Carrie Lane, professor of American Studies at Cal State Fullerton, believes the wave of interest in organizers to declutter and organize living spaces for a fee reveals failings in traditional employment that leave workers with little time to do this themselves. She’s been studying the phenomenon for the last several years.
Her findings will be published in her book, “More Than Pretty Boxes: How Professional Organizing Shows Us the Way We Work Isn’t Working,” from University of Chicago Press, in November.
“I’m interested in the idea that decluttering and organizing are supposed to make us better, happier people,” Lane said. “That’s a pretty big cultural assumption, and I wanted to discover where this idea came from and why it was gaining so much attention of late. I wanted to find out what it was that was drawing people to hire organizers to help manage even the most intimate aspects of their lives and homes.”
Born in New Jersey and raised in Bakersfield, Lane earned a BA in anthropology with a minor in women’s studies from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in American studies from Yale University. She’s been at Cal State Fullerton since 2005 and has taught classes such as Americans at Work, The Office: White Collar Work in American Culture, and The Search for Community.
“I researched the origins of the professional organizing industry, which was founded by women in the 1970s,” Lane explained, pointing out that women still make up about 98% of organizers. “I then spent years interviewing and working alongside organizers to better understand what the organizing process looks like in real life.”
Time demands of traditional employment create the need for people to hire professional organizers, she said. “Over the last half-century, American households have found themselves increasingly exhausted and overwhelmed, beleaguered by competing demands around work, home and family. In response, many have sought solutions in the form of…
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