1932

Abstract

Both material culture studies and ecological anthropology are concerned with the material conditions of social and cultural life. Yet despite advances in each of these fields that have eroded traditional divisions between humanistic and science-based approaches, their respective practitioners continue to talk past one another in largely incommensurate theoretical languages. This review of recent trends in the study of material culture finds the reasons for this in () a conception of the material world and the nonhuman that leaves no space for living organisms, () an emphasis on materiality that prioritizes finished artifacts over the properties of materials, and () a conflation of things with objects that stops up the flows of energy and circulations of materials on which life depends. To overcome these limitations, the review proposes an ecology of materials that focuses on their enrollment in form-making processes. It concludes with some observations on materials, mind, and time.

Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-anthro-081309-145920
2012-10-21
2024-12-03
Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/content/journals/10.1146/annurev-anthro-081309-145920
Loading
  • Article Type: Review Article
This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An Error Occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error