Border Fetishisms

The essays in Border Fetishisms explore the cultural, commercial, political and erotic dimensions that distinguish fetish formations in fractured colonial and postcolonial spaces. Spanning such topics as Surinamese conversion to Christianity to shoplifting in Georgian England, to face the fetish, the contributors neither demagicalize the fetish nor normalize the commodity. Instead, they call for the inclusion of material things -- as fetishes or not -- within the experience of human sufferings and joy. Contributors: Robert J. Foster, Webb Keane, Susan Leg6~ne, Annelies Moors, Peter Pels, William Pietz, Adela Pinch, Patricia Spyer, Peter Stallybrass, Michael Taussig. Introduction, Patricia Spyer; Chapter 1 Calvin in the Tropics: Objects and Subjects at the Religious Frontier, Webb Keane; Chapter 2 From Brooms to Obeah and Back: Fetish Conversion and Border Crossings in Nineteenth-Century Suriname, Susan Legêne; Chapter 3 Your Money, Our Money, the Government’s Money: Finance and Fetishism in Melanesia, Robert J. Foster; Chapter 4 The Spirit of Matter: On Fetish, Rarity, Fact, and Fancy, Peter Pels; Chapter 5 Stealing Happiness: Shoplifting in Early Nineteenth-Century England, Adela Pinch; Chapter 6 The Tooth of Time, or Taking a Look at the “Look” of Clothing in Late Nineteenth-Century Aru, Patricia Spyer; Chapter 7 Marx’s Coat, Peter Stallybrass; Chapter 8 Wearing Gold, Annelies Moors; Chapter 9 Crossing the Face, Michael Taussig; Afterword: How to Grow Oranges in Norway, William Pietz;