domestic arrangements of middle class turkish families reproduced through home furnishing ...

105 Pages·2015·1.83 MB·English

DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS OF MIDDLE CLASS TURKISH FAMILIES
REPRODUCED THROUGH HOME FURNISHING CONSUMPTION
PRACTICES

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES
OF
MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY

BY

EBRU YILDIZ BABA

IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS
FOR
THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
IN
THE DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

MARCH 2015
Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences

Prof. Dr. Meliha Altunışık
Director

I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of
Master of Business Administration.

Prof. Dr. Ramazan Sarı
Head of Department

This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully
adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Business
Administration.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eminegül Karababa
Supervisor

Examining Committee Members

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eminegül Karababa (METU, MAN)
Assist. Prof. Dr. Çağrı Topal (METU, MAN)
Assist. Prof. Dr. Irmak Karademir Hazır (METU, SOC)
I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and
presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also
declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and
referenced all material and results that are not original to this work.

Name, Last name :

Signature :

iii
ABSTRACT
DOMESTIC ARRANGEMENTS OF MIDDLE CLASS TURKISH FAMILIES
REPRODUCED THROUGH HOME FURNISHING CONSUMPTION
PRACTICES
Yıldız Baba, Ebru
MBA, Department of Business Administration
Supervisor : Assoc. Prof. Dr. Eminegül Karababa

March 2015, 95 pages

The purpose of this research is to understand home furnishing consumption
practices of middle class Turkish families and the domestic arrangements of objects
and participants reproduced through these practices. I utilized practice theory as the
theoretical approach in order to discern the complexities and particularities of this
context through the lens of practices. Moreover the bundling property of practices
and arrangements in literature fits my purpose properly based on the inseparable
relation between home furnishing consumption practices and domestic
arrangements. This research is conducted on middle-class families in Çankaya
region of Ankara/Turkey whose selection is rooted in an interest of theoretically
grounded and empirically informed understanding of that context. The analysis
based on three main dimensions as (1) practice (2) coexistence and (3) social order
of people and things will illuminate the landscape of sociality experienced within
informants’ homes and families. I utilized qualitative research methods namely in-
depth interviews and participant observation for data collection purposes. The
findings highlight practices employed by informants and peculiarities of domestic
arrangements of their homes and families. Moreover their interactions with the
market will be illuminated through practice theory viewpoints.
Keywords: Practice Theory, Family, Home Furnishing Consumption, Domestic
Arrangement

iv
ÖZ

ORTA SINIF TÜRK AİLELERİNDE EVSEL DÜZENİN
EV DEKORASYON TÜKETİMİ BAĞLAMINDA OLUŞUMU

Yıldız Baba, Ebru
Master, İşletme Bölümü
Tez Yöneticisi : Doç. Dr. Eminegül Karababa

Mart 2015, 95 sayfa

Bu çalışma ailelerin pratik teorisi üzerinden ev dekorasyon tüketimini ve bu tüketim
pratikleri ile oluşturulan nesne ve öznelerin evsel düzenini açıklamayı
amaçlamaktadır. Pratik teorisini, bu bağlamdaki mevcut hususiyetleri pratikler
aracılığı ile görmek amacıyla kullandım. Ayrıca literatürdeki pratik-düzen ortaklığı
araştırma amacıma, ev dekorasyon tüketimi ile evsel düzenin ayrılmaz bütünlüğü
düzleminde hizmet etmektedir. Bu çalışma Türkiye’de Ankara ili Çankaya
ilçesindeki orta sınıf aileler üzerinde teorik bazlı ve empirik destekli ilgi ile
gerçeklestirilmiştir. Amaç doğrultusunda (1) pratikler (2) beraber yaşama (3)
insanların ve eşyaların düzeni, ev dekorasyon tüketimi düzleminde incelenecektir.
Metod olarak derinlemesine mülakat ve gözlem gibi niteliksel yöntemler
kullanılmıstır. Bulgularım ailelerin ev dekorasyon tüketimi pratiklerine ve
oluşturulan evsel düzene ışık tutmaktadır. Ayrıca ailelerin pratik teorisi kapsamında
pazar ile iletişimleri yorumlanmaktadır.

Anahtar Kelimeler: Pratik Teorisi, Aile, Ev Dekorasyon Tüketimi, Evsel Düzen
v
To My Sons and Mom

vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS

PLAGIARISM...........................................................................................................iii
ABSTRACT...............................................................................................................iv
ÖZ ............................................................................................................................... v
DEDICATION ...........................................................................................................vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS......................................................................................... vii
LIST OF TABLES .................................................................................................... ix
LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................... x
CHAPTER
1. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................... 1
2. LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................................... 5
2.1 Social Collectivities ............................................................................... 5
2.2 Domestic Spaces and Domesticity ......................................................... 7
2.3 Contextual Background ....................................................................... 10
2.4 Practice Theory .................................................................................... 13
2.4.1 Convergent Elements ............................................................... 14
2.4.2 Divergent Elements.................................................................. 16
2.4.3 Schatzki’s Account .................................................................. 18
2.4.4 Theoretical Framework ............................................................ 22
3. METHODOLOGY ....................................................................................... 26
3.1 Context ................................................................................................. 27
3.2 Research Sample .................................................................................. 28
3.3 Data Collection Methods ..................................................................... 30
3.3.1 In-depth Interviews .................................................................. 31
3.3.2 Participant Observation............................................................ 32
3.4 Data Analysis ....................................................................................... 33
3.5 Trustworthiness .................................................................................... 36
vii
3.6 Limitations ........................................................................................... 37
4. FINDINGS ................................................................................................... 38
4.1 Home Furnishing as a Negotiated Staking .......................................... 38
4.1.1 Inclusion of Extended Family Members ................................. 39
4.1.2 Market as Remedy ................................................................... 40
4.1.3 Last Chain of Action ............................................................... 41
4.2 Tradition as a Negotiated Practice (in living-room set-up) ................. 42
4.2.1 No Usage ................................................................................. 43
4.2.2 Partial Usage ............................................................................ 44
4.2.3 Unintentional Usage ................................................................ 45
4.3 Multifunctionality or Multiplicy ......................................................... 46
4.4 From Creativeness to Homeyness ....................................................... 58
4.5 Differential Locatedness ...................................................................... 64
5. DISCUSSION .............................................................................................. 68
6. FURTHER RESEARCH .............................................................................. 76
REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 77
APPENDICES .......................................................................................................... 82
Appendix A: INTERVIEW GUIDE ................................................................... 82
Appendix B: TURKISH SUMMARY ............................................................... 84
Appendix C: TEZ FOTOKOPİSİ İZİN FORMU ............................................... 95

viii
LIST OF TABLES

TABLES
Table 1 Practice-Coexistence-Order Layers ............................................................ 23
Table 2 Informant Profiles ........................................................................................ 30
Table 3 Practice-Setting-Time Factors .................................................................... 34
Table 4 Practice-Family Examples .......................................................................... 58

ix
LIST OF FIGURES

FIGURES
Figure 1 Family 1 Living Room ...............................................................................48
Figure 2 Family 1 Dining Area .................................................................................49
Figure 3 Family 2 Dining Area ................................................................................ 50
Figure 4 Family 2 Living Room ...............................................................................51
Figure 5 Family 3 TV Corner ...................................................................................52
Figure 6 Family 3 Living Room ...............................................................................53
Figure 7 Family 4 Dining Area .................................................................................54
Figure 8 Family 4 Living Room ...............................................................................55
Figure 9 Family 5 Living Room ...............................................................................56
Figure 10 Family 5 Dining Area ...............................................................................57

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