{"product_id":"the-meaning-of-things-domestic-symbols-and-the-self","title":"The Meaning of Things: Domestic Symbols and the Self","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44946811519029,"sku":"ByrdShop_052128774X","price":61.84,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9780521287746.jpg?v=1769967399","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-meaning-of-things-domestic-symbols-and-the-self","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}