Unpacking IKEA:
Swedish Design for the Purchasing Masses
Dr Pauline Garvey
Dept. of Anthropology, Maynooth University
6PM, Thursday 4th October 2018
National College of Art and Design
Harry Clark Lecture Theatre
100 Thomas Sreet
Guest Speakers
Professor Daniel Miller
University College London
Professor David Crowley
Dr Lisa Godson
National College of Art and Design
Wine and canapes to follow
This book represents the first anthropological ethnography of IKEA consumption and goes to the heart of understanding the unique and at times frantic popularity of this iconic transnational store. Based on a year of participant observation in Stockholm’s Kungens Kurva store—the largest in the world—Unpacking IKEA places the retailer squarely within the realm of the home-building efforts of individuals in Stockholm and to a lesser degree in Dublin. IKEA, the world’s largest retailer and one of its most interesting, is the focus of intense popular fascination internationally, yet is rarely subject to indepth anthropological inquiry. In Unpacking IKEA, Garvey follows the furniture from the IKEA store outwards and explores what people actually take home with them.