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Toward an Ecology of Materials

Ingold, Tim·2012·Annual Review of Anthropology
DOI 10.1146/annurev-anthro-081309-145920
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Abstract

Both material culture studies and ecological anthropology are concerned with the material conditions of social and cultural life. Yet despite advances in each of these fields that have eroded traditional divisions between humanistic and science-based approaches, their respective practitioners continue to talk past one another in largely incommensurate theoretical languages. This review of recent trends in the study of material culture finds the reasons for this in (a) a conception of the material world and the nonhuman that leaves no space for living organisms, (b) an emphasis on materiality that prioritizes finished artifacts over the properties of materials, and (c) a conflation of things with objects that stops up the flows of energy and circulations of materials on which life depends. To overcome these limitations, the review proposes an ecology of materials that focuses on their enrollment in form-making processes. It concludes with some observations on materials, mind, and time.

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Metadata

Authors
Ingold, T.
Venue
Annual Review of Anthropology
Publisher
Annual Reviews
Published
2012-10-21
Volume
41
Issue
1
Pages
427-442
ISSN
  • 0084-6570 (ISSN-L)
  • 1545-4290
DOI
10.1146/annurev-anthro-081309-145920
OpenAlex
W2121690840
Cited by
836
References
5
FWCI
7.14
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed

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Ingold, T. (2012). Toward an Ecology of Materials. Annual Review of Anthropology. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-anthro-081309-145920

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