Book Review: Material World, A Global Family Portrait
              (by Hannah Renglich)

In honour of the United Nations’ International Year of the Family in 1994, Peter Menzel created a visual masterpiece entitled Material World. By examining one statistically average family in each of thirty different countries, the book offers a stunning portrayal of the family unit and demonstrates the present context for the emerging global economy using both photographs and text. Paul Kennedy explains it as "An attempt to capture, through photos and statistics, both the common humanity of the peoples inhabiting our Earth and the great differences in material goods and circumstances that make rich and poor societies."

The materialization of a unified global economy will, in theory, cause inexpensive goods to be available, raise living standards, create jobs throughout the world, and benefit the average family. The Material World presents a context for such a world economy, which will also be affected by population growth and resource exploitation. In order to determine the definition of an average family, data experts at the United Nations (UN) and the World Bank considered location (urban, rural, suburban, small town, village), type of dwelling, annual income, occupation, family size, as well as religion. From 183 member nations of the UN, thirty are illustrated in order to present a diverse cross-section of the world and a global family portrait, including Bhutan, Brazil, Ethiopia, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Japan, Mali, Mongolia, Russia, South Africa, United States, and Western Samoa. The countries were chosen "with emphasis on fast-growing Pacific Rim economies, former enemies of the United States, countries in the news, countries that are useful for standard comparison, and countries that have something we can learn from."

Within the book, each section contains a "Big Picture" of all members in a given family standing in front of their abode and with all of their worldly possessions laid out as well. This offers the reader a fascinating basis for comparison between the levels of wealth of an "average" family, but more importantly, coupled with questions asked of the family, it gives the flavour of the values and ambitions each embodies. For example, the American family stands posed with their bible in hand, while a family from Iceland chooses to be photographed with their treasured string instruments. It is impossible to overlook the four automobiles (including one Mercedes) parked by the home of the family from Kuwait. Some families endeavour to earn enough money to buy a second television, while others look to buy a second cow.

The wealth of each family can be seen in the amount of space each member has; however, what speaks even greater volumes than the possessions of each family is the structure of the family itself. For families living in economically stable societies, the family unit has undergone a "demographic transition" whereby fertility rates have, on average, been reduced and the nuclear family is as small as one or two children per family. In agrarian societies, where women hold a lower status than men and marry young, the family is much larger, and in developing societies, it is common to find large extended families under one roof. Conspicuous by their absence are children lost to each family owing to high infant and child mortality rates in the developing countries at an average rate of more than 100 for every 1,000 babies born each year; however, these numbers do not stop the fact that the world population continues to grow exponentially. Although most families portrayed in Material World pose for their photographs with smiling faces, most in the developing countries are fighting against population growth, poverty, and environmental degradation (PPE). While UN agencies have reported "improvement in human condition such as the spread of democracy in Africa and Latin America, improvements in the condition of women in parts of Asia, [and] reductions of infant-mortality rates in many poor countries", the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals will help decrease the prevalence of the PPE spiral.

In a fascinating mosaic of cultural diversity, Peter Menzel’s book provides a perspective on the issues brought up by the influence of the global economy on the human community. However, in order to fully comprehend the beauty and educational value of Material World, one must obtain a copy and spend countless hours pouring through the captivating photos and telling statistics, which together paint a portrait of the global family.

Further Reading

Menzel, Peter. Material World. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 1994.

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