HBR PRESS · PUBLISHING JANUARY 19, 2027
POSSESSIONS
How we think about our stuff, and ourselves,
as we own less and use more.
A Publishers’ Weekly Top 10 Business and Economics Book (Fall 2026)
You'll own nothing. And you'll be happy. Whatever you want you'll rent."
That was the World Economic Forum's number one prediction for 2030, back in 2016. The timing might be off, but it's undeniable that ownership is in decline, creating a tectonic shift from a society of owners to one of users, renters, and streamers.
We're trading ownership for access, purchases for subscriptions, and possessions for digital rights. Homeowners are giving way to forever renters, and many have embraced the life of a digital nomad.
This shift is more than economic. It's a challenge to centuries of using ownership to form and communicate our identity. In fundamental ways, we are what we own. What happens if we don't own much?
POSSESSIONS takes us on a journey to answer that question. It tours a rapidly shifting landscape, from a life of creating ownership—possessing things—to a life of "liquid consumption"—life-as-a-service, in which all you possess are your experiences, your brand, and probably a phone.
From Delaware goat farms to Australian housing tracts to a Quebec City ice hotel. From a South London artist who barbecues his work, to Eras Tour Swifties, to a former economist who lived for a time with only his devices and what he could carry on his back, you'll visit places and meet people that show just how complicated and compelling the idea of ownership is, why you value your things so much, and what happens when you can't (or decide not to) own possessions.
POSSESSIONS will help you understand that shift and what it means to all of us—when we own less and use more.
Available for Preorder Now
How possessions create and signal identities; our status and social groups — who’s US and who’s THEM.
Why we buy, rent, subscribe, keep, and abandon.
How owning a thing changes it in ways that using does not, and how owning a thing changes us.
What we gain and lose as we trade ownership for access, material goods for digital rights, having for doing.
What life after ownership looks like: Will we be more attached to the things we keep, let personal brands replace possessions, or treat experiences as possessions to acquire?
What you’ll learn
Praise for Possessions
“That’s mine! We all say it, but what does it mean? How do things become ours, and when do we become theirs? Why are we all renting more and owning less? Is it better to have a life or subscribe to one? Smart and entertaining, POSSESSIONS is a fascinating look at the past, present, and future of ownership.”
Daniel Gilbert
Edgar Pierce Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and author of the New York Times best-seller Stumbling on Happiness.
“Why do we buy some things and rent others? Cling to things we never use, yet drop some subscriptions in a heartbeat? POSSESSIONS answers these questions and more. Essential reading for anyone trying to understand why customers try, buy, rent, subscribe, churn, and abandon.”
Jonah Berger
Wharton Professor,
and bestselling author of Contagious and The Catalyst
“POSSESSIONS is a fascinating and lucid deep dive into the psychology of ownership. Not just the perennial principles that will govern how we relate to what we own, what we borrow, and what we experience---but also how the world is changing and with it, prescriptions on how to navigate all of the above. I read this book cover to cover and learned something new in every chapter. Brilliant! ”
Angela Duckworth
Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor,
University of Pennsylvania
Faculty Co-Director,
Behavior Change For Good Initiative
“A compelling, far-reaching, and immensely lively argument for doing, not having.
Is this the future? If so, let's embrace it!"
Cass Sunstein
Robert Walmsley University Professor, Harvard University, and author of The Price of Happiness
Why I Wrote Possessions
Possessions isn’t the book I set out to write.
For years, I had been kicking around an idea for a book called MINE! It would be about how owning a thing changes it—and changes us. I shelved it when COVID hit and my family and day job took precedence. When I returned to the project in 2023, MINE! no longer seemed like the right book. The world had changed. We were streaming instead of buying, renting instead of owning, and pursuing experiences in lieu of possessions.
What struck me was how little most of us understand what we are trading in that exchange. When we click and “buy” an ebook or digital film, it feels like ownership, but we receive only a conditional license—something closer to a long-term lease. We lose the property rights to lend, resell, pass on, or permanently keep what we paid for.
The psychological tradeoffs are less visible. We tend to value what we own more, grow more attached to it, and use it to express who we are. What we merely access is less likely to feel MINE—or like an authentic extension of ourselves. We may like it less and replace it more readily. For businesses, access can create recurring revenue while weakening the attachment, loyalty, and value that ownership creates.
I wrote Possessions to help us understand what we gain and lose as ownership gives way to access—and to make more deliberate choices about what to own and what to use. I also wanted to explore how, as experiences replace possessions, we can avoid turning them—and our personal brands—into the next wave of materialism.
Book Details
Publication: January 19, 2027
Publisher: HBR Press
Format: Hardcover, 256 pages
ISBN: 979-8892792097
Launch Event
Friday, January 22, 2027 @ 7 PM
Presented by the Harvard Bookstore
Location and tickets forthcoming
Orders
Individual copies
Amazon, Barnes & Noble,
Bookshop.org, Harvard Bookstore
Bulk orders
Porchlight Book Company