Chapter 6

Question 1

what is economic anthro?

Answer 1

how people produce, exchange, consume material objects and the role that immaterial things play in efforts to secure livelihood

Question 2

what are key distinctions of economics from economic anthro?

Answer 2

• focuses primarily on market exchanges
• decisions made and how they interact in the marketplace
• assumes people know what they want and economic choices express wants which are defined by culture
• normative theory (specifies how people should act if they want to make efficient economic decisions)

Question 3

what are key distinctions of economic anthro from economics?

Answer 3

• self-interested decision-making
• social science (looks at what we do and why)
• assumes agency to act on own desires and that we don’t know what we want

Question 4

what are the 3 phases of economic activity?

Answer 4

1. production
2. exchange
3. consumption

Question 5

what is the definition of modes of production?

Answer 5

social relations through which human labour is used to transform energy from nature using tools, skills, organization, and knowledge

Question 6

what are the 3 modes of production?

Answer 6

1. domestic
2. tributary
3. capitalist

Question 7

who did modes of production originate with?

Answer 7

Eric Wolf

Question 8

who was Eric Wolf influenced by and how?

Answer 8

Karl Marx believed human consciousness is determined by basic human activity

Question 9

what is domestic production?

Answer 9

labour organized by kinship relations

Question 10

domestic production characterizes the lives of who?

Answer 10

foragers and small-scale subsistence farmers

Question 11

what are subsistence farmers?

Answer 11

people who raise plants and animals for own consumption

Question 12

what kind of social structure does domestic production have?

Answer 12

egalitarian

Question 13

despite being egalitarian, what kind of inequality exists in domestic production?

Answer 13

age and gender inequalities

Question 14

what is a metate?

Answer 14

grinding stone

Question 15

what are the 3 key elements of domestic production?

Answer 15

1. collective ownership of primary means of production
2. lower rates of social domination
3. sharing

Question 16

what is a means of production?

Answer 16

resources used to produce goods in a society

Question 17

what is tributary production?

Answer 17

social systems divided into classes of rulers and subjects where subjects produce for themselves and their families but also give a proportion to rulers as tribute

Question 18

how are rulers determined in tributary production?

Answer 18

descent and/or military and political service

Question 19

what does tributary production characterize?

Answer 19

capitalist, state-level societies

Question 20

what are the 4 key features of tributary production?

Answer 20

1. dominant units of production are communities organized around kinship relations
2. state’s society depends on local communities and tributes are used by ruling class rather than exchanged
3. relationships between subjects and rulers are often conflictual
4. politically-controlled production

Question 21

what is capitalist production?

Answer 21

workers sell labour and are separated from means production because private property is owned by the capitalist test

Question 22

when did capitalist production begin?

Answer 22

17th and 18th centuries

Question 23

what is the most recent mode of production?

Answer 23

capitalist production

Question 24

how often do we engage in diverse economic practices everyday?

Answer 24

everyday

Question 25

why do capitalists keep wages low?

Answer 25

to sell products for more than it costs to produce them so that a surplus is generated for profit or reinvestment in production to generate more surplus

Question 26

what is fair trade?

Answer 26

trading partnership based on seeking greater equity in trade

Question 27

what is an informal economy?

Answer 27

economy not regulated by the state

Question 28

what is a saulala?

Answer 28

secondhand clothing markets in Zambia

Question 29

what is a saulala in Zambia example of?

Answer 29

an informal economy

Question 30

in modes of exchange, what is the difference between economics and economic anthro?

Answer 30

economic anthro is able to explain reciprocity and redistribution whereas economics is able to understand markets

Question 31

what are the modes of exchange?

Answer 31

reciprocity, redistribution, markets, money

Question 32

who provided the description of reciprocity?

Answer 32

Marcel Mauss

Question 33

what is reciprocity?

Answer 33

giving and reciprocating gifts creating relationships; gifts are about social relations

Question 34

where does reciprocity usually take place in?

Answer 34

small-scale societies, away from market

Question 35

what are the types of reciprocity?

Answer 35

generalized, balanced, and negative

Question 36

what is generalized reciprocity?

Answer 36

gifting without reckoning exact value of gift without expectation of getting something in return

Question 37

where does generalized reciprocity take place but isn't limited to?

Answer 37

closest social relationships (households)

Question 38

what leads to conflict in generalized reciprocity?

Answer 38

keeping track of gift values

Question 39

what is balanced reciprocity?

Answer 39

gifting with expectation of something of equal value will be returned within a specific time period

Question 40

what are the 3 phases of balanced reciprocity?

Answer 40

1. gift is given 2. gift is received 3. reciprocal gift returned

Question 41

what leads to conflict in balanced reciprocity?

Answer 41

no reciprocation of the gift

Question 42

where does balanced reciprocity usually occur?

Answer 42

distant relationships (but not strangers)

Question 43

what is negative reciprocity?

Answer 43

attempt to get something for nothing

Question 44

which is the most impersonal type of reciprocity?

Answer 44

negative reciprocity

Question 45

where does negative reciprocity usually occur?

Answer 45

among those who don't know each other very well

Question 46

what is redistribution?

Answer 46

accumulation of goods/labour for purpose of dispersal at a later date

Question 47

where does redistribution occur?

Answer 47

in all societies, often coexisting with other modes of exchange

Question 48

what must occur for redistribution to become a central economic process?

Answer 48

centralized political apparatus to coordinate and enforce it

Question 49

what is a potlatch system an example of?

Answer 49

redistribution

Question 50

what are markets?

Answer 50

social institutions with prices/exchange equivalencies; can't exist without institutions to govern exchanges

Question 51

what are markets regulated by?

Answer 51

supply and demand

Question 52

what are markets based on?

Answer 52

transactions

Question 53

what are transactions?

Answer 53

changes in status of a good/service between people

Question 54

what are atomized transactions?

Answer 54

impersonal transactions that are short-run and close-ended with few future implications

Question 55

what are personalized transactions?

Answer 55

transactions between those with relationships that endure past exchanges and may include social elements

Question 56

are markets impersonal or personal?

Answer 56

impersonal

Question 57

what do markets contrast?

Answer 57

reciprocity

Question 58

what is money?

Answer 58

general purpose money

Question 59

what is not a prerequisite for market exchanges but involved in most commercial transactions?

Answer 59

money

Question 60

what are 3 features of money?

Answer 60

1. serves a medium of exchange 2. wealth storage 3. way to assign interchangeable values

Question 61

what are the Tiv Spheres of Exchange?

Answer 61

1. subsistence systems 2. slaves, cattle, white cloth, metal bars 3. marriageable females

Question 62

which Tiv Spheres of Exchange is most prestigious?

Answer 62

marriageable females

Question 63

what is Ithaca HOURS an example of?

Answer 63

how money also measures purpose of our activities and challenges idea that money shapes economic relations through creating inequalities and obliterating qualitative differences

Question 64

what is consumption?

Answer 64

process of buying, eating, using a resource

Question 65

true or false: consumption is not a social process even when addressing physical needs

Answer 65

false-- consumption is still a social process even when it addresses physical needs

Question 66

how do anthers approach consumption?

Answer 66

as forms of behaviour connecting economic activity with cultural symbols giving our lives meaning

Question 67

what does it mean to say objects have a social life?

Answer 67

objects become status symbols

Question 68

how can you counter-argue that buying Western commodities leads to being Westernized?

Answer 68

can lead to resurgence of local identities and affirmation of local processes over global patterns

Question 69

how do consumption of Western commodities manifest in local social networks?

Answer 69

they can be used to cement social and economic status

Question 70

what are commodities?

Answer 70

a good produced for sale/exchange for other goods

Question 71

what did intensification of global capitalism lead to?

Answer 71

vast majority of commodities we buy and food we consume coming from distant places

Question 72

what is political economy?

Answer 72

contextualizes economic relations within state structures, political processes, social structures, cultural values

Question 73

what is structural violence?

Answer 73

social structure/institution harming people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs

Question 74

what kind of view does structural violence have?

Answer 74

individualistic, marginalization, blaming people for own injustice

Question 75

what is the most prevalent type labour?

Answer 75

unpaid work outside the household

Question 76

what is the central goal of economic anthro?

Answer 76

support equity