TY  - BOOK
AU  - Drazin,Adam
AU  - Küchler,Susanne
TI  - The social life of materials: studies in materials and society 
SN  - 9781472592644
AV  - GN406 .S62 2015
PY  - 2015///
CY  - London
PB  - Bloomsbury Academic
KW  - Material culture
KW  - Materials
KW  - Social aspects
KW  - Product design
KW  - Materials science
KW  - Material Science
KW  - Social life and customs
N1  - Includes index (pages 283-301); Part 1 Introduction; Part 2 On materials innovation; Part 3 From substance to form; Part 4 The subversion of form by substance; Part 5 Ecologies of materials social lives; Part 6 Conclusion
N2  - 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
ER  -