An account of the different ways in which things have become cognitive extensions of the human body, from prehistory to the present.An increasingly influential school of thought in cognitive science views the mind as embodied, extended, and distributed rather than brain-bound or "all in the head." This shift in perspective raises important questions about the relationship between cognition and …
"In this book, Clapperton Mavhunga views technology in Africa from an African perspective. Technology in his account is not something always brought in from outside, but is also something that ordinary people understand, make, and practice through their everyday innovations or creativities -- including things that few would even consider technological. Technology does not always originate in th…
Silicon Valley, a small place with few identifiable geologic or geographic features, has achieved a mythical reputation in a very short time. The modern material culture of the Valley may be driven by technology, but it also encompasses architecture, transportation, food, clothing, entertainment, intercultural exchanges, and rituals.Combining a reporter's instinct for a good interview with trad…
This volume provides an examination of how garbage reveals the relationships between the global and the local, the economic and the ecological, and the historical and the contemporary.OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.
"In a world suffocated by people and things, this book exposes why we throwaway things that still work, and shows how we can design products, services, and experiences that last"--OCLC-licensed vendor bibliographic record.
In the fifth and final report on the excavations at Portchester Castle, the last stage of the castle’s useful life is considered in full. The excavations undertaken between 1961 and 1979 brough to light structural evidence of the various buildings erected during the period 1609–1819, together with a large collection of varied artefacts. This evidence is presented against the backgrounds of …
While the so-called material turn in the humanities and the social sciences has inspired a vibrant discourse on objects, things, and the concept of materiality in general, less attention has been paid to materials, particularly in cultural studies scholarship. With each of its chapters taking a particular material as its point of departure, this volume offers a palette of fresh approaches to ma…
This volume comprises a curated conversation between members of the Material Culture Section of University College London Anthropology. In laying out the state of play in the field, it challenges how the anthropology of material culture is being done and argues for new directions of enquiry and new methods of investigation. The contributors consider the ramifications of specific research method…