Module 4 Flashcards
Cultural ecology
Julian Steward - in order to outline the nature of economic and political systems in their full environmental and historic contexts
Culture
the complex whole: knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, + any other capabilities and habits acquired by humans as a member of society
The role of culture in cultural ecology
this is how we make our lives secure with our adaptations - how humans adapt to environment to continue + secure life
Economic anthropology
looks at how people produce, exchange and consume material objects - looks at roles of labour, services, and knowledges within those systems
What does economic anthropology challenge
○ Challenges the idea of dominant beliefs that are held in society (in ours in particular) -
§ economic orthodoxy of most of the world: narrow lens of rational, self-interested decision making - told this is the best way to be
economics
study of how we choose to use the limited resources to obtain maximum satisfaction of unlimited human wants
Scarcity, supply, and demand
key idea to economics - supply and demand, idea of ‘unlimited human wants’ - there is no scarcity if there is no demand for it. supply and demand generates this idea of scarcity in respect to want
Assumptions of economists
that all humans universally have unlimited wants
Economizing problem
must make choices w limited resources -> scarcity of goods and services <-> unlimited wants
John Gowdy
Hunter-Gatherers and the Mythology of the Market
Gowdy’s definition of economics
the study of the allocation of scarce resources among alternative ends
economic orthodoxy
generally accepted beliefs of society at a particular time - current economic orthodoxy is of a free market + unregulated trade - in a lot of the world true, market capitalism - cultural beliefs that support + perpetuate industrializing
® e.g. humans are naturally competitive and acquisitive, social stratification is natural
homo economicus or ‘the economic man’
a theory that people will always operate in their own best interests first, and rely on rational judgements for any decisions
® Is: acquisitive, competitive, rational, calculating, looking to improve material wellbeing
Neoclassical economics
dominant school of economic theory in industrialized world - economic orthodoxy - holds these attributes to be essential for economic advancement and affluence
ANTH CRIT on the economic man + assumption of universal human nature
§ Argues that contemporary beliefs do not reflect the idea of universal human nature -
§ ANTH argues that the economic man is a cultural belief
Gowdy’s CRIT on economic orthodoxy
□ The economic notion of scarcity is a social construct, not a universal idea
□ The separation of work from social life is not a characteristic of economic production
□ The linking of individual well being to individuals production is not a necessary characteristic of economic org
□ Inequality based on class/gender is not a necessary characteristic of human society
other ways of being outside of market economy
□ Egalitarian societies, flexible social arrangements, opportunistic nature of resource exploitation, sexual division of labour, reciprocity and sharing
Ju/’hoansi - Kalahari desert peoples (S AF)
one of few surviving groups that live by h-g
□ 20 hr/week to est diet high in protein, fibre, fruits, veg, low in carbs, sugar, fat - diet surpassed nutritional quality of agricultural + industrial countries - a century + of colonialism/occupation/development has changed life for Ju/’hoansi peoples
The Hunters (1957) John Marshall
® Formed friendship with Ju/’hoansi peoples - particularly Toma ‘Stumpy’ - welcomed to water hole and gave them Ju/’hoan names - gave John his own name + taught them about customs, hunting, language - Toma ‘Longface’
® The Hunters - follows the hunt of a giraffe - classic ways of h-g
Marcel Maus
Fr ethnologist, nephew of Durkheim - armchair anthropologist, used Boas’s data on Potlatch and Malinowski’s data on the Kula to write The Gift
The Gift by Marcel Maus
explores the role of gift-giving
§ Social theories of reciprocity and gift exchange - theorized that Potlatch was extreme form of gifting - recognizable in almost every human society - we give things away - pushes pack on econ ortho
Gifting create 3 related actions:
□ Gifts are given - honourable to give someone a gift
□ Gifts are received - shows that a person is willing - to be honoured - opportunity to demonstrate own generosity
Gifts are reciprocal - person who received is expected to give back to original giver - once first person gets something back - etc- gift-giving becomes endless loop of giving and receiving
Reciprocity
what makes gifts unique - builds + sustains relationships - relation b/w gift giver and receiver is bound with morality - fairness b/c each present is of equal or greater value - shows willingness to honour the other person
Gifting
expression of respect - keeps people connected in endless cycle of mutual obligation - socially morally ethical to give back - gifts are never truly free -
□ Arg that the act of giving creates a social bond w obligation to reciprocate - failure is detrimental
Marshall Sahlins 3 types of reciprocity
Generalized, Balanced, Negative
Generalized reciprocity
ift-giving w/o the expectation of an immediate return - e.g. buying coffee for friend, understanding that will be reciprocated later - socially transgressive to immediately buy them a coffee
Balanced reciprocity
expectation of an immediate return - e.g. at grocery store + walk out w/o paying, def be arrested b/c failed to immediately reciprocate - Christmas gifts
Negative Reciprocity
occurs when there is an attempt to get someone to exchange something they may or may not want to give up OR an attempt to get more valued thing in an exchange - e.g. bargaining - coercion - sometimes people want to give you more than something is worth
The Kula Ring + Rules
Gift economy
No one ever keeps any of the Kula valuables for any length of time, temporary ownership, delayed reciprocity
Division of labour
how tasks are allocated
within society by gender, age, and
specialization
exchange
a form of interaction involving
reciprocal social relation
gender
“the socially constructed roles,
behaviors, activities, and attributes that
a given society considers appropriate for
men and women”
Gift
an ambiguous form of exchange
implying the necessity for immediate or
delayed reciprocity. The topic of a famous
essay by French ethnologist, Marcel
Mauss, who examined the function of
gift-giving in creating and maintaining
social bond
Globalization
“social, economic, cultural,
and demographic processes that take
place within nations but also transcend
them, such that attention limited to local
processes, identities, and units of analysis
yields incomplete understanding of the
local”
hunter-gatherers
a non-agricultural form of
primary food resource exploitation. There
are many variants depending on local
conditions
kinship
relationship by blood or marriage
Kula
a ceremonial form of delayed gift-exchange
found in the island groups adjacent to
the north coast of New Guinea
mode of production
a term associated with
the writings of Karl Marx, involving
analysis of the relationship between
technology, the labor process, and the
distribution of power in society
money
symbols representing stored wealth
used to mediate the process of exchange
potlatch
a form of ceremonial gift-giving
found on the Northwest Coast, used to
mark important social occasions, such
as assuming an important title, erecting
a ceremonial pole, and other significant
collective events
primitive communism
The notion that there
was once, and in some places still is, a
form of human society characterized by
equality of wealth and status and the
absence of private property
reciprocity
the “Golden Rule” in
action: “Do unto others as you would
have them do unto you.” Implying a bal-
ancing of the books, and not necessarily
a friendly relationship—as is reciprocal
murder in the course of a feud
state of nature
a term used by early social
and political theorists for the imagined
condition of humankind before the rise
of civilizatio
the market
both a place and a process, where
value is established and reinforced in acts
of exchange. There is a large anthropo-
logical literature on markets (e.g., as in
Redfield’s Topoztlan; or the New York
Stock Exchange)
