Bringing together the most significant papers on the interpretation of objects and collections, this volume examines how people relate to material culture and why they collect things.

This volume brings together the most significant papers on the interpretation of objects and collections. Together these collected writings examine the part that objects play in our lives, how people relate to material culture and why they collect things.
"Interpreting Objects and Collections" begins by setting out the philosophical and historical context of object interpretation. This is followed by a collection of papers discussing objects variously as historical documents, functioning material and as semiotic texts, as well as papers which examine the politics of objects and the methodology of object study.
The papers in this second part look at the study of collections in their historical and conceptual context covering many topics including the use of collecting to structure individual identity, its effect on time and space and the construction of gender. There are also papers discussing collection and ideology, collection and social action and the methodology of collection study.