Commodities, donations, and moral contradictions : an exploratory study of the moral economy of a second-hand charity shop : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology at Massey University, Manawatu, Aotearoa New Zealand

Ackerley, Takoda F.2025-09-162025-09-162025https://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/73558Second-hand charity shops are ubiquitous in Aotearoa New Zealand, supporting numerous causes, from animal welfare to hospice care. Research on second-hand shopping, charity, and for-profit enterprises often focuses on their environmental sustainability, professionalisation, place within specific industries (e.g. global fashion), and desires to hasten their expansion. However, research into second-hand economies often does not investigate the structural realities of second-hand charity, with research in Aotearoa remaining sparse. Utilising participant observation fieldwork and participant interviews, this research investigated the moral economy of a second-hand charity store in Aotearoa. The study focused particularly on the gifting and commodity forms of second-hand goods, as well as the moral-economic complexities and contradictions within this context. I argue that second-hand commodities can become cyclical or regenerative, enmeshed in cycles of (re)possession, (re)donation, and (re)commodification, while also being continually rearticulated and ethically framed by shoppers, donors, and volunteers as gifts, with a constant dialogue between an item’s commodity, gifting, and possession forms. Furthermore, the ethical consumption of second-hand commodities, as routinely found in second-hand charity, significantly relies upon constant overconsumption of first-hand commodities, a structural condition that also underpins a potential for overconsumption by second-hand consumers. Although second-hand charity shopping facilitates and encourages the moral organisation of commodity transactions and gift relationships, offering an avenue for sustainable consumption, a critical examination of its structural requirements is necessary to truly develop sustainable and circular economies. This begins with understanding that its reliance on overconsumption and other factors of the capitalist economy ultimately limits its countervailing position within them.enThe authorcommodificationconsumptionoverconsumptionsecond-hand commoditiesmoral economycharitygiftingdonationCommodities, donations, and moral contradictions : an exploratory study of the moral economy of a second-hand charity shop : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology at Massey University, Manawatu, Aotearoa New ZealandThesis380199 Applied economics not elsewhere classified