Material Culture Matters

Author : Daniel Miller
Publisher : University of Chicago Press
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 55,8 Mb
Release : 1998
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0226526003

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Material Cultures by Daniel Miller Pdf

The field of material culture, while historically well established, has recently enjoyed something of a renaissance. Methods once dominated by Marxist- and commodity-oriented analyses and by the study of objects as symbols are giving way to a more ethnographic approach to artifacts. This orientation is the cornerstone of the essays presented in Material Cultures. A collection of case studies which move from the domestic sphere to the global arena, the volume includes examinations of the soundscape produced by home radios, catalog shopping, the role of paper in the workplace, and the relationship between the production and consumption of Coca-Cola in Trinidad. The diversity of the essays is mediated by their common commitment to ethnography with a material focus. Rather than examine objects as mirages of media or language, Material Cultures emphasizes how the study of objects not only contributes to an understanding of artifacts but is also an effective means for studying social values and contradictions.

Author : Nicholas J. Saunders
Publisher : Psychology Press
Page : 234 pages
File Size : 40,8 Mb
Release : 2004
Category : History
ISBN : 0415280532

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Matters of Conflict by Nicholas J. Saunders Pdf

In its multidisciplinary approach and wide-ranging contributions, the book looks at trench art and postcards through museum collections to prosthetic limbs, and examines the First World War and its significance through the things it left behind.

Author : David Morgan
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2010
Category : Religion
ISBN : 0415481155

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Religion and Material Culture by David Morgan Pdf

First Published in 2010. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Author : Lawrence E. Harrison,Samuel P. Huntington
Publisher : Basic Books
Page : 380 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2000
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 0465031765

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Culture Matters by Lawrence E. Harrison,Samuel P. Huntington Pdf

Prominent scholars and journalists ponder the question of why, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, the world is more divided than ever between the rich and the poor, between those living in freedom and those under oppression.

Author : Daniel Miller
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 45,7 Mb
Release : 2002-09-10
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781135361631

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Material Cultures by Daniel Miller Pdf

This volume is an ethnographic study of material cultures. Incorporating local and global dimensions, a team of scholars explore the changing experiences of cultures in locations as disparate as the Philippines and Northern Ireland. Material culture and consumption studies have undergone something of a renaissance recently. This study provides an up-to-date analysis of a developing field in sociological and anthropological based courses.; This book is intended for undergraduate/MA courses on material culture and consumption within cultural studies and anthropology degree schemes.

Author : Joan E. Cashin
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 263 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2018
Category : HISTORY
ISBN : 1469643227

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War Matters by Joan E. Cashin Pdf

Author : John R. Spencer,Robert A. Mullins,Aaron J. Brody
Publisher : Penn State Press
Page : 345 pages
File Size : 53,7 Mb
Release : 2014-05-05
Category : History
ISBN : 9781575068787

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Material Culture Matters by John R. Spencer,Robert A. Mullins,Aaron J. Brody Pdf

Dr. Seymour Gitin is completing his tenure as Director and Dorot Professor at the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem. Much of his long career has been spent helping young scholars expand their contacts and hone their skills. This volume is a collection of articles by some of the many developing scholars and Albright fellows with whom Sy has shared his time and knowledge. Their appreciation shows in the quality of their articles, the breadth of their interests, and their dedication to Sy Gitin. The articles range from a discussion of tomb robbing in Palestinian areas, to a geographical analysis of the Shephelah region, to Islamic historical texts, to Israelite cult stands, to Middle Bronze Age burials. In addition, there are several articles by former members of the Tel Miqne–Ekron staff that draw on the finds from that site and further demonstrate Sy’s willingness to mentor and to share the publication of the site’s rich trove of materials. This book not only honors Dr. Gitin by the willingness of fellows to contribute to the volume; it also expands our knowledge base of the southern Levant and shows that “Material Culture Matters.”

Author : David Charles Rose
Publisher : Oxford University Press, USA
Page : 217 pages
File Size : 49,5 Mb
Release : 2019
Category : Business & Economics
ISBN : 9780199330720

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Why Culture Matters Most by David Charles Rose Pdf

Introduction -- The cultural commons -- Culture as moral beliefs -- Culture as instrument -- The rise of flourishing societies -- The free market democracy dilemma -- The fall of flourishing societies -- Family, religion, government, and civilization -- Conclusion

Author : Arthur Asa Berger
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 178 pages
File Size : 51,7 Mb
Release : 2017-07-28
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781351494731

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Reading Matter by Arthur Asa Berger Pdf

To be civilized involves, among other things, making, using, and buying objects. Although speculation on the significance of objects often tends to be casual, there are professionals--anthropologists, historians, semioticians, Marxists, sociologists, and psychologists--who analyze material culture in a systematic way and attempt to elicit from it reliable information about people, societies, and cultures. One reason that analyzing objects has been problematical for scholars is the lack of a sound methodology governing multidisciplinary research. Reading Matter addresses this problem by defining a comprehensive set of methodological approaches that can be used to analyze and interpret material culture and relate it to personality and society.Berger offers discussions of the main concepts found in semiotic, historical, anthropological, psychoanalytic, Marxist, and sociological analysis. He provides practical descriptions of the working methods of each discipline and demarcates their special areas of investigation. Berger's lively discussions include a wealth of illustrative examples that help to clarify the complex and often difficult theories that underlie interpretations of material culture. In the second part of his analysis, Berger uses these disciplines to investigate one subject--fashion and an important aspect of fashion, blue jeans, and what the author calls the denimization phenomenon. Here he shows how different methods of reading material culture end up with different perspectives on things--even when they are dealing with the same topic.The author's focus is on the material culture of post-literate societies and cultures, both contemporary and historical. This comparative approach enables the reader to trace the evolution of objects from past to present or to see how American artifacts spread to different cultures, acquiring a wholly new meaning in the process. Reading Matter is an important contribution to the study of popula

Author : George W. Boudreau,Margaretta M. Lovell
Publisher : Penn State University Press
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2019
Category : Material culture
ISBN : 0271081155

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A Material World by George W. Boudreau,Margaretta M. Lovell Pdf

A collection of essays that examine early American cultural, political, and social history through a material lens, exploring the meanings of objects ranging from artworks and domestic furnishings to Penn's Treaty Tree.

Author : Lu Ann De Cunzo,Catharine Dann Roeber
Publisher : Cambridge University Press
Page : 932 pages
File Size : 44,5 Mb
Release : 2022-06-09
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781108659871

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The Cambridge Handbook of Material Culture Studies by Lu Ann De Cunzo,Catharine Dann Roeber Pdf

Material culture studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the relationships between people and their things: the production, history, preservation, and interpretation of objects. It draws on theory and practice from disciplines in the social sciences and humanities, such as anthropology, archaeology, history, and museum studies. Written by leading international scholars, this Handbook provides a comprehensive view of developments, methodologies and theories. It is divided into five broad themes, embracing both classic and emerging areas of research in the field. Chapters outline transformative moments in material culture scholarship, and present research from around the world, focusing on multiple material and digital media that show the scope and breadth of this exciting field. Written in an easy-to-read style, it is essential reading for students, researchers and professionals with an interest in material culture.

Author : Anne Gerritsen,Giorgio Riello
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 404 pages
File Size : 49,7 Mb
Release : 2015-11-19
Category : History
ISBN : 9781317374558

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The Global Lives of Things by Anne Gerritsen,Giorgio Riello Pdf

The Global Lives of Things considers the ways in which ‘things’, ranging from commodities to works of art and precious materials, participated in the shaping of global connections in the period 1400-1800. By focusing on the material exchange between Asia, Europe, the Americas and Australia, this volume traces the movements of objects through human networks of commerce, colonialism and consumption. It argues that material objects mediated between the forces of global economic exchange and the constantly changing identities of individuals, as they were drawn into global circuits. It proposes a reconceptualization of early modern global history in the light of its material culture by asking the question: what can we learn about the early modern world by studying its objects? This exciting new collection draws together the latest scholarship in the study of material culture and offers students a critique and explanation of the notion of commodity and a reinterpretation of the meaning of exchange. It engages with the concepts of ‘proto-globalization’, ‘the first global age’ and ‘commodities/consumption’. Divided into three parts, the volume considers in Part One, Objects of Global Knowledge, in Part Two, Objects of Global Connections, and finally, in Part Three, Objects of Global Consumption. The collection concludes with afterwords from three of the leading historians in the field, Maxine Berg, Suraiya Faroqhi and Paula Findlen, who offer their critical view of the methodologies and themes considered in the book and place its arguments within the wider field of scholarship. Extensively illustrated, and with chapters examining case studies from Northern Europe to China and Australia, this book will be essential reading for students of global history.

Author : James M. Skibo,Michael Brian Schiffer
Publisher : Springer Science & Business Media
Page : 170 pages
File Size : 50,7 Mb
Release : 2008-03-12
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9780387765273

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People and Things by James M. Skibo,Michael Brian Schiffer Pdf

The study of the human-made world, whether it is called artifacts, material culture, or technology, has burgeoned across the academy. Archaeologists have for cen- ries led the way, and today offer investigators myriad programs and conceptual frameworks for engaging the things, ordinary and extraordinary, of everyday life. This book is an attempt by practitioners of one program – Behavioral Archaeology – to furnish between two covers some of our basic principles, heuristic tools, and illustrative case studies. Our greater purpose, however, is to engage the ideas of two competing programs – agency/practice and evolution – in hopes of initiating a dialog. We are convinced that there is enough overlap in goals, interests, and conceptions among these programs to warrant guarded optimism that a more encompassing, more coherent framework for studying the material world can result from a concerted effort to forge a higher-level synthesis. However, in engaging agency/ practice and evolution in Chap. 2, we are not reticent to point out conflicts between Behavioral Archaeology and these programs. This book will appeal to archaeologists and anthropologists as well as historians, sociologists, and philosophers of technology. Those who study science–technology– society interactions may also encounter useful ideas. Finally, this book is suitable for upper-division and graduate courses on anthropological theory, archaeological theory, and the study of technology.

Author : Hans Peter Hahn,Hadas Weis
Publisher : Oxbow Books
Page : 259 pages
File Size : 41,5 Mb
Release : 2013-01-31
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781782970842

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Mobility, Meaning and Transformations of Things by Hans Peter Hahn,Hadas Weis Pdf

Things travel around the globe: they are shipped as mass consumer goods, or transported as souvenirs or gifts. There are infinite ways for things to be mobile, not only in the era of globalisation but since the beginning of time, as the earliest traces of long distance trading show. This book investigates the mobility of things from archaeological and anthropological perspectives. Material Objects are characterised by temporal continuity, embodying a prior existence with lingering effects. Yet the material continuity disguises the transformations they may undergo, which only become evident upon closer examination. Objects are in perpetual flux, leaving visible traces of their age, usage, and previous life. While travelling through time, objects also circulate through space, and their spatial mobility alters their meaning and use with respect to new cultural horizons. As objects transform through time and space, so does the value attributed to them. Mapping out itineraries of value in the realm of the material, allows us to grasp the nature of a given social formation through the shape and meaning taken on by its valued 'stuff'. It also provides insights into the nature of materiality, through the value ascribed to objects at a given point in time and space. This edited volume brings together studies of material culture, materiality and value, with regard to the mobility of objects, with the aim of tracing the ways in which societies constitute their valued objects and how the realm of the material reflects upon society.

Author : Karen Harvey
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 226 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2013-02-01
Category : History
ISBN : 9781135690953

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History and Material Culture by Karen Harvey Pdf

Sources are the raw material of history, but where the written word has traditionally been seen as the principal source, today historians are increasingly recognizing the value of sources beyond text. In History and Material Culture, Karen Harvey embarks upon a discussion about material culture – considering objects, often those found surrounding us in day to day life, as sources, which can help historians develop new interpretations and new knowledge about the past. Across ten chapters, different historians look at a variety of material sources from around the globe and across centuries to assess how such sources can be used to study history. While the sources are discussed from ‘interdisciplinary’ perspectives, each contributor examines how material culture can be approached from an historical viewpoint, and each chapter addresses its theme or approach in a way accessible to readers without expertise in the area. In her introduction, Karen Harvey discusses some of the key issues raised when historians use material culture, and suggests some basic steps for those new to these kinds of sources. Opening up the discipline of history to new approaches, and introducing those working in other disciplines to historical approaches, this book is the ideal introduction to the opportunities and challenges of researching material culture.