Home Cultures, Vol. 1 Issue 2

More than ever before, the home is featured in books, magazines, Sunday newspapers and on television. Whether as a concept or a physical place, it represents a key site of personal development. In line with this there has recently been a move towards the domestic as the new "avant-garde" in contemporary art and design practice. In stark contrast, however, the maintenance of home remains a daily struggle in many parts of the globe. But wherever we are, one thing is clear: "home" is profoundly symbolic. The domestic sphere is a highly fluid and contested site of human existence that reflects and reifies identity and values. Regrettably, much of the dialogue around the home has taken place as separate conversations within disparate disciplines. This new interdisciplinary journal is the first forum wholly dedicated to the critical understanding of the domestic sphere across timeframes and cultures.

Victor Buchli is Lecturer, Department of Anthropology, University College London. He is the author of An Archaeology of Socialism and The Material Culture Reader (both Berg Publishers). Alison Clarke is Professor of Design History and Material Culture, University of Applied Arts, Vienna. Dell Upton is at University of Virginia.