Transcript exchange.ppt
Economic Anthropology
Economic Anthropology
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Economics is the study of production, distribution, and consumption of resources.
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Economic Anthropology studies economics in a comparative perspective
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A society’s economy consists of:
• Production • Distribution • Consumption
Economizing and Maximization
Classical economic theory assumes that individuals universally act rationally, by economizing to maximize profits, but comparative data shows that people frequently respond to other motivations than profit.
The Trobrianders produce far more yams than they can ever eat and often simply allow them to rot. Why?
Exchange
“The act of giving or taking one thing in return for another”
What kinds of things are exchanged?
In order for social relationships to exist we must exchange something whether it is
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the communicative exchange of language,
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the economic and/or ceremonial exchange of goods
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or the exchange of spouses.
i.e. exchange is important for the establishment and maintenance of social relationships
“If Friends make gifts, Gifts Make Friends
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Marcel Mauss
Patterns of exchange and circulation, lead us to the heart of social and cultural organization WHO WHAT WHERE WHEN WHY HOW exchange relationships what is the significance and meaning of what is exchanged what is the significance and meaning of where it is exchanged on what occasions social reasons ceremony, mechanisms
WHAT IS A GIFT?
What kinds of gifts are there?
Who do we give gifts to?
When do we give gifts?
How do we give gifts?
Why do we give gifts?
IS THERE SUCH A THING AS A FREE GIFT?
What are the consequences of not reciprocating?
Are there bonds of obligation?
Is there some competitiveness involved in gift giving?
How do we feel when we haven’t received a gift of at least equal value?
What if the gift returned is of higher value?
Marcel Mauss 1925: The Gift: The Form and Reason for
Exchange in Archaic Societies
Mauss points to three fields of obligation: to give, to receive and to repay Gifts, according to Mauss, create relationships not only between individuals but between groups, relationships which take the form of total prestations 1872 - 1950
What rule of legality and self-interest, in societies of a backward or archaic type, compels the gift that has been received to be obligatorily reciprocated? What power resides in the object given that causes its recipient to pay it back?” (Mauss 1925)
The Potlatch
A form of ceremonial exchange of gifts employed by indigenous groups on NW coast of BC (Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian and Kwakiutl (Kwakwaka'wakw))
E.S. Curtis, 1915 Aboriginally, The Kwakiutl, were very rich and their fishing grounds supplied them with considerable surplus Beginning of summer they dispersed to go hunting, gather roots and berries, fish for salmon in the rivers At the onset of winter they concentrated in small villages During this period social life became extremely intense
POTLATCH: The word means ‘to feed’ or ‘to consume’ held in connection with events in the life cycle, initiations, marriages, house building, funerals, assumption of certain dance privileges.
extravagant and lavish preparations including much food preparation and the creation of masks and art work are made by the host as gifts for the guests
The most central symbol of wealth, power and prestige is the copper, a shield-shaped plate of beaten copper that usually has a painted or engraved representation of a crest animal on its surface. Contemporary coppers as well as older ones frequently bear animal names - Sea Lion, Beaver face - probably referring to the crest of their original owners.
The Kwakiutl chief Tulthidi prepares to give away his valuable copper in honor of his son
Broken copper Tsimshian: Gitsan, British Columbia Collected by G.T. Emmons, prior to 1914 Chilkat Blanket" 1890-1900, Tlingit
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Because of all the gifts, a traditional potlatch took years to prepare
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A large potlatch held in 1921 was said to take 17 years of preparation
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A modern day potlatch may take about a year to prepare and cost $10,000.
C. 1900
Today potlatch gifts include coffee mugs, socks, hand knit blankets and clothes, as well as carved masks and murals Parties, as they are now sometimes called, commemorate a significant event in an extended family's or clan's collective life. They are held today for baby showers, namings, weddings, anniversaries, special birthdays, graduations, and as memorials for the dead Twined grass basket Nootka/Makah, British Columbia/Washington Cedar carrying basket with handles
Why would they spend years accumulating wealth only to give it away - or even throw the objects into the sea?
Potlatch at Fort Rupert, British Columbia, 1898
Social Significance
potlatch celebrations are a significant representation of the host's status and the display of rank and title
In return for giving away food and wealth they get recognition of their status and that of their lineage.
Marriages for one’s children and places in the brotherhoods are only won during the potlatch
Potlatches become very competitive
aspiring leaders use competitive potlatching to move up the system.
The potlatch is a system of gift exchange--- material goods are exchanged for social recognition and power
The obligation to give The obligation to receive The obligation to reciprocate
Prestation
More than simple exchange
Also includes reciprocity and the various obligations
‘It is not individuals but collectives that impose obligations of exchange and contract upon each other
What is exchanged is not solely property and wealth, but relationships
Total Social Phenomenon
Exchange is simultaneously economic, political, legal, social aesthetic etc.
Studying these phenomena can lead to understanding society as a whole
Thomas and Jane Carlyle’s Christmas Presents
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Renowned 19th century English historian and essayist
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Spent Christmas in the 1850s with Lord and Lady Ashburton (wealthy Scottish banker) Thomas and Jane Carlyle Lord and Lady Ashburton
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In 1851 The Ashburton’s gave Christmas presents to the Carlyles
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Mrs Carlyle got a scarf and a bracelet
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Thomas got a jigsaw puzzle
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both were well received
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In 1855 Mrs Carlyle received a black silk dress - A novelty because it was only recently that they were produced by machine
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Mrs Carlyle claimed that she was being insulted.
What do we have to know to be able to understand those meanings attributed to these gifts?
class,
social mobility,
matrimony,
patronage,
employment,
manufacturing processes,
issues of style,
conventions of gift-giving.
Gift Exchange does not operate according to market laws, but the social rules of power, symbol, convention, etiquette, ritual, role and status.
Economic Anthropology:
Substantivist -
economic affairs are embedded in social institutions and cannot be studied separately from other social institutions social structures
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kinship system
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political structure
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religious ideologies -people in nonindustrial economies function with different logic than capitalist economies. Exchanges occur for reasons other than economic benefit
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culturally unique values
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group benefits
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“rational” culturally relative
Formalists •
maximization of personal gain
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supply-demand relationships
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“rational” decision-making
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individual self interest
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economy can be analyzed independent of other social structures and institutions
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research tools of western economics applicable
Karl Polanyi Divided economies into three types according to the dominant mode of distribution 1. reciprocity-- The return of a gift or prestation 2. redistribution -- collection from members of a group and then redistribution within this group. E.g. tribute, taxes 3. market --involves money and profit 1886-1964
Marshal Sahlins Stone Age Economics (1972)
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A material transaction is usually a momentary episode in a continuous social relation.
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The social relation governs the nature of the immediate exchange and the flow of goods
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Sahlins suggests that there are 3 types of reciprocity that form a continuum that correlates with kinship and social distance.
1930-
Reciprocity: exchange between social equals • Generalized • Balanced • Negative
Generalized reciprocity
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e.g. gifts, or sharing, helping, generosity.
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between close kin and friends
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highly moral – no expectation of return
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Generalized reciprocity is correlated with
Rank
relative wealth and need
food
Geographic distance
Balanced reciprocity
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return expected delayed exchange maintains ties with more distant people A precise balance between the things exchanged Important in e.g.. peace making death payments and marriage alliances.
Kula Ring – Balanced Reciprocity
Kula Ring: vast inter-island system of exchange of certain classes of ritual objects — men’s armbands and bracelets mwali soulava
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exchange within Massim linguistic group
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not a system of “commercial trade” in utilitarian objects (most islands self-sufficient in staple foods & goods)
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objects acquired, displayed, and then passed on
Like the crown jewels, their value is symbolic There is no practical utility Each valuable has its own name and history Owning them provides the owner prestige and pride
at each meeting, “visiting” partner bestows gift on home partner
the same object that he received from his other partner a few months or years earlier
over time, value (rarity) of objects exchanged increases, as does renown of the partners necklaces
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armbands
A B B C C D D
Kula Ring had been cited as an example of the economic irrationality of “savages”…
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took great risks for “fanciful” ends
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not survival or commerce, but to obtain “baubles”
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pursued out of “sheer habit”
the Kula Ring is a vital institution which contributes to the security and continuity of Massim cultures
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needs to be seen within the total context of Massim society
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ripped out of context, it appears irrational, “savage”
Negative Reciprocity
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less common impersonal, distrustful not based on ongoing social relations exchange without money taking items by force Haggling at the market of Riobamba, Ecuador
Reciprocity:
Generalized value unspecified return not immediate long term view no gratitude expected Balanced
Equal value Expectation of
immediate return Similar to trade or barter
Creating AND satisfying obligations
Common in more distant kin relationships Negative
Personal gain is primary motivator
something for nothing - haggling - bargaining - theft/seizure - cheating Self Interest Prevalence in band societies
intertribal tribe village lineage family social distance determines the nature of the exchange
Redistribution
Exchange among social unequals
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centralized accumulation and reallocation of wealth (taxes, tributes, tithes, spoils)
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maintain power, superior status (internally)
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keep constituents happy, maintain standard of living
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use wealth to leverage power (externally)
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leveling mechanisms
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typical mode of exchange in chiefdoms and some non industrial states These workers in Yunnan Province, China, strive for an equal distribution of meat.
Redistribution in Western Society
Taxes Food Bank
Market exchange
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value preset by impersonal “market forces”
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exchange occurs presumably independent of and uninfluenced by social relations
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usually involves money, a widely agreed on abstract symbol used to measure value