Anthropology of Precious Minerals

Elizabeth Ferry is a professor in the Department of Anthropology at Brandeis University.Annabel Vallard is a researcher at The National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS, France). Andrew Walsh is an associate professor in the Department of Anthropology at Western University.

• AcknowledgmentsIntroduction: Engaging Precious MineralsAndrew Walsh, Elizabeth Ferry, and Annabel VallardPart One: Engaging Mineral SourcesIntroduction to Part One: Scrappers, Miners, and HuntersSusan D. Gillespie1. "Check Out That Gold-Plated Board!" Scrapping Cellphones and Electronics in North AmericaJoshua A. Bell2. What Is "Artisanal" about "Artisanal Mining"? Reflections from Madagascar’s Sapphire TradeAndrew Walsh3. The Value and Social Lives of Alpine CrystalsGilles RaveneauPart Two: Mineral ConnectionsIntroduction to Part Two: Making Preciousness: Distinction and RefractionElizabeth Ferry4. When Stones Become Gems: Valuations of Minerals in ThailandAnnabel Vallard5. Transparent Minerals and Opaque Diamond SourcesFilipe Calvão6. Gold, Ontological Difference, and Object AgencyLes W. FieldAfterword: Facets of PreciousnessAndrew Walsh, Elizabeth Ferry, and Annabel VallardContributorsIndex

"Collectively, the processes of mineral valuation and circulation of precious minerals illustrate that ‘preciousness’ should be defined relative to complex and dynamic cultural, political-economic, and semiotic value systems. Compelling, thoughtful analyses of affect and materiality."- C. C. Kolb, independent scholar (CHOICE)