The traditional approach to culture focuses on the symbolic meanings of objects rather than the impact that these objects have on contemporary life. Using the car as a recurring theme, Tim Dant challenges the well-established idea that consumption is the principal relationship with "things" in our lives and argues that it is through material interaction with the objects around us that we confront our society.

Drawing on, and debating with, historical, philosophical, and theoretical discourses that address materiality, this book is of interest to students and researchers in a variety of disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, cultural studies, and technology studies.