In much recent thinking, social and cultural realms are thought of as existing prior to-or detached from-things, materiality, and landscape. It is often assumed, for example, that things are entirely 'constructed' by social or cultural perceptions and have no existence in and of themselves. Bjornar Olsen takes a different position. Drawing on a range of theories, especially phenomenology and actor-network-theory, Olsen claims that human life is fully mixed up with things and that humanity and human history emerge from such relationships. Things, moreover, possess unique qualities that are inherent in our cohabitation with them-qualities that help to facilitate existential security and memory of the past. This important work of archaeological theory challenges us to reconsider our ideas about the nature of things, past and present, demonstrating that objects themselves possess a dynamic presence that we must take into account if we are to understand the world we and they inhabit.
- ISBN10 6612713429
- ISBN13 9786612713422
- Publish Date 16 July 2010 (first published 1 January 2010)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 28 September 2011
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
- Format eBook
- Pages 215
- Language English