Daniel Miller Books

Mute Records is one of the most revered and influential independent music labels of all time. Through the music of its tight-knit community of artists - ranging from Cabaret Voltaire, Throbbing Gristle, Nick Cave's 'The Birthday Party' and Einsturzende Neubauten to Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure, Laibach and Goldfrapp - it has had an incalculable impact on popular music for forty years. This authoritative, sumptuously illustrated history of the label features stunning artwork and photography - much of it previously unseen - and insights from those who have worked with the label

Focusing on the intersection of theology and animal ethics, the book critiques contemporary views by proposing a love-based approach to human-animal relationships. Drawing from the parable of the Good Samaritan, it advocates for a narrative that emphasizes compassion and moral responsibility towards animals, challenging existing ethical frameworks established in the twentieth century.

Daniel Miller spent 18 months undertaking an ethnographic study with the residents of an English village, tracking their use of the different social media platforms. Following his study, he argues that a focus on platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram does little to explain what we post on social media. Instead, the key to understanding how people in an English village use social media is to appreciate just how ‘English’ their usage has become. He introduces the ‘Goldilocks Strategy’: how villagers use social media to calibrate precise levels of interaction ensuring that each relationship is neither too cold nor too hot, but ‘just right’.

Drawing on experiences from villagers in Bengal to scientists in Bangalore, this book explores the beauty, adaptability and personality of India's most iconic garment. Banerjee and Miller show why the sari has survived and indeed flourished as everyday dress when most of the world has adopted western clothing. Their book presents both an intimate portrait of the lives of women in India today and an alternative way for us all to think about our relationship to the clothes we wear. Lavishly illustrated and rich in personal testimony, The Sari expertly shows how one of the world's most simply constructed garments can reveal the intricate design of life in modern India.

Irvin Atchison lived a hard life as a young man growing up around Sidney, Montana, in the difficult times of the 1920s and 1930s. He had a way with horses and a hardscrabble life. When he joined the US Army, he had no idea that his skill would take him to the mountains of Hawaii to train mules in preparation for the coming War.

The main argument of this book is that people use material objects to express themselves and their cultures. Drawing on examples from both Western and developing cultures, it shows that everyday objects reflect not only personal tastes and attributes, but also moral principles and social ideals.

The diversity of contemporary London is extraordinary, and begs to be better understood. Never before have so many people from such diverse backgrounds been free to mix and not to mix in close proximity to each other. But increasingly people's lives take place behind the closed doors of private houses.

Exploring the varied manifestations of materiality from ancient times to the present, this book assesses the fundamental role of materiality in shaping humanity.

Things make us just as much as we make things. And yet, unlike the study of languages or places, there is no discipline devoted to the study of material things. This book shows why it is time to acknowledge and confront this neglect and how much we can learn from focusing our attention on stuff. The book opens with a critique of the concept of superficiality as applied to clothing. It presents the theories that are required to understand the way we are created by material as well as social relations. It takes us inside the very private worlds of our home possessions and our processes of accommodating. It considers issues of materiality in relation to the media, as well as the implications of such an approach in relation, for example, to poverty. Finally, the book considers objects which we use to define what it is to be alive and how we use objects to cope with death. Based on more than thirty years of research in the Caribbean, India, London and elsewhere, Stuff is nothing less than a manifesto for the study of material culture and a new way of looking at the objects that surround us and make up so much of our social and personal life.

A Booklife Editor's Pick "Filled with fascinating characters, breathtaking action... this novel grabs one's interest from page one."-Kat Kennedy, The US Review of Books Knowledge is power. It is said that the greatest chess masters can envision a match's outcome ten moves before it occurs. Imagine a person who can visualize ten steps ahead, not simply in the game of chess, but in every human interaction. Imagine a person who can see a punch before it is thrown; who knows what you are going to say before you say it; who can see every political and economic move long before it happens. Imagine a secret that can make this all possible. Mathematics professor Albert Puddles exposes this secret for himself as he is thrust into a murder investigation on the Princeton campus. The discovery leads Albert to delve into ancient religious interpretation and unmask new analytical abilities, all while teaming up with an aging mentor, a curious teaching assistant, and an elite Book Club on a frantic chase across America to recover this world-changing knowledge before it falls into dangerous hands. Albert-now embedded in a national cat-and-mouse political power play-rediscovers a woman from his past and is forced to confront his own understanding of love, rationality, power, and the true limits of the human mind.

A Theory of Shopping presents a unique perspective on shopping, challenging the common belief that it primarily revolves around individualism and materialism. Instead, the author draws an analogy between shopping and anthropological studies of sacrificial rituals, suggesting that purchasing goods is intertwined with social relations, particularly those rooted in love and care. The ethnographic research is based on a year-long study of shopping practices in North London, offering a nuanced exploration of the decisions shoppers face. The author proposes a theory that outlines three major stages of shopping, mirroring the key phases of sacrificial rites, where the ultimate goal is to shape others as desiring subjects. Additionally, the book explores historical changes in the subjects and objects of devotion, focusing on evolving ideals of gender and love. This innovative approach to shopping through the lens of comparative anthropology provides fresh insights into a familiar daily activity. Written in an accessible style, the book appeals to students and scholars in anthropology, sociology, and cultural studies, as well as anyone interested in a deeper understanding of their everyday behaviors.

This guide serves as a valuable resource for both novice and experienced collectors of fine art photography. It offers insights into identifying, evaluating, and acquiring photographs, while also covering essential topics such as market trends, artist backgrounds, and preservation techniques. The compact format makes it easy to reference, ensuring collectors can make informed decisions in their pursuit of building a meaningful photography collection.

A young girl from a rural Spanish village faces profound challenges when separated from her parents and raised by her grandparents. Her journey takes a dramatic turn as she reunites with her family in South America, leading her to confront obstacles like a chronic illness and cultural ostracism. As she navigates motherhood and professional life, her experiences in Miami and New York City force her to grapple with identity and resilience. This poignant narrative explores her transformative path toward achieving her American Dream amidst adversity.

The story encourages children to overcome boredom by harnessing their imagination and creativity. It highlights the importance of love and support from parents, illustrating how these elements can inspire kids to explore new ideas and activities. Through engaging illustrations, the book aims to empower young readers to discover their potential and find joy in creative expression.

A look at the adoption of smartphones by older people across the globe. The smartphone is often literally right in front of our nose—but do we really know what it is, or what its consequences are for people’s lives around the world? This volume presents the findings of eleven anthropologists in Africa, Asia, Europe, and South America on the adoption of smartphones by older people. Their research reveals that smartphones are a technology for everyone, not just for the young. The Global Smartphone presents a series of original perspectives deriving from a comparative research project on the ways that people use smartphones. The smartphone is unprecedented in the degree to which the user can transform it. It follows that in order to comprehend it, we must take into consideration a range of national and cultural nuances, such as visual communication in China and Japan, mobile money in Cameroon and Uganda, and access to health information in Chile and Ireland—all alongside diverse trajectories of aging in Al Quds, Brazil, and Italy.

Since the growth of social media, human communication has become much more visual. This book presents a scholarly analysis of the images people post on a regular basis to Facebook. By including hundreds of examples, readers can see for themselves the differences between postings from a village north of London, and those from a small town in Trinidad. Why do women respond so differently to becoming a mother in England from the way they do in Trinidad? How are values such as carnival and suburbia expressed visually? Based on an examination of over 20,000 images, the authors argue that phenomena such as selfies and memes must be analysed in their local context. The book aims to highlight the importance of visual images today in patrolling and controlling the moral values of populations, and explores the changing role of photography from that of recording and representation, to that of communication, where an image not only documents an experience but also enhances it, making the moment itself more exciting.

»Das Fest ist unverbrüchlich mit dem Gefühl verbunden, daß ›wir‹ Weihnachten schon immer so gefeiert haben – selbst wenn die Familientradition darin besteht, an Heiligabend Disney-Filme anzuschauen.« Jedes Jahr reisen Millionen Menschen im Dezember hektisch nach Hause – um dort in aller Besinnlichkeit Weihnachten zu feiern. Obwohl alle auf Kommerz und Materialismus schimpfen, geben sie sich jede Mühe, Verwandten und Freunden mit teuren Geschenken ihre Liebe zu beweisen. Weihnachten steckt voller Paradoxien, mit denen sich Daniel Miller in seinem Essay über die Geschichte und Bedeutung eines Festes befaßt, das wie kein anderes dazu geeignet ist, den Kalender der Weltgesellschaft zu synchronisieren.

Traditionell beschäftigen sich Ethnologen mit Verwandtschaftsnetzwerken, Bräuchen und Mythen bestimmter Gruppen von Menschen. Doch was passiert, wenn wir einen immer größer werdenden Anteil unseres Lebens nicht mehr mit physischer Interaktion, sondern im virtuellen Raum des Internets verbringen? Wenn ein soziales Netzwerk wie Facebook fast 650 Millionen Mitglieder hat? Daniel Miller guckt in seinen Fallstudien, die er – ein Anknüpfungspunkt an die klassische Anthropologie – in Trinidad durchgeführt hat, Facebook-Nutzern über die Schulter. Er trifft einen Mann, dessen Ehe online vor seinen Augen zerbricht, auf Manager, die ihre gesamte Unternehmensstrategie auf diese Plattform ausgerichtet haben, und auf ältere Menschen, denen Facebook es erlaubt, auch weiterhin am wirklichen sozialen Leben teilzuhaben.

Kniha zkoumá život slovenských au-pair v britských rodinách, zahrnující rozhodnutí stát se au-pair, vnímání této role, pracovní aspekty a volný čas, stejně jako vztahy s domovem a mezi au-pair navzájem. Základem je etnografický výzkum, který zahrnoval 50 au-pair a více než 80 hostitelských rodin v Londýně. Autoři se zaměřují na důležitá témata pro aktéry, jako jsou vztahy v cizím prostředí, objevování hostitelské země a problémy, jako jsou rozpaky a nedorozumění v rodinách. Analyzují uspořádání domácností, kde au-pair žijí a pracují, a upozorňují na nedostatečné ocenění jejich práce. Kniha kombinuje osobní příběhy s analytickými kapitolami, čímž se snaží zachytit fenomén au-pair jako specifickou zkušenost a životní fázi. Je to první antropologická publikace na toto téma, která vznikla ve spolupráci Zuzany Búrikové a Daniela Millera. Poprvé vyšla v angličtině v roce 2010 a získala pozornost jak v akademických, tak mimoakademických kruzích. Zkušenosti slovenských au-pair jsou v mnoha ohledech podobné těm českým a středoevropským.