SC2218: Anthropology and the SC2218: Anthropology and the Human ConditionHuman Condition

Lecture 7: Economics and Lecture 7: Economics and ExchangeExchange

Eric C. ThompsonEric C. Thompson

Semester 1, 2010/2011Semester 1, 2010/2011

MONEY

Where Are We Going?Where Are We Going?

• Part 1: What is Anthropology?– Strangers Abroad, Race, Culture

• Part 2: What do Anthropologists Study?– Kinship– Gender– Economy– Community

• Part 3: Current Debates and Trends– Representing Others, The Poetry of

Culture, World Anthropologies

YOU AREHERE

Outline of the LectureOutline of the Lecture• The Myth of Scarcity• Exchange Exercise• “Cultural” basis of economics & exchange.• Exchange in Cultural Context

– Hxaro Exchange (Dobe Ju/’hoansi)– Potlatch (Native North America)– Kula Ring (Trobriand Islands)– Wholesale Sushi (Tokyo, Japan)

The Myth of ScarcityThe Myth of Scarcity(and why it matters)(and why it matters)

• Foragers have a generally easier life that people in agricultural and industrial societies.

• Foragers work 20-40 hours a week; We work 60-80 hours a week.

• Foragers are healthier and have longer life expectancies than agriculturalists.

Why it matters . . .Why it matters . . .

• It calls into question the idea that agriculture and industry emerged to “meet basic needs” (Foragers needs are met already!)

• Something else is going on…

• That something else is social relationships, based on exchange, and mediated by culture!

Exchange ExerciseExchange Exercise• Write NAME on Paper and Name Tag• Walk around the room to find exchange partners.

Exchange only ONCE with any one person. You will have about 15 min.

• When exchange do the following:– Put 0 or 1 or 2 beads in your closed hand.– Pump your fist 3 times– Open your hand and exchange.

• Record the name of the person and the nett number of beads you lost or gained.

Exchange ExamplesExchange Examples• Ann gives 1 bead, Bob gives 2 beads:

– Ann writes “Bob (1)” under “Gained” column– Bob writes “Ann (1)” under “Lost” column

• Ann gives 2 beads; Bob gives 0 beads:– Ann writes “Bob (2)” under “Lost” column– Bob writes “Ann (2)” under “Gained” column

• Ann and Bob both give 1 or 2 beads.– Write the other’s name under “Even Exchange”

• Ann and Bob both give 0 beads– Write nothing; no exchange has occurred!

Economics and ExchangeEconomics and Exchange• Economics: study of production, distribution

and consumption of goods and services.

• Economy: system of production, distribution and consumption of goods and services.

• Exchange:– Distributing Goods and Services AND– Creating/Enacting Relationships among People– AND Production of VALUE

What is What is CulturalCultural about aboutEconomics and Exchange?Economics and Exchange?

• Economic systems do not just meet “basic needs” (foragers do that without exchange). Something more is going on.

• People enact relationships based on beliefs and knowledge without understanding the ‘whole’ system (e.g. kula ring; stock brokers)

• If modern economies are based on rational laws of supply and demand, why bother with “culture” in studying economics?

Exchange in Cultural ContextsExchange in Cultural Contexts• !Xharo exchange (Dobe Ju/’hoansi)

– Lee, Chapter

• Potlatch (Northwest Native American)– “Shackles of Tradition” (film on Franz Boas)

• Kula Ring (Trobriand Islands)– “Off the Veranda” (film on Malinowski)

• Wholesale Sushi (Tsukiji, Japan)– Ted Bestor (reading pack)

• Branding (Global Capitalism; Coca-cola)– Robert Foster, Cultural Anthropology Vol. 22(4), 2007 (optional

reading)

HxaroHxaro Exchange: Exchange:Basic Lessons in Gift GivingBasic Lessons in Gift Giving

• Hxaro is “a delayed form of nonequivalent gift exchange”… why?

• The delay and nonequivalency ensure that the exchange is perpetuated . . .

• The value is not in the things but in the social relationship.

• Social relationships are crucial in all kinds of ways. (Our Exchange Exercise)

PotlatchPotlatch(See film: “Shackles of Traditions”)(See film: “Shackles of Traditions”)

• Potlatch is a term associated with Native Americans (Northwest). But practiced in many places.

• Giving away, sometimes destroying, wealth.

• Redistribution of wealth.

• Display and production of status.

• How does this compare to “conspicuous consumption”?

Off the VerandaOff the Veranda• What key contributions did Malinowski make to

anthropology?

• How did Malinowski understand the role of magic (especially as compared to Evans-Pritchard)?

• How do the exchange relationships in the KULA RING of Pacific Islanders (Film: Off the Veranda) and the POTLATCH of Northwest Coast Native Americans (Film: Shackles of Tradition) compare to HXARO exchange relationships among the Dobe Ju/’hoansi (Lee)? How do they compare to exchange relationships in contemporary Singapore?

The Kula Ring: Lesson in Complexity

If I live here

I trade necklaces to get armshells from these people

I trade armshells to get necklaces from these people

We all know the rules;But none of us may understand the system!

Kula Ring as a Complex Kula Ring as a Complex Cultural SystemCultural System

• Individuals on each island act on their own desires (to get high status items) based on a set of cultural rules.

• These interactions create a complex system of exchanges and social relationships.

• It is possible that no individual in the system understands “the whole system”.

““Wholesale Sushi”Wholesale Sushi”

• Tsukiji Fish market• History• Social Organization• Food Culture (What is “Japanese” Food?)• Industrialization• Domesticity (Family/Kinship) and Cuisine• Authenticity, the “Invention of Tradition”• Temporal Patterns (“Time to Eat”)• Tradescapes, Culinaryscapes, “Webs of Significance”

ToroToro (Tuna Belly) (Tuna Belly)

• How is “value” created?

• Before the 1950s, toro was “not fit for cats”?

• Now, toro is considered premium sushi.

• How did this happen?

Practical Application andPractical Application andFood for ThoughtFood for Thought

• What kinds of exchanges to you participate in?– Think of shopping at 7-11, birthday presents, little red

packets, what else??)– What is important in these, the people you are

exchanging with or the things being exchanged?• Next time you are standing in line at Fair Price, 7-11 or

wherever, look at what you are buying.– Reflect on “Wholesale Sushi”. Can you imagine all the

cultural meanings and social relationships that brought the thing you are buying to market?

– Pay attention to the clerk at the register. Have you ever considered your social relationship with him/her?