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The Oxford Handbook of Consumption (Oxford Handbooks)
The Oxford Handbook of Consumption consolidates the most innovative recent work conducted by social scientists in the field of consumption studies and identifies some of the most fruitful lines of inquiry for future research. It begins by embedding marketing in its global history, enmeshed in various political, economic, and social sites. From this embedded perspective, the book branches out to examine the rise of consumer culture theory among consumer researchers and parallel innovative developments in sociology and anthropology, with scholarship analyzing the roles that identity, social networks, organizational dynamics, institutions, market devices, materiality, and cultural meanings play across a wide variety of applications, including, but not limited to, brands and branding, the sharing economy, tastes and preferences, credit and credit scoring, consumer surveillance, race and ethnicity, status, family life, well-being, environmental sustainability, social movements, and social inequality. The volume is unique in the attention it gives to consumer research on inequality and the focus it has on consumer credit scores and consumer behaviors that shape life chances. The volume includes essays by many of the key researchers in the field, some of whom have only recently, if at all, crossed the disciplinary lines that this volume has enabled. The contributors have tried to address several key questions: What motivates consumption and what does it mean to be a consumer? What social, technical, and cultural systems integrate and give character to contemporary consumption? What actors, institutions, and understandings organize and govern consumption? And what are the social uses and effects of consumption?
The Oxford Handbook of Contextual Approaches to Human Resource Management (Oxford Handbooks)
In recent years scholars and practitioners have increasingly recognized that human resource management (HRM) has paid insufficient attention to the impact of context. While research has been devoted to examining the impact of national context on HRM systems, this literature has been largely separate from that focused on other levels of context affecting organizational choices in HRM strategies, such as the impact of the organizational environment, industry sector, occupation or workforce characteristics. In addition, research has tended to consider elements of context in isolation rather than considering its impact at different levels. The goal of The Oxford Handbook of Contextual Approaches to Human Resource Management is to provide a more holistic approach to developing a contextual understanding of HRM. This Handbook offers a comprehensive understanding of the influence of contextual characteristics on the design and implementation of HRM systems. Rather than focusing on a single level or approach to examining context, the Handbook provides both conceptual and empirical analyses of different elements of context using a range of different lenses and measures. In order to explore the influence of contextual factors at multiple levels, the volume assembles a range of detailed accounts of how context affects the design, implementation and impact of HRM activities.
The Oxford Handbook of Cross-Cultural Organizational Behavior (OXFORD LIBRARY OF PSYCHOLOGY SERIES)
The process of globalization has brought into focus the central role of culture in understanding work behavior. In parallel to the accelerating process of globalization, there has been an explosion of empirical studies on culture and organizational behavior. The Oxford Handbook of Cross-Cultural Organizational Behavior integrates this research into one coherent framework with a rich collection of chapters that highlight the role of culture at the multi-levels of the organization, from the individual level to the meso-level of the social group, the macro-level of the organization, and up to the global work culture. Written by a diverse group of experts in the field, this handbook provides critical knowledge on how cultures vary, and how culture influences basic psychological processes, communication, trust, social networks, leadership, and negotiation. It also covers how to manage multicultural teams, culture and human resource management practices, joint ventures, organizational change, and more. In order to be effective in the emerging global economy, managers need to be able to interact effectively across cultures, and this handbook provides the most comprehensive treatment of the subject on the market.
The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Sociology (Oxford Handbooks)
Since sociologists returned to the study of culture in the past several decades, a pursuit all but anathema for a generation, cultural sociology has emerged as a vibrant field. Edited by three leading cultural sociologists, The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Sociology presents the full theoretical and methodological vitality of this critically significant new area.The Handbook gathers together works by authors confronting the crucial choices all cultural sociologists face today: about analytic priorities, methods, topics, epistemologies, ideologies, and even modes of writing. It is a vital collection of preeminent thinkers studying the ways in which culture, society, politics, and economy interact in the world. Organized by empirical areas of study rather than particular theories or competing intellectual strands, the Handbook addresses power, politics, and states; economics and organization; mass media; social movements; religion; aesthetics; knowledge; and health. Allowing the reader to observe tensions as well as convergences, the collection displays the value of cultural sociology not as a niche discipline but as a way to view and understand the many facets of contemporary society. The first of its kind, The Oxford Handbook of Cultural Sociology offers comprehensive and immediate access to the real developments and disagreements taking place in the field, and deftly exemplifies how cultural sociology provides a new way of seeing and modeling social facts. "This groundbreaking, readable handbook [is] the first single volume to attempt to unify its diverse contemporary applications in a wide range of traditional genres of sociology...Valuable for college universities and libraries supporting undergraduate and graduate degree programs in sociology and history."-CHOICE
The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology (Oxford Library of Psychology)
The goal of cultural psychology is to explain the ways in which human cultural constructions -- for example, rituals, stereotypes, and meanings -- organize and direct human acting, feeling, and thinking in different social contexts. A rapidly growing, international field of scholarship, cultural psychology is ready for an interdisciplinary, primary resource. Linking psychology, anthropology, sociology, archaeology, and history, The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology is the quintessential volume that unites the variable perspectives from these disciplines. Comprised of over fifty contributed chapters, this book provides a necessary, comprehensive overview of contemporary cultural psychology. Bridging psychological, sociological, and anthropological perspectives, one will find in this handbook: - A concise history of psychology that includes valuable resources for innovation in psychology in general and cultural psychology in particular - Interdisciplinary chapters including insights into cultural anthropology, cross-cultural psychology, culture and conceptions of the self, and semiotics and cultural connections - Close, conceptual links with contemporary biological sciences, especially developmental biology, and with other social sciences - A section detailing potential methodological innovations for cultural psychology By comparing cultures and the (often differing) human psychological functions occuring within them, The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology is the ideal resource for making sense of complex and varied human phenomena.
The Oxford Handbook of Cyberpsychology (Oxford Library of Psychology)
The internet is so central to everyday life, that it is impossible to contemplate life without it. From finding romance, to conducting business, receiving health advice, shopping, banking, and gaming, the internet opens up a world of possibilities to people across the globe. Yet for all its positive attributes, it is also an environment where we witness the very worst of human behaviour - cybercrime, election interference, fake news, and trolling being just a few examples. What is it about this unique environment that can make people behave in ways they wouldn't contemplate in real life. Understanding the psychological processes underlying and influencing the thinking, interpretation and behaviour associated with this online interconnectivity is the core premise of Cyberpsychology. The Oxford Handbook of Cyberpsychology explores a wide range of cyberpsychological processes and activities through the research and writings of some of the world's leading cyberpsychology experts. The book is divided into eight sections covering topics as varied as online research methods, self-presentation and impression management, technology across the lifespan, interaction and interactivity, online groups and communities, social media, health and technology, video gaming and cybercrime and cybersecurity. The Oxford Handbook of Cyberpsychology will be important reading for those who have only recently discovered the discipline as well as more seasoned cyberpsychology researchers and teachers.
The Oxford Handbook of Diversity in Organizations (Oxford Handbooks)
In the last decades diversity and its management has become a feature of modern and postmodern organizations. Different practices have spread around the globe focusing on the organizing and management of inclusion and exclusion of persons and identities based on different genders, sexual orientations, racial and ethnic backgrounds, ages, and (dis)abilities as well as religious beliefs. However, although increasingly recognized as important, the discourses of diversity are multifaceted and not without controversy. Furthermore, diversity management practices have the potential to reproduce both inclusion and exclusion. The book presents the foundations of organizing and managing diversities, offers multidisciplinary, intersectional and critical analyses on key issues, and opens up fresh perspectives in order to advance the diversity debate. It also inspires new debates on diversity by encouraging scholars to broaden their research agendas and assists students and scholars to increase their understanding of the field and its current discussions. The contributors are a team of leading diversity scholars from all over the world.
The Oxford Handbook of Economic Conflict Resolution (Oxford Handbooks)
Individuals, groups, and societies all experience conflict, and attempt to resolve it in numerous ways. This Handbook brings together scholars from multiple disciplines to offer perspectives on the current state and future challenges in negotiation and conflict resolution. It will serve as an aid to scholars in identifying new research topics, provide a guide to current debates, and identify complementarities between approaches taken by different disciplines and the insights which those approaches generate. Leading researchers of economics, psychology, organizational behavior, policy, and other fields have contributed chapters. The volume is organized to purposefully juxtapose contributions from different fields to enable cross-fertilization between the disciplines and to generate new and creative approaches to studying the topic. These chapters provide a lens into current scholarship, and a window into the future of the field of economic conflict resolution. The confluence of research perspectives represented will identify further synergies and advances in our understanding of this topic.
The Oxford Handbook of Education and Globalization
Globalization has become one of the most recurrent concepts in social and political sciences. More often than not, however, the concept is handled without much of a properly articulated theory capable of explaining its historical origin and expansion. For education researchers attempting to elucidate how global changes and processes affect their field of study, this situation is problematic. The Oxford Handbook on Education and Globalization brings together in a unique way leading authors in social theory and in political science and reflects on how these two distinct disciplinary approaches deal with the relation between globalization and education. Part I develops a firmer and tighter dialogue between social theory, long concerned with theories of globalization, and education research. It presents, discusses, and compares three major attempts to theorize the process of globalization and its relation to education: the neo-institutionalist theorization of world culture, the materialist and domination perspectives, and Luhmann's theory of world society. Part II analyses the political and institutional factors that shape the adoption of global reforms at the national and local level of governance, emphasizing the role of different contexts in shaping policy outcomes. It engages with the existing debates of globalization mainly in the field of public policy and comparative politics and explores the social, political, and economic implications of globalization for national systems of education, their organizations, and institutions.
The Oxford Handbook of Endangered Languages (Oxford Handbooks)
The endangered languages crisis is widely acknowledged among scholars who deal with languages and indigenous peoples as one of the most pressing problems facing humanity, posing moral, practical, and scientific issues of enormous proportions. Simply put, no area of the world is immune from language endangerment. The Oxford Handbook of Endangered Languages, in 39 chapters, provides a comprehensive overview of the efforts that are being undertaken to deal with this crisis. A comprehensive reference reflecting the breadth of the field, the Handbook presents in detail both the range of thinking about language endangerment and the variety of responses to it, and broadens understanding of language endangerment, language documentation, and language revitalization, encouraging further research. The Handbook is organized into five parts. Part 1, Endangered Languages, addresses the fundamental issues that are essential to understanding the nature of the endangered languages crisis. Part 2, Language Documentation, provides an overview of the issues and activities of concern to linguists and others in their efforts to record and document endangered languages. Part 3, Language Revitalization, includes approaches, practices, and strategies for revitalizing endangered and sleeping ("dormant") languages. Part 4, Endangered Languages and Biocultural Diversity, extends the discussion of language endangerment beyond its conventional boundaries to consider the interrelationship of language, culture, and environment, and the common forces that now threaten the sustainability of their diversity. Part 5, Looking to the Future, addresses a variety of topics that are certain to be of consequence in future efforts to document and revitalize endangered languages.
The Oxford Handbook of Energy and Society (Oxford Handbooks)
The Oxford Handbook of Energy and Society presents an overview of this expanding area that has evolved dramatically over the past decade, away from one largely dominated by structural, political economic treatments on the one hand, and social-psychological studies of individual-level attitudes and behaviors on the other, toward a far more conceptually and methodologically rich and exciting field that brings in, for example, social practices, system complexity, risk theory, social studies of science, and social movements theories. This volume seeks to capture the variety of scales and methods, and range of both conceptual and empirical analyses that define the field, while drawing particular attention to indigenous peoples, poverty, political power, communities and cities. Organized into seven sections, chapters cover social theory and energy-society relations, political-economic perspectives, consumption dynamics, energy equity and energy poverty, energy and publics, energy and governance, as well as emerging trends.
The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Criminology (Oxford Handbooks)
The study of how the environment, local geography, and physical locations influence crime has a long history that stretches across many research traditions. These include the neighborhood effects approach developed in the 1920s, the criminology of place, and a newer approach that attends to the perception of crime in communities. Aided by new technologies and improved data-reporting in recent decades, research in environmental criminology has developed rapidly within each of these approaches. Yet research in the subfield remains fragmented and competing theories are rarely examined together. The Oxford Handbook of Environmental Criminology takes a unique approach and synthesizes the contributions of existing methods to better integrate the subfield as a whole. Gerben J.N. Bruinsma and Shane D. Johnson have assembled a cast of top scholars to provide an in-depth source for understanding how and why physical setting can influence the emergence of crime, affect the environment, and impact individual or group behavior. The contributors address how changes in the environment, global connectivity, and technology provide more criminal opportunities and new ways of committing old crimes. They also explore how crimes committed in countries with distinct cultural practices like China and West Africa might lead to different spatial patterns of crime. This is a state-of-the-art compendium on environmental criminology that reflects the diverse research and theory developed across the western world.
The Oxford Handbook of Evidence-based Management (Oxford Library of Psychology)
From medicine to education, evidence-based approaches aim to evaluate and apply scientific evidence to a problem in order to arrive at the best possible solution. Thus, using scientific knowledge to inform the judgment of managers and the process of decision-making in organizations, Evidence-based Management (EBMgt) is the science-informed practice of management. Written by leading experts in the study and practice of EBMgt, The Oxford Handbook of Evidence-based Management provides an overview of key EBMgt ideas and puts them in context of promoting evidence-based practice. Furthermore, it addresses the roles and contributions of practitioners, educators, and scholars -- the primary constituents of EBMgt -- while providing perspectives and resources for each. Divided into three sections (research, practice, and education), this handbook examines the realities of everyday management practice and the role EBMgt can play in improving managerial decision making and employee well being and instructs educators in their roles as designers of curricula and resources. As the first major volume to capture the spirit of this emerging movement, The Oxford Handbook of Evidence-based Management shows how practitioners can use high-quality knowledge gleaned from scientific research in order to make better use of available data and ultimately make more mindful decisions.
The Oxford Handbook of Evolution, Biology, and Society (Oxford Handbooks)
Evolution, biology, and society is a catch-all phrase encompassing any scholarly work that utilizes evolutionary theory and/or biological or behavioral genetic methods in the study of the human social group, and The Oxford Handbook of Evolution, Biology, and Society contains an much needed overview of research in the area by sociologists and other social scientists. The examined topics cover a wide variety of issues, including the origins of social solidarity; religious beliefs; sex differences; gender inequality; determinants of human happiness; the nature of social stratification and inequality and its effects; identity, status, and other group processes; race, ethnicity, and race discrimination; fertility and family processes; crime and deviance; and cultural and social change. The scholars whose work is presented in this volume come from a variety of disciplines in addition to sociology, including psychology, political science, and criminology. Yet, as the essays in this volume demonstrate, the potential of theory and methods from biology for illuminating social phenomena is clear, and sociologists stand to gain from learning more about them and using them in their own work. The theory focuses on evolution by natural selection, the primary paradigm of the biological sciences, while the methods include the statistical analyses sociologists are familiar with, as well as other methods that they may not be familiar with, such as behavioral genetic methods, methods for including genetic factors in statistical analyses, gene-wide association studies, candidate gene studies, and methods for testing levels of hormones and other biochemicals in blood and saliva and including these factors in analyses. This work will be of interest to any sociologist with an interest in exploring the interaction of biological and sociological processes. As an introduction to the field it is useful for teaching upper-level or graduate students in sociology or a related social science.
The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Family Psychology (Oxford Library of Psychology)
Relationships with family are important to our emotional health and can play a significant role in our social success. We need our families and yet frequently have a great difficulty understanding them. Hundreds of books have been published with the goal of improving understanding and relationships among family and relationships; few, if any, have done so with an evolutionary approach. The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Family Psychology focuses on the reasons underlying family behavior and how a greater understanding of these factors can help us to better understand our own family behaviors. Recognizing that a deeper understanding of human families can be found through an understanding of similar phenomena in other species, the volume demonstrates how an understanding of family ties can inform understanding of our relationships to non-kin.
The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Behavioral Endocrinology (Oxford Library of Psychology)
The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Behavioral Endocrinology offers a comprehensive and compelling review of research in behavioral endocrinology from an evolutionary perspective on human psychology. Chapters, written by renowned experts on human behavior, explore a number of subtopics within one of three themes (1) development and survival, (2) reproductive behavior, and (3) social and affective behavior. Such topics include hormonal influences on life history strategy, mate choice, aggression, human hierarchical structure, and mood disorders. This Handbook is situated at the intersection of evolutionary psychology and behavioral endocrinology. Its interdisciplinary approach makes it an important resource for a broad spectrum of researchers, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates who are interested in studying the motivations and mechanisms that affect behavior.
The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Parenting (Oxford Library of Psychology)
The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Psychology and Parenting provides a comprehensive resource for state-of-the-art research on how our evolutionary past informs current parenting roles and practices. Featuring chapters from leaders in the field, the Handbook is designed for advanced undergraduates, graduates, and professionals in psychology, anthropology, biology, sociology, and demography, as well as many other social and life science disciplines. It is the first resource of its kind that brings together empirical and theoretical contributions from scholarship at the intersection of evolutionary psychology and parenting.
The Oxford Handbook of Exercise Psychology (Oxford Library of Psychology)
Awareness of the importance of exercise and physical activity to optimal physical and mental health has never been greater. It is widely acknowledged that physical inactivity is a leading cause of death, yet statistics show less than 50% of Americans participate in regular physical activity. This information highlights the public health challenge of increasing participation in physical activity to enhance physical health and to buoy the psychological benefits associated with physical activity. The Oxford Handbook of Exercise and Psychology is an authoritative and comprehensive presentation of the breadth and depth of empirical contributions utilizing state-of-the-science theories and approaches in exercise psychology. Chapters are authored by leading investigators across the globe who have made significant scientific contributions addressing the behavioral aspects of physical activity. Sections of the book address the effects of physical activity on mental health; knowledge gathered utilizing psychobiological perspectives; behavioral factors that impact exercise motivation; scientific contributions addressing the physical activity benefits with special populations, including individuals with physical disabilities, older adults and cancer patients; and promising areas for additional investigation. Each chapter presents a summary of scientific advancements in the topic area as a foundation for future investigation. Fueled by a broad range of disciplines and interdisciplinary approaches, the field of exercise psychology is growing, and this comprehensive handbook will be the perfect resource for students, researchers, and physicians interested in exercise motivation and the mental health benefits of physical activity.
The Oxford Handbook of Expertise (Oxford Library of Psychology)
The study of expertise weaves its way through various communities of practice, across disciplines, and over millennia. To date, the study of expertise has been primarily concerned with how human beings perform at a superior level in complex environments and sociotechnical systems, and at the highest levels of proficiency. However, more recent research has continued the search for better descriptions, and causal mechanisms that explain the complexities of expertise in context, with a view to translating this understanding into useful predictions and interventions capable of improving the performance of human systems as efficiently as possible. The Oxford Handbook of Expertise provides a comprehensive picture of the field of Expertise Studies. It offers both traditional and contemporary perspectives, and importantly, a multidiscipline-multimethod view of the science and engineering research on expertise. The book presents different perspectives, theories, and methods of conducting expertise research, all of which have had an impact in helping us better understand expertise across a broad range of domains. The Handbook also describes how researchers and practitioners have addressed practical problems and societal challenges. Throughout, the authors have sought to demonstrate the heterogeneity of approaches and conceptions of expertise, to place current views of expertise in context, to show how these views can be used to address current issues, and to examine ways to advance the study of expertise. The Oxford Handbook of Expertise is an essential resource both to those wanting to gain an up-to-date knowledge of the science of expertise and those wishing to study experts.
The Oxford Handbook of Gossip and Reputation (Oxford Handbooks)
Gossip and reputation are core processes in societies and have substantial consequences for individuals, groups, communities, organizations, and markets.. Academic studies have found that gossip and reputation have the power to enforce social norms, facilitate cooperation, and act as a means of social control. The key mechanism for the creation, maintenance, and destruction of reputations in everyday life is gossip - evaluative talk about absent third parties. Reputation and gossip are inseparably intertwined, but up until now have been mostly studied in isolation. The Oxford Handbook of Gossip and Reputation fills this intellectual gap, providing an integrated understanding of the foundations of gossip and reputation, as well as outlining a potential framework for future research. Volume editors Francesca Giardini and Rafael Wittek bring together a diverse group of researchers to analyze gossip and reputation from different disciplines, social domains, and levels of analysis. Being the first integrated and comprehensive collection of studies on both phenomena, each of the 25 chapters explores the current research on the antecedents, processes, and outcomes of the gossip-reputation link in contexts as diverse as online markets, non-industrial societies, organizations, social networks, or schools. International in scope, the volume is organized into seven sections devoted to the exploration of a different facet of gossip and reputation. Contributions from eminent experts on gossip and reputation not only help us better understand the complex interplay between two delicate social mechanisms, but also sketch the contours of a long term research agenda by pointing to new problems and newly emerging cross-disciplinary solutions.
The Oxford Handbook of Group and Organizational Learning (Oxford Library of Psychology)
Groups and organizations vary dramatically in their ability to learn. Some acquire substantial knowledge as a function of experience, while others do not. In groups, learning can occur at the level of the individual member and/or the group as a whole. In organizations, learning can occur at both of these levels as well as that of the wider collective. Besides varying in the amount and kind of information they acquire, groups and organizations also vary regarding their success in retaining knowledge and transferring it to other units. In general, groups and organizations that are proficient in acquiring, retaining, and transfering knowledge are more productive and more enduring than their less able counterparts. The goal of this handbook is to bring together cutting-edge theoretical and empirical work on group and organizational learning by leading scholars from several disciplines. Because many of the same processes influence learning in groups and organizations, including both kinds of learning in the same volume has the potential to facilitate the integration of knowledge and the cross-fertilization of ideas. These benefits are reciprocal, in that research at the group level can shed light on how organizations learn whereas research at the organizational level can illuminate how groups learn. By clarifying similarities and differences in the processes that underlie learning in groups and organizations, the handbook advances understanding of the causes and consequences of learning in collectives of varying size and complexity.
The Oxford Handbook of Group Creativity and Innovation (Oxford Library of Psychology)
Although creativity is often considered an individual ability or activity, innovation in teams and organizations involves collaboration of people with diverse perspectives, knowledge, and skills. The effective development of collaborative innovations and solutions to problems is critical to the success of teams and organizations, but research has also demonstrated many factors which tend to limit the effectiveness of collaborative innovation of groups and teams. This volume highlights recent theoretical, empirical, and practical developments that provide a solid basis for the practice of collaborative innovation and future research. It draws from a broad range of research perspectives including cognition, social influence, groups, teams, creativity, communication, networks, information systems, organizational psychology, engineering, computer science, and the arts. This volume is an important source of information for students, scholars, practitioners, and others interested in understanding the complexity of the group creative process and tapping the creative potential of groups and teams.
The Oxford Handbook of Health Care Management (Oxford Handbooks)
This Handbook provides an authoritative overview of current issues and debates in the field of health care management. It contains over twenty chapters from well-known and eminent academic authors, who were carefully selected for their expertise and asked to provide a broad and critical overview of developments in their particular topic area. The development of an international perspective and body of knowledge is a key feature of the book. The Handbook secondly makes a case for bringing back a social science perspective into the study of the field of health care management. It therefore contains a number of contrasting and theoretically orientated chapters (e.g. on institutionalism; critical management studies). This social science based approach is a refreshing alternative to much existing work in this domain and offers a good way into current academic debates in this field. The Handbook thirdly explores a variety of important policy and organizational developments apparent within the current health care field (e.g. new organizational forms; growth of management consulting in health care organizations). It therefore explores and comments on major contemporary trends apparent in the practice field.
The Oxford Handbook of Health Psychology (Oxford Library of Psychology)
The flaws in today's healthcare systems and practices are well-documented: millions remain far from optimal health due to a variety of psychological and social factors; large numbers of patients do not fully cooperate with medical advice; errors in medical decision-making -- some stemming from flaws in interpersonal relations -- regularly lead to needless suffering and death. Further, the effects of emotions, personality, and motivation on healing are not well incorporated into traditional medical care. The Oxford Handbook of Health Psychology compiles the most relevant scholarship from psychology, medicine, and public health to offer a thorough and authoritative model of the biopsychosocial approach to health. A collection of international contributors addresses all relevant concepts in this model, including its applications to health promotion, health behavior change, and treatment.
The Oxford Handbook of History and Material Culture (Oxford Handbooks)
Most historians rely principally on written sources. Yet there are other traces of the past available to historians: the material things that people have chosen, made, and used. This book examines how material culture can enhance historians' understanding of the past, both worldwide and across time. The successful use of material culture in history depends on treating material things of many kinds not as illustrations, but as primary evidence. Each kind of material thing-and there are many-requires the application of interpretive skills appropriate to it. These skills overlap with those acquired by scholars in disciplines that may abut history but are often relatively unfamiliar to historians, including anthropology, archaeology, and art history. Creative historians can adapt and apply the same skills they honed while studying more traditional text-based documents even as they borrow methods from these fields. They can think through familiar historical problems in new ways. They can also deploy material culture to discover the pasts of constituencies who have left few or no traces in written records. The authors of this volume contribute case studies arranged thematically in six sections that respectively address the relationship of history and material culture to cognition, technology, the symbolic, social distinction, and memory. They range across time and space, from Paleolithic to Punk.