In Search of Sacred Treasures
Churches close. Producers stop producing. People die.
Things survive.
My current ethnographic fieldwork explores the circulation of Christian material culture through the networked assemblage of estate sales, thrift stores, flea markets, antique malls, auction houses, eBay, Instagram, and gift exchange.
At the project’s core are part-time and full-time resellers: folks who scavenge second-hand venues in search of donated, discarded, and passed over items.
The range of material culture is immense, from Bibles and books to prayer guides, rosaries, holy cards, figurines, clothing, art, icons, and other decor.
Two early research questions focus on values and ethics in the social life of Christian material culture.
