The meaning of things is a study of the significance of material possessions in contemporary urban life, and of the ways people carve meaning out of their domestic environment. Drawing on a survey of eighty families in Chicago who were interviewed on the subject of their feelings about common household objects, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and Eugene Rochberg-Halton provide a unique perspective on materialism, American culture, and the self. They begin by reviewing what social scientists and philosophers have said about the transactions between people and things. In the model of 'personhood' that the authors develop, goal-directed action and the cultivation of meaning through signs assume central importance. They then relate theoretical issues to the results of their survey. An important finding is the distinction between objects valued for action and those valued for contemplation. The authors compare families who have warm emotional attachments to their homes with those in which a common set of positive meanings is lacking, and interpret the different patterns of involvement. They then trace the cultivation of meaning in case studies of four families. Finally, the authors address what they describe as the current crisis of environmental and material exploitation, and suggest that human capacities for the creation and redirection of meaning offer the only hope for survival. A wide range of scholars - urban and family sociologists, clinical, developmental and environmental psychologists, cultural anthropologists and philosophers, and many general readers - will find this book stimulating and compelling.
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About the Author
Eugene Halton is Professor of Sociology and American Studies at the University of Notre Dame. In addition to being coauthor of The Meaning of Things, he is author of Bereft of Reason (1995, 1997), Meaning and Modernity (1986), and a forthcoming book on American culture.
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9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
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This review is from: The Meaning of Things: Domestic Symbols and the Self (Paperback)
This is classic Csikszentmihalyi. He and Rochberg-Halton hit the ball out of the park!History, scientific analysis, a survey and the ability to hold it all together blend to enable the reader to get a glimpse of a sustainable future. This book is like a good play, the intriguing teaser front end, the slogging thru volumes of information, the wondering if you should walk out during the intermission because of TMI (too much information), and the roller coaster ride you get once the story tips into the final run to the climax. The authors begin to see patterns flowing from their survey that reach way beyond their initial hopes and they are able to gather this information, combine it with historical and scientific data, and pitch a proactive and beautifully simple way of beginning to transform our understanding of ourselves so that we may engage meaningful challenges and new ways of reflection
4.0 out of 5 stars
An eye-opener!,
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This review is from: The Meaning of Things: Domestic Symbols and the Self (Paperback)
Especially for children, but also for grown-ups and for a society as a whole, everyday things are full of meaning.Every morning they great us: we are still there, and we are still the same!
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
Humans display the intriguing characteristic of making and using objects. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
terminal materialism, transactions with objects, cool families, cool father, chic energy, warm father, cosmic self, productive goals, psychic activity, warm families Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Hannah Arendt, Middle Ages, Jackson Personality Research Form, New York, Cape Cod, John Dewey, Social Recognition, United States, Victor Turner New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Humans display the intriguing characteristic of making and using objects. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
terminal materialism, transactions with objects, cool families, cool father, chic energy, warm father, cosmic self, productive goals, psychic activity, warm families Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Hannah Arendt, Middle Ages, Jackson Personality Research Form, New York, Cape Cod, John Dewey, Social Recognition, United States, Victor Turner New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 28
books:
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100
books
cite this book:
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- Les Choses (French Edition) by Georges Perec in Front Matter, and Back Matter
- Art as Experience by John Dewey on page 44, and page 176
- Growing Old (Aging and old age) by Elaine Cumming in Back Matter
- Ritual Process, The: Structure and Anti-Structure by Victor Turner in Back Matter
- Small is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered by E.F. Schumacher on page 234
See all 28 books this book cites
- What's Happening to Home?: Balancing Work, Life, and Refuge in the Information Age by Maggie Jackson on 4 pages
- Consuming Technologies: Media and Information in Domestic Spaces by Eric Hirsch on 4 pages
- Marketing and Semiotics: New Directions in the Study of Signs for Sale (Approaches to Semiotics) by Jean Umiker-Sebeok on page 110, page 213, and page 458
- Consuming Technologies: Media and Information in Domestic Spaces by Eric Hirsch on page 29, page 205, and Back Matter
- The Grand Generation: Memory, Mastery, Legacy by Marjorie Hunt, Steve Zeitlin Mary Hufford in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
See all 100 books citing this book
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