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The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology)
 
 
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The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective (Cambridge Studies in Social and Cultural Anthropology) [Paperback]

Arjun Appadurai (Editor)
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Product details

  • Paperback: 344 pages
  • Publisher: Cambridge University Press; New Ed edition (29 Jan 1988)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0521357268
  • ISBN-13: 978-0521357265
  • Product Dimensions: 22.8 x 15.3 x 2.3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 42,010 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Arjun Appadurai
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Product Description

Product Description

The meaning that people attribute to things necessarily derives from human transactions and motivations, particularly from how those things are used and circulated. The contributors to this volume examine how things are sold and traded in a variety of social and cultural settings, both present and past. Focusing on culturally defined aspects of exchange and socially regulated processes of circulation, the essays illuminate the ways in which people find value in things and things give value to social relations. By looking at things as if they lead social lives, the authors provide a new way to understand how value is externalized and sought after. They discuss a wide range of goods - from oriental carpets to human relics - to reveal both that the underlying logic of everyday economic life is not so far removed from that which explains the circulation of exotica, and that the distinction between contemporary economics and simpler, more distant ones is less obvious than has been thought. As the editor argues in his introduction, beneath the seeming infinitude of human wants, and the apparent multiplicity of material forms, there in fact lie complex, but specific, social and political mechanisms that regulate taste, trade, and desire. Containing contributions from American and British social anthropologists and historians, the volume bridges the disciplines of social history, cultural anthropology, and economics, and marks a major step in our understanding of the cultural basis of economic life and the sociology of culture. It will appeal to anthropologists, social historians, economists, archaeologists, and historians of art.
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I used this book as a 'first read' on the subject of 'things' in a PhD research project. While it is not the most recent text available on the subject (you might want to look at Children and Material Culture for a more recent text) it certainly provided a very clear introduction to the topic as well as a wide range of associated views on the subject. I focused on the Introduction and the 1st Chapter by Appendurai himself as they cover historical ground around the research and thinking about 'things' but I dipped into the other chapters as/when they seemed appropriate. Appendurai's writing style is an easy read as are the other authors so while it delivered the overview I was needing it also made for enjoyable reading and provided some useful references for other work on the subject. Overall, the book provides a good, if slightly dated, view of the relationships between stuff/commodities and cultural values.
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Amazon.com:  2 reviews
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Typo city 4 Dec 2011
By M.A. Villa - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This review only applies to the kindle edition. This ebook has typos on every other page which makes it hard to read.
3 of 41 people found the following review helpful
Interesting 30 Mar 2005
By Amy Smith - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
This collection of essays is insightful but far from comprehensive, a good starting point for further discussion on commodification.
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