Lecture 10: Economic Anthropology Flashcards
Adaptive strategy
means of making a living, productive system
Cohen: five typologies of society
- foraging
- horticulture
- agriculture
- pastoralism
- industrialism
foraging economies rely on
nature
foraging is declining because
the spread of the modern world system
in which environment does foraging survive
in environments that posed major obstacles to food production
correlation
association or covariation between two or more variables.
band
basic social unit among foragers: fewer than 100 people who may split seasonally
which people do mostly live in band-organized societies?
People who subsist by hunting, gathering, and fishing
typicality foraging groups
mobile and flexible
fictive kinship
personal relationships are modelled on kinship
All human societies have some kind of division of labour based on gender. All foragers make social distinctions based on age.
Three adaptive strategies based on food production are seen in nonindustrial societies
- Horticulture
- Agriculture
- Pastoralism
horticulture
cultivation that makes intensive use of none of the factors of production: land, labour, capital, and machinery
tools horticulture
horticulturists use simple tools
fields horticulture
fields are not permanently cultivated: slash-and-burn cultivation and shifting cultivation
agriculture
cultivation that requires more labour than horticulture does; uses land intensively and continuously
typicalities agriculture
- domesticated animals
- irrigation
- terracing
- costs and benefits
domesticated animals
many agriculturalists use animals as a means of production
irrigation
cultivate the same plot year after year, capital investment that increases in value.
terracing
the labour necessary to build and maintain a system of terraces is great
costs and benefits agriculture
long-term yield per area is far greater and more dependable than horticulture and agricultural societies tend to be more densely populated than horticultural ones
cultivation continuum
intermediate economies that combine horticultural and agricultural features. Horticulture always uses a fallow period; agriculture does not.
intensification
intensive cultivators are sedentary. Agricultural economies grow increasingly specialised.
what do agricultural economies pose
Agricultural economies pose a series of regulatory issues that central governments often have arisen to solve
pastoralism
herders whose activities focus on such domesticated animals as cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and yaks
pastoral nomadism
members of pastoral society follow herd throughout the year
transhumance
part of group moves with herd; most stay in home village
modes of production
- mode of subsistence
- mode of production
- economy
mode of subsistence
food production irrespective of property relations
mode of production
way of organising production, set of social relations through which labour is deployed to wrest energy from nature using tools, skills, organization, and knowledge
economy
system for the production, distribution and consumption of resources
Production in nonindustrial societies
Division of economic labour related to age and gender is a cultural universal, but specific tasks assigned to each sex and age vary
Means of production
Means, or factors, of production include land, labour, technology, and capital
Means of production: land
Less permanent among foragers than for food producers. Among food producers, the rights to means of production also come through kinship and marriage
Means of production: labor, tools and specialization
In nonindustrial societies, access to land and labour comes through social links.
alienation in industrial economies
When factory workers produce for sale and for their employer’s profit, rather than for their own use, they may become alienated from the items they make.
economizing
rational allocation of scarce means (or resources) to alternative ends. Classical economic theory assumes desires are infinite and means are limited
alternative ends
People in various societies put their scarce resources toward building: subsistence fund, replacement fund, social fund, ceremonial fund
What motivates people in different cultures to produce, distribute or exchange, and consume
- economizing
- alternative ends
the market principle
buying, selling, and valuation are based on supply and demand. Bargaining is characteristic
redistribution
flow of goods into a center, then back out, characteristic of chiefdoms.
reciprocity
exchange between social equals, normally related by kinship, marriage, or close personal ties.
three principles orienting exchanges
market principle, redistribution, reciprocity
Different kinds of reciprocity
- reciprocity continuum
- generalized reciprocity
- balanced reciprocity
- negative reciprocity
reciprocity continuum
running from generalized reciprocity (closely related/deferred return) to negative reciprocity (strangers/immediate return)
generalized reciprocity
exchanges among closely related individuals
balanced reciprocity
midpoint on reciprocity continuum, between generalized and negative reciprocity
negative reciprocity
potentially hostile exchanges among strangers
Coexistence of exchange principles
In western societies, the market principle governs most exchanges.
Also redistribution and generalized reciprocity.
Balanced reciprocity would be out of place in a foraging band.
potlatch
festive event within regional exchange system among tribes of North Pacific Coast of North America.
