The Empire of Things: Regimes of Value and Material Culture Contributor(s): Myers, Fred R. (Editor) |
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ISBN: 1930618069 ISBN-13: 9781930618060 Publisher: School for Advanced Research Press OUR PRICE: $24.70 Product Type: Paperback - Other Formats Published: January 2002 |
Additional Information |
BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Anthropology - Cultural & Social - Social Science | Archaeology |
Dewey: 306 |
LCCN: 2001032038 |
Physical Information: 0.79" H x 6.18" W x 9.08" (1.07 lbs) 368 pages |
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
Publisher Description: Representing a new wave of thinking about material culture studies-a topic long overdue for reevaluation-the essays in this volume take a fresh look at the relationship between material culture and exchange theory and illuminate the changing patterns of cultural flow in an increasingly global economy and the cultural differences registered in regimes of value. The Empire of Things includes an extensive interview with the late Annette B.Weiner, whose work on exchange theory still inspires contemporary material culture studies. The contributors deconstruct the traditional opposition between gift and commodity and between supposedly; alienable and inalienable objects in ceremonies of exchange-whether on the island of Sumba or among middle-class shoppers in North London. They show how objects can become symbols of national identity, in cases ranging from artworks in Australia to lost body parts of past Mexican presidents. They reveal how the movement of objects through different contexts, across borders, or through art exhibitions exposes contradictions and shifting meanings for different constituencies. |