Getting attached to a classic Mustang. Use, maintenance and the burden of authenticity

Article Article scientifique Article Getting attached to a classic Mustang. Use, maintenance and the burden of authenticity eng 2022-01-03 author Hummel Cornelia 0000-0001-9027-4555 28863 author Denis Jérôme author Pontille David 955582 10.1177/13591835211068940 1359-1835 This paper investigates the relationships consumers cultivate with mass-market commodities while caring for their authenticity. Drawing on a six-year ethnography of classic Mustang owners communities in France, Switzerland and Belgium, the authors show that, far from being a symbolic value only, or a resource into which people can “invest” in a mechanism of social distinction, authenticity can also appear as a burden that weighs constantly on the relationship between people and things. Indeed, throughout their uses and maintenance, the material integrity of classic Mustangs is of great concern for their owners, who apprehend every breakdown or maintenance intervention as threats that could jeopardize their car's authenticity. For the sake of security, comfort or health, because new regulations come up, or because some original parts are not available anymore, classic Mustangs owners compose with heterogeneous elements, constantly reshaping both their cars and their concerns for authenticity. The authors draw on Hennion's notion of “attachement” to describe the intimate relationship that grows through these arrangements. The notion particularly helps to grasp the ambivalence of the bonds between people and things: while they get more and more attached to their classic Mustang, owners are getting more and more worried. Moreover, throughout this growing relationship and the recurrent material interventions it draws on, the car does not remain passive. It progressively reveals itself, sometimes surprising its owner. Therefore, not only is authenticity “in the making” in this process, the contours of the thing itself evolve, as well as the knowledge of its owner. Attachment Authenticity Classic cars Maintenance Dewey 301 122 Département de sociologie T4 false Journal of material culture 48e9a735-3c06-40e9-a65f-b583569bdee3 Article (Published version) Public Denis_Hummel_Pontille_2022.pdf 623300 application/pdf openAccess Faculté des sciences de la société / Département de sociologie

Title	Published in	Access level	OA Policy	Year	Views	Downloads

Getting attached to a classic Mustang. Use, maintenance and the burden of authenticity	Journal of material culture			2022	570	360

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Pontille, David