Throughout history and across social and cultural contexts, most systems of belief--whether religious or secular--have ascribed wisdom to those who see reality as that which transcends the merely material. Yet, as the studies collected here show, the immaterial is not easily separated from the material. Humans are defined, to an extraordinary degree, by their expressions of immaterial ideals through material forms. The essays in Materialityexplore varied manifestations of materiality from ancient times to the present. In assessing the fundamental role of materiality in shaping humanity, they signal the need to de-center the social within social anthropology in order to make room for the material. Considering topics as seemingly diverse as theology, technology, finance, and art, the contributors--most of whom are anthropologists--examine the many different ways in which materiality has been understood and the consequences of these differences.
Their case-studies show that the latest forms of financial trading instruments can be compared with the oldest ideals of ancient Egypt, that the promise of software can be compared with an age-old desire for an unmediated relationship to divinity. Whether focusing on the theology of Islamic banking; Australian Aboriginal art; derivatives trading in Japan; or textiles which respond directly to their environment, each essay adds depth and nuance to the project that Materialityadvances: a profound acknowledgment and rethinking of one of the most basic properties of being human. Contributors. Matthew Engelke, Webb Keane, Susanne Kuchler, Bill Maurer, Lynn Meskell, Daniel Miller, Hirokazu Miyazaki, Fred Myers, Christopher Pinney, Michael Rowlands, Nigel Thrift Daniel Miller is Professor of Anthropology at University College London. He is the author of many books including The Sari(with Mukulika Banerjee); Capitalism: An Ethnographic Approach; A Theory of Shopping; and The Internet: An Ethnographic Approach(with Don Slater). He is the editor, most recently, of Home Possessions: Material Culture behind Closed Doors and Car Cultures.
Industry Reviews
"There have been many recent stabs at the idea of materiality. With both authority and intellectual generosity, these anthropologists and their colleagues take us beyond 'things' and 'objects' to ask about concrete presences, qualities, surfaces, and the formation of phenomena. A magisterial and highly original collection."--Marilyn Strathern, University of Cambridge "A milestone collection. Of all of the recent works on material culture available, this is the one that exposes the complete range of perspectives and theoretical strategies that the most noted scholars are trying out and the interdisciplinary connections and alliances that are shaping the field."--George Marcus, Rice University "This is first-class scholarship: lively, consequential, engaging, informed, and lucid. Daniel Miller and his colleagues explore--with imagination, ethnographic insight, and remarkable clarity--a range of related issues central to current debates within and beyond cultural anthropology."--Donald Brenneis, University of California, Santa Cruz "Throughout the chapters, the analyses are of high quality. The authors know their cases and present them well. At the same time, they connect to the broader issues the volume intends to raise and to the rising literature on 'materiality...'"--Peter Wagner, American Journal of Sociology "This is an important book that readers of Technology and Culture should find both challenging and rewarding..." --Marcia-Anne Dobres, Technology and Culture "For museum scholars, careful consideration of materiality--and of the ideologies of the material world conveyed by museum practice--is imperative. This volume will be an important resource for such a project." --Jessica Cattelino, Museum Anthropology "A lively volume... This book makes the reader engage with a range of old and new arguments on materiality and pushes their boundaries in a way that makes it important reading for a broad anthropological public."-- Francesca Merlan, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute "This book makes the reader engage with a range of old and new arguments on materiality and pushes their boundaries in a way that makes it important reading for a broad anthropological public."--Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute
