Living with things : consumption, material culture and everyday life

Pick up any object in your home and it can tell you a lot about yourself and the world you live in. Was it a gift from someone or did you acquire it yourself? Was it made 'by hand' or was it a store-bought commodity? Was it made overseas? Have you changed it any way? Is it a domestic appliance or a tool with a particular use? Is it a memento from your earlier life, family history, lovers or friends? Is it beautiful or fashionable? Is it on display or stored away? Does it have a special meaning for you? Does it say something about you, your cultural background and beliefs? Do you wonder why you got it in the first place, or why you keep it? These questions may seem fairly banal, but they begin to show you how the most mundane objects might reveal how you are part of a complex chain of personal and social relationships in an increasingly globalised economic system, in which particular kinds of political values and cultural meaning circulate.