The social life of materials : studies in materials and society / edited by Adam Drazin and Susanne Kueüchler.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Drazin, Adam, editor.

Küchler, Susanne, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Material culture--Cross-cultural studies.

Material culture.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (337 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Bloomsbury Academic, 2015.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Materials play a central role in society. Beyond the physical and chemical properties of materials, their cultural properties have often been overlooked in anthropological studies: finished products have been perceived as social' yet the materials which comprise them are considered raw' or natural'. The Social Life of Materials proposes a new perspective in this interdisciplinary field. Diverting attention from the consumption of objects, the book looks towards the properties of materials and how these exist through many transformations in a variety of cultural contexts.Human societies have always worked with materials. However, the customs and traditions surrounding this differ according to the place, the time and the material itself. Whether or not the material is man-made, materials are defined by social intervention. Today, these constitute one of the most exciting areas of global scientific research and innovation, harboring the potential to act as key vehicles of change in the world. But this materials revolution' has complex social implications. Smart materials are designed to anticipate our actions and needs, yet we are increasingly unable to apprehend the composite materials which comprise new products.Bringing together ethnographic studies of cultures from around the world, this collection explores the significance of materials by moving beyond questions of what may be created from them. Instead, the text argues that the materials themselves represent a shifting ground around which relationships, identities and powers are constantly formed and dissolved in the act of making and remaking.

Contents:

Beyond 'things': Reimagining stuffPart 2 On materials innovation; Chapter 2 What's in a plant leaf? a case study of materials innovation in New Zealand; Materials, innovation and anthropology; Harakeke and manufacturing industry in New Zealand; Clean, Green harakeke; Harakeke oil extraction and environmental branding; Concluding comments; Reports; Chapter 3 Pharmaceutical matters: The invention of informed materials; Chemistry; Invention; Informed materials; Drug discovery; Conclusions: Chemical invention

Chapter 4 Toward designing new sensoaesthetic materials: The role of materials librariesThe development of materials science; Psychophysical properties; The role of materials libraries; Conclusions; Materials libraries and resources; Chapter 5 The science of sensory evaluation: An ethnographic critique; The senses in everyday life; The sensory home; The interplay of the senses; 'Sensory experience is social experience'; The plasticity of the material world; Part 3 From substance to form; Chapter 6 Wild silk indigo wrappers of Dogon of Mali: An ethnography of materials efficacy and design

Material efficacy and transformationSheen in the natural and material world; The sheen of wild silk: The Dogon concept of Daoula; Inside the sheen: The material properties of wild silk yarns; Textile shaping through indigo dyeing: The Dogon concept of sara; Indigofera's sangah: Material properties and the dyeing process; The social implications and significance of materials; Social visibility and value through self-display; Materials classification and their cultural representations; Towards a micro-cosmology of indigenous materials; Chapter 7 Fashioning plastic; Ubiquitous plasticity

Plastic materialsDesign history and plastic authenticity; Cultural plasticity; Conclusion; Chapter 8 Dressing God: Clothing as material of religious subjectivity in a Hindu group; The body as religious material; Darshan in the Mayapur temple; Making and materializing devotional attitudes; Conclusion: Clothing as entry into devotion; Part 4 The subversion of form by substance; Chapter 9 Introducing Fairtrade and Fairmined gold: An attempt to reconfigure the social identity of a substance; Fairtrade and Fairmined gold: From beginning to end; Researching Fairtrade gold; Using complexity

Unpacking the complexity of gold

Notes:

"First published 2015 by Bloomsbury Academic."

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

93-89391-13-X

1-00-308717-5

1-000-18977-5

1-000-18314-9

1-003-08717-5

1-4742-4924-8

1-4725-9265-4

9781003087175

OCLC:

1159404744