Lecture 10 - Economic Anthropology

Homo economicus

Adam Smith - The market person is rational, calculating from self-interest, to maximise personal benefit

Invisible Hand of the Market

Adam Smith - Ensures the optimal balance between production, distribution and consumption

Adam Smith - What are markets motivated by?

Self-interest, not benevolence.

'It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest.'

Inalienability of the gift

Marcel Mauss - the 'spirit' ('hau') of the gift remains attached to its origin

Generalised reciprocity

Marshall Sahlins - Gift is given without the expectation of a counter gift

Usually close kin (circles of reciprocity)

Balanced reciprocity

Marshall Sahlins - Gift and counter-gift of approximately equal value

Usually community (circles of reciprocity)

Negative reciprocity

Marshall Sahlins - Focused on getting more than you give, an exploiting 'relationship'

Usually strangers (circles of reciprocity)

Karl Polanyi - Economy is ...

Economy is not an autonomous system but is embedded in social relations

Karl Polanyi - Two types of economies

1 - Capitalist market societies, dominated by the market as a system of exchange

2 - 'Primitive' pre-capitalist economies, economies, dominated by reciprocity, redistribution, and householding

Three obligations of the gift?

1 - To give
2 - To receive
3 - To reciprocate

Karl Polanyi - Redistribution

A central figure in the middle (such as the state) redistributes production

Karl Polanyi - Householding

Production for one's own use

Formalist approach to economy

Mainstream economy theory
Adam Smith
Focuses on domain in which individuals make rational choices about how scarce goods can be optimally used to realize optimal value/profit/utility.

Substantivist approach to economy

Economy is embedded in social relations
Karl Polanyi
Sees economics as the whole consisting of production, distribution and consumption and the set of relationships and representations in which it is embedded.

Modes of subsistence

The way people provide for their livelihood
NOT means of production

Hunter-Gatherers (Foraging)

Mode of subsistence: harvesting without cultivating or rearing.
No or hardly any surplus.
(Semi-)nomadic.
Plenty of leisure! (Marshall Sahlins: 'the original affluent society')
Little material culture (but rich in immaterial culture)
Kinship based social organization
Political organization: Band ('horde'). Egalitarian.
Reciprocity based economy

Horticulturalists

Mode of subsistence: cultivation (yam, taro, manioc, bananas, etc.).
Slash-and-burn/shifting/swidden cultivation.
No complex technology (simple tools)
Rich knowledge of vegetation and soil (domestication of plants).
Little surplus
Semi-nomadic.
Kinship based social organisation
Political organisation: Band ('horde') but also larger communities
Egalitarian but also Big Man (non-hereditary political status).
Reciprocity and redistribution based economy

Agriculturalists

Mode of subsistence: horticulturalists with plough, draft animals, and manure.
Domestication of animals (mostly cattle).
Communal ownership.
Surplus:
Political organisation: Chiefdom (tribal), hierarchical, hereditary leadership.
Specialisations: chiefs, priests, smiths, potters, etc.
Sedentary (larger communities).
Kinship based social organisation
Reciprocity and redistribution based economy

Pastoralists

Mode of subsistence: domesticated animals (sheep, goats, cattle, camels, reindeer).
Surplus fluctuating.
Nomadic, or semi-nomadic (transhumance)
Kinship based social organisation
Political organisation: Chiefdom. Hierarchical, hereditary leadership.
'Symbiosis' with a sedentary population of agriculturalists.
'Warriors': arduous relationship with the state; armed conflicts with other groups, pastoralists and non pastoralists alike.
Economic principles: in-group reciprocity and redistribution, market exchange with other groups.

Peasants

Mode of subsistence: Agriculture. Small landowners or sharecroppers, tenant farmers.
Directed towards subsistence but with obligation to produce surplus (to pal debts and taxes).
Part of overarching social structure - state, cities, market.
Sedentary.
Social organisation: dominated stratum of class society
Political organisation: (early) state (formation).
Economic principles: in-group reciprocity and redistribution, market exchange with other groups.

Industrial Society

Mode of subsistence: Industrial production. Also in agriculture. Peasants to farmers.
Large surplus (! food waste during and after production).
Sedentary, urban.
Class based social organisation
Political organisation: State
Economic principles: Market dominant, redistribution through taxes.

Post-Industrial Society

Mode of subsistence: working in knowledge, information, and service industries
Only a small part of population active in production.
Consumption is driving force.
Surplus enormous: 'waste' of about everything.
Division of labour: education, specialisation.
Mobility & flexibility of employees.
Social organisation: Individualization, networks.
Political organisation: Supra-national state (?)
Economic principles: Market exchange (mostly online)