In this chapter students will learn:

• why anthropologists think of economics as a matter of decision-making
• about the production of goods and services
• how assumptions about the gendered division of labor are misleading
• how distribution works to get goods and services to people other than the ones who made them
• about three modes of exchange: reciprocity, redistribution, and the market economy
• about the consumption of goods and services

Introduction: Who Gets What and How?

Anthropologists think of economics as the world of decisions, whether monetary, social, cultural, or symbolic

What Drives Economic Decisions?

An economic model based on profit is only one of the models used by individuals and groups in society. Outside of the profit model are decisions based on status, loyalty, ethics, devotion, equality, family ties, or other cultural values.

Production: Making the Things People Need and Want

Production involves using natural or human resources to make things that people need and want. The unit of production may be a corporation, farm, household, or individual, depending on the expectations and limitations of the society. Although biological differences have long been identified as the reasons for a sexual division of labor in society, evidence shows that it is the need for efficient and safe parenting that drives a division of labor.

Distribution: How People Get the Things They Need and Want

Goods and services are distributed in society using one or more of these three ways: reciprocity, redistribution, and through the market economy. Reciprocity may be loosely monitored (generalized), strictly monitored (balanced), or (predatory) negative. Redistribution occurs when items are collected in a central location, counted, sorted, and reallocated in some way. The market economy uses money or barter to acquire goods according to a set value, guided by the forces of supply and demand.

Consumption: How People Use the Things They Need and Want

Consumption is the set of practices related to the use of goods and services, including foods. Commodities are items used by someone other than the producer of the item. The value of things has to do with how much an item is desired, due to its social and cultural context.

1. What do economic anthropologists study?

2. Besides financial profit, what are some of the factors that drive economic decisions?

3. What is economic production?

4. What are the three types of reciprocity that serve to distribute goods and services to others?

5. How does redistribution work?

6. What are the characteristics of a market economy?

7. How is barter different from balanced reciprocity?

8. How is consumption linked to desire?

1. What item do you own that has symbolic or cultural value, but not a lot of monetary value? Why does it have so much value for you?

2. How do the social rules of “Likes” or “Follows” on social media show reciprocity?

3. What does it mean to “vote with your wallet”?

balanced reciprocity (page 129): a form of exchange in which the value of goods is specified as well as the time frame of repayment

barter (page 134): an exchange of goods without the use of money

capitalist system (page 120): an economic system in which the means of production are owned by private companies and corporations that seek to gain the most profit

cargo system (page 130): a political and religious system among the Maya in which members must serve the community in a volunteer position for at least one year; a leveling mechanism (also called cofradía)

commodity (page 137): an item that is consumed by someone who is not its producer

commodity money (page 134): an item that has intrinsic value, such as gold, salt or cigarettes; also called multipurpose money

conflict minerals (page 138): natural resources mined in an area where there is conflict (such as civil war) and used to fuel or fund the conflict, commit crimes, or perpetrate human rights abuses

consumption (page 136): the use of a resource

distribution (page 126): the process by which items move into the hands of someone other than the producer; sharing out

economics (page 120): how goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed in a society

generalized reciprocity (127): a form of specialized sharing in which the value of a gift is not specified at the time of exchange, nor is the time of repayment

haggling (page 136): arguing over or bargaining for the terms of a purchase or agreement

hijra (page 123): a third-gender role found in India and Pakistan in which people assigned male sex at birth or intersex individuals adopt feminine gender expression

indentured (page 134): bound under contract to work for another person

kinship (page 132): family relations; involves a complex set of expectations and responsibilities

Kula Ring (page 129): a system of balanced reciprocity in which gifts circulate among trading partners in the Trobriand Islands

leveling mechanism (page 130): a social and economic obligation to distribute wealth so no one member of a group accumulates more than anyone else

locus (page 122): the location or site of something

market economy (page 133): an economic system in which prices for goods and services are set by supply and demand

money (page 133): anything that is used to measure and pay for the value of goods and services

multipurpose money (page 134): commodities that can be used for other practical purposes besides simply as money; also called commodity money

muxe (page 123): a transgender woman from Juchitán, Mexico, with a recognized social identity

Nahuatl (page 119): the language of the Aztecs

negative reciprocity (page 134): a deceptive practice in which the exchange is unequal; an exchange in which the seller asks more than the value of the item

potlatch (page 131): a ceremonial gathering in which Northwest Coast peoples mark important events and share food and other valued items

prestige economy (page 129): an economic system in which people seek power and status rather than monetary gain

production (page 122): the act of making something from raw materials

reciprocity (page 126): a set of social rules that govern the specialized sharing of food and other items

redistribution (page 131): an economic system in which goods and money will flow into a central source, such as a governmental authority or religious institution

social capital (page 128): resources that have value within a particular social group in which exchanges are bound by reciprocity and trust

social distance (page 127): the degree of separation or exclusion between members of different social groups

special purpose money (page 134): items used only to measure the value of things and lacking a practical purpose

tribute (page 131): a type of recurring payment, usually of goods, that acknowledges submission and ensures protection

Society for Economic Anthropology (SEA)
www.econanthro.org

Society for the Anthropology of Work (SAW)
www.saw.americananthro.org

The Story of Stuff (20-minute online movie)
www.atoryofstuff.org

Visions of Value—Images of Economics and Development in Business and Finance Advertising
www.rdc.reed.edu.org

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs
www.un.org

Short description by Duane Aucoin of the Importance of Potlatch to Tlingit peoples (2:36)
www.youtube.com

Appadurai, A. (1988). The social life of things. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Beck, M.G. (1993). Potlatch: Native ceremony and myth on the northwest coast. Anchorage: Alaska Northwest Books.

Cate, S. (2008). Breaking bread with a spread. Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, 8(3), 17–24.

Lyon, S. (2010). Coffee and community: Maya farmers and fair trade markets. Boulder: University Press of Colorado.

Malinowski, B. (1922). Argonauts of the western Pacific: An account of Native enterprise and adventure in the archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea. London: George Routledge and Sons.

Mauss, M. (1954). The gift: The form and reason for exchange in archaic societies. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.

Wilk, R., & Cliggett, L. (2007), Economies and cultures: Foundations of economic anthropology. Boulder: Westview Press.

Wilson, T.D. (2012). Economic life of Mexican beach vendors: Acapulco, Puerto Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas. Lanham: Lexington Books.

1. Consider the types of value-based decisions you make regularly. Make a list of five decisions that show values other than financial gain.

Your answer should draw from the ways that you share your time, service, care, or effort with others, demonstrating how even within a market-based economy, many economic decisions are not financially based. Examples may include volunteering, giving donations, offering to help friends or family, or other ways in which profit is not the expected outcome.

See page 120-122 of your text.

2. What are the differences between generalized reciprocity, balanced reciprocity, negative reciprocity, and redistribution?

Your answer should describe each of the four methods of transferring goods and services between communities and community members:

• Generalized reciprocity—when resources are equally shared between members of a group.
• Balanced reciprocity—an exchange in which the value of goods and the time frame for repayment are specified.
• Negative reciprocity—the exchange of goods and services where the seller is deceiving the buyer as to the true value of the exchange.
• Redistribution—the collection of resources in a centralized location that are then redistributed to the population.

See pages 126-132 of your text.

3. What is a market economy?

The market economy is a formal and bureaucratic system. This generally includes:

• values of goods and services that are determined by the laws of supply and demand.
• the existence of taxes that are paid to the government and redistributed to the rest of society.
• the use of money in exchanges instead of trade. This can include special-purpose money or multipurpose money.

See pages 133-136 of your text.

4. What is the purpose of a potlatch?

Your answer should note that a potlatch is a ceremony held by Northwest-Coast Indigenous peoples. A host family or community invites guests to witness and participate in the event. It includes feasting, dancing, and gift-giving. It has several purposes that include:

• the validation of an event of significance.
• selection of a new chief.
• a person obtaining an Indigenous name.
• marriage.
• creating bonds between communities.
• the redistribution of wealth within and between communities, especially in the era before 1885, when the potlatch was outlawed by the government.

See pages 131-132 of your text.

5. Consider an object that you own and provide a social history that describes its value. What was its value directly after production, during the exchange process (whether reciprocity or market exchange), and since you have owned the item? How does this item represent a commodity?

Your answer should clearly distinguish the different types of economic processes and show an understanding of the definition of a commodity. You might choose an item of personal significance to you, or one that has changed in value over time, in order to talk about how commodities change in value based on desire./p>

See pages 136-138 of your text.