A range of meaningful objects-exhibits of human remains or live people, fetishes, objects in a Catholic Museum, exotic photographs, commodities, and computers-demonstrate a subordinate modern consciousness about powerful objects and their 'life'. The Spirit of Matter discusses these objects that move people emotionally but whose existence is often denied by modern wishful thinking of 'mind over matter'. It traces this mindset back to Protestant Christian influences that were secularized in the course of modern and colonial history.

Peter Pels is a Professor of Anthropology of Africa at the University of Leiden. He edited the journal Social Anthropology (2003-2007) and advised the Çatalhöyük excavation project led by Ian Hodder (2005-14). His most recent publication is Museum Temporalities: Time, History and the Future of the Ethnographic Museum (Routledge, 2023) which is co-edited with Wayne Modest.