Tegenstanderstudie

Tegenstanderstudie, or object studies, is a research approach that treats objects as central sources of knowledge about past and present societies. It looks at the materiality of items, their production, use, exchange, and meanings, as well as the networks and practices that attach significance to them. The field is interdisciplinary, spanning art history, archaeology, anthropology, museum studies, and design history. Central to tegenstanderstudie is the idea that objects carry social life and are not passive artefacts; thus scholars analyze object biographies, circulation, and contexts of display and use.

Methods include careful description of material attributes, provenance research, archival sources, ethnographic or user studies about how objects are used, and conservation reports. Researchers may combine physical analysis with textual sources to reconstruct an object's life—from creation, through ownership and modification, to display, repurposing, or disposal. The approach often emphasizes the object's role in identity, memory, and social practice, as well as its economic and political dimensions.

Applications include curatorial practice, heritage management, and design research, where understanding an object's life helps interpret culture, value, and technology. Challenges include incomplete records, biases in sourcing, preservation limitations, and balancing multiple interpretations without privileging one narrative.

In Dutch scholarship, tegenstanderstudie is used to describe such object-centered analyses and is related to broader material culture studies. Related concepts include object biography, material culture theory, and museology.