I am currently carrying out research for a book I am writing on the Refugee bag (originally called the Red, White, Blue bag), and came across this work by anthropologist Arjun Appadurai. He transformed how we look at “stuff.” In his seminal work, The Social Life of Things (1986), he argued that objects aren’t just inanimate matter – they have biographies, just like people.

Appadurai shows us that an object’s meaning is never fixed, it changes depending on whose hands it is in. If you look at the items you carry every day, which one has the most complex ‘social life’? Is it a gift, something sentimental, or something you bought that has become ‘singular’ to you?”

Appadurai developed a framework of 5 stages for anyone looking to understand why we value what we do. I have explained the 5 steps below:

1. Commoditization.

Before the crisis, the bag exists as a standard commodity. It is defined by its retail price ($10 – $20) and its utility.

The consumer sees it as a laundry, or moving home bag. It is mass-produced and replaceable. At this stage, it has no soul, it is just one of thousands of other bags.

2. Singularization

The moment a person is forced to flee their country, the bag exits the commodity phase and undergoes singularization.

• The Transition: It is no longer for sale; it is priceless. It becomes a curated archive of a life left behind holding deeds to houses, family photos, and essentials such as a telephone.
• Value Shift: Its value is no longer financial; it is existential. If the bag is lost, the “value” lost is the person’s identity and history, which cannot be replaced by buying a new one.

3. Shifting Regimes of Value

As the bag moves across borders, it enters different “neighbourhoods” where its meaning is redefined by outsiders.

To the Refugee: It is a “home” they can carry. To the Border Guard: It is a “security risk” or a “piece of luggage” to be searched. To the Humanitarian NGO: It is a “metric” of a crisis (e.g.”we distributed 5,000 bags today”).

The bag doesn’t change physically, but its “social potential” changes based on who is looking at it and where it is located.

4. The Politics of Diversion

Sometimes, these bags are “diverted” from their original path to serve a political purpose.

• The Artifact: When these bags are collected and put into a museum exhibit, they enter a new regime of value by artists of different cultures.
• The Politics of Knowledge: In a museum, the bag becomes a “symbol of the migrant crisis.” The original owner’s personal biography of the bag is often replaced by a broader, more anonymous political narrative curated by the institution. Please take a look at this related article.

5. Tournaments of Value

The final stage occurs in what Appadurai calls Tournaments of Value. High-stake arenas where the status of the object is contested on a global scale.

The Arena: Think of UN summits, international art biennials, or global conferences.

The Struggle: Here, the bag is used as a token of power. World leaders or philanthropists “bid” on what the bag represents: Is it a symbol of a failed state? A testament to resilience? Or a burden to be managed? The winner of this tournament decides the official value of the refugee experience for the rest of the world.

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In Summary:

Using Appadurai’s framework, we see that the refugee bag is never just trash or luggage. It moves through a dramatic and often violent lifecycle:

1. Product: A mass-produced tool of convenience
2. Relic: A singular, priceless archive of a lost home.
3. Site of Conflict: A contested object at a border crossing.
4. Symbol: A diverted artifact used to tell a political story.
5. Geopolitical Token: A high-stakes asset in global power negotiations.

Its social life is a map of a human struggle for survival and recognition. It reminds us that the objects we carry often carry us!

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#Anthropology #MaterialCulture #Appadurai #Sociology #RefugeeStudies #HumanRights #ActForHumanity #RefugeesWelcome #SocialJustice #GlobalCitizenship #TheSocialLifeOfThings #HumanHistory #ObjectBiographies #Identity #Storytelling