Unit 6 Definitions Flashcards
a geological epoch that explains how the earth is so affected by the actions of humans that its detectable in all aspects of the environment (climate change)
anthropocene
consumption (!)
using up material goods necessary for human survival
the study of the ways in which human beings relate to one another and to their natural environment
cultural ecology
distribution (!)
the allocation of goods and services
“part of anthropology that debates issues of human nature that relate directly to the decisions of daily life and making a living”
economic anthropology (!)
the culturally specific processes used by members of a society to provide themselves with material resources
economy (!)
a form of cultivation that depends on slash-and-burn techniques, rainwater, human muscle power, and a few simple tools (digging sticks, hoes, machetes)
extensive agriculture (!)
food collection (!)
people who gather wild plant materials, fish, and/or hunt for food
food production (!)
people who depend on domesticated plants and/or animals for food
institutions
stable and enduring cultural practices that organize social life
a form of cultivation that employs plows, draft animals, irrigation, and fertilizer to bring a large amount of land under cultivation at one time
intensive agriculture (!)
labour (!)
the activity linking human social groups to the material world around them
a mode of exchange in which the exchange of goods (trade) is calculated in terms of a multi-purpose medium of exchange and standard of value (money) and carried on by means of a supply-demand-price mechanism (the market)
market exchange (!)
means of production (!)
the tools, skills, organization, and knowledge used to extract energy from nature
mechanized industrial agriculture (!)
large-scale farming that is highly dependent on industrial methods of technology and production
“a specific, historically occurring set of social relations through which labour is deployed to wrest energy from nature by means of tools, skills, organization, and knowledge”
mode of production (!)
patterns according to which distribution takes place; reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange
modes of exchange
a formal attempt to explain the workings of capitalist enterprise, with particular attention to distribution
neoclassical economic theory (!)
production (!)
the transformation of nature’s raw materials into a form suitable for human use
a mode of exchange in which individuals exchange goods and/or services…
1. under the assumption that the exchanges will eventually balance out
2. with the expectation of immediate balance
3. in the hope that at least one party will get something for nothing
reciprocity (!)
a mode of exchange in which a centralized social organization receives contributions from all members of the group and __________ them in a way that provides for every member
redistribution (!)
relations of production (!)
the social relations linking the people who use a given means of production within a particular mode of production
the different strategies used by members of a society to meet their basic material survival needs
subsistence strategies
what are the three phases of economy
production, distribution, consumption
