ANT. 332-01 / Economic Anthropology
Description
This course provides an introduction to the anthropological analysis of the
relationships between cultures and the economy. Economic anthropology is a
specialized field that seeks to understand economic actions and decisions utilizing
anthropological perspectives that are holistic and comparative. The goals of the
course are 1) to expand the definition of the economy in order to account for
human actions and decisions that do not conform to neo-classical models of
economic rationality and 2) to give an account of the diversity of economic systems
in the present context of a globalized world.
The main objectives are:
1) to examine the origins and development of economic anthropology since the mid20th century
2) to explore the ways in which economic actions and decisions can be approached
and understood from an anthropological perspective
3) to explore anthropology’s contribution to the understanding of contemporary
socio-economic issues and problems
Students will be introduced to the history, theories, and methods of economic
anthropology through lectures, class discussion of assigned readings, invited
speakers, and video presentations.