MAS Phase 1 Study Set

Week 1 Study Materials

Day 1-2: Material Culture Basics + Disciplinary Influences

Core Definitions

Material Culture: Objects encountered, interacted with, and used by people

• Emphasizes relationship between inanimate things and social functions, social relations, and symbolic meanings

• Range: from a pencil to a shopping mall

• Mixes: anthropology, sociology, psychology, design, and cultural studies

• Analyzes macro and social dimensions

• Focus: how objects play significant roles in human social structures and personal experiences

Evolutionary Anthropology - Key Points

Early Studies (Pre-1900s)

• Main activity: cataloging and documenting material expressions of diverse cultures

• Focus: non-Western or non-European origins

• Objects studied: artifacts like spears, knives, shields

• Problem: Led to objectification and marginalization of non-Western cultures

• Goal: understand human behavior and culture retrospectively

A.H. Lane Fox Pitt Rivers

• Significant collector and military officer

• His collection demonstrated "cultural stages"

• Critical issue: Showed supposed superiority of Western culture

• Contributed to hierarchical ordering of cultures

Franz Boas ✓

• Developed realistic model of social life

• Showed engaging activities within cultural contexts

• Mixed educational and cultural representation

• Allowed for critical interpretations by contemporary audiences

• Significance: Moved away from hierarchical cultural ordering

The Evolution & Its Challenges

• Early ethnological principle was criticized for:

  1. Hierarchical ordering of cultures

  2. Isolating objects from their cultural contexts

• Shift: Integration of wider studies, contextual understanding

Study Questions

1. What is material culture and why does it matter?

2. How did early anthropology contribute to (and harm) material culture studies?

3. Compare Pitt Rivers and Franz Boas - what's the key difference in their approaches?

4. Why was the shift from cataloging to contextual analysis important?

Day 3-4: Classical Sociological Perspectives

Karl Marx's Views

Capitalism and Commodity Objects

• Capitalism produces excess of consumer objects

• This leads to moral and social contradictions

• Key concept: Human essence is realized through material creation

• Identity shows in relationship with the created world

• Objects under capitalism are alienating

Marx's Key Contributions to Material Culture

• Focused on production side of objects

• Saw objects as products of labor exploitation

• Commodity fetishism: objects hide the social relations of their production

• Limitation: Negative outlook on consumption (seen as passive)

Georg Simmel's Theories

Cultural Implications of Object Abundance

• Objects mediate modern life experiences and individual differentiation

• Material culture creates social distance and alienation

• Analyzed various objects beyond classical consumer goods

• Illustrated social roles objects play in individuals' identities

Simmel vs Marx

Marketing and Psychological Approaches

Notable Researchers: Belk, Wallendorf

• Made psychological contributions investigating meaning-making through objects

• Key insight: Consumption is less about materialism, more about personal and cultural significance

• Recent focus: material objects within consumption contexts

• Influenced by critiques of postmodern consumption narratives

Study Questions

1. How does Marx explain the relationship between capitalism and objects?

2. What is "human essence realized through material creation"?

3. How does Simmel's view differ from Marx's?

4. What shift did Belk and Wallendorf represent in studying consumption?

Day 5-7: Objects and Human Interaction

How Objects Signal Social Meanings

Functions of Objects:

1. Signify economic status - luxury cars, designer clothes

2. Signify cultural identity - traditional dress, religious symbols

3. Signify subcultural affiliation - punk fashion, skateboard culture

4. Carry personal and emotional meanings - facilitate interpersonal interactions

Example: Wearing certain clothing can make you feel more empowered (psychological effect)

Discursive Practices

Key Concept: Meanings of objects can vary based on:

• Context

• User perspectives

• Social circumstances

• Time period

Important: Objects carry meanings that contribute to social structures and relations

• Challenges traditional social theories that overlook physical artifacts

• Objects aren't neutral - they actively shape social relations

The "Social Life" of Objects

Core Idea: Objects have changing meanings across time and under different social circumstances

Examples:

1. Pets:

   • From: commoditized goods (bought/sold)

   • To: family members (emotional bonds)

2. Art pieces:

   • From: commodities (market value)

   • To: symbols of identity (cultural capital)

Case Studies - Detailed Analysis

1. Objects as Aesthetic Value Markers

Bourdieu's Theory:

• Aesthetic preferences reproduce social inequality

• Different social classes have varied notions of taste

• Taste influences cultural standing

Key Terms:

• Highbrow: elite, intellectual, prestigious culture

• Lowbrow: popular, conventional, less intellectual culture

Helen's Chair:

• Object: chair in her bedroom

• Meaning: encapsulates her aesthetic taste and self-identity

• Aesthetic: "understated and classic"

• Influenced by broader cultural norms

• Analysis: Shows how objects embody class-based taste

Christina's Warthog:

• Object: warthog figure

• Contrast with Helen: "anti-style" attitude towards decor

• Values: unconventional aesthetic and personal significance

• Analysis: Resistance to mainstream aesthetic norms

2. Objects as Markers of Identity

Sarah's Bible:

• Represents: Christian identity

• Context: social stigma in secular context

• Key action: She customizes her bible

• Purpose: Resist traditional interpretations of religion

• Analysis: Complex symbol of identity shaped by personal and contextual narratives

• Shows negotiation between personal belief and social context

3. Objects as Sites of Cultural and Political Power

Actor-Network Theory (Preview):

• Objects are intertwined with power dynamics and societal structures

Foucault's Panopticon:

• Prison design embodies social control

• Shift: from public punishment → surveillance-based systems of control

• Objects (like prison designs) are tools of power

Other Examples of Power Objects:

• Guillotine (public execution)

• Surveillance equipment (hidden control)

Key Insight: Material culture is fundamental in shaping societal norms and practices

Theoretical Frameworks (Brief Introduction)

Barthes:

• Critiques: how objects are perceived vs. how analyzed by social scientists

• Gap between everyday understanding and analytical understanding

Foucault's Influence:

• Introduces: panopticism

• Role of objects in constructing social order and power dynamics

• Objects act as tools of power

Study Questions

1. What are the four main functions objects serve in social life?

2. Define "discursive practices" in relation to objects

3. Explain the "social life of objects" with two examples

4. How does Helen's chair differ from Christina's warthog in terms of aesthetic values?

5. Why is Sarah's Bible a "complex symbol"?

6. How do objects relate to power according to Foucault?

7. What does it mean that objects "contribute to social structures"?

Practice Exercise

Choose an object you own and analyze it:

• What social meaning does it signal?

• How has its meaning changed over time for you?

• Does it relate to your identity? How?

• What power dynamics (if any) does it embody?

Week 2 Study Materials

Day 1-3: The Semiotic Approach

Core Concept

Semiotics: Study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation

In Material Culture: Objects are regarded as signs that refer to meanings beyond themselves

• Objects serve as proxies for social meaning

• They convey: identity, status, affiliations

Key Examples of Objects as Signs

1. Bouquet of Red Roses (Barthes)

• Signifies: romance and love

• Not just flowers - cultural symbol

• Meaning is culturally learned

2. Wedding Ring

• Cultural symbol of commitment

• Circle = eternal, no end

• Worn on specific finger (cultural variation)

3. Neckties

• Signify: professional importance

• Adherence to workplace norms

• Mark formality and respectability

4. Luxury Cars

• Signal: wealth and social status

• Convey: values (success, taste, power)

• Not just transportation - statement

Reading Material Culture

Why It Matters:

• Crucial skill for social interpretation

• Especially important in urban settings where:

  • Visual communication is uncontrolled

  • Personal interaction is limited

• Allows immediate social judgments without spoken communication

The Process:

• We constantly "read" others through their objects

• Make assumptions about: class, identity, values, affiliations

• Happens rapidly and often unconsciously

Risks of Reading Material Culture

1. Misinterpretation

• Can lead to discriminatory judgments

• Stereotyping based on appearance

• Incorrect assumptions

2. Lack of Universal Meanings Three reasons meanings aren't fixed:

a) Individual interpretations differ

• Same object, different meanings to different people

• Personal history shapes interpretation

b) Cultural competencies influence understanding

• Need cultural knowledge to "read" correctly

• What's obvious in one culture is opaque in another

c) Contextual factors impact appropriateness

• Same object appropriate in one context, inappropriate in another

• Material culture consumption is context-dependent

Complexity of Interpretation - Examples

1. Attire for Different Events

• Funeral attire: Black, somber, conservative = appropriate

• Party attire: Colorful, festive, expressive = appropriate

• Wearing funeral attire to party = inappropriate (wrong cultural sign)

• Wearing party attire to funeral = disrespectful (wrong context)

2. Religious Symbols - The Cross

• In Christianity: Symbol of faith, sacrifice, devotion

• In Goth subculture: Aesthetic choice, rebellion, darkness

• Same symbol, vastly different meanings

• Context determines interpretation

3. Fashion Sneakers Evolution

• Original: Adidas Sambas made for Brazilian favelas, soccer culture

• Now: Fashion statement, worn to brunch, disconnected from original use

• Shows fluidity of meaning over time

• Objects become disconnected from origins

Key Insight: Modern designs often disconnected from original purposes

• Form persists, function/meaning changes

• Cultural appropriation questions arise

Study Questions

1. What does it mean that objects are "signs"?

2. Give four examples of objects as signs and explain their meanings

3. Why is "reading material culture" an important urban skill?

4. What are the three main risks/limitations of reading material culture?

5. Explain how a cross can have different meanings in different contexts

6. What does the Samba sneaker example teach us about fluidity of meaning?

7. Why can't we assume universal meanings for objects?

Practice Exercise

Analyze your outfit today:

• What signs are you sending?

• What assumptions might others make?

• How might your outfit be read differently in another context?

• Are there any objects whose meaning you're intentionally using or subverting?

Day 4-5: Structuralism Methodology

What is Structuralism?

Structuralism is an approach that studies hidden systems of meaning beneath cultural practices. Even if social life seems chaotic, structuralists believe that deep, shared patterns organize how people think, behave, and interpret objects.

Core Features (according to Smith):

1. Surface vs. Deep Structures

   • Surfaces of social life create complexity

   • BUT underlying generating processes underpin this

   • We must look beneath surface to find patterns

2. Foundational Generative Schemes

   • Cultural practices follow fundamental schemes

   • These recombine in various ways

   • Limited number of structures = infinite variations

3. Objective Analysis

   • Analysts can objectively observe structures

   • Use scientific methods

   • Structures exist independent of individual awareness

4. Extension of Linguistic Concepts

   • Applies language concepts to culture

   • Cuisine, technology, fashion = "languages"

   • All follow systematic rules

5. Downplays Human Agency

   • Emphasizes culture as language system

   • Governed by systematic rules

   • Individuals "speak" culture but don't create structure

Ferdinand de Saussure - Linguistic Structures

Key Concepts:

1. Langue vs. Parole

• Langue: The underlying system of rules governing language use

  • Structure, grammar, possibilities

  • Shared by community

  • Abstract system

• Parole: The actual speech acts or manifestations of language

  • Individual utterances

  • Concrete instances

  • How langue is used

Analogy:

• Langue = chess rules

• Parole = specific chess moves

2. Signs = Signifier + Signified

• Signifier: The form the sign takes (sound, image, object)

• Signified: The concept it represents (meaning, idea)

• Relationship between them is arbitrary (culturally determined)

Example:

• Signifier: The word "tree" or image of tree

• Signified: The concept of a tree in our mind

• Connection is arbitrary (different in different languages)

3. "Where there is meaning, there is structure"

• Meaning comes from relationships within system

• Objects should be analyzed in terms of placement within systems of signs

• Not isolated, but part of larger structure

Claude Lévi-Strauss - Cultural Codes

Symbols and Signification:

• Material objects gain cultural significance through:

  • Orderly classification

  • Context within system

  • Relationships to other objects

Bricoleur Concept:

• Emphasizes creativity in using objects

• Fluidity of meanings

• Making do with what's at hand

• Recombining existing elements in new ways

THE SAFETY PIN EXAMPLE ⭐ (Most Important)

Mainstream Society:

• Signifier: safety pin

• Signified: mundane, mass-produced, inexpensive fastening device

• Function: fasten fabric together

• Meaning: utilitarian, boring, invisible

Punk Culture Transformation:

• "Acquired" this object

• Re-signified it with new meaning

• Context: punk cultural identity

• New uses:

  • Decoration (earrings)

  • Body piercings

  • Hold together ripped clothing

  • Anti-fashion statement

Key Term: "Semiotic Guerrilla Warfare"

• Punks were engaging in warfare against mainstream meanings

• Taking ordinary objects and inverting their meaning

• Challenge bourgeois values through style

• Objects become weapons of symbolic resistance

Analysis:

• Same object, radically different meaning

• Meaning comes from system/context, not object itself

• Creativity in resignification

• Subversion of dominant culture

Roland Barthes - Mythology and Ideological Analysis

Barthes' Project:

• Examines how commodities embody myths

• Myths reflect bourgeois ideology

• Disguise capitalist exploitation underlying commodity production

Myth Definition:

• "A second-order semiological system"

• First order: object = signifier + signified

• Second order: that sign becomes signifier for myth

• Mythologizing objects as possessing "inherent natural qualities"

• Obscuring historical contexts

Structure of Myth:

First Order: Object → Meaning

Second Order: (Object + Meaning) → Myth (presents as "natural")

THE CITROËN EXAMPLE:

• Object: Citroën car

• Transformation: from utilitarian → aspirational

• Goes beyond functional purposes

• Symbolizes: modernity, progress, French innovation

• Myth: naturalizes this as "what a car should be"

• Hides: labor, production, class distinctions

Key Insight: Myths make cultural/historical meanings appear natural and eternal

Jean Baudrillard - Consumer Analysis

Baudrillard's Critique:

• Traditional Marxist perspectives focus on production

• Baudrillard proposes structure-centric analysis of object relations

• Focuses on symbolic signification rather than utility/exchange

Four Stages of Object Significance ⭐

1. Functional Logic: Use Value

• What the object does

• Practical utility

• Example: Chair for sitting

2. Exchange Value

• Market-based value

• Comparison between objects

• Example: Chair costs $200

3. Symbolic Exchange Value

• Meaning derived from relationships and cultural context

• Personal significance

• Example: Chair inherited from grandmother

4. Sign Value

• Status and cultural prestige derived from objects

• Position in system of objects

• Example: Designer chair signals taste and wealth

Key Point: In consumer society, sign value dominates

• We consume signs, not just objects

• Objects differentiate us from others

• System of objects creates social hierarchies

Dick Hebdige - Subcultural Aesthetics

Hebdige's Analysis:

• How youth subcultures communicate identity

• Challenge conventional norms through intentional styles

• Style as resistance

Punk Subculture (Hebdige's Focus):

• Critiques social norms through style

• Recontextualizes objects (like safety pins)

• Creates coherent aesthetic of refusal

• Objects have symbolic power through designated placement within cultural hierarchies

Key Concepts:

• Bricolage: Putting together unlikely combinations

• Homology: Style reflects values (ripped clothes = broken society)

• Incorporation: Mainstream eventually absorbs subculture

Study Questions

1. What are the 5 core features of structuralism?

2. Explain langue vs. parole with an example

3. What is the relationship between signifier and signified?

4. What does "where there is meaning, there is structure" mean?

5. Explain the safety pin example - how did punks engage in "semiotic guerrilla warfare"?

6. What is a "myth" according to Barthes? Use the Citroën example.

7. List and explain Baudrillard's four stages of object significance

8. How does Hebdige explain punk style as resistance?

9. Compare Marx's focus on production with Baudrillard's focus on sign value

Practice Exercise

Choose a brand logo (Nike swoosh, Apple logo, etc.):

• Identify the signifier and signified

• Analyze its functional, exchange, symbolic, and sign value

• What myth does it create?

• How does it position consumers in a social hierarchy?

Day 6-7: Review Phase 1 + Create Comparison Charts

MASTER COMPARISON CHART: Key Theorists

COMPARISON: Production vs. Consumption Focus

Production-Focused (Critical):

• Marx: Objects produced through exploitation

• Problem: alienation, commodity fetishism

• Solution: Change production relations

Consumption-Focused (Interpretive):

• Simmel: Objects as experiential mediators

• Baudrillard: Objects as signs in system

• Hebdige: Objects as tools of resistance

• Problem: Sign systems, alienation through abundance

• Solution: Understand/subvert sign systems

COMPARISON: Structuralist Approaches

What They Share:

• Meaning comes from systems/structures, not objects themselves

• Look beyond surface to deep structures

• Downplay individual agency

• Scientific, objective analysis possible

How They Differ:

Key Concepts Glossary

Material Culture: Objects encountered, interacted with, and used by people; relationship between things and social functions, relations, meanings

Commodity Fetishism (Marx): Objects hide the social relations of their production; appear to have inherent value

Langue: Underlying system of rules governing language/culture

Parole: Actual utterances/uses within that system

Signifier: Form a sign takes (sound, image, object)

Signified: Concept the sign represents

Myth (Barthes): Second-order semiological system that naturalizes cultural/historical meanings

Bricoleur (Lévi-Strauss): Creative assembler who recombines existing elements in new ways

Semiotic Guerrilla Warfare: Subversive practice of taking mainstream signs and inverting their meanings

Use Value (Baudrillard Stage 1): What object does practically

Exchange Value (Stage 2): Market value for comparison

Symbolic Exchange Value (Stage 3): Personal/relational meaning

Sign Value (Stage 4): Status/prestige derived from object's position in system

Bricolage (Hebdige): Putting together unlikely combinations to create new meanings

Social Life of Objects: Changing meanings of objects across time and social circumstances

Discursive Practices: Recognition that object meanings vary by context and user perspectives

Timeline of Material Culture Studies

Late 1800s: Pitt Rivers - Hierarchical cataloging

Early 1900s: Boas - Contextual, non-hierarchical approach

1900s-1950s: Marx & Simmel - Classical sociological perspectives

1960s: Saussure's linguistics applied to culture

1960s-1970s: Lévi-Strauss - Structural anthropology

1957: Barthes - Mythologies

1970s: Baudrillard - Consumer society analysis

1979: Hebdige - Subculture: The Meaning of Style

1980s→: Move toward more agency-focused approaches

Practice Essay Prompts

1. Compare and contrast: "How do Marx and Simmel differently understand the role of objects in modern society?"

2. Trace development: "Explain how material culture studies evolved from evolutionary anthropology to structuralism."

3. Apply multiple theories: "Analyze a smartphone using Marx, Barthes, and Baudrillard's frameworks."

4. Critical evaluation: "What are the strengths and limitations of structuralist approaches to material culture?"

5. Example analysis: "Explain the safety pin example and what it reveals about how objects gain meaning."

Self-Test Questions

1. What's the difference between how Pitt Rivers and Franz Boas approached material culture?

2. Define commodity fetishism and give an example

3. Explain langue and parole with a non-linguistic example

4. What makes myth a "second-order semiological system"?

5. Why do punks engage in "semiotic guerrilla warfare"?

6. List Baudrillard's 4 stages in order and give examples

7. What does "the social life of objects" mean?

8. How does Hebdige explain subcultural style?

9. What are 3 risks of "reading" material culture?

10. Why is context crucial for understanding object meanings?