{"product_id":"9781479879908","title":"Clarity, Cut, and Culture","description":"\u003cp\u003eImages of diamonds appear everywhere in American  culture. And everyone who has a diamond has a story to tell about it. Our  stories about diamonds not only reveal what we do with these tiny  stones, but also suggest how we create value, meaning, and identity through our  interactions with material culture in general.   Things become meaningful through our interactions with them, but how do  people go about making meaning? What can we learn from an ethnography about the  production of identity, creation of kinship, and use of diamonds  in understanding selves and social relationships? By what means do  people positioned within a globalized political-economy and a compelling  universe of advertising interact locally with these tiny polished  rocks?   This book draws on 12 months of fieldwork with diamond consumers in  New York City as well as an analysis of the iconic De Beers campaign  that promised romance, status, and glamour to anyone who bought a  diamond to show that this thematic pool is just one resource among  many that diamond owners draw upon to engage with their own  stones. The volume highlights the important roles that memory,  context, and circumstance also play in shaping how people interpret and then  use objects in making personal worlds. It shows that besides  operating as subjects in an ad-burdened universe, consumers are  highly creative, idiosyncratic, and theatrical agents.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51185426858258,"sku":"9781479879908","price":52.76,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0508\/3093\/4173\/files\/9781479879908.jpg?v=1774735781","url":"https:\/\/bargainbooks.com.au\/products\/9781479879908","provider":"Bargain Books Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}