Economy and Subsistence 1 Flashcards
What is the definition of Economic Anthropology?
Culturally specific processes used by members of a society to provide themselves with material resources
Reference: Lavenda, Schultz and Dods, 2015; 165
What are the key roles people serve in modes of subsistence?
Producer, distributor, consumer
Contextually different roles can vary based on the economic system.
What are the four modes of subsistence?
- Foraging
- Horticulture
- Pastoralism
- Agriculture
True or False: Economic practices are solely individualistic.
False
Economic practices are social and organized within specific historical contexts.
What is the difference between immediate and delayed return systems?
Immediate return systems provide quick rewards, while delayed return systems yield benefits over time.
What are the characteristics of foraging societies?
- Reliance on wild plants and animals
- Broad spectrum diet
- Small and low density
- Migration
- Sharing and division of labor by gender
Fill in the blank: Horticulture involves _______ cultivation of plants in yards and fields.
shifting
What are the main crops associated with horticulture?
- Yams
- Corn
- Beans
- Cassava
What is a disadvantage of relying solely on cassava as a crop?
Lack of protein and other important nutrients.
What is multi cropping?
Mixing plants to avoid reliance on one food source
Example includes the Three Sisters: beans, corn, and squash.
Describe the property relations in pastoralist societies.
Private property (animals, shelters, and domestic goods); male lineage predominates.
True or False: Agriculture traces back to the Neolithic period approximately 12,000 years ago.
True
What are some challenges faced by agricultural systems?
- Gradual lower yield of plots
- Risk of malnutrition
- Dependence on single crops
What distinguishes family farming from industrial agriculture?
Family farming supports one’s family and may produce goods for the market, while industrial agriculture is capital-intensive and relies on mass production.
What is one environmental problem associated with industrial agriculture?
Destruction of important habitats
Fertilizers running into rivers can cause eutrophication.
What does the term ‘commodity chain’ refer to?
Steps from production to the market that separate the producer from the consumer.
Define consumerism.
Demands are many and infinite, leading to hyper-consumerism and colonialism.
What is a levelling mechanism?
Unwritten, culturally embedded rules that restrict an individual’s capacity to become wealthier than others.
What is depersonalized consumption?
Consumption with no relation to the producer, often seen in hyper-consumerism.
Define the term “mode of subsistence”
The way that a community accesses its food
What is egalitarianism?
The idea of total equality within a community.
How do the Trobriander Islands connect to this concept.
Yams are considered a social currency almost.
The more yams you have, the more well liked you are considered.
Though, the women own the yams and the men must distribute them to members of the woman’s family.
What is family farming?
Small scale farming to support oneself/family. Can eat the food farmed or can seal at markets.
What is industrial farming?
Corporations mass producing food, extensively dependent on energy supplies to be able to produce so much.
What is a flexible workforce?
Workforce comprised of individuals who are not full time contractually obligated workers, more so part time and freelance workers.
What is minimalism?
Small scale demands from consumer (ex. local markets) that are sustainable and attainable for producer to meet. Done through horticulture, pastoralism and foraging.
What is consumerism?
Many, almost infinite demands from consumer that are almost impossible to meet. (ex. global chains)
What is hyper consumerism?
The consumption of goods beyond what is necessary.
What is a levelling mechanism?
A method of ensuring that no one individual will be wealthier than any others. Ex. sharing a large kill.
Maasi
Their method of pastoralism (men owning cows but women tending to them, usually done by polygyny) shows how gender roles and kinship is intertwined with modes of subsistence and economy.
What do the pre-contact Iroquois show?
How men may do the actual hunting, but women are the ones organizing how the animal may be used/marketed.
Industrialism and the digital age.
What are the two modes of consumption?
Minimalism and consumerism.
What can modes of consumption refer to?
Intake of food/material objects
OR
Output to spend/use resources to obtain things.
