Off the Edge : Experiments in Cultural Analysis

Have you ever heard of the cream effect or witnessed the power of cultural backdraft? Have you watched the slow process of fossilisation or used the tactics of cultural stealth? You might be waiting for just the right word to describe what you have seen and done. This collection revitalises the study of the cultural processes of stability and change. The 25 essays invent new processes for a rapidly changing world. They illustrate how different perspectives enrich cultural analysis and add a bit of playfulness and experimentation to a longstanding academic issue. The authors -- from anthropology, European ethnology, sociology and cultural studies -- are peeking into blind spots and looking under the furniture in order to understand why and how some kinds of social life become visible, while so many others remain unseen. This book will inspire researchers and students to develop new approaches in cultural analysis.