ON - Objects in Network: The social life of things in the fifteenth century between notarial sources and semantic web

PNRR M4C2: PRIN 2022


Acronym: ON

Description

Drawing on a concept elaborated by social anthropologists and sociologists, ON explores the written traces that different types of objects, and the social relationships around them, left in the exceptionally rich documentary legacy of the notarial serial sources of four cities: Benevento, Bologna, Genova, and Perugia. This comparative investigation of the Italian urban society will allow a deeper understanding of the lifestyle, purchasing power, consumption practices, and social relationships as embodied by the circulation of objects.

ON will contribute to shifting the focus of historiographical enquiry from the international market to human networks and from economic value to the social, material and relational value of objects. This approach aims to gain a deeper and more nuanced understanding of how exchanging things was able to shape and transform personal relationships.

Project information

  • Funded by: European Union NextGenerationEU and Italian Ministry of University and Research
  • Call: PNRR: Missione 4 – Componente 2 “Dalla ricerca all’impresa” – Investimento 1.1 – Progetti di Ricerca di Rilevante Interesse Nazionale (PRIN)
  • Start date: 2023
  • End date: 2025
  • ISPC Scientific coordinator: Gemma Teresa Colesanti
  • Project Leader: Università di Bologna
  • Partners: Università di Genova, Università di Perugia
  • Funding: € 236.860
  • Project website