Diversity and
Difference in
Economic Activities
People and their things
How to study different
economic systems and
not be ethnocentric
• Despite globalization, which has extended market relations
to many societies, there are still differences in the ways
that economic institutions are organized.
• Because of these differences, anthropologists do not
typically focus on markets and market behaviour, e.g.
supply and demand.
• Rather, they analyse how societies, produce, exchange
and consume goods and services.
– Production: the varied ways in which goods and services are
acquired, made or produced.
– Exchange: the varied ways in which goods and services and
distributed from one group or individual to another group or
individual.
– Consumption: the culturally specific ways in which goods are used.
forms of exchange
• Reciprocity: the social obligation to give,
receive and to repay in an equal or greater
amount.
• Redistribution: the amassing of goods at a
central storage point, for distribution at a later
date. Associated with ancient city states.
• Market exchange: relation is between
individual buyers and sellers, money is used,
demand and supply determine the distribution
of goods and services.
fiestas in Nuyooteco: an
example of reciprocity
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24 patron saints in the village; all honoured by fiestas (feasts).
Each fiesta is put on by a mayor/domo, usually husband and wife, who are
responsible for feeding hundreds of guests.
Since each couple cannot afford this, they attend other fiestas, bringing
gifts. They expected to be reciprocated in kind during their own fiesta.
Villagers speak of themselves as eating from one hearth, fiestas can last
for three days.
Failure to reciprocate brings a loss of social prestige.
Here, the fiesta possesses economic, social, religious and political
functions: the husband of a generous fiesta often goes on to become the
mayor of the village.
Here we say that these economic relations are embedded in society.
Market relations tend to disembed economic relations and create a
separate sphere of economic transactions that operates on its own
principles of supply and demand.
Another example of
reciprocity: the kula in
the trobriand islands
• Covers a wide geographic area of many islands.
• The major ceremonial aspect of it consists of the circulation of
two objects:
– Shell-disc necklaces (soulava): traded to the north, go in a
clockwise direction.
– Shell armbands (mulavi): traded to the south, go in a counterclockwise direction.
• No-one is thought to ‘own’ these objects; they are constantly circulating
and famous ones bring renown to the person who possesses them.
• The circulation of these objects is accompanied by the exchange of
utilitarian goods, e.g. some islands are too small to be agricultural
producers, but may have objects like obsidian or flint.
• The goal of the exchange is to try to gain renown
Other Features of the
Kula
•The partners in the kula were lifelong trading partners
obliged to each other for hospitality, help and
assistance.
•Minor kula exchanges within a group of islands
preceded major expeditions.
•Usually one overseas trading expedition per year.
•Separation between utilitarian exchange (gimwali) and
ceremonial exchanges (kula).
•The kula consists of the exchange of ceremonial
items: soulava (necklaces) that travel clockwise and
mwali (armbands) that travel counterclockwise.
•These items cannot be kept permanently, at most for a
year or 2.
•Possession of famous kula items brings that person
renown and prestige.
•Miserliness in exchange brought a loss of social status
and prestige, generosity brought renown.
Conclusions: features
of gift exchange
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It is more embedded in social relations than we come to
expect with market exchange. Both the kula and the fiesta
have important social, political and religious functions and
aspects.
An increase in social status comes with generosity in giving
away wealth, not through accumulation. Yet it is also
obligatory and not without competition.
It is personal, occurring in a face-to-face context, rather than
impersonal.
As we will see when reading the Bohannon article, major
changes occur in societies that experience a shift to market
forms of exchange and people start producing for profit rather
than for reciprocity, e.g. the potlatch in the late 19th century.