Home Objects

For thousands of years, humans have created and used a vast array of objects to feed and clothe themselves and to build and decorate their dwellings and other structures. In contemporary society, however, the proliferation of objects has been so marked that it is often pointed out that our environments are increasingly dominated by objects and less by people. Therefore the analysis of the things with which we surround ourselves is an essential part of the broader understanding of the emergence of a society based on commodity production and exchange. While there is much debate over whether this reflects the extension of human freedom, moral degradation, or social domination, the proliferation of objects demonstrates the many complex aspects of our existence - relations between people, family structures, modes of production and exchange, globalisation, cultural values, political, ethnic and religious identities, aesthetic tastes, and so on. The home is an important site for the study of objects, not least because it is through the use of such objects that humans make themselves at home in the world. Such home-making practices tell us much about the diverse meanings of objects themselves and the uses of objects in the mediation of human relations.