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Materializing Culture

About the Book Series

This provocative series focuses on the social relations involved in material practices. The study of material culture has stimulated a new body of research which brings together areas as diverse as the artwork of record sleeves, shopping, bitter conflicts over ancient monuments, digital fonts, craft skills and the political economy of consumption. This series demonstrates the innovative and critical edge that a material culture perspective may bring to bear upon a wide range of academic concerns.

20 Series Titles


The Acropolis Global Fame, Local Claim

The Acropolis: Global Fame, Local Claim

1st Edition

By Eleana Yalouri
November 01, 2001

The Acropolis in Athens has captured the imaginations of readers, writers and travellers for centuries and every year draws crowds from all over the world. One of the world's most famous heritage sites, it has long been a national monument of Greece and a potent symbol of western civilization. But ...

Raw Histories Photographs, Anthropology and Museums

Raw Histories: Photographs, Anthropology and Museums

1st Edition

By Elizabeth Edwards
May 01, 2001

Photographs have had an integral and complex role in many anthropological contexts, from fieldwork to museum exhibitions. This book explores how approaching anthropological photographs as 'history' can offer both theoretical and empirical insights into these roles. Photographs are thought to make ...

Car Cultures

Car Cultures

1st Edition

Edited By Daniel Miller
March 01, 2001

Anyone who assumes that a car is simply a means to get from point A to point B, or who even thinks that they know what a car is, should read this book. Profoundly shaped by culture, the car gives rise to a wide range of emotions, from guilt about the environment in the UK to aboriginal concerns ...

An Archaeology of Socialism

An Archaeology of Socialism

1st Edition

By Victor Buchli
November 01, 2000

This highly original case study, which adopts a material culture perspective, is unprecedented in social and cultural histories of the Soviet period and provides a unique window on social relations. The author demonstrates how Moisei Ginzburg's Constructivist masterpiece, the Narkomfin Communal ...

Landscape and Identity Geographies of Nation and Class in England

Landscape and Identity: Geographies of Nation and Class in England

1st Edition

By Wendy Joy Darby
October 01, 2000

In England, perhaps more than most places, people's engagement with the landscape is deeply felt and has often been expressed through artistic media. The popularity of walking and walking clubs perhaps provides the most compelling evidence of the important role landscape plays in people's lives. ...

The Orient Strikes Back A Global View of Cultural Display

The Orient Strikes Back: A Global View of Cultural Display

1st Edition

By Joy Hendry
October 01, 2000

At the turn of the 20th Century, Japanese ‘villages' and their exotic occupants delighted and mystified visitors to the Great Exhibitions and Worlds' Fairs . At the beginning of the 21st Century, Japanese tourists have reversed the gaze and now may visit a range of European ‘countries', as well as ...

Materializing Thailand

Materializing Thailand

1st Edition

By Penny Van Esterik
March 01, 2000

Thailand has become well known throughout the world for wonderful cuisine, great package holidays, sumptuous temples and textiles. Noticeably absent from glossy tourist brochures but equally well known throughout the Western world is Thailand's seedier side - the world of child exploitation, ...

The Social Life of Trees Anthropological Perspectives on Tree Symbolism

The Social Life of Trees: Anthropological Perspectives on Tree Symbolism

1st Edition

Edited By Laura Rival
April 01, 1998

The passionate response of the British public to the Newbury Bypass is a revealing measure of how strongly people feel about trees and the environment. Similarly, in the United States, the giant sequoia of California is an enduring national symbol that inspires intense feelings. As rainforests are ...

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