ch 11 the global economy

economy

a set of ideas, activities, and technologies that enables a group of humans to use the available land, resources, and labor to satisfy their basic needs and , if organized well, to thrive

economic system

a pattern of relations and institutions that humans constrict to help collectively meet the needs of the community

Yehudi Cohen

described economy and suggested five primary adaptive strategies that developed at different times and places: food foraging, pastoralism, horticulture, agriculture, and industrialism

food foragers

humans who subsist by hunting, fishing, and gathering plants to eat

mobility was key so small, egalitarian groups formed

occurred before domestication of plants/animals ~10,000 ya

stills remains a strategy is places where other economic activity/strategies for food production are not sustainable

pastoralism

involves the domestication and herding of animals for food production

includes goats, pigs, sheep, cattle, horses, camels, llamas, etc

ex) The Nuer of Sudan

transhumance

when herders move livestock between high- and low-altitude grazing areas

horticulture

the cultivation of plants for subsistence through non intensive use of land and labor

use simple tools and land is rotated in and out of use based on fertility

communities can be fairly sedentary and remain close to their sites of food production

slash-and-burn agriculture

to clear land for cultivation, kill insects that may inhibit crop growth, and produce nutrient-rich ash that serves as fertilizer

also known as Swidden farming

agriculture

an intensive farming strategy for food production involving permanently cultivated land to create a surplus

requires irrigation systems, draft animals, fertilizers, land-use strategies, etc

arose in many river valleys across the world

effects of agriculture on society

• promoted sedentary lifestyle with permanent settlements

• increased population size

• trade of surpluses and craft products

• career specialization and social stratification

peasants

small-scale rural farmers whose agricultural surpluses are transferred upward to support the dominant elites as well as other who do not farm but whose goods and services are considered essential

industrial agriculture

intensive farming practices involving mechanization and mass production of food stuffs

modern issues of agriculture

• chemical fertilizers/pesticides

• antibiotics

• genetic engineeting

• food irradiation

• climate change

• agribusinesses

• monocropping

barter

directly exchange goods and services

reciprocity

involves an exchange of resources, goods, and services among people of relatively equal status

creates and reinforces social ties btw givers and receivers, fulfills socail obligations, and raise prestige of giver

generalized reciprocity

encompasses exchanges in which the value of what is exchanged is not carefully calculated and the timing or amount of repayment is not predetermined

common among kin/close friends and serves as an expression of personal connection

balanced reciprocity

occurs between people who are more distantly related and involves when the giver expects to the gift to be accepted and then to receive something in return of equal value

ex) birthday presents, invitations, etc

negative reciprocity

refers to a pattern of exhange in which the parties seeks to receive more than they give, reaping a material advantage through the exxchange

occurs among people who are strangers, antagonists, and enemies with opposing interests

bargaining, cleverness, deception, and/or cheating are often involved

redistribution

a form of exchange in which goods are collected from the members of the group and reallocated in a different pattern

requires the collected goods to flow through a central location where they can be sorted, counted, and redistributed

leveling mechanisms

practices and organizations that level out resources within the group

enact a cultural commitment to the collective good that aspires to safety, health, education, food, and shelter for al group members irrespective of class

economic anthropology

the study of human economic activity and relations

colonialism

the practice by which states extend political, economic, and military power beyond their own borders over an extended period of time to secure access to raw materials, cheap labor, and markets in other countries or regions

triangle trade

the extensive exchange of enslaved people. sugar, cotton and furs between Europe, Africa, and the Americas that transformed economic, political, and social life on both sides of the Atlantic

industrial revolution

the 18th/19th century shift from agriculture and artisanal skill craft to machine-based manufacturing

modernization theories

post WW2 economic theories that predicted that with the end of colonialism, less-developed countries would follow the same trajectory as the industrialized countries and achieve improved standards of living

development

post WW2 strategy of wealthy nations to spur global economic growth, alleviate poverty, and raise living standards through strategic investment in national economies of former colonies

dependency theory

a critique of modernization theory arguing that despite the end of colonialism, the underlying economic relations of the modern world economic system had not changed

neocolonialism

a continued pattern of unequal economic relations between former colonial states and former colonies despite the formal end of colonial political and military control

underdevelopment

term used to suggest that poor countries are poor as a result of their relationship to an unbalanced global economic system

Immanuel Wallerstein

incorporated ideas of dependency theory, neocolonialism, and underdevelopment in a modern world systems analysis

he split the nations of thew world economic system into core, zemiperiphery, and periphery positions

core countries

primarily industralized former colonial states that dominate the world system by extracting cheap labor and raw materials from periphery countries and sending them to the industrialized core

control the most lucrative economic process

periphery countries

the least developed and least powerful nations that serve primarily as sources of raw materials, agricultural products, cheap labor, and markets for the economic activities of the core

semiperiphery countries

may have developed some industry, draw some resources from the periphery, and may export manufactured products to the core/periphery but lack the economic and political power of the core

Fordism

the dominant model of industrial production for much of the 20th century, based on a social compact between labor, corporations, and government

flexible accumulation

the increasingly flexible strategies that corporations use to accumulate profits in an era of globalization, enabled by innovative communication and transportation technologies

offshoring

relocating factories anywhere in the world that process optimal production, infrastructure, labor, marketing, and political conditions

outsourcing

hiring low-wage laborers in periphery countries to perform jobs previously done in core countries

Adam Smith and laissez-faire

wrote The Wealth of Nations and promoted laissez-faire capitalism

believed free markets and free trade, being liberated from government intervention, would provide the best conditions for economic growth

John Maynard Keynes and Keynesian economics

believed that capitalism would would best when the government had a role in moderating capitalism’s excesses and ensuring the basic welfare of all citizens

used by FDR during Great Depressions

neoliberalism

an economic and political worldview that sees the free market as the market mechanism for ensuring economic growth, with a severely restricted role for government

associated with conservative fiscal and political policies in USA

focuses on promoting free trade on global scale, eliminating trade barriers, and reducing taxes, tariffs, and most govt intervention, as well as privatization of public assets and of govt spending on health, education, and welfare

structural adjustment loans

seek to stabilize a country’s long-term role for the state in the economy, and a restructuring of national trade and tariff policies to create freer access to local markets

require govts to

• eliminate ag/manu subsidies and price supports on essential commodities

• reduce govt spending on health, education, and social services

• privatize state-owned enterprises

• deregulate financial and labor markets

financial derivatives

contracts based on (derived from) some other asset- such as commodities, interest rates, credit, foreign exchange rates, equities, or mortgages

misuse of these led to 2008 crash

cryptocurrencies

decentralized digital or virtual currencies secured through encryption

relies on trust of buyers and sellers

emerged as an alternative to traditional money when the traditional banking system had less trust

commodities

a good that can be bought, sold, or exchanged in a market

commodity chains

the hands an item passes through between producer and consumer

friction

term coined by anthropologist Anna Tsing that describes the messy and often unequal encounters at the intersection of the local and the global, including the role of transnational corporations, international development agencies, local and national governments, and global trade regulations