Publications and Conferences
2020
Pop Culture Association 2020 Conference - Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
Paper proposal accepted for PCA 2020: A Spark of Spirit: Japanese Animist Spirits and the KonMari Organization Method
Marie Kondo’s popular organization method, the KonMari Method, is now famous in America as well as her native Japan. While most Americans comment on Kondo’s advice to only keep items that “spark joy,” she also alludes to ideas from Japanese folklore that may not be familiar to a non-Japanese audience. She speaks of how socks need to rest comfortably when they’re not in use, for example.
Japanese culture has a long history of ensouled objects called tsukumogami. This paper explores the origins and meanings of tsukumogami, how they exhibit Japanese culture, and what wisdom they can share with people even beyond the borders of Japan.
People today may find themselves haunted by excessive amounts of material things and the associations they bear. The KonMari method alludes to a way that we can reframe our relationship to objects, and free them to live out their own destinies, as it were. The notion that ordinary objects have some sort of spirit is fundamental to Kondo’s philosophy. While some people choose to make fun of sock souls, Kondo’s ideas clearly resonate with many others. Why might that be? What could a consideration of tsukumogami reveal about the relationship between people and the objects that inhabit their lives?
2018
IVEY-BOURNE, K. (2018). Looking for Carrots: Ideas for Encouraging Online Collaboration in the Workplace. Intercom, 65(3), 24–26.