Where Stuff Comes From: How Toasters, Toilets, Cars, Computers and Many Other Things Come To Be As They Are

by Molotch; Harvey

• ISBN13: 9780415944007
• ISBN10: 0415944007
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-03-14
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

No toaster is an island. In fact, as Harvey Molotch demonstrates in this sparkling tour of how things are created, the everyday objects of our life are a delicate and clever intermingling of design, timing and functionality that mirrors contemporary life. WhereStuff ComesFrom is about paper clips, post-its, bathtubs, cars and all the other stuff in our lives. It is about how these items were imagined into existence and made a part of the American material culture. From the designer to the manufacturer to the business owner to the consumer, Molotch guides us through the worlds of technology, design, corporate culture and popular culture, giving us a sense of how and why we want stuff. He rolls up his sleeves and goes behind the scenes at trade shows and in design studios to speak with the product-makers who gave us the Nike swoosh and Volkswagen's resurrected Beetle. A witty and surprising voyage into the aesthetic unconscious of the consumer,Where Stuff Comes Fromprobes themeaning of the objects in our lives and what our possessions say about us. Ultimately, Molotch opens a fascinating window into our economy, society and culture by unlocking the complex strategies behind simple things.

Author Biography

Harvey Molotch holds a joint appointment as Professor of Metropolitan Studies and Sociology at New York University and Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Table of Contents

Preface: Where I Come From	ix
Acknowledgments	xi
Lash-Ups: Goods and Bads	1	(22)
Inside Stuff: How Professionals Do It	23	(30)
Form and Function	53	(38)
Changing Goods	91	(40)
Venues and Middlemen	131	(30)
Place in Product	161	(34)
Corporate Organization and the Design Big Thing	195	(30)
Moral Rules	225	(36)
Notes	261	(26)
Bibliography	287	(18)
Index	305