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Symbolic Culture and Technological Change: The Cultural History of Aluminum as an Industrial Material

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  • Schatzberg, Eric

Abstract

The history of aluminum illustrates how the concept of symbolic meanings can help connect culture with business history. Aluminum's symbolic meanings played a crucial role in its industrial history, largely through the enthusiasm that greeted the introduction and diffusion of the metal. Symbolic meanings influence technological innovation through their role in shaping expectations, a role understood by the historical actors who engage in struggles over the meanings of competing innovations. For aluminum, this struggle centered on the conflict between the material's two major meanings: aluminum as modern and aluminum as ersatz. This debate over meanings has played out differently in aviation, electric wiring, and automobiles.

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  • Schatzberg, Eric, 2003. "Symbolic Culture and Technological Change: The Cultural History of Aluminum as an Industrial Material," Enterprise & Society, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(2), pages 226-271, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:entsoc:v:4:y:2003:i:02:p:226-271_01
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    Cited by:

    1. McMillan, Colin A. & Moore, Michael R. & Keoleian, Gregory A. & Bulkley, Jonathan W., 2010. "Quantifying U.S. aluminum in-use stocks and their relationship with economic output," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(12), pages 2606-2613, October.
    2. Schuelke-Leech, Beth-Anne, 2018. "A model for understanding the orders of magnitude of disruptive technologies," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 261-274.
    3. Luis Gabriel Carmona & Kai Whiting & Angeles Carrasco & Tânia Sousa & Tiago Domingos, 2017. "Material Services with Both Eyes Wide Open," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-23, August.

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