Unit 2B: Economics
What is reciprocity?
How do various cultures use it?
Economics concepts
► Every
culture has a limited amount of vital
resources
► Must develop systems of production,
distribution, and consumption
Economic Anthropology
► Economics
= focus on production,
distribution, and consumption as observed
in industrialized world
► Economic Anthropology = studies of the
three areas comparatively in all societies in
the world, industrialized and non-indus.
Western Economic View
► Western
economists assume that individuals and
corporations are motivated by desire to maximize
material well-being
► Other societies’ economic principles may be based
on reciprocity or re-distribution practices
emphasizing cooperation and generosity
► Even in USA there can be increases in instances
where people fail to maximize economic well-being
Allocation of Natural Resources
► Every
society has a set of rules governing
allocation and use of resources
► The degree to which humans are territorial
varies widely throughout the world
► Idea of personal property is absent in most
food collecting, pastoral, and horticultural
societies
Resources: Food Collectors
► Land is not owned
► Follow migratory patterns of
► Claiming/defending territory
animals
takes time, energy,
and technology that foragers choose not to
expend
► Territoriality can lead to conflict
► Amount of communal control of land varies
► Will have flexible boundaries if animals are
mobile and supplies unpredictable
► Likely to live in permanent settlements and
maintain greater land control if supplies are
plentiful and predictable
Resources: Pastoralists
► Require
extensive territory and access to water
and pasturage for livestock
► Must work out arrangements among themselves
and with nonpastoralists to gain access to
pasturage
► Corporate (non-individual) control of pastures is
general rule
► Allocation of land and resources depends on
ecological variables, types of animals, size of
population relative to land, relationship of
pastoralists to larger society
Resources: Horticulturalists
► Tend
to live on communally controlled land,
usually by extended kinship group
► Small family units retain rights as long as
they work the land and are in good standing
with larger family
► No advantage to owning land that can’t be
used permanently
Resources: Intensive Agriculturalists
► Resources
are allocated using principle of
private individual ownership
► Western concept of individual property
rights has affected research with nonWestern peoples
► Most westerners believe communal property
will be destroyed or degraded because
people lack an individual incentive to
maintain it
Production
► Definition:
process of obtaining goods from
the natural environment and transforming
them into usable objects
► Vast range of systems of production
► Why any society produces certain items is
determined by economic factors and cultural
values
► Most societies fail to exploit all the
resources at their disposal
Units of Production
► All
societies have some sort of productive
unit comprising people with specific tasks to
perform
► In most nonindustrialized societies, basic
unit of production is the household
► Most, if not all, goods and services
consumed are produced by members of the
household (nuclear or extended)
Division of Labor
► Every
society distinguishes to some degree
between appropriate work for men and
women (gender) and adults and children
(age)
Division of Labor:
Gender Specialization
► Men
and women often assigned roles because of
social, political, and historical forces operating in
individual societies
► Theories explaining common, if not universal,
division of labor by gender
 Men’s greater body mass and strength makes them
better equipped for hunting, warfare, land clearing
 Women’s tasks compatible with childcare
 Mend tend to be more expendable so they engage in
dangerous activities
Division of Labor:
Age Specialization
► Elderly,
because of waning strength, often
prohibited from certain tasks or expected to
engage in different activities from earlier years
► Because of lack of knowledge and physical
strength, children are often excluded from certain
tasks
 In growing numbers, children under 14 are working full
time in the global economy
 Negative effects of child labor include working long
hours under deplorable conditions for low wages
Distribution of Goods and Services
► Systems
of exchange are essential for every
economy
► Allow people to dispose of surpluses
► Maximize diversity of goods and services
consumed
► Goods and services are allocated in all societies
according to 3 modes of distribution
 Reciprocity
 Redistribution
 Market exchange
► Although
more than one mode can operate in a
society, usually only one predominates
Reciprocity
► Definition:
exchange of goods and services
of roughly equal value between two parties
without the use of money
 3 basic types
►Generalized
reciprocity
►Balanced reciprocity
►Negative reciprocity
Generalized Reciprocity
► An
exchange system common among food
collectors and contributes to their very survival
► Generosity is the highest ideal
► Hoarding and stinginess are seen as antisocial
► Usually between family members or close friends
► Involves highest level of moral obligation
► No expectation of immediate return
► In USA, seen in giving between parents & kids
Balanced Reciprocity
► An
exchange system involving expectation that
goods and services of equivalent value will be
returned within a specific period of time
► Involves more formal relationships, greater social
distance, and strong obligation to repay original
gift
► Major economic motivation is to exchange surplus
good and services for those in short supply
► Creates a system of affiliation (Kula Ring)
Negative Reciprocity
► Form
of exchange between equals in which the
parties attempt to take advantage of each other
► Based on principle of trying to get something for
nothing
► Involving the most impersonal (possibly hostile)
social relations
► Sense of altruism and social obligation is at its
lowest
► Incompatible with close, harmonious relations
► Most often practiced against strangers and
enemies
Redistribution
► Goods
are given to a central authority and
then given back to people in a new pattern
► Involves 2 stages: inward flow of goods and
services to social center, followed by
outward dispersal of goods and services
back to society
► Most common in societies that have political
hierarchies
Redistribution: Tribute
► Serves
social function by dispensing goods
within a society and affirming political
power of the chief and value of solidarity
among the people
► Equitable distribution is rarely found in
most situations where tribute is given
Redistribution:
Big Men/Feast Givers
► Self
made leaders who are able to convince their
relatives/neighbors to contribute surplus goods for
the sake of community wide feasting
► Economic entrepreneurs
► Found widely throughout Melanesia and New
Guinea
 Work hard to produce surpluses and encourage
followers to do the same, all for the sake of giving it
away
 Growing evidence that there are also big women in
Melanesia
Redistribution: Bridewealth
► Involves
transfer of valuable commodities
from groom’s lineage to the bride’s lineage
as a precondition for marriage
► Mechanism for maintaining roughly
equitable distribution of goods within a
society
Redistribution: Potlatch
► Chiefs
or prominent men announce rights,
privileges, and high social status within their
communities
► Claims accompanied by elaborate feasting and gift
giving
► Host would either give away or destroy all of his
personal possessions
► Serves as a mechanism for dispersal of material
goods
► Also serves man socio-political functions
Redistribution: Prestige Economies
► Institutions
of the Kula, potlatch, and Big
men/Women are not only mechanisms of
distribution, but also ways of allocating
prestige and social status through affiliation
Redistribution: Market Exchange
► Goods
and services are bought and sold, often
through the use of a standardized currency
► Less personal than exchanges based on
reciprocity or other forms of redistribution
► Exchanges predominantly economic in nature
► People more interested in maximizing profits
than in maintaining a long-term relationship
► Likely found in sedentary societies that produce
appreciable surpluses and have complex division
of labor