Materializing the Nation: Commodities, Consumption, and Media in Papua New Guinea FROM THE PUBLISHER
Why in the current era of globalization, does nationality remain a relevant dimension of personal and collective identities? Through a critique of recent approaches to nationalism and consumption and a focus on nation-making in Papua New Guinea, it highlights the instrumental roles of commercial media and commodity consumption in producing images and ideals of nationhood.
Author Biography: Robert J. Foster is Associate Professor and Chair of Anthropology at the University of Rochester. He is author of Social Reproduction and History in Melanesia and editor of Nation Making: Emergent Identities in Postcolonial Melanesia. His current research interests include globalization, mass consumption, and comparative modernities. He is working on a book tentatively titled Worldly Things: Soft Drink Perspectives on Globalization.