Cultural Anthropology Chapter 3: Economics and Exchange

Characteristics of local marketplaces (peasant markets or less formal markets)

*Less dependent on external market forces *Vendors themselves, and their families, often produce what they sell *Limited in available products *Labor often part-time/gendered *Easier to self regulate

Characteristics of local marketplaces (peasant markets or less formal markets)?

*Less dependent on external market forces *Vendors themselves, and their families, often produce what they sell *Limited in available products *Labor often part-time/gendered *Easier to self-regulate

Substantive Economics

A branch of economics, inspired by the work of Karl Polanyi, that studies the daily transactions people engage in to get what they need or desire.

Kula

A ritualized pattern of delayed gift-giving involving the exchange of many items including necklaces (clockwise) and armbands (counterclockwise)

Cultural Economics

An anthropological approach to economics that focuses on how symbols and morals help shape an individual culture's economy

Neoclassical Economics

An approach to economics that studies how people make decisions to allocate resources like time, labor, and money.

Currency

An object used as a medium of exchange.

Reciprocity

Back-and-forth exchange of resources: both material and non-material; symbolizes (and creates) social obligations and individual relationships as well as satisfies material needs and wants

Formal Economics

Branch of economics that studies the underlying logic of economic thought and action.

Monetary Value VS. Social Values

Cultural and community sentiments relate to what people think and feel is right and appropriate to share in any economic exchange; the value is not intrinsic but is culturally assigned and not all things appropriate for exchange. Most North Americans try to assign monetary value to all things, even though there are obvious problems with attempting to convert sentimental value or historical significance to monetary value.

Monetary value VS Social values

Cultural and community sentiments relate to what people think and feel is right and appropriate to share in any economic exchange; the value is not intrinsic but is culturally assigned and not all things are appropriate for exchange. *There are obvious problems with attempting to convert sentimental value or historical significance to monetary value

Surplus Value

Difference between what people produce and what they need to survive.

Capitalism

Economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, in. which prices are set and goods distributed through a market.

Balanced Reciprocity

Exchanges that are roughly equal in value and are exchanged at specific intervals or for specialized purposes *Some gift exchanges may encourage relationships to stay in balance

Delayed Reciprocity

Form of reciprocity that features a long lag time between receiving a gift and paying it back.

What scales can markets be?

Global, local, national

Cultural Values

Goods and services are bought and sold as determined by the preferences of cultural groups or communities

Commodities

Mass-produced and impersonal goods with no meaning or history apart from themselves.

Fiat Money

Money created and guaranteed by a government.

General Purpose Money

Money that is used to buy nearly any good or service.

Commodity Money

Money with another value beyond itself, such as gold or other precious metals.

Taxes

Monies are collected and used ideally to support/benefit the community, or to create/maintain public works and interests.

Aggrandizement/Accrual Models

Neoclassical economic ideas of economic rationalism and individual self-aggrandizement are not universal and even in the economic modes that emphasize these behaviors that there are often other social and cultural factions in action.

Money

Objects or substance that serves as a medium of exchange, a store of value, or a unit of account.

Limited Purpose Money

Objects that can be exchanged only for certain things.

Prestige Economics

People participate to establish or maintain their rank, prestige, and power rather than for a direct material benefit for the individual or group.

Consumers

People who rely on goods and services not produced by their own labor.

Transactional Orders

Realms of transactions a community uses, each with its own set of symbolic meanings and moral assumptions.

Tupu

Sacred and should not be touched, nor too closely approached.

Markets

Social institution used to exchange goods and services, often using a currency.

Example(s) of food sharing in generalized reciprocity

Some foods are shared among all members of the group, using generalized reciprocity as their primary form of exchange. *Ju/'Hoansi/Trobiand Islands/Kula

Economic marking of social or political relationships

Some may emphasize personal relationships, others emphasis prestige, and yet others might focus on the success of the larger community- emphasizing distribution of resources.

Economic marking of social or political relationships?

Some may emphasize personal relationships, others emphasize prestige, and yet others might focus on the success of the larger community- emphasizing redistribution of resources.

Feasts

Special meals (food out of the ordinary in kind or quantity) shared among an enlarged circle of people.

Economic System

Structured patterns and relationships through which people exchange goods and services.

Economic Anthropology

Subfield of anthropology concerned with how people make, share, and buy things and services.

Consumption

The act of using and assigning meaning to a good, service, or relationship

Redistribution

The collection and distribution of goods by a centralized authority

Division of Labor

The cooperative organization of work into specialized tasks and roles.

Social Distance

The degree to which cultural norms specify that two individuals or groups should be helpful to, intimate with, or emotionally attached to one another

Means of Production

The machines and infrastructure required to produce goods.

Appropriation

The process of taking possession of an object, idea, or relationship and making it one's own.

Value

The relative worth of an object or service that makes it desirable.

Tribute

The rendering of services and/or resources (including foods, labor, exotic items, etc.) to an authority, such as a chief, to be reallocated.

Exchange

The transfer of objects and services between social actors.

Generalized Reciprocity

These exchanges do not track the specific values of items traded, signifies close social ties. *There is an assumption that these exchanges will somewhat even out over time but not within any defined period nor with any urgency.

Reciprocity and Social Distance

Ultimately, the form of reciprocity v(and the general context of the economic exchanges) tells us about the social relationship between the participants. This relationship marks the social distance between individuals/groups.

Economics

Used to describe how people make their living; includes the production, use, and exchange of resources.

Negative Reciprocity

Where people attempt to get the better deal, or create debts for others *Includes haggling *I.e. Among the Navajo, it is considered morally wrong to cheat an insider. *May be used in societies with no money to acquire non-local goods.