From Texas to the world and back Book

I came to read this book on finding it cited, of all things, in a book on kitchen design-- in reference to the trend toward "trophy" kitchens that no one actually cooks in. It's an early work in structuralist anthropology that attempts to address the failure of economics to predict the consumption and distribution of goods. It's a great antidote to Thorsten Vleben's simplistic ideas about "conspicuous consumption" proposing a more nuanced way of looking at "Goods as an information system." It was far more helpful to me than I would have ever anticipated. The core idea to note (primarily for myself) is that property (as in collections of goods) exists as an intelligible system arranged by consumers to "make sense" within their cultural position. As such, it is important to take note of properties beyond the material in any discussions of them. For example, a house isn't simply a shelter but also a status marker that allows them access to a system of information that they wouldn't otherwise be able to access-- a guy who lives in a cardboard box is simply denied any access to becoming a well compensated executive. Things don't just satisfy needs, and aren't simply purchased to be "conspicuous" markers-- they are part of the way that we negotiate culture and our place in it. A dense but rewarding read (speaking as a non-specialist).