Contents
Acknowledgements
To have is to be: is that the question?
Private property and materialism
Material symbols
Self, other and material symbols of identity
The rise of mass consumer society: we are what we have
Identity through possessions
Biological accounts of possessions and property:
The ‘acquisitive instinct’ past and present
The ‘acquisitive instinct’ SR
Sociobiology: the ‘acquisitive instinct’ in modern disguise?
Possession-related behaviour in different cultures
Possessive behaviour and childhood
Humans and other animals
Social aspects of material possessions
Instinct revisited
Conclusion
Notes
The individual-centred approach:
Material possessions as parts of the extended self
Possessions as parts of the self
A developmental perspective on possessions and self
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