The Social Object

A study of objects and domestic spaces of middle-class India. Drawing on the methods of design history, material culture studies, and the social construction of technology, this book analyzes the domestic spaces and objects in the homes of the middle class in India, describing how people make meaning of the objects they buy, own, and gift. Soumitri Varadarajam argues against a simplistic universal account of the way we think about how objects are designed. Instead, he presents a biography of projects and objects, offering a detailed and affectionate account of the lives of objects within the homes of the not-so-rich.