Economic Resources

Learning Objectives

- 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

Review Questions

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?

9. What are some features of commodities in an era of economic globalization?

Discussion Questions

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”?

4. Have you ever traced the origin of an item back to where and how it was produced? What did you learn?

Chapter Outline and Key Points

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.

Glossary

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

barter: an exchange of goods without the use of money

capitalist system: 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: 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)

child labor: the exploitation of a child’s labor for business or industry, especially when interfering with the ability of the child to attend school and when the work is physically, emotionally, or morally inhumane

commodity: an item that is consumed by someone who is not its producer

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

conflict minerals: 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: the use of a resource

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

economics: how goods and services are produced, distributed, and consumed in a society

generalized reciprocity: 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: arguing over or bargaining for the terms of a purchase or agreement

hijra: 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: bound under contract to work for another person

kinship: family relations; involves a complex set of expectations and responsibilities

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

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

locus: the location or site of something

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

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

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

muxe: a transgender woman from Juchitán, Mexico, with a recognized social identity

Nahuatl: the language of the Aztecs

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

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

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

production: the act of making something from raw materials

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

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

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

social distance: the degree of separation or exclusion between members of different social groups

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

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

Weblinks

Society for Economic Anthropology (SEA)

http://econanthro.org

Society for the Anthropology of Work (SAW)

http://saw.americananthro.org/

The Story of Stuff (20-minute online movie)

https://storyofstuff.org/

Visions of Value—Images of Economics and Development in Business and Finance Advertising

https://rdc.reed.edu/c/econdev/home/

UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs

https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/

Short description by Duane Aucoin of the Importance of Potlatch to Tlingit peoples (2:36)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9JVJ76FVVxY

Chapter 6