The Social Life of Things: Commodities in Cultural Perspective

by Arjun Appadurai (Editor)

The contributors to this volume examine how things are sold and traded in a variety of social and cultural settings, both present and past. Bridging the disciplines of social history, cultural anthropology, and economics, the volume marks a major step in our understanding of the cultural basis of economic life and the sociology of culture.

Genres: Anthropology, Nonfiction, History, Theory, Sociology, Material Culture, Academic

339 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Arjun Appadurai is an Indian-American anthropologist recognized as a major theorist in globalization studies. In his anthropological work, he discusses the importance of the modernity of nation states and globalization

Reviews

[Pete · Rating 2 out of 5]

Fairly sprawling discussion of economic anthropology, beginning with Simmel’s thoughts on the formation of desire in modern subjects, and its relation to economic exchange. Importantly, where Simmel was concerned to understand the relationship between a fully monetized, capitalist economy and modern subjectivity, Appadurai intends to universalize the commodity as the basic unit of all economic analysis, attempting to show how barter and gifting are in fact special cases of this more universal category. Appadurai never really demonstrates the analytical value of this convoluted move, and seems more intent on demonstrating the inadequacy of different theories of value generated in radically different times and places by placing them alongside one another to highlight their incongruities. The more interesting portions of the essay draw on Bahannon’s examination of ‘paths and divergences’ of commodities, and the various anthropological work that has examined ‘mythologies’ of commodification from the point of view of producers, middle-men and consumers (e.g. Taussig’s work on commodity fetishism). Overall, as my committee chair put it, this essay is a study in ‘how not to do economic anthropology’.

[Astrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting, just not entirely sure why the whole thing was on this module's reading list...

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Though the focus of this collection is more clearly stated by the book's subtitle than its title (and, therefore, less related to my own research than I had hoped) there is an amazing amount of excellent scholarship in this collection that is at once compelling and innovative (especially considering it was originally published in 1988). Of the book's over-arching contributions (often difficult to assess in an edited volume), the uniform commitment by all of the authors to focus their studies on particular objects in order to illuminate how their symbolic, market, and cultural value is constituted not through innate qualities, but by specific circumstances of time and place, was remarkable. In particular, the chapters that dealt with this issue while simultaneously considering questions of authenticity and value were of greatest interest to me, and Appadurai's introductory essay, which gracefully and clearly engages with thinkers as complex and varied as Marx, Benjamin, and Baudrillard is as helpful today as it was in 1988.

[Jiaxing]

Chapter II of this book, titled "The Cultural Biography of Things: Commoditization as Process," was authored by Igor Kopytoff. He supports Arjun Appadurai's methodology of examining the "social lives" or "biographies" of objects. Furthermore, he focuses on the concepts of singularization and commoditization, with the aim of filling the gap in Marx's theory of commodity fetishism by exploring its non-economic aspects. He also emends on Durkheim's idea that a society organizes the world of objects based on the prevailing social structure of its people. He suggests that societies shape both the material and social worlds simultaneously and in similar ways, constructing objects just as they construct people.

Kopytoff argues for an approach that takes into account cultural factors when studying the biographical possibilities and cultural meanings of objects, and how these meanings change over time. He also highlights the antagonistic processes of commoditization and singularization, which compete over the nature of objects, and reveals how cultural responses to the biographical details of objects shape our attitudes towards them.

Kopytoff argues that an economically informed cultural biography of an object would view it as a socially constructed entity, imbued with culturally specific meanings, and classified and reclassified into culturally constituted categories.

According to Kopytoff's analysis, commodities can acquire a "power" or significance that goes beyond their actual value, similar to fetishism. This attribution of power can occur through a cognitive and cultural process of singularization that takes place after commodities are produced.

There are two types of societies: small-scale, non-commercialized societies and large-scale, commercialized, and monetized societies. In complex societies, there is a dual system of valuation. On one hand, there is a homogeneous realm of commodities, and on the other hand, there is a diverse realm of private valuation. The intertwining of the commodity exchange sphere with the multitude of private classifications leads to inconsistencies, contradictions, and conflicts in the perception of individuals and in the interactions among individuals and groups.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

comprehensive collection on commodities and consumption, but not as relevant to my research as I had hoped it would be.

[Jonna Higgins-Freese · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just could not get my head around what was being argued overall. The sections on cloth production in India were interesting.

[Lindsay]

A must read if you work with materiality or theories of consumption. I'd skip Appadurai's introduction until after you have had a chance to read the collection of articles.

[Cate]

It's a very tough read. I didn't finish this one, but I've read about as much of it as I could.

[Luke · Rating 2 out of 5]

Informative, but that's about all.

[Psomikedan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I use this book as my main guidance in the search of the anthropology of ikat textiles.