Changing Secondhand Economies

Abstract

Research interest in secondhand economies has expanded in recent years among scholars of diverse disciplines, especially anthropology, history, geography, and sociology. The introduction to this Special Issue discusses a number of interdisciplinary and regional perspectives on the topic. After an overview of scholarship relating to secondhand economies, historical and contemporary, we introduce a number of themes that have attracted particular attention, including the growth and expansion of secondhand exchange, the emergence and specialization of diverse secondhand venues, the material objects involved, influences on these modes of exchanges, and the cultural significance of secondhand things and the professions connected with them. Finally, we turn to the articles included in this Special Issue, identifying some of the major issues to which they speak.