Economy
Lecture Objectives
 1. Distinguish between the diverse modes of economic
organization
 2. Distinguish between modes and means of production
 3. Differentiate between forms of exchange
 4. Describe potlatch and be able to identify how it functions
at both the local and regional levels.
 5. Describe the role of the economic anthropologist and
identify potential research topics.
Economy, Economics, &
Anthropology
 Economy
____________________________
 Economics
The study of such systems
 Economic Anthropology
Studies __________________________
Economic Systems:
Mode of Production
Based on production, distribution, and
consumption
Mode of production:
_____________________________________
Economic Systems:
Mode of Production
Why would differences in mode of
production occur between cultural
groups practicing the same subsistence
strategy?
________________________________
Exchange
What’s being exchanged?
_______________________
Forms of Exchange:
Reciprocity
Redistribution
Market
Media of Exchange
 Transactions of (or for) goods, services, or both
 Examples:
 _______________________________________
Reciprocity
Foraging, horticulture, and
pastoralism cultural groups
Everywhere groups exchange
resources with other groups – Why?
_________________________________
Reciprocity
 Form of exchange used to _________________
 ______________________without the use of a
___________________________
 Several different transaction types
__________________________________
Reciprocity
Reciprocity Continuum
_____________
_____________
_________
What do you think the differences are between
these 3 forms?
Which forms are based on social ties and trust?
Redistribution
Resources collected from many individuals (or
groups)
______________________________
____________________later draws from this
pool/fund in returning public goods & services
________________________________
Trobriand Islanders
Malinowski
studied
Trobrianders
1914-1917
Trobriand Islanders
Market Exchange
 Objects & services are exchanged “on the
market”
 A __________________ B wants
 B _______________________ A _________________ of
money that A and B agree upon
 A then uses the _____________________ goods from
other people
Economic Concepts
(Law of) Supply and Demand
Supply: ____________________________
Demand: __________________________
Together these influence _________, and
so the ___________, of a good for sale.
Economic Anthropology
Economic Anthropology
Hybrid – allows for investigation of
economic behavior as it is lived and
practiced
___________________________________
Economic life described as being “based
on the broader organization of society”
(Herskovitz, 1965, 7)
Economic Anthropology &
Migration
 Migration viewed as a dynamic process that
responds to and is shared by broader
economic, cultural, and social factors
 Migration:
Movement of people through geographical
space (Kearney, 1986)
Movement of people into and out of a specified
territory (Payne, 2006)
Economic Anthropology &
Migration
Contemporary migrants:
predominately workers
Spatial differentials in
employment opportunities
represent:
Lesser and greater levels of
economic development
_________________
_________________
_________________
_________________
Lesotho
Lesotho: Background
Information
 Reported by Cobbe (2012) and the CIA
Estimated population: _________________________
 20th and 21st Century
 Half of adult male population temporary worked in South
Africa
 Heavly geared at South African mines
 How migration is experienced in Lesotho changed after the
1950s and, especially, after 1994
Changes in South African law made it easier become a legal
permanent resident
Male and female migrants today