1 Economic Systems ANT

2 Learning Objectives 3.1 Know what are the characteristics of the five modes of livelihood. 3.2 Recognize how modes of livelihood are related to consumption and exchange. 3.3 Illustrate how livelihood, consumption, and exchange are changing in contemporary times.

3 Categorizing Economic SystemsWhat is an economic system? Includes three components Livelihood (or production) Providing for basic needs and other needs by procuring goods or making money Consumption Using up goods or money Exchange The transfer of goods or money between people or institutions

4 Making a Living: Five Modes of Livelihood (1 of 2) 3Making a Living: Five Modes of Livelihood (1 of 2) 3.1 Know what are the characteristics of the fives modes of livelihood. The five modes of livelihood: Foraging Horticulture Pastoralism Agriculture Industrialism/Digital Economy

5 Making a Living: Five Modes of Livelihood (2 of 2)Key concepts: Poverty: lack of access to tangible or intangible resources that contribute to life and the well-being of a person, group, country, or region Subjective well-being: how people experience the quality of their lives based on their perception of what is a good life

6 Foraging (1 of 4) Based on using food available in natureGathering, fishing, hunting The main economic strategy for most of human history Maintains balance between resources and lifestyle Sustainable if undisturbed by outside forces

7 Foraging (2 of 4) Today only 250,000 people support themselves using foraging primarily Cultural survival of foragers is at risk worldwide Example: Andaman Islanders of India

8 Foraging (3 of 4) Two types of foraging (1 of 2) Temperate-regionDiet: wide variety of nuts, tubers, fruits, small animals, and occasional large game Gender division of labor: men and women forage; men hunt large game Shelter: casual construction, nonpermanent, little maintenance Example: San people of southern Africa

9 Foraging (4 of 4) Two types of foraging (2 of 2) Circumpolar-regionDiet: large marine and terrestrial animals Gender division of labor: men hunt and fish Shelter: time-intensive construction and maintenance; some permanent Example: Inuit and other northern Canadian peoples

10 Think Like an Anthropologist: The Importance of DogsDogs were the first domesticated animals, dating to Europe and Russia around 18,000 years ago; long-standing importance to humans Case study of Hare Indians of Northwest Territories, Canada, with focus on people’s relationships with their dogs The 14 households in the community have 224 dogs Dogs play a significant role in people’s economic and emotional lives Major topic of conversation

11 Map 3.1 Hare Region Is Near Colville Lake in Northwest CanadaEarly European colonialists named the local people Hare because of their reliance on snowshoe hares for food and clothing. The Hare people became involved in the wage-labor economy and were afflicted by alcoholism, tuberculosis, and other diseases. Efforts to reestablish claims to ancestral lands began in the 1960s. Over 600 First Nations in Canada continue to fight for rights from the Canadian government.

12 Horticulture (1 of 4) Growing crops in gardens using hand toolsVariety of foods grown: yams, bananas, manioc, etc. Crop yields support denser populations than foraging and allow for permanent settlements Requirement for fallowing to provide sustainability

13 Horticulture (2 of 4) Five Stages in Horticulture (Figure 3.3)Clearing Planting Weeding Harvesting Fallowing

14 Horticulture (3 of 4) Division of LaborA family forms the core work group Children work more in horticultural groups than in any other type of economy Caring for siblings Fetching fuel Hauling water Gender roles clearly defined Examples: Iroquois, Yanomami

15 Map 3.3 Precolonial Iroquois RegionAt the time of the arrival of the European colonialists, the six nations of the Iroquois extended over a wide area. The Mohawk stood guard over the eastern door of the confederacy’s symbolic longhouse, and the Seneca guarded the western door. The six nations worked out a peace treaty and established a democracy. A great orator named Hiawatha promoted the treaty throughout the tribes, and a Mohawk woman was the first to approve it.

16 Map 3.4 Yanomami Region in Brazil and VenezuelaThe Yanomami region is supposedly protected from outsiders. But miners, ranchers, loggers, and other commercial developers have encroached on the reserve, extracting natural resources and sexually exploiting women and children.

17 Horticulture (4 of 4) Sustainability of HorticultureHighly sustainable as long as fallowing system is in place and population overcrowding does not exist Under threat from outsiders who want the land for ranches and urban development and dam rivers to provide power for cities

18 Pastoralism (1 of 4) Reliance on products of domesticated animal herdsAnimals and their products provide over half of group’s diet Trade with other groups for other food and goods Requires movement of animals to fresh pastureland for sustainability Levels of wealth and political organization vary from group to group

19 Pastoralism (2 of 4) Division of LaborFamilies are the basic unit of production Little overlap between male and female tasks Typical division of labor: Men do most of herding, especially long-distance Women process the herd’s products

20 Pastoralism (3 of 4) Characteristics of Pastoralism Spatial mobilityGroup autonomy Animals as private property Use rights regulate pastureland and migratory routes

21 Pastoralism (4 of 4) Sustainability of PastoralismA sustainable system if outside forces do not encroach on herding lands and water sources At risk in contemporary times due to encroachment, environmental change, country boundaries

22 Agriculture (1 of 5) Intensive strategy of productionMore labor, use of fertilizers, control of water supply, use of animals Permanent settlements Higher population density

23 Agriculture (2 of 5) Division of LaborFamilies are the basic unit of production Productive labor is often done by men Women’s tasks vary by culture and type of agriculture Women have a central role in wet rice agricultural systems Children’s role varies by culture

24 Agriculture (3 of 5) Why do men dominate productive labor in many agricultural contexts? Three Hypotheses (Figure 3.4): Men and Plowing Hypothesis: Men are physically stronger and better able to complete tasks Women and Child-Care Hypothesis: Women are not involved in heavy labor because it is incompatible with child care Women and Food Processing Hypothesis: Women often have responsibility for processing products near the home

25 Agriculture (4 of 5) Two types of agricultureFamily farming: Farmers produce mainly for their own needs but also for sale in a market system Industrial capital agriculture: Financial capital is used to purchase machinery that replaces human and animal labor; produces goods solely for sale

26 Agriculture (5 of 5) Sustainability of AgricultureNot sustainable as typically practiced Heavy capital inputs and need for nonrenewable resources Especially true of industrial agriculture

27 Industrialism and the Digital AgeThe production of goods through mass employment in business and commercial operations The creation, manipulation, management, and transfer of information through electronic media Goods produced to satisfy consumer demand Employment increases in manufacturing and service sectors

28 Modes of Consumption and Exchange 3Modes of Consumption and Exchange 3.2 Recognize how modes of livelihood are related to consumption and exchange. Modes of Consumption Modes of Exchange

29 Modes of Consumption (1 of 4)The dominant way, in a culture, of using up goods and services Two processes: A person’s “intake” in terms of eating or other ways of using things up “Output” in terms of spending or using resources to obtain those things

30 Modes of Consumption (2 of 4)Related to modes of livelihood Based on the relationship between demand and supply Two major modes: Minimalism—characterized by few and finite consumer demands and adequate and sustainable means to achieve them Consumerism—people’s demands are many and infinite, and the means of satisfying them are never sufficient

31 Modes of Consumption (3 of 4)Consumption varies cross-culturally Foragers are generally egalitarian Sharing within the group is the norm Everyone has equal access to all resources Most agricultural and industrial/digital societies exhibit consumption inequalities, some severe

32 Modes of Consumption (4 of 4)Leveling mechanism: An important process in small-scale societies that works to keep people equal Unwritten, culturally embedded rules that prevent an individual from becoming wealthier or more powerful Maintained through social pressure and gossip

33 Consumption Microcultures (1 of 3)Microcultures have distinct entitlement patterns Social inequality may play an important role and affect human welfare Examples: Class Gender “Race”/ethnicity

34 Consumption Microcultures (3 of 3)Example: “Race” and Children’s Shopping in New Haven Study in New Haven, Connecticut Low-income neighborhood of African Americans Children have little money to spend and strong emphasis on family sharing Shopping choices guided by practicality and generosity

35 Modes of Exchange (1 of 7) Exchange:The dominant way, in a culture, of transferring goods, services, and other items between and among people and groups

36 Modes of Exchange (2 of 7) What do people exchange?Material goods (food, gifts) Symbolic goods Labor Money (symbolic or material?) People (slavery, offspring in marriage) Other?

37 Modes of Exchange (3 of 7) Balanced exchange Generalized reciprocityPure gift Expected reciprocity Redistribution Unbalanced exchange Market exchange Gambling Theft Exploitation

38 Modes of Exchange (4 of 7) Balanced exchange: generalized reciprocityInvolves the least conscious sense of interest in material gain or of what might be received in return Main form of exchange in foraging societies Also found among close kin and friends cross-culturally A pure gift is an extreme form

39 Modes of Exchange (5 of 7) Balanced exchange: expected reciprocityExchange of approximately equally valued goods or services between people of roughly equal social status Exchange may be simultaneous or on an agreed-upon schedule If a party fails to complete the exchange, the relationship will break down

40 Modes of Exchange (6 of 7) Unbalanced exchange: market exchangeThe buying and selling of commodities under competitive conditions in which the forces of supply and demand determine value and the seller seeks to make a profit Ranges from informal (periodic market) to huge shopping centers (permanent market)

41 Modes of Exchange (7 of 7) Unbalanced exchange, other forms: GamblingTheft Exploitation Slavery

42 Anthropology Works: Evaluating the Social Effects of Indian Gaming (1 of 2)Research to evaluate the social and economic effects of Indian gaming operations on tribal and local governments in California Two key factors in determining if benefits are locally felt by Indians: If casinos are owned by tribal governments If casinos are located on existing tribal trust lands

43 Anthropology Works: Evaluating the Social Effects of Indian Gaming (2 of 2)Gaming in California led to greater economic inequality between gaming and nongaming reservations Revenue Sharing Trust Fund was created to counteract this effect Gaming benefits the communities beyond the reservation as well

44 Globalization and Changing Economies 3Globalization and Changing Economies 3.3 Illustrate how livelihood, consumption, and exchange are changing in contemporary times. Alternative Food Movements in Europe and North America

45 Alternative Food Movements in Europe and North AmericaSeek to reestablish direct links between food producers, consumers, and marketers Promote locally grown, not mass-produced food Example: Italy’s Slow Food Movement