Consumption and Commodities

This review contends that the study of consumption and commodities represents a major transformation in the discipline of anthropology. It documents this metamorphosis by examining how the debate on gifts and commodities transcended its original formulation as good versus evil. It then examines the recent growth and maturity of material culture studies and nascent developments that may give rise to a political economy of consumption. It notes, however, that there is still a paucity of ethnographic research specifically devoted to these topics. The review concludes by arguing that the study of consumptiona nd commoditiesis particularly close to traditions established in the study of kinship and it may come to replace kinship as the core of anthropology, even though the two topics often have been viewed as antithetical.