Economies and their Modes of
Production
Economic Cultural
Anthropologists
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Look cross-culturally at a society’s way
of producing food and goods
Gather data and categorize society
according to their mode of production
(These categories blend and overlap)
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Examine how a society’s economic
system affects that societies
perceptions of “culture” and “nature”
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
ECOLOGICAL
ANTHROPOLOGY
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THE STUDY OF CULTURES AS
ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS
CULTURAL AND BIOLOGICAL
RESPONSES THAT AFFECT OR ARE
AFFECTED BY THE SURVIVAL,
REPRODUCTION, HEALTH, AND
SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF HUMAN
POPULATIONS.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
Two Ways of Viewing Culture:
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Culture as an energy-capturing and
storage system
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Culture as an information-storage system
The accumulation of both energy and
information within cultures is an extension
of basic biological functions.
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Culture is the Primary Adaptation
of the Human Species….
...but not all adaptations are
successful.
In terms of individuals adaptations are judged by
their ability to promote reproduction and survival.
In populations adaptations can be judged not
simply by reproduction of a species, but the
ability of the species to maintain itself at a viable
level over time.
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Processed and Non-Processed Waste Outputs Per Capita
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Efficiencies and Inequities
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The 20 per cent of the world’s people living in the
highest income countries are responsible for 86 per
cent of total private consumption compared with the
poorest 20 per cent, who account for only 1.3 per
cent.
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The richest fifth account for 53 per cent of carbon
dioxide emissions, the poorest fifth, 3 per cent.
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A child born in the industrial world adds more to
consumption and pollution levels in one lifetime than
do 30 to 50 children born in developing countries.

Some 60 per cent of the world's poor live in fragile
and highly vulnerable areas – on arid and semi-arid
lands, on steep slopes and in forests.
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Disparity in
Consumption in
Representative
Nations
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Humans and Ecosystems
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ECOSYSTEMS including human systems, tend towards
HOMEOSTASIS. They tend to resist change and remain in
equilibrium.
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SOURCES OF ECOLOGICAL CHANGE:
• CLIMATIC CHANGES
• TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE: DIFFUSION,
INNOVATION, LOSS
• SOCIAL CHANGE: ORGANIZATION OR DOMESTIC
PATTERNS
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MYTH OF THE PRISTINE ECOSYSTEM: Every place where
modern humans have dwelt they have influenced the
environment. What differs is HOW they influenced it and
HOW MUCH
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Modes of Production
Foraging
Horticulture
Pastoralism
Agriculture
Industrialism
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Summary
Foraging
Horticulture
Pastoralism
Agriculture
Industrialism
Reasons for Production
Production for use
Production for profit
Division of Labor
Family based
Class based
Property Relations
Egalitarian/collective
Stratified/ private
Resource Use
Extensive/temporary
Intensive/ expanding
Sustainability
High degree
Low degree
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Hunting and Gathering Economies
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Based on using food provided by nature
– gathering, fishing, hunting
– emerged at least 300,000 years ago in its
present form
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Maintains balance between resources
and lifestyle (or else….)
Today only 250,000 people support
themselves using foraging, e.g. the
Ju/wasi people of Southern Africa.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
Types of Hunter-Gatherers: Foragers
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Simple Hunter-Gatherers (Foragers):
• Tend to have limited storage facilities; have
to seek food as the need arises
• Live in temporary, semi-mobile camps
(residential mobility)
• Have a strong sharing ethic
• Exhibit limited or no ownership of resources
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Forager
Settlement and
Land-use System
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Types of Hunter-Gatherers: Collectors
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Complex Hunter-Gatherers (Collectors):
• .May exhibit high population density
• .Sometimes live in villages (permanent
camps) for all or most of the year
(logistical mobility)
• Usually exhibit strong social
stratification
• Typically maintain a weak sharing ethic:
interpersonal competition for resources
• Often exhibit family ownership of
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
resources and resource areas
Collector
Settlement and
Logistical Landuse System
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Population Ecology Terms ~ 1
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Carrying Capacity: The maximum population that
can be sustained in an area with a particular
subsistence system.
Maximum Sustainable Yield : The highest level of
production possible in a given area over an
extended period of time. Also, the level of
production just before the point of diminishing
returns is reached.
Point of Diminishing Returns: When additional
effort invested in maximizing yield no longer
produces proportionate returns.
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
Population Ecology Terms ~ 2
Optimal Foraging Theory: A model of hunter-gatherer
ecology which holds that, on average, people will
concentrate on resources which give them the maximum
yield per unit of energy invested.
Intensification: Concentration of overall social effort on
production output, usually on a limited set of high-yield
resources.
Liebig’s Law of the Minimum: Growth is limited by the
minimum availability of one necessary resource rather
than by the abundance of all necessary resources.
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Hunter-Gatherer Land Use
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“Man the Hunter” versus
“Woman the Gatherer”
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Many anthropologists emphasize the
role of males as the dominant provider
in foraging groups (e.g. Lee 1979)
However most everyday food is
gathered by women (Slocum 1975)
– 75-80% among the Ju/wasi

“Man the Hunter” is an example of male
bias in interpretation
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
Horticulture
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Emerged in the last several thousand
years
The cultivation of domesticated crops in
gardens using hand tools
Crop yields can be great and support
denser populations than foraging
Constrained by time required for
fallowing
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Horticulture and People
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A family forms the core work group
Children work more in horticultural
groups than any other type of economy
– caring for siblings
– fetching water
– hauling fuel
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Gender roles clearly defined
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Pastoralism
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Pastoralism is an economic system primarily
based upon herds of domestic livestock.
– Seasonal Transhumance: Regular movement
between different ecotones on a seasonal basis.
The same routes and pastures are typically used
every year.
– Nomadic Pastoralism: Constant and non-repetitive
movements to areas of good grazing. Very large
areas where seasonal variations are less
significant or unpredictable.
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Pastoralism
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Existed in Europe, Africa and Asia
Based on the domestication of animal
herds and the use of their products
Provides over 50% of group’s diet
– Pastoralists trade with other groups to
secure food and goods they can’t produce
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Groups move to where there is pasture
Can be highly successful
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Pastoralism and People
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Families are the basic unit of production
Little overlap between male and female
tasks
Generally men herd; women process
the herd’s products; children help in
herding
Strong value on mobility
Social equality
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The
Fertile
Crescent
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Agriculture
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Intensive strategy of production
– more labor, use of fertilizers, control of
water supply, use of animals
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Permanent settlements
3 main types
– family farming
– plantation agriculture
– industrial agriculture
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Basic Agricultural Practices:
– Rainfall Agriculture
 Slash and Burn (Swidden) agriculture
 Runoff control (Terraces, Wash outlets)
 Dry field farming
– Irrigation Agriculture
 Malpas (Maya raised-fields)
 Flooded Terraces/Fields (Rice)
 Controlled Canal Irrigation
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Main Types of Agriculture
Family Farming
Plantations
Industrial
•1bn people are
involved in family
farming
•Used to grow tea,
coffee, rubber
•Capital-intensive
•Family based
•Clear gender
roles
•Large families
•More rigid class
distinctions
•Land rights can
be bought or sold
•Concentrated
ownership of land
•Hired labor
•Severe inequality
•Dominant in
former colonies
•Poor social
welfare for
workers
•Uses machines
instead of human
labor
•Used in
industrialized
countries
•Uses more
energy
•Little research
done outside US
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Agriculture - a good move?
“Progressive” - Most Euro-Americans
think that agriculture is a major
advance in cultural evolution.
“Revisionist” - agriculture may be “the
worst mistake in the history of the
human race”
Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002
Industrialism
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The production of goods through mass
employment in business and
commercial operations
Goods produced satisfy consumer
demand
Employment increases in manufacturing
and service sectors
Formal and informal sections
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The BIG Questions Revisited
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What is the scope of economic
anthropology?
What are the characteristics of the five
major modes of production?
What are some directions
of change in the five
modes of production?
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