The ethnographic sections of the book are based on a year's study of shopping on a street in North London. This provides the basis for a sensitive description of how shoppers develop and imagine the social relationships most important to them through the medium of selecting goods. Among the characteristics of these shopping expeditions are the concept of "the treat", and the centrality of thrift. Miller juxtaposes on his account of shopping various theories that anthropologists have brought to bear on the ritual of sacrifice, including that of the French philosopher George Bataille. He then integrates these elements to postulate his theory of shopping as sacrifice in terms as original and as utterly engaging as the stories he tells of individual shoppers.
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The ethnographic sections of the book are based on a year's study of shopping on a street in North London. This provides the basis for a sensitive description of how shoppers develop and imagine the social relationships most important to them through the medium of selecting goods. Among the characteristics of these shopping expeditions are the concept of "the treat", and the centrality of thrift. Miller juxtaposes on his account of shopping various theories that anthropologists have brought to bear on the ritual of sacrifice, including that of the French philosopher George Bataille. He then integrates these elements to postulate his theory of shopping as sacrifice in terms as original and as utterly engaging as the stories he tells of individual shoppers.
Imprint | Cornell University Press |
Country of origin | United States |
Release date | April 1998 |
Availability | Expected to ship within 10 - 15 working days |
First published | April 1998 |
Authors | Daniel Miller |
Dimensions | 229 x 152 x 14mm (L x W x T) |
Format | Paperback - Trade |
Pages | 180 |
Edition | New edition |
ISBN-13 | 978-0-8014-8551-0 |
Barcode | 9780801485510 |
Categories | |
LSN | 0-8014-8551-7 |