Chapter 10: Food-getting and Economics Flashcards
economics
how goods and services are produced, distributed and consumed
food foragers / hunter-gatherers
those who seek their food supply among available resources
food producers
groups that farm, keep food animals for their own use, or transform the environment with the goal of food production
foodways
the means by which food is produced
foraging
lifestyles of different foraging peoples share many traits but are also quite different
bands*
small groups of foragers who live and travel together
social density
measure of interpersonal conflicts within a group / frequency and intensity of interactions among group members
sexual division of labour
tasks divided by gender, historically men would be the ones who hunt and women the ones who stay at the campsite to perform a multitude of tasks and to gather
egalitarian
society where every member gets immediate rewards from foraging
shares resources equally to limit status differences
all adults have some say in decision making
Lack of specialization and ownership help maintain the egalitarian nature
cooperative societies
sharing is a key strategy for survival, food is divided evenly
nomadic
groups that move frequently, ex- foragers
3 basic models of exchange / processes of distribution*
reciprocity
redistribution
market exchange
reciprocity*
Set of social rules that govern specialized sharing of food and other items
Practices in all types of societies
Parties involved in a reciprocal exchange enter into a social and economic bond
generalized reciprocity*
the value of a gift is not specified at the time of exchange nor is the time of repayment but the parties involved have the responsibility to reciprocate at some time in a equal way
balanced reciprocity*
trading with others outside your trusted circle, an exchange in which both the value of goods and the time of repayment are specified
social distance
distance between people in a relationship related to exchange, when people know each other well they have less social distance
negative reciprocity*
the seller is deceiving the buyer as to the real value of the object
redistribution*
Found specifically in societies with central governing authorities
The process by which goods and money flow into a central entity such as governmental authority or a religious institution
Redistribution processes- taxes and tribute
market exchange*
Found in agricultural and industrial societies in which surpluses are produced
market economy
laws of supply and demand set market rates for food and other goods which must be traded according to a set price
Market economy is the foundation of a capitalist system
money
anything that is used to measure and pay for value of goods and services
special-purpose money
items used only to measure the value of things in marketplace and lacked another use beyond a symbolic one (ex- teeth, bones, shells)
multipurpose money
the commodity can be used for other purposes besides money (ex-cacao beans, salt)
horticulturalists*
forging groups with lands suitable for planting began supplementing their foraging lifestyle with small-scale farms or gardens
Villages are often small and occupied year-round
Small scale farming is done with simple tools
Rely on rainfall for water
carrying capacity*
the number of people that can be sustained with the existing resources of a given area of the land
leveling mechanism
practiced by a society to maintain a equal level of status among all members of a group
Social and economic obligation to distribute wealth so no one accumulates more than anyone else
cargo system
a man undertakes obligatory volunteer service using his personal wealth to support local events, the more wealth he has the longer he is pressured to volunteer and the more prestige he earns
swidden cultivation
sustainable method of farming when there is plenty of available land
Farmers prepare a plot of land by clearing fast growth trees and plant material from an area and burning the debris directly in the plot, the ash provides the land with nutrients, gardens are then planted
pastoralism*
the way of life that revolves around harding animals
animal husbandry
main mode of sustenance in pastoralist societies
Animal herds provide food staples such as milk, blood, butter, yogurt, cheese
transhumance
a migration movement- pastoralists may seasonally move back and forth over long distances to productive pastures
intensive agriculture*
Practiced by large populations that can produce more than just the amount of food required for a subsistence economy practice
the land has short fallow periods meaning fields are planted year-round with differing crops
Intensive agriculture leads to more complex social groups which play into the development of hierarchy and those who control resources have more power than those who do not
domestication*
animal domestication- the process of shaping the evolution of a species for human use, breeding animals for traits most suited for human needs
industrialism
highly mechanized industry produces food
confined animal feeding operations (CAFO)
thousands to millions of animals are fenced or crated to create maximum profit in a minimum of space