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Bridging a gap between macro- and micro- viewpoints, the work shows
the ways in which an economy is socially and historically
determined. Subsistence is shown to be not only a form of
agriculture but a determinant economic organisation and particular
attention is paid to the problem of understanding patterns of
distribution and the constitution of the surplus in the peasant
economy.
First published in 1978.
Representing a departure from traditional studies of social
organisation, the book asserts that a kinship system is best
understood as a system of concepts rather than as a set of
empirical relationships. Three aspects of life in the Panamanian
community of Los Boquerones are described First published in 1976.
Economic anthropologists carry out research in all parts of the
globe, producing ethnographic studies, cross-cultural comparisons
and theoretical works. They explore how growing markets, new
technologies and expanding capital affect marginalised people or
the control of wealth between genders. The empirical studies of
economic anthropologists are based on participation and observation
and provide an information bank for testing formal theories. Their
findings often challenge prevailing concepts of modern economics,
because much of their collected information falls outside accepted
paradigms or schemes. In this important collection, Stephen Gudeman
has selected a range of seminal papers which highlight differences
and convergence between anthropologists and economists, and which
trace the major developments in economic anthropology from 1922 to
the present day. The articles draw on the anthropological notions
of culture and context, and examine economic processes such as
production, exchange and consumption, and the application of
theories, such as Marxist, institutionalist and neoclassical
explanations, to field data. This authoritative volume will be an
essential reference source for both economists and anthropologists.
Representing a departure from traditional studies of social
organisation, the book asserts that a kinship system is best
understood as a system of concepts rather than as a set of
empirical relationships. Three aspects of life in the Panamanian
community of Los Boquerones are described First published in 1976.
Bridging a gap between macro- and micro- viewpoints, the work shows
the ways in which an economy is socially and historically
determined. Subsistence is shown to be not only a form of
agriculture but a determinant economic organisation and particular
attention is paid to the problem of understanding patterns of
distribution and the constitution of the surplus in the peasant
economy. First published in 1978.
According to accepted wisdom, rational practices and ritual action
are opposed. Rituals drain wealth from capital investment and draw
on a mode of thought different from practical ideas. The studies in
this volume contest this view. Comparative, historical, and
contemporary, the six ethnographies extend from Macedonia to
Kyrgyzstan. Each one illuminates the economic and ritual changes in
an area as it emerged from socialism and (re-)entered market
society. Cutting against the idea that economy only means markets
and that market action exhausts the meaning of economy, the studies
show that much of what is critical for a people's economic life
takes place outside markets and hinges on ritual, understood as the
negation of the everyday world of economising.
Why are we obsessed with calculating our selections? The author
argues that competitive trade nurtures calculative reason, which
provides the ground for most discourses on economy. But market
descriptions of economy are incomplete. Drawing on a range of
materials from small ethnographic contexts to global financial
markets, the author shows that economy is dialectically made up of
two value realms, termed mutuality and impersonal trade. One or the
other may be dominant; however, market reason usually cascades into
and debases the mutuality on which it depends. Using this
cross-cultural model, the author explores mystifications of
economic life, and explains how capital and derivatives can control
an economy. The book offers a different conception of economic
welfare, development, and freedom; it presents an approach for
dealing with environmental devastation, and explains the growing
inequalities of wealth within and between nations.
As the transition from socialism to a market economy gathered speed
in the early 1990s, many people proclaimed the final success of
capitalism as a practice and neoliberal economics as its
accompanying science. But with the uneven achievements of the
"transition"-the deepening problems of "development," persistent
unemployment, the widening of the wealth gap, and expressions of
resistance-the discipline of economics is no longer seen as a
mirror of reality or as a unified science. How should we understand
economics and, more broadly, the organization and disorganization
of material life? In this book, international scholars from
anthropology and economics adopt a rhetorical perspective in order
to make sense of material life and the theories about it.
Re-examining central problems in the two fields and using
ethnographic and historical examples, they explore the
intersections between these disciplines, contrast their methods and
epistemologies, and show how a rhetorical approach offers a new
mode of analysis while drawing on established contributions.
One of the world's top anthropologists recounts his formative
experiences doing fieldwork in this accessible memoir ideal for
anyone interested in anthropology. Drawing on his research in five
Latin American countries, Steve Gudeman describes his
anthropological fieldwork, bringing to life the excitement of
gaining an understanding of the practices and ideas of others as
well as the frustrations. He weaves into the text some of his
findings as well as reflections on his own background that led to
better fieldwork but also led him astray. This readable account,
shorn of technical words, complicated concepts, and abstract ideas
shows the reader what it is to be an anthropologist enquiring and
responding to the unexpected. From the Preface: Growing up I
learned about making do when my family was putting together a
dinner from leftovers or I was constructing something with my
father. In fieldwork I saw people making do as they worked in the
fields, repaired a tool, assembled a meal or made something for
sale. Much later, I realized that making do captures some of my
fieldwork practices and their presentation in this book.
One of the world's top anthropologists recounts his formative
experiences doing fieldwork in this accessible memoir ideal for
anyone interested in anthropology. Drawing on his research in five
Latin American countries, Steve Gudeman describes his
anthropological fieldwork, bringing to life the excitement of
gaining an understanding of the practices and ideas of others as
well as the frustrations. He weaves into the text some of his
findings as well as reflections on his own background that led to
better fieldwork but also led him astray. This readable account,
shorn of technical words, complicated concepts, and abstract ideas
shows the reader what it is to be an anthropologist enquiring and
responding to the unexpected. From the Preface: Growing up I
learned about making do when my family was putting together a
dinner from leftovers or I was constructing something with my
father. In fieldwork I saw people making do as they worked in the
fields, repaired a tool, assembled a meal or made something for
sale. Much later, I realized that making do captures some of my
fieldwork practices and their presentation in this book.
Self-sufficiency of the house is practiced in many parts of the
world but ignored in economic theory, just as socialist
collectivization is assumed to have brought household
self-sufficiency to an end. The ideals of self-sufficiency,
however, continue to shape economic activity in a wide range of
postsocialist settings. This volume's six comparative studies of
postsocialist villages in Eastern Europe and Asia illuminate the
enduring importance of the house economy, which is based not on the
market but on the order of the house. These formations show that
economies depend not only on the macro institutions of markets and
states but also on the micro institutions of families, communities,
and house economies, often in an uneasy relationship.
According to accepted wisdom, rational practices and ritual action
are opposed. Rituals drain wealth from capital investment and draw
on a mode of thought different from practical ideas. The studies in
this volume contest this view. Comparative, historical, and
contemporary, the six ethnographies extend from Macedonia to
Kyrgyzstan. Each one illuminates the economic and ritual changes in
an area as it emerged from socialism and (re-)entered market
society. Cutting against the idea that economy only means markets
and that market action exhausts the meaning of economy, the studies
show that much of what is critical for a people's economic life
takes place outside markets and hinges on ritual, understood as the
negation of the everyday world of economising.
Self-sufficiency of the house is practiced in many parts of the
world but ignored in economic theory, just as socialist
collectivization is assumed to have brought household
self-sufficiency to an end. The ideals of self-sufficiency,
however, continue to shape economic activity in a wide range of
postsocialist settings. This volume's six comparative studies of
postsocialist villages in Eastern Europe and Asia illuminate the
enduring importance of the house economy, which is based not on the
market but on the order of the house. These formations show that
economies depend not only on the macro institutions of markets and
states but also on the micro institutions of families, communities,
and house economies, often in an uneasy relationship.
As the transition from socialism to a market economy gathered speed
in the early 1990s, many people proclaimed the final success of
capitalism as a practice and neoliberal economics as its
accompanying science. But with the uneven achievements of the
"transition"-the deepening problems of "development," persistent
unemployment, the widening of the wealth gap, and expressions of
resistance-the discipline of economics is no longer seen as a
mirror of reality or as a unified science. How should we understand
economics and, more broadly, the organization and disorganization
of material life? In this book, international scholars from
anthropology and economics adopt a rhetorical perspective in order
to make sense of material life and the theories about it.
Re-examining central problems in the two fields and using
ethnographic and historical examples, they explore the
intersections between these disciplines, contrast their methods and
epistemologies, and show how a rhetorical approach offers a new
mode of analysis while drawing on established contributions.
Why are we obsessed with calculating our selections? The author
argues that competitive trade nurtures calculative reason, which
provides the ground for most discourses on economy. But market
descriptions of economy are incomplete. Drawing on a range of
materials from small ethnographic contexts to global financial
markets, the author shows that economy is dialectically made up of
two value realms, termed mutuality and impersonal trade. One or the
other may be dominant; however, market reason usually cascades into
and debases the mutuality on which it depends. Using this
cross-cultural model, the author explores mystifications of
economic life, and explains how capital and derivatives can control
an economy. The book offers a different conception of economic
welfare, development, and freedom; it presents an approach for
dealing with environmental devastation, and explains the growing
inequalities of wealth within and between nations.
Comparative and critical, Anthropology and Economy offers a
uniquely cross-cultural view of economy. Using examples from market
and non-market situations, the book shows how economies are built
on five increasingly abstract spheres, from the house to community,
commerce, finance, and meta-finance. Across these spheres, economy
incorporates a tension between self-interested rationality and the
mutuality of social relationships. Even when rational processes
predominate, as in markets, economies rely on sociability and
ritual to operate, whether as cronyism, pleas to divinities or the
magical persuasions of advertising. Drawing on data and concepts
from anthropology and economics, the book addresses wealth
inequality, resource depletion, and environmental devastation
especially in capitalism, providing an understanding of their
persistence and ideas for controlling them. Given the recent
financial crash, Gudeman offers a different understanding of the
crisis and suggestions for achieving greater economic stability.
Drawing upon their joint fieldwork, the authors cast this book as a
conversation involving themselves, a Colombian rural people, and
the writings of past economists. In their view, the material
practices of the rural folk constitute a house model of the
economy, and the Colombian voices provide a window on prior
European fold conversations about the house. The house and the
corporation have been the principal modes of material organization
in Western life: the former is older, but the latter now
predominates. The authors suggest, through use of the Colombian
conversations, that textualists of the past transformed and
inscribed similar folk voices for their emerging theories of the
corporation and the market. They argue that economic knowledge is
not simply the product of a scientific community but is often
appropriated from folk practices. By situating the knowledge gained
from fieldwork within their own traditions, and by using that
knowledge to reflect upon the origins of contemporary wisdom, the
book implicates the modern-day ethnographer, rural folk, and
economist as participants in a long conversation.
Comparative and critical, Anthropology and Economy offers a
uniquely cross-cultural view of economy. Using examples from market
and non-market situations, the book shows how economies are built
on five increasingly abstract spheres, from the house to community,
commerce, finance, and meta-finance. Across these spheres, economy
incorporates a tension between self-interested rationality and the
mutuality of social relationships. Even when rational processes
predominate, as in markets, economies rely on sociability and
ritual to operate, whether as cronyism, pleas to divinities or the
magical persuasions of advertising. Drawing on data and concepts
from anthropology and economics, the book addresses wealth
inequality, resource depletion, and environmental devastation
especially in capitalism, providing an understanding of their
persistence and ideas for controlling them. Given the recent
financial crash, Gudeman offers a different understanding of the
crisis and suggestions for achieving greater economic stability.
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