Miller why some things matter

Back to top. Table of Contents. Acknowledgements Notes on Contributors 1: Why some things matter Daniel Miller 2: Radio texture: between self and others Jo Tacchi 3: From woollen carpet to grass carpet: bridging house and garden in an English suburb Sophie Chevalier 4: Window shopping at home: classifieds, catalogues and new consumer skills Alison J. Related Titles. Anthropologists in the Stock Exchange Marc Flandreau. The Restless Anthropologist Alma Gottlieb.

The Accidental Species Henry Gee. Miller claims a …show more content… Here, by contrast, through dwelling upon the more mundane sensual and material qualities of the object, we are able to unpick the more subtle connections with cultural lives and values that are objectified through these forms, in part, because of the particular qualities they possess. Miller says that the word "matter" was consciously chosen to evoke the sentimental associations that the subjects of study might have with the objects in their lives; it puts the stress on emic not etic perspectives.

Miller suggests further that this stress on the emic parallels a shift in attention from processes of production to those of consumption, a recognition that identities are often constructed in relation to acts of consumption. Get Access. Read More.

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Preview — Material Cultures by Daniel Miller. 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 collect The field of material culture, while historically well established, has recently enjoyed something of a renaissance.

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. Get A Copy. Paperback , pages. More Details Original Title. Other Editions Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Material Cultures , please sign up.

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