Economic Systems (Miller Chapter 3)

1. Economic Systems(Miller Chapter 3)

2. The BIG Questions • What is economic anthropology? • What are the five major modes of production and their characteristics?

3. Introducing the Subfield of Economic Anthropology • Economic anthropology is the cross-cultural study of economic systems (p. 52) • An economic system includes… • Livelihood (Production) – making goods or money • Exchange – the transferring of goods or money between people or institutions • Consumption – using up goods or money

5. Mode of Production • The mode of livelihood / mode of production is the main way of making a living in a culture. • Also sometimes called a mode of subsistence or subsistence strategy • Methods a culture uses to stay alive – obtain food and water • Must be compatible with the natural resources available and with the limitations of various habitats • Social and political organization also influence how technology is applied to the problem of staying alive

6. The Five Modes of Production • Foraging • Horticulture • Pastoralism • Agriculture • Industrialism/Informatics

7. Foraging Five Modes of Production Horticulture Pastoralism Agriculture Industrialism and the Information Age

8. The Five Modes of Production • Important to remember that all of the modes of production require a sophisticated knowledge of the environment and seasonal changes in it • No mode of production is “primitive” in the sense of being simple and unsophisticated • Modes of production should not be seen as a progression from more “primitive” to “modern” • No one mode of production is inherently superior to another mode of production • Each has its own benefits and drawbacks

9. Foraging • Foraging is collecting food that is available in nature by gathering, hunting, and/or fishing. (p. 52) • The main economic strategy for most of human history • Obtain most of their food from gathering rather than hunting • Today only 250,000 people support themselves using foraging primarily • Less than 0.005 % of the world population of 6 billion • Example: San/Ju/’hoansi/!Kung peoples of Southern Africa

10. Foraging • Extensive strategy – a mode of production requiring access to large areas of land and unrestricted population movement (p. 53) • Mobility is key! • Maintains balance between resources and lifestyle – is sustainable and very environmentally friendly • Crucial resources are regenerated over time

11. Two Major Types of Foraging

12. Temperate-Region Foragers • Example: San peoples of Southern Africa (including the Ju/’hoansi people, formerly referred to by outsiders as !Kung or the Bushmen) • No longer primarily foragers as their land has been taken from them

13. Ju/’hoansiTerritory

14. Ju/’hoansi Watering Hole

15. Circumpolar-Region Foragers • Example: Inuit (Eskimo) and other northern Canadian peoples • Lifestyle threatened by development and global warming

16. Social Characteristics of Foragers • Small and Flexible Group Size • Typically fewer than 100 people • Foraging supports smaller groups of people than the other modes of production • Egalitarian – classless society • No concept of private property in the sense of owning land that could be sold to someone else • Instead have rights to use land (use rights) that give certain kin groups priority access and are rarely denied to others – have social meaning rather than legal meaning • Sharing (especially of food) is key to survival

17. Social Characteristics of Foragers • Division of labor based on gender and age • Men and women forage • Men hunt • Some overlapping gender roles – gender roles flexible • Genders still relatively equal in status and in access to resources • Both men and women have a great deal of autonomy • Differences in gender roles do not imply gender inequalities

18. Social Characteristics of Foragers • Modest needs that are met with minimal effort • Pretty impractical for a forager to want to accumulate many material possessions • Average weight of belongings under 25 pounds! • Work fewer hours than the average American – only 5 to 25 hours per week! • Have plenty of leisure time to focus on social life and spiritual needs • Overall good health • Less likely to experience severe famines than farmers • Original affluent society (p. 55)

19. About 10,000 years ago… • Humans first domesticate plants and animals • Had a huge influence on cultures – economic arrangements, social systems, ideologies changed as a result of this • Allowed for the possibility of cultures to adopt other modes of production besides foraging • Pastoralism, horticulture, and agriculture are all modes of production based on the domestication of plants and/or animals. • Originally arose as a subsistence strategy of last resort • Probably as population growth outstripped people’s abilities to sustain themselves through food foraging

20. Pastoralism • Pastoralism is mode of production based on domesticated animal herds and the use of their products (p. 57) • Animals provides over 50% of group’s diet • Mostly milk and milk products, some meat and other animal products as well • Pastoralists trade with other groups to secure food and goods they cannot produce • Also an extensive strategy like foraging • Requires movement of animals to new pastureland for sustainability • If movement is restricted, only then do you get overexploitation of resources and overgrazing

21. Pastoralism • Common mode of production in areas where rainfall is limited and unpredictable and/or in areas that are cold, steep, or rocky • Existed for a long time in the Old World (Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Central Asia), less common in the New World • More than 21 million people in Africa and Asia are pastoralists • Most popular animals pastoralists raise throughout the world are… • Sheep, goats, cattle, horses, donkeys, and camels

22. Social Characteristics of Pastoralists • Sense of animals and household materials as private property… • but no sense of land as private property that can be bought and sold • Have use rights that regulate pastureland and migratory routes • Still relatively egalitarian, but… • Level of wealth, prestige, and political organization varies from group to group, often depending up on how many animals they have

23. Social Characteristics of Pastoralists • Division of labor based on gender and age • Families and clusters of related families are the basic unit of production • Generally men herd • Women process the herd’s products • Children help in herding • Little overlap between male and female tasks • Often patriarchical society – cultural emphasis on masculinity, more prestige and power associated with males than females

24. Horticulture • Horticulture is a mode of production based on growing crops in gardens using hand tools (p. 55) • No fertilizers, no pesticides, no animals used to plow, no irrigation systems • Variety of foods grown, often in the same field: yams, bananas, maize, manioc, beans, etc. • Mimics the diversity of the natural ecosystem • Multiple crops are less vulnerable to pests and diseases than a single crop

25. Horticulture • Horticulturalist usually grow enough food for their subsistence • May also produce more a small surplus of food for purposes such as inter-village feasts and exchange • Horticulturalists sometimes engage in some foraging as well, although the food from their garden is their main source of subsistence • Yanomamo are a good example of this

26. Horticulture • Horticultural crop yields support denser populations than foraging • Trade off is that horticulture is more labor intensive than foraging • Also an extensive strategy • Requirement for shifting cultivation and fallowing to provide sustainability • An efficient strategy • Produces between 10 and 20 units of energy for every 1 unit expended

28. Social Characteristics of Horticulturalists • Sense of crops as private property… • but no sense of land as private property that can be bought and sold • Have use rights that regulate access to land – if you clear it, you can use it • Still relatively egalitarian, but… • The production of some surplus goods allows the possibility of social inequality in access to goods and resources

29. Social Characteristics of Horticulturalists • Division of labor based on gender and age • A family forms the core work group • Gender roles clearly defined • Can be patriarchical or matriarchical societies • Iroquois – matriarchical – women cultivate maize and its distribution and had huge decision making powers • Yanomamo – patriarchical – men are dominant decisions makers even though both men and women have a large economic role • Children work more in horticultural groups than any other type of mode of production • caring for siblings • fetching fuel • hauling water

30. Example: Precolonial Iroquois Region in North America

31. Example: Yanomamo region in Amazonian Brazil

32. Agriculture • Agriculture is a mode of production that involves growing crops on permanent plots with the use of plowing, irrigation, and fertilizer (p. 58) • It is also called farming • Intensive strategy of production • An intensive strategy (intensification) involves the use of techniques that allow the same plot of land to be used repeatedly without losing its fertility (p. 58) • More labor, use of fertilizers, control of water supply, use of animals • Typically a larger surplus is produced in agricultural societies than with horticulture

33. Social Characteristics of Agriculturalists • Live in permanent settlements • Have to stay close to the fields to take care of them • Have a higher population density • Larger surplus food can support larger population • Growth of urban centers / urbanization • Have craft specialization • Because of the larger surplus produced, not everyone has to be a farmer • A small group of people can produce food for the entire society • Can have full-time traders, carpenters, blacksmiths, artists, warriors, teachers, lawyers, etc., etc. • Specialized social and political institutions to deal with the increased complexity of specialization and the larger population

34. Social Characteristics of Agriculturalists • Have private ownership of land • Land can be bought and sold • Social institutions such as police and private property law exist to protect property rights • Formalized rules of land inheritance • Class distinctions • Marked inequalities develop • There are those who have access to resources/land and those who do not • Different types of specialization work carry more prestige than others

35. Three Major Types of Agriculture • Family farming • Industrial capital agriculture • Industrial collectivized agriculture

36. Family Farming • Production is geared to support the family • Excess production is used to produce goods for sale – links family farming to the larger market economic system • Most often practiced in 2nd or 3rd world countries • Mexico, India, Poland, Italy, Bangladesh, and many, many others • More than 1 billion people throughout the world use family farming as their mode of production

37. Family Farming • Labor inputs • Kin-based • Family is the basic unit of production • Gender and age are important in organizing work • About ¾ of cultures men perform the bulk of agricultural labor in the fields • Women usually responsible for managing the domestic domain • ¼ of cultures an exception to this • Balanced work roles – Zapotec Indians of Oaxaca • Women farmers in southern India and Southeast Asia wet rice agriculture • Women have higher status in these contexts • Children’s roles in agricultural societies range greatly depending on the cultural context

39. Family Farming • Capital inputs (amount spent on fertilizers, machinery, animals to plow, etc.) • Low-Moderate • Sustainability • High

40. Industrial Capital Agriculture • Produces goods solely for sale • Often farm is owned by a corporation rather than a family – is a corporate farm • Practiced in 1st and 2nd world countries • U.S., Canada, Germany, Russia, Japan, India, Brazil, China • Labor inputs • Hired, impersonal • Often seasonal need for labor • Capital inputs (amount spent on processed fertilizers, more elaborate machinery, etc.) • High • Can produce food for a vast number of people

41. Industrial Capital Agriculture • Sustainability • Low • Efficiency • Low – requires more energy input than it yields • Has a variety of social effects, not all of them positive

43. Industrial Collectivized Agriculture • Basically an agricultural cooperative • Common/joint ownership of land, technology, and goods produced • Pooling of labor • Pooling of income • Democratic rule – collective decision making • Goal is to provide greater economic equality and a greater sense of group welfare than is possible under competitive capitalism • Have some cooperatives in Russia, Eastern Europe, China, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Nicaragua – have had varying degrees of success

44. Industrial Collectivized Agriculture • Labor inputs • Communal • Capital inputs • Moderate-High • Sustainability • Low-Moderate

46. Suburban Farming in Japan: a Blend of Family Farming and Industrialized Farming

47. Industrialism and the Information Age • The production of goods through mass employment in business and commercial operations • The creation, manipulation, management, and transfer of information through electronic media • Goods produced to satisfy consumer demand • Employment increases in manufacturing and service sectors, few people engaged in farming

48. Industrialism and the Information Age • Formal and informal sectors (p. 61) • Formal sector – salaried or wage-based work registered in official statistics • Informal sector – work that is not officially registered and is sometimes illegal

49. Industrialism and the Information Age • Still have some division of labor based on age and gender (especially in the private sphere), but exactly what those roles are vary in the society • Modern technologies (along with demands for increased “productivity” and levels of consumption) can make some labor divisions based on age and gender less relevant. • Much of the division of labor is class based rather than age or gender based

50. Bangalore, India female construction workers