The author tracks the life of the "stuff" we use every day, transforming how we think about our patterns of consumption.

From the very first hand axe to the ubiquitous credit card, each item has a story to tell; together they relate the larger history of mankind. Handsomely designed, with more than 150 color photographs throughout the text, "A History of the World in 100 Objects" is a gorgeous reading book and makes a great gift for anyone interested in history.

Consumer capitalism dominates our economy, our politics, and our culture, even though a growing body of research suggests it may be well past its sell-by date. In Consumerism and the Limits to Imagination, media scholar Justin Lewis makes a compelling case that consumer capitalism can no longer deliver on its promise of enhancing quality of life, and argues that changing direction will require changing our media system and our cultural environment....

"How did rescue dogs become status symbols? Why are luxury brands losing their cachet? What's made F. Scott Fitzgerald's most famous observations obsolete? The answers are part of a new revolution that's radically reorganizing the way we view ourselves and others. Status was once easy to identify-fast cars, fancy shoes, sprawling estates, elite brands. But in place of Louboutins and Lamborghinis, the relevance of the rich, famous, and gauche is waning...

This powerful documentary was made by Oomera (Coral) Edwards on Super 8mm film as a training exercise at the (then) Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies in Canberra. The film surveys the New South Wales policy of taking Aboriginal children from their families and putting them in institutions run by the Aborigines Welfare Board. From 1883 to 1969, this policy deprived generations of children of their Aboriginal identity. Oomera was one of these...

"Fewer, Better Things explores the history of craft in its many forms, explaining how raw materials, tools, design, and technique come together to produce beauty and utility in handmade or manufactured items. Whether describing the implements used in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, the use of woodworking tools, or the use of new fabrication technologies, Adamson writes expertly and lovingly about the aesthetics of objects, and the care and attention...

This book shows how refugees use art and design to transform their living environments, restoring humanity within circumstances that seem aimed at depriving them of it. Featuring more than twenty projects created by Syrian refugees at the Azraq Refugee Camp in Jordan, Design to Live offers a new way of understanding design as a subversive worldmaking practice and as tool for reclaiming agency in conditions of forced displacement. The projects?including...

Southeast Asia is home to numerous world heritage sites. Through engaging texts and expertly curated objects from the British Museum collection, arranged chronologically and thematically into seven chapters, this volume offers a new approach to one of the most complex and diverse areas of the world. Every object tells a story in a wide-ranging and accessible selection that illuminates the civilizations, societies and local cultures that have defined...