Chapter 6: Economics Flashcards
Economics Etymology
- From Classical Greek oikonomos
* Eco-nomos = “house laws”
* “house steward” - The provisioning of society
Economic Anthropology
- a study of livelihoods
- how humans work to obtain the material necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter that sustain our lives
Homo Economicus
a person who would make rational decisions in ways predicted by economic theories
Mode of Production
- the social relations through which human labour is used to transform energy from nature using tools, skills, organization, and knowledge
- kin-ordered (domestic)
- tributary
- capitalist
Kin-ordered (domestic)
- bands and descent based groups
- includes collective ownership, low levels of social domination, and sharing
ex. subsistence farmers
Subsistence Farmers
people who raise plants and animals for their own consumption and not to sell to others
Subsistence Economy
the provision of food, clothing and shelter to stay alive rather than make money
Tributary
- Asiatic (centralized) / Feudal (dispersed)
- trade wealth
- organized by kinship relations
- rulers determined by military or political service (ex. China)
- rulers depend on producers and collect as tribute and not exchange
- conflict between producers and rulers
- politically controlled production
Capitalist
- private ownership of means of production
- economic self-regulation
- based on private property owned by a capitalist class
- workers don’t own factories, they sell their labour power to capitalist
- capitalist able to sell products than the labour cost by low wages
- capitalist goal is to generate a surplus to gain profit or more surplus
Domestic and Tributary vs Capitalism
- workers are not separated from the means of production (own their land or free hunting grounds)
- control over the goods they produce or portion of them
- control of when and when not to work
3 Types of Exchange
- reciprocity
- redistribution
- market
Reciprocity
- direct exchange between social equals
- not necessarily immediate
- social functions: encourages positive social relationships, increases prestige of gift giver, cements alliances through obligation
Positive Reciprocity
- close kin, friends
- giving without expectation of return gifts
ex. mom making you food, buying a friend food, sharing
Balanced Reciprocity
- more social distance but basically equals
- expecting something of equal value will be returned within a specific time period
Negative Reciprocity
- people who are not socially close
- gift giver tries to do better than partner
ex. gambling, Nigerian scammers
Redistribution
- centralized political systems
- goods taken to or appropriated by centre
- redistributed to members in the community
- unevenly distributed resources spread around
- internal to political system
Egalitarian
- ex. PNG pig feast, “Big Man” economy
- chiefs redistribute goods fairly, are able to organize people without force
- chiefs get nothing but gives everything to community in exchange for social prestige
Stratified
- chiefly
- tribute
- taxation (money)
Chiefly
- keep a potion of goods for themselves
- ex. potlatch: used to promote chief lineage, authority, and attracts more followers = more goods
- potlatches kept economies stable
- needy groups facing scarcity of goods bc of climate change were given the most
- House of Tsimshian Chief Skagwait, Fort Simpson, B.C., 1879
Tribute
labour and agricultural
ex. goods, services, persons
Market
- social institutions with prices or exchange equivalencies
- must be controlled by gov and influenced by supply and demand
- products made for the market not individuals bc after sale exchange is finished
- markets ≠ capitalism
- commodities
- marketplaces
- capitalism
Marketplace
personalized bc buyers and sellers know each other
ex. Jen won’t sell all her tomatoes to a rich man bc she wants to sell some to Abby
Origins of Market Exchange 1
- Haim Ofek argues that markets evolved and were adaptive
- rivalry & exclusion
- rivalry & non-exclusion
- non-rivalry & exclusion
- non-rivalry & non-exclusion
Rivalry & Exclusion
- private goods
- possibility to trade: very low
ex. selling your phone
Rivalry & Non-exclusion
- common property
- possibility to trade: nonexistent
ex. public bench bc you cant sell it but rivalry bc theres limited space
Non-rivalry & Exclusion
- contrived property
- possibility to trade: strong
ex. giving fire cost you nothing but you could get something in exchange, exchanging valuable meat you hunted for berries bc its about to go bad
Non-rivalry & Non-exclusion
- public goods
- possibility to trade: weak
ex. news broadcast bc you cant control it or sell it since anyone can access it
Origins of Market Exchange 2
- maximum glaciation - 20,000-14,000 B.P.
- current interglacial period unusually stable and suited for the development of agriculture
- demise of large carnivore species
- ice-free corridors created pathways and development of
trade
Capitalism
- involves future planning
- capital: assets and investments
- investments starts businesses (cost of labour and materials)
- feudalism lead to capitalism
- type of free society divided by classes, differences of wealth, and political power
- land is thought to be bought while native societies have a deeper connection with land
Capitalism as an Economic System
- not a political system
- commodification of land & labour power
- regional and world commerce
Modernization
- Industrialization
- Urbanization
- Bureaucratization
- Integration to world economy
- Political incorporation
World Systems Theory
nations are interdependent economically and politically and have unequal exchange in the division of labour and allocation of resources between core nations, semi-peripheral nations, and peripheral nations
Core Nations
capital-intensive: machinery and consumer products
ex. USA
Semi-peripheral Nations
- manufactured goods
- skilled labour
ex. Mexico
Peripheral Nations
- raw materials
- agricultural products
- cheap, unskilled labour
ex. Congo
