he case of couro vegetal demonstrates how culture is commoditized and
how modern communication media are employed to bring remote cultures into
the homes of consumers worldwide. Yet, while a theoretical examination of gifts
and commodities (Mauss 1967), the social life of a thing (Appudrai 1986;
Kopytoff 1986), and consumptive practices (Carrier 1995) provide instructive
frameworks for analyzing the commoditization of culture and the important role
of the cultural broker, they do not examine the changes taking place among th