SCENES FROM A TROUBLED MARRIAGE - SWEDISH ETHNOLOGY AND MATERIAL CULTURE STUDIES

Why did material culture studies take up such a central space in the d evelopment of European ethnology in Sweden and why was this field aban doned, only to return during the 1980s in the new form of studies of ' creative consumption'? This paper looks at the changing ways in which the world of goods has been a research topic. Drawing on the Swedish e xperience it also discusses some ways of revitalizing the field, focus ing on the materiality of everyday life, from the level of home-making to nation-building.