The World of Goods (Routledge Classics)

It is well-understood that the consumption of goods plays an important, symbolic role in the way human beings communicate, create identity, and establish relationships. What is less well-known is that the pattern of their flow shapes society in fundamental ways. In this book the renowned anthropologist Mary Douglas and economist Baron Isherwood overturn arguments about consumption that rely on received economic and psychological explanations. They ask new questions about why people save, why they spend, what they buy, and why they sometimes-but not always-make fine distinctions about quality. 
Instead of regarding consumption as a private means of satisfying one’s preferences, they show how goods are a vital information system, used by human beings to fulfill their intentions towards one another. They also consider the implications of the social role of goods for a new vision for social policy, arguing that poverty is caused as much by the erosion of local communities and networks as it is by lack of possessions, and contrast small-scale with large-scale consumption in the household. 
A radical rethinking of consumerism, inequality and social capital, The World of Goods is a classic of economic anthropology whose insights remain compelling and urgent. 
This Routledge Classics edition includes a new foreword by Richard Wilk. 
"Forget that commodities are good for eating, clothing, and shelter; forget their usefulness and try instead the idea that commodities are good for thinking." – Mary Douglas and Baron Isherwood

DOUGLAS, Mary

Isherwood, Baron

Religion & Spirituality

Routledge

Examines the workings of the economy from the perspective of social anthropology and discusses how goods are used in cultures as a means of communication

The World of Goods

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

W.W. Norton & Co., Inc.

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.

The World of Goods (Volume 12)

Douglas, Professor Mary

Reference

First published in 1979, this volume introduces a cultural factor to theories of consumption. The World of Goods goes beyond standard economic analyses, which rely on theories of individual psychology. Douglas studies how consumers use goods to fulfil their intentions in regard to one another. The World of Goods insists that goods are wanted for social purposes, for sharing and giving, more than for the private enjoyment that is the pivot of utilitarian explanations. This book offers a completely original way of thinking about consumption as a series of rituals.

The World of Goods (Routledge Revivals)

World of Goods: Towards an Anthropology of Consumption

Business & Money

Economics

Allen Lane.

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