An actor-network perspective on collecting and collectables

In a later study, Belk (1995) situates an analysis of contemporary collecting within a detailed discussion of the historical development of collecting and ascertains that the value of potentially collectable objects is ‘determined by social valuation and not by any intrinsic properties of the objects themselves’ (1995: 38). He maintains that rarity and scarcity are other factors that affect the social valuation and the ‘collectibility’ of objects and, further, that mass production does not preclude objects from being perceived as collectable. Indeed he suggests that mass-produced objects are quite appropriate for collecting because of ‘their frequent seriality and abundance’ (1995: 62).