Economic Systems and Social Structures

Flashcards covering economic systems, social structures, and associated terms from the lecture notes.

What are the four kinds of production?

1. Foraging: hunting and gathering food. 2. Horticulture: small-scale gardening and cultivation. 3. Pastoralism: herding and breeding animals. 4. Agriculture: large-scale farming using technology.

What are the three general systems for distributing goods and services?

1. Reciprocity: exchange without money; e.g., gift-giving. 2. Redistribution: accumulation and distribution of goods; e.g., taxation. 3. Market Exchange: transactions based on supply and demand; e.g., retail sales.

What is Economic Anthropology?

The study of how human societies provide the material goods and services that make life possible.

How is technology defined in economic terms?

A set of practical tools and skills used to convert resources into food and other goods.

What is the key characteristic of balanced reciprocity?

Giving with the expectation of an immediate or limited-time return.

What is generalized reciprocity?

Gift giving without an immediate or planned return.

What is market/commercial exchange?

Transactions in which prices are subject to supply and demand.

Define social stratification.

The unequal access between social groups to advantages such as economic resources, power, and prestige.

What is power in a sociological context?

The ability to make others do what they do not want to do or to influence them based on the threat of force.

Define prestige in social terms.

Being accorded particular respect or honor.

What is a caste system?

A ranked group associated with certain occupations, with membership determined by birth.

What is manumission?

The granting of freedom to a slave.

What is racism defined as?

The belief that some races are inferior to others.

What does ethnicity emphasize?

Common origins of language, shared history, and cultural differences.

What is gender stratification?

The degree of unequal access by different genders to prestige, authority, power, rights, and economic resources.

What are gender roles?

Roles that are culturally assigned to genders.

What is the incest taboo?

Prohibition of sexual intercourse or marriage between certain close relatives.

Define exogamy.

The rule that specifies marriage to a person from outside one’s own group.

What is polygyny?

The marriage of one man to multiple women at the same time.

What is avunculocal residence?

A married couple settles with or near the husband’s mother's brother.

Define bilateral kinship.

Individuals affiliate more or less equally with both their mother's and father's relatives.

What are associations in sociological terms?

Organized groups not based exclusively on kinship or territory.

Differentiate between achieved qualities and ascribed qualities.

Achieved qualities are acquired in a lifetime, while ascribed qualities are determined at birth.

Give an example of unisex association.

An organization that restricts its membership to one sex, such as a women's club.