Hoarders: a study on the pathologization and spectacularization of non-discardable consumption as estabilished by documentary television

• Grant number: 12/19166-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2013
• End date: December 31, 2013
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Sociology
• Principal Investigator: Richard Miskolci Escudeiro
• Grantee: Julia Wood Geld Ribeiro
• Host Institution: Centro de Educação e Ciências Humanas (CECH). Universidade Federal de São Carlos (UFSCAR). São Carlos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This project proposes a study on the social phenomenon of hoarding, as depicted in the documentary series "Hoarders: Buried Alive" (2009). The series is an example of a rehabilitation reality show that aims to report cases of individuals undergoing "treatment" and the possible "cure" to hoarding. The research is based on a screen ethnography, which combines sociological interpretations with anthropological observation techniques. The initial plan is to discuss the first two seasons of the series. Among the objectives, what stands out is the analysis on the connection between the pathologization of non-discard able consumption combined with its spectacularization in a deeply branched out and revealing the process of both medicalizations of behaviors, as well as its media exploitation.(AU)