Chapter 8 (Anthropology)

Emic Meaning of Kula

Kula is considered a big deal by those who participate in it. The necklaces and armbands are like treasured heirlooms, each with a long and illustrious history, and confer immense presitge upon their possessors. But they CANNOT BE POSSESSED FOREVER; those who hold onto a Kula item for too long a period invite critical gossip on the part of others, creating ever-rising public pressure to relinquish it. This can only be accomplished by organizing a Kula expedition to the adjacent island member of the ring, where it can be handed over with great ceremony to a high-ranking counterpart. Whoever receives a generous gift is expected to reciprocate.

moka

Melanesian Moka. In New Guinea and other parts of Melanesia, tribal Big Men organize moka feasts. The principles of operation are essentially the same as for Northwest Coast potlatches. The host community accumulates pigs and other valuables to present to the invited guest, creating in them the obligation to reciprocate in kind at some future date.

special purpose money

Money with limited functions. Typically, it is limited in the range of transactions for which it is useful, being restricted to a single sphere of exchange. Such money can be exchanged for certain things but not for others that fall in a different sphere of exchange. Ex: Pigs in New Guinea may be exchanged for wives in bridewealth, or for prestige in moka, but not for other things.

Capitalism

More than simply a system of exchange, but has become one defining the system of economic production as well. The owners of the means of production (machines and factories) are people other than those whose labor is actually involved in the act of production. This system was the inevitable outcome of mechanization and the machine age which drove the cost of production much beyond the means of any single craftsman or artisan.

capitalism (continued)

Only one form of market exchange, and one of fairly recent origin. A convenient benchmark for the establishment of capitalism as the dominant global economic system is the French Revolution which overturned that country's previous feudal regime.

Anthropologists role in Globalization pg. 203-204

Play a vital role when given the opportunity to participate in international business. Understanding globalization from a cross-cultural, ethnographic perspective, being sensitive to gender issues in the workplace, and recognizing environmental and social inequities are only a few areas in which an applied social scientist could jump in and make a difference.

entrepreneurship

How is value of any kind established? According to anthropologist Fredrik Barth, through exchange. Where is the most profit to be made? By bridging previously unbridgeable spheres of exchange. Since these exchanges have never been made, no one is certain of their relative values, and therein lies the opportunity for profit-making by the canny entrepreneur.

vertical economy

In Peru and elsewhere in the Andes, altitudes rise sharply from a narrow coastal plain to heights of tens of thousands of feet in the highlands. Changes in temp. correspond to changes in altitude and favor certain types of vegetation (including crops) and disfavor others. Ancient Andean societies had to take into account this verticality (vertical ecological zonation) in adapting to the landscape)

The Inka

In the century prior to the arrival of Spanish conquistadores on their shores, the Inka expanded from their homeland in the Valley of Cuzco in the Peruvian Highlands to establish the largest empire ever seen in the Americas.

profit motivation (market exchange)

It is also based on the profit motive which is entirely lacking in the moral principles of fair exchange underlying reciprocity.

general purpose money

Provides the full range of functions expected of a monetary system.

mita

The Inka system of taxation was to impose a labor tax known as mita.

2. Chiefly Redistribution (Tribute) pg.192-193

This is used in societies that do not have a standardized currency. This is the practice in which goods (usually food) are given to a chief as a visible symbol of people's allegiance, and then the chief gives the items back to the people (usually in the form of a feast). This also affirms both the political power of the chief and the value of solidarity among the people. ~Example: Nyoro of Uganda- the highest form of redistribution for this is society is loyalty to the political hierarchy.

supply and demand (market exchange)

A system of market exchange is based upon the operation of impersonal principles of supply and demand which set prices and determine production.

Redistribution in complex societies

In complex societies with state systems of government (such as our own), taxation is a form of redistribution.

3. Big Men/Feast-Givers pg. 193-194

Self-mad leaders. Found widely in Melanesia and New Guinea, who gain prominence by convincing their followers to contribute excess food to provide lavish feasts for the followers of other big men or big women. These are less centralized societies, that do not have formal chiefs.

Yotile

a counter-gift

Vaga

initial gift

Kula Ring Importance

the Kula Ring plays an important sociocultural role by creating and maintaining long-term social relationships and by fostering the traditional myths, folklore, and history associated with circulating shell bracelets and necklaces.

The Semang pg. 191

engaged in a form of silent trade where the trading partners have no face-to-face contact. Found in small-scale societies. They leave their products collected from the forest at an agreed-upon location near the village of their trading partners. By avoiding social contact, both the semang and their exchange partners eliminate the risk of jeopardizing the relationship by haggling or arguing other equivalences.

globalization pg. 199-205

The worldwide process, dating back to the fall of the Berlin Wall, that involves a revolution in information technology, a dramatic opening of markets, and the privatization of social services. Spread of free-market economies to all parts of the world. The basic idea of globalization is that economies will be healthier and growth will occur more rapidly if we allow market forces to rule and if we open up all economies to free trade and competition. This involves lowering tariff barriers (or eliminating them altogether), deregulating the economy, and privatizing services formerly provided by governments. Also involves making substantial capital investments in other countries.

free trade agreements

Societies with market economies have to decide to what extent they will allow free markets or the government to control the economy.

spheres of exchange

Such money (special purpose money) can be exchanged for certain things but not for others that fall in a different sphere of exchange. Restricted to a single sphere of exchange.

Inka Tripartite Land System

The Inka system of taxation was to impose a labor tax known as mita. Inka administrators divided arable land in conquered territories into 3 equal parts. One each was devoted to the upkeep of religious institutions, the state, and the people, respectively.

surplus value of labor

The difference between what he pays his employees and the value their labor has added to the product they produce.

negative reciprocity pg. 192

A form of economic exchange between equal individuals who try to take advantage of each other. Based on the principle of trying to get something for nothing or to get the better end of the deal. Involving the most impersonal (even hostile) social relations. can take the form of hard bargaining, cheating, or out-and-out theft. Most often practiced between strangers and enemies. Sense of altruism and social obligation is at its lowest, and the desire for personal gain is the greatest.

Reciprocity pg.189-192

A mode of distribution characterized by the exchange of goods and services of approx. equal value between parties. Without the use of money. 3 types: generalized, balanced, negative

Key Elements of Capitalism

1. Capitalist Owner 2. Laborer 3. Consumer These statuses are not mutually exclusive. But the goals of the 3 are inherently conflictive in nature. As consumers we want low prices, but as laborers we desire high wages. The capitalist owner, on the other hand, wants to maximize his profits and so favors both low wages and high prices.

market exchange pg. 195

A mode of distribution in which goods and services are bought and sold and their value is determined by the principle of supply and demand. Tend to be less personal than exchanges based on reciprocity and redistribution. Market exchanges are predominantly economic in nature because people are more interested in maximizing their profits than in maintaining a long-term relationship or demonstrating their political allegiance to a chief or leader. Because basic motivation of market exchange is to accumulate wealth, it is hardly surprising that such systems of exchange are found only in stratified class and caste societies where inequality is the norm.. Societies like our own!

Two distinct stages in redistribution

1. an inward flow of goods and services to a social center 2. an outward dispersal of these goods and services back to society

4. potlatch pg. 194-195

A competitive giveaway found among Native Americans from the Northwest Coast that serves as a mechanism for both achieving social status and distributing goods. Ex: Kwakiutl Indians of British Columbia, for whom social ranking was of great importance These were ceremonies in which chiefs or prominent men publicly announced certain hereditary rights, privileges, and high social status within their communities. The host of the potlatch would either give away or destroy all of his personal possessions. Were widely held during the 19th century until missionaries convinced the Canadian government that they were demonic and satanic. Still held today but the types of gifts are more contemporary and may include useful household items, native art, and cash.

silent trade (balanced) pg. 191

A form of trading found in some small-scale societies in which the trading partners have no-face-to-face contact. Example: The Semang of the Malay Peninsula

Standardized Currency (money) pg. 195-196

A medium of exchange that has well-defined and understood value. Money is significant for a number of reasons: 1. the use of money to purchase items is a more flexible system than direct exchange of one item for another 2. money is divisible to the extent that its various forms and values are multiples of each other 3. money comes in conveniently small sizes, which allows it to be transported from one transaction to another; in other words, a bag of coins is easer to deal with than a herd of camels. 4. money serves as a form of deferred payment in that it represents a promise to pay in the future with similar value.

redistribution pg. 192

A mode of distribution in which goods and services are given by members of a group to a central authority (such as a chief) and then distributed back to the donors, usually in the form of a feast. Less frequent in distribution and market exchange the rarest of all, at least in a historical sense. Most common in societies that have political hierarchies. In its simplest form, redistribution operates within large families, where family members give their agricultural surpluses to a family head, who in turn stores them and reallocates them back to the individual family members as needed.

Inka Redistribution

By bringing a territorially extensive and ecologically diverse region under the umbrella of a single system of redistribution, local and regional specialization in ecologically suitable production was made possible. That was because the specialized produce of different parts of the realm were later redistributed throughout the empire, and in this way made available to peoples living in areas where those products were not otherwise available. The result: a much enhanced overall productivity.

perpetual growth system

Capitalism is a system based on perpetual growth.

Kula Ring pg. 191-192

The Kula Exchange is a variety of delayed balanced reciprocity traditionally engaged in by high-ranking individuals residing on adjacent islands of the Trobriands (New Guinea) and neighboring island groups. Participating islands are situated relative to one another so as to form a roughly circular pattern. Their designation is forming a Kula Ring. The exchange is of two valuable shell ornaments: mwali (armbands), and bagi (necklaces). There is one invariable rule of exchange: bagi (necklaces) must travel in a clockwise direction, and mwali (armbands) in a counterclockwise one.

Barter pg. 195

The direct exchange of commodities between people that does not involve standardized currency (money).

means of production

The owners of the means of production (machines and factories) are people other than those whose labor is actually involved in the act of production.

balanced reciprocity pg. 190-192

The practice of giving a gift with the expectation that a similar gift (equivalent value/materialistic) will be given in the opposite direction after a limited period of time. Involves more formal relationships, greater social distance, and a strong obligation to repay the original gift. The repayment doesn't have to be immediate (Marcel Mauss). A major economic reason for balanced reciprocity is to exchange surplus goods and services for those that are in short supply. Divided into two alternative subsets: 1. immediate 2. delayed

generalized reciprocity pg. 189-190

The practice of giving a gift without expecting a gift in return; creates a moral obligation. Usually played out among family members or close friends, carries with it the highest level of moral obligation. It involves giving a gift without any expectation of immediate return. Not the predominant form of exchange. Common among food collectors. Always involves a return gift; in this case, the return is not in the form of something tangible, but rather involves a smile, a thank you, love respect, or some other intangible.

1. Bridewealth pg. 192-193

The transfer of goods from the groom's lineage to the bride's lineage to legitimize marriage. Among pastoral societies where livestock are shared within the tribe, livestock are raised and used for bridewealth exchanges. A mechanism for maintaining the roughly equitable distribution of goods within a society. This practice ensures that all people have access to valued commodities. All families have access to some of the material goods of the society.

selective globalization pg. 203

There are limits to cross-national economic integration, which is referred to as selective globalization. Sometimes countries refuse, for a number of reasons, to trade or become economically involved with other countries.

Yanomami feasting

Throw them a really big party! At the conclusion of a round of mutual feasting during which trust is established and reciprocal obligations incurred on the part of members of 2 villages a thing happens. Members of one village forgets one thing while the other one forgets the other. This requires future mutual reciprocal exchange of those 2 items and reinforces the need for an ongoing relationship of mutual obligation and trust.

culture of consumptionism

To insure this growth capitalist systems inculcate in their populations a culture of consumptionism promoted via the mass media, marketing and advertising, and by social, religious, and cultural institutions as well.