Garage sales as more-than-human affinity spaces: Reimagining social participation in later life

In response to the call for more research on the processes of how aging assemblages entwine, unwind, and mutually flourish, this paper examines older adults' participation in garage sales (an event not unlike yard, tag, or moving sales), which serves as social spaces where humans and non-humans come together to co-create interactions and connections. Drawing on the concept of "affinity space," this paper presents a case study of the Garage Sale, a decades-long community signature event of a continuing care retirement community in the northeastern United States. Data collection occurred between August 2022 and April 2025, including semi-structured interviews with 32 residents who participated in the Garage Sale, ethnographic field notes and photographs, and event promotion materials. A combined deductive and inductive approach was adopted for data analysis. Findings reveal that the Garage Sale is a multi-functional semiotic social space where 1) newcomers, experts, and every participant share a common space with fluidity in role switching, 2) distributed and dispersed knowledge with objects and technologies are encouraged through collaborative networks, 3) different routes to a sense of belonging and recognition pointing to participatory adaptation and inclusion can be identified, and 4) participants and objects create sustained generativity by reshaping the Sale's internal structure. This study reconceptualizes older adults' social participation from a novel and transformative perspective of affinity space, revealing how garage sales function as a more-than-human affinity space where informal engagements, affective ties, and relational ethics between humans, non-humans, and more-than-humans emerge through practice. Practical suggestions for aging services institutions were provided to empower older adults and diversify their social participation.