The World of Goods

By M. Douglas, B. Isherwood. 2021

1,675 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This revised edition with new Introduction from a leading anthropologist and an economist is unique in being about consumption but not a sermon for consumers, nor a moan against consumerism. The World of Goods bridges the gap between what anthropologists know about why objects are desired and what economists say about the specialised topic called consumption behaviour. The economist treats the desire for objects as an individual urge grounded in psychology; according to the anthropologist it is for fulfilling social obligations and represents the distribution of goods as a symptom of the form of society. It is a totally different perspectice and raises issues that lie beyond economics. The World of Goods asks new questions about why people save, why they spend, what they buy, and why they sometimes but not always make fine distinctions about quality. It is well-understood now that consumption goods communicate, create identity and establish relationships. But not so well-known that goods exclude as well as include, and that the pattern of their flow shows up the form of society. This book will be essential reading to students and lecturers in anthropology and economics.

Subfields: Computational Theory and Mathematics, Economics and Econometrics, Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c02395d70b4f11f0b1dec97764e2ec71a0b7e1a8

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Citations in the corpus

Commodified meanings, meaningful commodities: Re-thinking production-consumption links through the organic system of provision (2002, background): “In contrast, functionalist anthropologists conceptualize taste as both the manifestation and communication of cultural stability, altogether removing choice from the realm of the individual ( Douglas and Isherwood 1996, original 1979).”
Consumption symbols as carriers of culture: a study of Japanese and Spanish brand personality constructs. (2001, background): “This significance rests largely in their ability to carry and communicate cultural meaning (Douglas & Isherwood, 1978; Richins, 1994).”
Consumption, human needs, and global environmental change (2002, background): “Cultural theorists see consumption as a form of symbolic behavior that creates and expresses meaning and identity (Holbrook, 1991; Douglas and Isherwood, 1979).”
Social Status and Newspaper Readership1 (2007, background): “Douglas and Isherwood (1979, p. 12) make a similar claim in relation to material goods: “Goods are neutral, their uses are social; they can be used as fences or bridges.””