CHAPTER 19
Economic Systems
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How Do Anthropologists Study
Economic Systems?
How Do Different Societies Organize
Their Economic Resources and Labor?
How and Why Are Goods Exchanged
and Redistributed?
Economic Systems
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Despite the complexity of the culture,
all cultures have some form of an
economic system because they all
have some form of subsistence.
All cultures have a means of producing,
distributing, and consuming goods.
The Yam Complex in Trobriand
Culture
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Trobriand Island men devote a great
deal of time and energy to raising
yams, not for themselves but to give to
others ( sisters and married daughters).
The yams which switch hands from the
women to their respective husbands is
to show one’s respect for her husband.
The more yams a man has in his yam
house the higher his status because it
shows he is well respected and liked.
Control of Land & Water
Resources
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The access to land and fresh water is
naturally a resource all living people
must obtain.
Some societies have private ownership
of these resources where as others
divide them up among who has
occupied that land the longest.
We will examine all modes of
subsistence by their control of land and
water.
Food Foraging
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Land is usually control by kinship
groups rather than an individual.
All bands will have their own “territory”
an area they occupy that is considered
theirs.
Food foragers determine who will hunt
game and gather plants in their home
range and where these activities take
place.
Food Producing
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Pastoralists require a system that
determines rights to watering places and
grazing land for their animals. Often land
will be divided up based on watering holes.
Farmers (agricultural) must have some
means of determining title to land and
access to water for irrigation.
Small scale farmers generally “own” land on
lease and must pay tribute to the chief of
the tribe who is said to own the land.
Industrial
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In Western capitalist societies, private
ownership of land and rights to natural
resources generally prevails.
This is also based on the individual not
the group as it might be for foraging
and some producing societies.
Technology Resources
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Similar to economic systems all
societies will have some form of
technology which is best described as
tools and other material equipment,
together with the knowledge of how to
make and use them.
Technology complexity can vary among
groups but one thing is important
technological advances are relative to
the society in which they are found.
Technology
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Food foragers and patoralists who are
nomadic have fewer and simpler tools
than sedentary farmers. In fact the
average member of the Ju/’hoansi
owns about 25lbs of possessions per
member!
The primary tools for horticulturists
include the axe, digging stick, and hoe.
Division of of Labor
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Despite variations of labor patterns
cross culturally it can be said that every
society has a division of labor by
gender and age at the very minimum.
There are three documented patterns
of labor by gender:
 Flexible/integrated pattern
 Segregated pattern
 Dual sex Configuration
Flexible/Integrated Pattern
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Seen most frequently among food
foragers.
35% of tasks are performed equally by
men and women.
Tasks considered appropriate for one
gender may be performed by the other
without the loss of face.
Boys and girls grow up in much the
same way and learn to value
cooperation over competition.
Segregated Pattern
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Common to pastoral, intensive
agricultural, and industrial societies.
Almost all work is defined as masculine
or feminine.
Men and women rarely engage in joint
efforts and do not help one another.
Both boys and girls are raised primarily
by women. After puberty boys will
spend most time with adult men and
girls with adult women.
Dual Sex Configuration
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Seen among some Native American
tribes.
Men and women carry out their work
separately.
The relationship is one of balanced
complimentarily rather than inequality.
Each gender manages its own affairs,
and the interests of both men and
women are represented at all levels.
Division of Labor by Age
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Typical to have a division by age in all
societies although it varies greatly.
Food foraging societies such as the
Ju/’hoansi do not expect children to
contribute to subsistence until their late
teens. Elders will also “retire” around
the age of 60.
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In some farming communities both
children and elders are expected to
contribute to the group or household.
Girls among the Mayan peasant groups
may begin to do housework and watch
younger children around the age of 7 or
8 years old.
Industrial societies may also find
younger children and elders working in
factories to help support their families.
Reciprocity
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There are three main forms of reciprocity which
one mode of distribution.
Generalized - The value of what is given
is not calculated and repayment is not
specified.
 Balanced -A direct obligation to
reciprocate in equal value for the
relationship to continue.
 Negative - The giver tries to get the
better of the deal.
What do you see most in your culture?
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The Kula Ring
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Form of Balanced Reciprocity
The ceremonial trading of shell necklaces and armbands in
the Kula ring encourages trade throughout Melanesia.
Barter
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Bartering occurs when two or more partners
from different groups negotiate a direct
exchange of one trade good for another.
Often this transaction can turn hostile of
both parties are not in agreement- thus
similar to negative reciprocity.
As each party seeks to get the best possible
deal, both may negotiate until a balance has
been reached where each feels satisfied at
having achieved the better of the deal.
Trade
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Silent trade or bartering with no verbal
communication may be common due to a
lack of a common language between
neighboring groups.
Allows for the maintenance of solidarity
between allies and the building of such
allies.
Redistribution
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Redistribution is the form of exchange in
which goods flow into a central place where
they are sorted, counted, and reallocated.
Redistribution involves a certain amount of
power and control.
In societies with a surplus to support some sort
of government, goods in the form of gifts,
tribute, taxes, and the spoils of war are
gathered into storehouses controlled by a chief
or some other type of leader.
From there, they are handed out again.
Motives in Redistributing
Income
The leadership by the chief or person in charge of
redistribution has three motives in
redistribution:
1. Gain or maintain a position of superiority
through a display of wealth and generosity.
2. Assure those who support the leadership an
adequate standard of living by providing them
with desired goods.
3. Establish alliances with leaders of other groups
by hosting them at lavish parties and giving
them valuable goods.
Gaining Status & Prestige
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Conspicuous consumption- a term
coined by Thorstein Veblen to describe
the display of wealth for social prestige.
This is a way to gain social status
without actually distributing anything.
Potlatches on the other hand are a
form of conspicuous consumption
where a village chief will give away his
goods (food) to his people in a showy
displace of his wealth.
Gaining Status & Prestige
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Potlatches often compel others in the
society to also give away goods by hosting
a public feast so that no one person
accumulates more wealth than another.
These are called leveling mechanisms.
One last method of gaining status and
prestige is prestige economy. The main
difference between this and conspicuous
consumption is that mass wealth is obtained
for the purpose of giving it away to others.
Market Exchange
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Buying and selling of goods and services, with prices set by
rules of supply and demand is known as Market Exchange.
Prices are set on the basis of supply and demand. Often
money may be used although it is not necessary as in some
non-industrial societies. Other goods may be used for barter/
trade.
 Money is defined as something used to make payments
for goods and services as well as to measure their value.
The wide range of things that have been used as money in
one or another society includes salt, shells, stones, beads,
feathers, fur, bones, and teeth.
Informal Economy (Black
Market)
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The production of marketable commodities
that for various reasons escape
enumeration, regulation, or any other sort of
public monitoring or auditing.
Examples of goods or services that may be
obtained on this type of market:
 Child care, house cleaning, gardening,
alcohol, drugs, prostitution, illegal labor,
gambling, etc.