From value to desirability

The Allure of Worldly Things

Dados Bibliográficos

ID3919141
AutoresHarri (0000-0001-9373-289X, University of Glasgow, autor correspondente), Susanna Harris (University of Glasgow)
Ano2017
Volume49
Fascículo5
Páginas681-699
Data de publicação2017-10-20
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoWorld Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0043-8243 • E-ISSN: 1470-1375
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00438243.2017.1413416
OpenAlexW2783978271
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas13
Referências citadas44

In this paper, the author takes the approach that value is a judgment that people make about things based on desire, and the potential of the effects those things engender. On this basis, she argues that there are five principle ways that people desire objects: through material properties; in expense and exclusivity; as materials with conspicuous, sensory appeal; through object biography; and where objects can be substituted one for another, an attribute known as fungibility. These principles provide a multiple perspective through which to investigate why and how people desire things. This approach to value is explored through a case study of the desirability of textiles during the emergence of the early urban centres in central and northern Italy (900–500 BC) within its wider geographical setting. Addressing desirability, rather than fixed concepts of luxury, wealth or prestige, opens up questions as to how and why materials and objects are valued across social matrices and according to changing ambitions during the life course

Aesthetics · Anthropocentrism · Appeal · Economics · Environmental ethics · Epistemology · Fungibility · Object (grammar · Perspective (graphical · Political science · Positive economics · Prestige · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Archaeology and Rock Art Studies · Computer Science · Law · Philosophy