quitepronounced ffect.The evidence uggests hatunlike hehigharts he aesthetic f the homeisexclusively emale entredcompareParker& Pollock I98I). The increasingamount f time pentbymales nthehome has resultedna newrole,basedonthe inkwithphysicalabour s the itefor hedevelopmentf masculinity.utthisnew symbolic ymbiosis perates hroughmenhavingnothing o do withdesign.Without female o direct hem hey re nmost asesentirelympotent,but whengiventheirdirection heythenperformheir pecificallyssigned'do-it-yourself'asks.As Gershuny as demonstratedn hispartofa study nBattersea heelectric rill, lectric aw and handsaw are thedomestic temsmostexclusivelymale-associatedWallman 982: I65).Males mayshow more nitiativen expressing hemselvesn otherroomswhich renot o strongly emale-associated,utthe vidence f my urveywasthat mongthewhitepopulation,physical abourwas subservient o design.The most extreme ases showed the mpotence f single malesto enact anychanges. Womenwere more flexible,n that heywould undertake hysicallabour when no male was available for suchwork. In themain, however,females ransformedheir nvironment singaesthetic ather hanphysicallyexpressivemedia.The small group of replacement r near-replacementitchenswere againinstructive ere.There was a strong in nd gender omplementarity,ith hefemales othdirectingnd being eenastherecipientsf this xpenditurei.e. itwas done for hem), nd themalesas physically ndertakinghe transforma-tions. ntwocases twasparticularlylear hat he oupleswere een as comingtogethero overcome heirtatus s tenants,nd affirminghepower ofkinshipandmarriagenthis truggle.The situation ould be described s the emergence f a neo-traditionalism.Despite thepressure f modernisthilosophies fequality ndfeminism hichpromoted hediminution fsexual distinction,nd the ncreasing resence fmen nthe home, the evidence uggests hatmen did not takeon any greatershareof householdresponsibilities.ather heolder use of thepublic-privatedivisionto expressgenderhad been renegotiateds a formal ymboliccom-plementarityetweenwhatwas seen s the ppropriateenderedphereswithinthehome. As inmany nthropologicaltudiesgender s perhapsbest seen notfromthe perspective f an essentialist ivisionfrom which two a prioricategories fmale and female ome to theworld withspecificnterests, utrather s being constructedhrough he culturaldevelopment f relationalforms.Gender nthe statemight otbea simple ontinuationfsome traditional'family rder whichmayhave tended o a simpler egregation.g. WhiteheadI978), but an emergent onstructionwhich could evoke such traditions.


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368 DANIEL MILLERWomen as housewivesdefined hemselvesn relation o households,but thiscategory ould remainunrealised nless themarital ouple had a mechanismrelevant o their ontemporaryonditions hroughwhichthey onstructedhehousehold s an activity. he resultwas a denialof the ntegrityfthe femalehousewife, nd especially hesingle male, and a stress n thenecessity f acomplementarynd dynamic elationship hichwas brought ogethern thepractice f labour' n thetransformationf an alienatingnvironmentnto anappropriatedorm.nthis ase thekitchen, lthough ccupiedbyonlyone sex,was an objectificationf thegender elationshipnd the ncompleteness f tsconstitutivelementsnthemselves.What hismpliessthat venunder resentconditions, endermay n certainircumstancese bestunderstood s a genuinedialectic.The black population learly id not conform o thesegeneralisations. heinterviews ndthe ransformationsndicated hat herewas notthe ame gendersplit. Single black males showed a positiveattitude o their kitchenandproduced laborate ecorationsnd tiling and discussions fcooking)withoutfemaleguidance. The backgroundto thismay well be the strong genderautonomy bserved nstudies fWest ndian ocieties, ssociatedwitha highincidence f female-headed ouseholdse.g. Massiah 983). A tradition hichasserts he eparate iabilityf householdswithout residentmale s ina senseless debilitatingor the male who has to construct male centreddomesticsphere, ince each ex maydefine tselfwitha relative egreeof autonomouscontrol.Within hese ender elations furtherxpressive ichotomy asarisen n thedistinction etweenmodernistickitchen-bird'omogenisationnd thenostal-gic bricolageofthecover-up esthetic. imilardivisionshavebeenshown nother tudies o relate o therelativemportancefkinship s against riendshipand length f time pent n thearea,with modernisttylebeingused to buildnew communities, ostalgia o cementolder ones (compareespeciallyPrattI98I). These differenceshouldnotbe viewedas superficialrinauthentic. sWilliamshas shown,theparallel vocation ofa country nd citypolaritynliteraturemay be equallyfarfrom he actual historical onstruction fthesedomainsundermodern apitalism, utthisdoes notprevent hemfrom eingpowerfulmediafor herepresentationf dealworlds,marking rhighlightingparticularistoricalonjuncturesR.Williams973: I89-306).Underlyingelationsfgender ndtenancysamoregeneral rgumentboutthelinkagebetween work done on the kitchen nd the natureof the socialrelations fconsumption.One of the clearest eneralisationso emergefrommy studywas the linkbetweenpeople who seemedlonely, depressed ndisolated, nd the ackof decorative evelopment. y contrast,onstructingnobjectificationf the household nditsrelationshipshrough reative ctivityappeared a strong signifier f an active social involvement.Though thissociability as commonly ased onkinoutside he state r ntra-household,twas often herelationshipsf affectionetween,for xample,husband-wifeandparent-childwhichwereexpressed bythis do not meantherelations fequality mplied n theterm ymmetryas in Young & Willmott 973) sincetherewas little vidence or hese n the state).


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DANIEL MILLER 369The replacement nd near-replacementitchens nd their ink withsocialinvolvement epresentedhe xtreme ases. One householdwas almost heonlycouple thateffectivelyived (or at least werecontinuallyo be seen) on thecorridorutside heir lat,ndused the state s thoughtwas a classicEast Endneighbourhood Young & Willmott957). Another s head and activepartici-pant n thenewlyreformedenants' ssociationwas also amongstthemostsocially nclined.By contrast,hetwo clusters fentirelyr largely nalteredkitchenswere expressive fa verydifferentondition.The isolation fone ofthe singlemales was describedabove. In the othercluster,althoughthehousewiveswere mainlymembers fhouseholds,what was registeredntheirmaterialworld was preciselyhe solation nd lackof valuationwhich s oftentheexperience fhousewiferys a core of dentity. he idealobjectifiedntheneo-traditionalistamilymay often emain nrealised.tdemands responsiveattitude rom hemale,andthis luster onformedlosely o the mageof thehousewife vokedby Oakley I976) inher lassic ritique fthis orm f abour.The background o thiswas theevidenceforhighvalium ntake ndconstantbickering.The antipathy o neighbourlinesss againstthehigh regardforprivacywhich was evident rom nterviewswas itself, owever,hardlynew.The closeneighbourhoods ftheEalingfilm tudiosofthe 940's werebynomeans naccurate eflectionfactual ocial nteractionnworking lassdistrictsas was made abundantly learby thesurveysmadein the sameperiod Mass

Observation 943: 208). Apartfrom n antipathyo one's immediateneigh-bours, ess than in ioo expressed ny interestn communitynvolvement.The more mportant actor ehind ny deteriorationn conditions orhouse-wives as evidentfromvarioussociologicalstudies s likelyto be the relativeabsenceof close kin.This divisionnconsumptionelations uch thatnsome householdsgenderdifferenceecame the basis ofan alienated solation ndin otherswas consti-tutive fcultural ynamics xpressednthe ctivityfappropriation,inds ninteresting arallel n themuch moredeveloped sociologyofthedivisionoflabour. nPahl'srecent ork I984; Pahl& Wallace985) as inmost f thearticlesnthebookBeyondmploymentRedclift Mingione 985), it s shownthat nformalabour and exchanges f abour are notan alternative o formalwaged employment ut rather n additional esourcewhichmay be exploitedonce a foundation f financial esources ssecured.Transformationfkitchensinthe statena senserepresentshe quivalentnthe reaofconsumption. heappropriation f the home is not a substitutive r vicarious activity ut amaterialbjectificationfcertain ocialresourcesvailablenthe onstructionfhousehold dentitywhich n turnprovides foundation ortheformation flarger etworks.It s, however,difficultodetermineocialnetworks rom hekindofverbalinformation recovered.Gullestad I984) noted n her Norwegian case thatinformantslaimed ohave ittle oncernwithwhat other eoplethought, uttheir ctions erehighlynormative nd gregarious.n the case ofthepresentsurveypeople indicated greatdeal of suchconcernwith what otherpeoplemight ay and yet may rarelyhave had experience f any actualevaluation.'Neighbours'became a kind of collective uper-egonwhichnormative rder


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370 DANIEL MILLERwas interiorisedndexpressedtselfnternally.nce thiswas established,herewas little eedfor he ssertion f actual xternal uthority.ConclusionIf themostwidelyused critical erspectiven productions thatwhichrefusesto acceptthatworkis other han social activity sincecommodities retheresult f abourandnotmerely elf-producing),hen he amemaybe saidofconsumption,which s also sometimesmystifiedy beingregarded s merelyvicarious rpassive.Despitethe pecific ature ftheproblems aced ycounciltenants the focus of thisarticle),the same overallproblematicwould beencounteredn bothprivatehousingand under n equitable ocialism. n allthese ases householdersmust nter nto creative trategiesfconsumption oappropriatehatwhich theyhavenot themselves reated, ven ftheyfeelfarmorepositive boutthe orporate odythat uilt heir ome.To see this,however,we have to regardapparently rivial ctivities sderiving rom rofoundoncerns. he failuref mostcurrentocial theoriesohave regard o consumptionctivities uchas home decoration as its roots nthemoregeneral enigrationfconsumptionnd other uch women's work'.Ifhousewiferysto becondemned or ts ackofpossibilitiesf elf-actualisation(Oakley 976: 222-33), it s not omuchbecauseof tsobjectivenature it snota prioriess susceptible han ndustrialworkforappropriationhrough ociallabour),butbecauseofourrefusal tboth rdinarynd academic evels o regarditas other hantrivial.The results fGullestad's I984) study rgue stronglyagainstthecommon assumption hatthematerial onditions f houseworkmake tperforcen ndividualisingnd private orm f work.This arguments not ntendedo romanticisehe trategiesmployed n massactivity. he evidencefrom his case study s for a complementarityloselylinked to inequality. otentially ifferencend hierarchyould be disaggre-gated,but twould be unreasonableo expect clearmodelof deal consump-tion, xtricated rom he onditions nderwhich ctual onsumption trategiesmustbe developed. Equallyworkdone on kitchensmayhave quitedifferentimplications henperformednsomeother ultural ontext.thasbeen rgued,however, hat general rinciplefsignificanceor hecontradictionsntrinsicto industrialocietymaybe recovered rom heobservation fsomestrategiesunderlyinguchactivities.Whenrecognised s a legitimate orm f consump-tiontheyndicate hat hismaybe an importantocialarenawhosegoal is theproductionf nalienableulture hrough ialectical,hat s sociallyproductivelabour.This inalienabilityerivesfrom n activityn whichobjects becomeintegral spects fprocesseswhich re constructivef social relations.

NOTEThe survey n thecouncilwas aided by a grant rom heLondonUniversity entralResearchFund. amgratefuloJ.Atfield, . Edholm,M. Jolly nd M. Rowlandsfor omments n a draftfthis rticlendtoM. Strathernhoserecent apers ngendern New Guineaproved n mportantstimulus o the nalysis.


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DANIEL MILLER 37IThefieldworkookplaceon an ntermittentasisduring986-7. Householdswere pproachedthrough nocking ndoorsand either nterviewingmmediatelyrestablishingmoreconvenient

timefor visit orreturn isit). nmostcases themain nformant as specifieds thepersonwhohad primary se ofthe kitchen, utas interviewswereheld nformallyn the sitting oomotherfamilymembers ommonly ook part.Therearetwo ikely ources f bias f hisgroup s taken srepresentativef theestate s a whole. Firstly biasagainstworkinghouseholds incemorevisitswere held on weekdayafternoonshan n the eveningsor at weekends,and secondlya biascorrespondingo those nstances here ounds foccupancyweredetected utnoresponsemadetothedoorbell, ndwhichmaybesupposed ohave correspondedo single lderly emalesas toftendid nthose aseswhere n nterview as refused).

REFERENCESAgnew,J. 98I. Home ownershipndidentityncapitalist ociety. nHousing nd dentityed.) J.Duncan. London: Croom Helm.Andrews, . I979. Tenantsnd own all. London: HMSO.Barrett,M. & M. McIntosh 982. The nti-socialfamily.ondon: Verso.Boudon, P. 1972. Lived-inrchitecture.ondon:LundHumphries.Bourdieu,P. I984. Distinction:social ritiquef hejudgementf aste. ondon:Routledge& KeganPaul.Coward,R. I984. Female esire. ondon:Paladin.Csikszentmlhalyi, . & E. Rochberg-Halton98I. Themeaningf hings. ambridge:Univ. Press.Darke,J. 984. Architectsnd userrequirementsnpublic-sectorousing.EnvironmentndPlanningB I, 389-433.Davidoff,L. I978. The rationalisationf housework. n Dependencendexploitationn work ndmarriage.eds)D. Barker& S. Allen. London:Longman.Department f theEnvironment972. Spaces nthe ome. ondon: HMSO.Gershuny, . . I978. Afterndustrialociety.ondon:Macmillan.

I983. Social nnovationnd he ivisionf abour. xford:Univ. Press.I985. Economic development nd change nthemode of provision f services. n Beyondemploymenteds)N. Redclift E. Mingione.Oxford:BasilBlackwell.Gombrich, . I979. The ense f rder. xford:Phaidon.Gregory, . I982. Giftsnd ommodities.ondon: AcademicPress.Gullestad,M. I984. Kitchen-tableociety. slo: Universitetsforlaget.Hayden, D. i98i. Thegranddomestic evolution. ambridge Mass: MIT Press.Johnston, . I980. Women's attitudes owards hekitchen. hesis,University f Surrey.

King, A. I984. The bungalow. ondon: Routledge& KeganPaul.LabourHousing Group 984. Righto home.Nottingham: pokesman.McDonald, A. I986. The Weller ay.London: Faber& Faber.Mass Observation943. Anenquirynto eople's omes. ondon:JohnMurray.Massiah,J. 983. Womens heads f ouseholdsn he aribbean:familytructurendfemininetatus. aris:UNESCO.Mauss, M. I954. Thegift. ondon: Cohen & West.Miller,D. I984. Modernismndsuburbia s materialdeology. n deology,powerandprehistoryeds)D. Miller& C. Tilley. Cambridge:Univ. Press.I987. Materialulturendmass onsumption.xford:BasilBlackwell.inpress.Putting ime nto domestic pace. nvolumeon time nd materialulture eds)A.Gell& M. O'Hanlon.

Munn,N. I977. Spatiotemporalransformationsf Gawa canoes.J. Soc.Ocean.33,39-52.Nove, A. I983. Theeconomicsf feasibleocialism. ondon:GeorgeAllen& Unwin.Oakley,A. I976. Housewife. armondsworth:enguin.Pahl,R. E. I984: Divisions f abour. xford:Basil Blackwell.& C. Wallace 985. Household work trategiesneconomicrecession. nBeyondmployment(eds)N. Redclift E. Mingione.Oxford:BasilBlackwell.Parker,R. & G. Pollock 98I. Old mistresses.ondon: Routledge& KeganPaul.


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372 DANIEL MILLERParker, . I983. Thepeople fprovidence.ondon:Hutchinson.Pratt,G. I 98 I. Thehouseas anexpressionfsocialworlds. nHousing nd dentity.ed.) J.Duncan.

London:CroomHelm.Redclift, . & E. Mingione eds) I985. Beyondmployment.xford:BasilBlackwell.Roberts,R. 1971 . Theclassiclum.Manchester: niv. Press.Sartre, -P.1976. Critiquef ialecticaleason. ondon:New LeftBooks.Sahlins,M. 1974. Stonegeeconomics.ondon:Tavistock.Saunders, . I984. Beyondhousing lasses. nt.J.urbanegion. es.8, 202-27.Strathern, . I985. Kinship ndeconomy:constitutiverders f a provisional ind.Am.Ethnol.12:2, 191-208.Wallman, . (ed.) I982. Livingn outh ondon. ondon: Gower.1984. Eight ondon ouseholds.ondon:Tavistock.Ward,C. I985. Whenwebuildgain.London:Pluto Press.Weiner,A. I985. Inalienablewealth.Am. Ethnol.2:3, 210-27.Whitehead, . 1978. SexualantagonismnHerefordshire.nDependencend xploitationnwork ndnarriageeds)D. Barker& S. Allen.London:Longman.Williams, . I986. Social relations, esidentialegregationndthehome. InPolitics,eographyndsocial tratificationieds)K. Hoggart& E. Kofman.London:CroomHelm.Williams,R. 1973. Thecountrynd he ity. ondon: AllenLane.

I980. Advertising:hemagic ystem. nProblemsnmaterialismnd ulture.ondon:Verso.Young, R. & P. Willmott957. Familyndkinshipneast ondon. enley-on-Thames: outledge&KeganPaul.1973. The ymmetricalfamily.ondon:Routledge& KeganPaul.Zaretsky, . 1976. Capitalism,hefamilyndpersonalife. ondon:PlutoPress.

S'approprier 1'etatdans la cite de H.L.M.ResumeCe memoire 'occupede lanature e a consommation ansunesoci6t6ndustrielle.1 xaminela mani&rear aquelle es ocataires ansune cit6 eH.L.M. ontdecor6 ttransform6eur uisine.Les locataires 6moignentes differencesrappantesans a capacit6 e s'approprier es facilit6soffertesar amairie.Ceci est consid6r6 nfonction ugenre, e l'ethnique td'autres l6ments.Une telle perspective llustre a naturedialectiquede la categoriedu genre sous certainesconditions.Cela met 6galement n reliefe potentiel ynamiquede la consommation longterme, omme une ar&ne ans laquelledes groupessociauxessaientde transformeres biensalienables nculture nalienable. ependant,lssont ouvent ncapables 'accomplir e but.

Appropriating the State on the Council Estate

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