Chapter 8
Economics
What We Will Learn
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How do anthropologists study economic
systems cross-culturally?
How do people use culture to help them
adapt to their environment?
How are resources such as land and
property allocated in different cultures?
What principles of distribution are used in
various parts of the world?
Focus of Economics
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Production
Distribution
Consumption
Economic Anthropology
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Economics focuses on production,
distribution, and consumption within the
industrialized world.
Economic anthropology studies
production, distribution, and consumption
comparatively in all societies of the world,
industrialized and nonindustrialized.
Cross-cultural Examination of
Economic Systems
1.
2.
3.
Regulation of resources: How land,
water, and natural resources are
controlled and allocated.
Production: How material resources
are converted into usable commodities.
Exchange: How the commodities are
distributed among the people of the
society.
Division of Labor
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Deciding which types of people will
perform which categories of work.
Every society, whether large or small,
distinguishes between the work
appropriate for men and women and for
adults and children.
Gender Specialization
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Women generally tend crops, gather wild
foods, care for children, prepare food,
clean house, fetch water, and collect
cooking fuel.
Men usually hunt, build houses, clear land
for cultivation, herd large animals, fish,
trap small animals, and serve as political
functionaries.
Theories of Gender
Specialization
1.
2.
3.
Because men have greater body mass
and strength, they are better equipped
physically to engage in hunting, warfare,
and land clearing.
Women do tasks that are compatible
with child care.
In terms of reproduction, men tend to be
more expendable than women.
Age Specialization
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usually become involved in work activities
at a considerably earlier age.
According to a study by the U.S.
Department of Labor, approximately 250
million children between the ages of 5 and
14 work throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin
America, and of these, nearly half work
full-time.
Durkheim and Division of
Labor
Two types of societies
 Mechanical solidarity - societies with a
minimum of labor specialization.
 Organic solidarity - highly specialized
societies, solidarity is based on mutual
interdependence.
Modes of Distribution
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Reciprocity - The exchange of goods and
services of roughly equal value between two
trading partners.
Redistribution -Goods and services are given
to a central authority and reallocated to the
people according to a new pattern.
Market exchange - Involves the use of
standardized currencies to buy and sell goods
and services.
Three Kinds of Reciprocity
1.
2.
3.
Generalized - involves giving a gift without
any expectation of immediate return.
Balanced - exchange of goods and services
with the expectation that equivalent value will
be returned within a specific period of time.
Negative - exchange of goods and services
between equals in which the parties try to gain
an advantage.
Redistribution
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Goods are given to a central authority and
then given back to the people in a new
pattern.
Redistribution involves two distinct stages:
1.
An inward flow of goods and services to a
social center.
2.
An outward dispersal of these goods and
services back to society.
Globalization
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Since the 1980s the economies of the
world have become globalized.
Tariffs are lowered and trading is
deregulated.
Increased the gap between the haves and
the have-nots.
Quick Quiz
1.The sub-discipline of ________ studies
production, distribution, and
consumption comparatively in all
societies of the world, industrialized and
non-industrialized alike.
a) economic anthropology
b) cultural anthropology
c) applied anthropology
d) material culture
Answer: a
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The sub-discipline of economic
anthropology studies production,
distribution, and consumption
comparatively in all societies of the
world, industrialized and nonindustrialized alike.
2. _______ refers to how commodities are
distributed among the people of a
society.
a) The regulation of resources
b) Allocation of resources
c) Production
d) Exchange
Answer: d
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Exchange refers to how commodities
are distributed among the people of a
society.
3. Whether based simply on gender and
age, or more complex reasons, all
societies have established ________ to
allocate tasks.
a) divisions of labor
b) divisions of gender
c) age set categories
d) hierarchical roles
Answer: a
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Whether based simply on gender and
age, or more complex reasons, all
societies have established divisions of
labor to allocate tasks.
4. Lack of knowledge and physical strength
may be a reason for ________ division
of labor.
a) gender
b) age
c) specialization
d) hierarchical
Answer: b
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Lack of knowledge and physical strength
may be a reason for age division of
labor.
5. The term ________ refers to social
solidarity resulting from increased labor
specialization and mutual
interdependence.
a) labor solidarity
b) organic solidarity
c) social solidarity
d) mechanical solidarity
Answer: b
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The term organic solidarity refers to
social solidarity resulting from increased
labor specialization and mutual
interdependence.