Despite the wide interest in material culture, art, and aesthetics, few
studies have considered them in light of the importance of the social
imagination - the complex ways in which we conceptualize our social
surroundings. This collection engages the "material turn" in the arts,
humanities, and social sciences through a range of original
contributions on creativity in diverse global and contemporary social
settings. The authors engage with everyday objects, art, rituals, and
ethnographic exhibitions to analyze the relationship between material
culture and the social imagination. What results is a better
understanding of how the material embodies and influences our idea of
the social world.