What happens when objects behave unexpectedly or fail to do what they 'should'? Who defines failure? Is failure always bad? Rather than viewing concepts such as failure, incoherence or incompetence as antithetical to social life, this innovative new book examines the unexpected and surprising ways in which failure can lead to positive and creative results. Combining both theoretical and ethnographic approaches to failure, The Material Culture of Failure explores how failure manifests itself and operates in a variety of contexts. The editors present ten ethnographic encounters of failure - from areas as diverse as design, textiles, religion, beauty, and physical failure - covering Europe, North America, Asia, Africa, and the Arabian Gulf. Identifying common themes such as interpersonal, national and religious articulations of power and identity, the book shows some of the underlying assumptions that are revealed when materials fail, designs crumble, or things develop unexpectedly.The first anthropological study dedicated to theorizing failure, this innovative collection offers fresh insights based on the latest scholarship. Destined to stimulate a new area of research, the book makes a vital contribution to material culture studies and related social science theory.

List of IllustrationsNotes on ContributorsAcknowledgmentsForeword: Failure and Fragility: Towards a Material Culture of the End of the World as We Knew ItDimitris Dalakoglu, Vrije University Amsterdam, Netherlands1. Introduction: Toward a General Theory of FailureTimothy Carroll, David Jeevendrampillai, and Aaron Parkhurst, University College London, UK2. Miracles and Crushed Dreams: Material Disillusions in the Design IndustryCamilla Sundwall, University College London, UK3. When Krishna Wore a Kimono: Deity Clothing as Rupture and InefficacyUrmila Mohan, University College London, UK4. Whitened Anxiety: Bottled Identity in the EmiratesAaron Lee Parkhurst, University College London, UK5. Holy Water, Healing and the Sacredness of KnowledgeAlexandra Antohin, Institute of Orthodox Christian Studies, UK6. Haredi (Material) Cultures of Health at the 'Hard to Reach' Margins of the StateBen Kasstan, Durham University, UK7. Failure as Constructive Participation? Being Stupid in the SuburbsDavid Jeevendrampillai, University College London, UK8. Destruction of Locality: On Heritage and Failure in 'Crisis Syria'Julie Shackelford, University College London, UK9. Axis of Incoherence: Engagement and Failure Between Two Material Regimes of ChristianityTimothy Carroll, University College London, UK10. The Materiality of Silence: Assembling the Absence of Sound and the Memory of 9/11Pwyll ap Stifin, University College London, UKAfterwordVictor Buchli, University College London, UKIndex