Anthro 101 chapt 11 – Flashcards

3 types Economic Relations Political Relations Kinship and Family Relations is the patterning of human interdependence in a given society through the actions and decisions of its members.

a set of rules, known and shared by the community, that structure political interactions in particular ways

The part of the discipline of anthropology that debates issues of human nature that relate directly to the decisions of daily life and making a living.

a formal attempt to explain the workings of capitalist enterprise, with particular attention to distribution

an economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth is made and maintained chiefly by private individuals or corporations, esp. as contrasted to cooperatively or state-owned means of wealth.

the relative position or standing of things or especially persons in a society Achieved=class Ascribed= race, gender, ethinicity

are noncapitalist forms of economic exchange that are deeply embedded in social relations and always require a return gift.

are impersonal economic exchanges typical of the capitalist market in which goods are exchanged for cash and exchange partners need have nothing further to do with one another.

are patterns according to which distribution takes place: reciprocity, redistribution and market exchange.

is the exchange of goods and services of equal value. Anthropologists distinguish three forms of reciprocity, generalized, balanced, and negative reciprocity.

is a mode of exchange that requires some form of centralized social organization to receive economic contributions from all members of the group and to redistribute them in such a way as to provide for every group member. Redistribution is the typical mode of exchange in chiefdoms and some nonindustrial states. Products move from the local level to the hierarchical center, where it is reorganized. A proportion is sent back down to the local level.

are the exchange of goods (trade) calculated in terms of a multipurpose medium of exchange and standard value (money) and carried out by means of a supply- demand-price mechanism (the market)

is the activity linking human social groups to the material world around them; from the point of view of Karl Marx, labor is therefore always social labor.

A specific, historically occurring set of social relations through which labor is deployed to wrest energy from nature by means of tools, skills, organization, and knowledge.

are the tools, skills, organization and knowledge used to extract energy from nature.

are the social relations linking the people who use a given means of production within a particular mode of production.

Consumption is the using up of material goods necessary for human survival.

Affluence is the condition of having more than enough of whatever is required to satisfy consumption needs.

Band organization has no formal economy, their economy is based on sharing and redistribution. Often gender-based division of labor Men hunting and fishing Women gathering Gathering contributes more to their diet

Tribal Cultivators have a horticultural or pastoral economy which is based in sharing and reciprocity. Social organization: No social classes and formal government. Small-scale warfare or inter-village raiding common. Like foragers, tribes are generally egalitarian but they have leaders.

between more distantly related partners; giving with the expectation of equivalent (but not necessarily immediate) exchange. Balanced reciprocity is a system in which return of equal value is expected within a specified time limit.

Generalized reciprocity: usually between relatives; giving with no specific expectation of return. also is a system in which neither the time nor the value of the return is specified.

between very distant trading partners; each partner attempting to maximize profit and an expectation of immediate exchange (e.g., market economies). Negative reciprocity is a system in which parties to the exchange hope to get something for nothing.

Pastoralists practice a trade economy which is based upon domesticated herd animals. Nomads must interact with a variety of groups since they move through various territories, unlike most sedentary societies. They often have trade relations with other groups to get agricultural and other products. Powerful chiefs are common in nomadic groups with large populations.

(mode of production) Kin ordered mode of production is a mode in which labor is deployed on the basis of kinship relations. This mode of production is found among foragers and those farmers and herders whose political organization does not involve domination by one group.

Tributary mode of production is a mode is which the primary producer, whether cultivator or herdsman, is allowed access to the means of production while tribute (a payment of goods or labor) is exacted from him be political or military means.

The capitalist mode of production has 3 main features: 1) The means of production are private property owned by members of the capitalist class. 2) Workers must sell their labor power to the capitalists in order to survive. 3) Surpluses of wealth are produced that capitalists may retain as profit or reinvest in production (to increase output and generate further surpluses and higher profits).

Classes are ranked groups within a hierarchically stratified society whose membership is defined primarily in terms of wealth, occupation, or other economic criteria.

The part of the discipline of anthropology that debates issues of human nature that relate directly to the decisions of daily life and making a living.

How systems of social class and interactions have happened throughout history

The internal explanation Explains social practices by relating them to basic human needs that each practice supposedly fulfills. Basic human needs can be biological or psychological. The external explanation AKA "Cultural Ecology" Consumption patterns cannot depend on just the obvious, internal hunger drive, which is the same for all people everywhere. People depend on the particular external sources present in the local habitat to which members must adapt. The cultural explanation Human beings are not passive in the face of environmental demands (both internal and external). Human beings are able to construct their own niches, buffering themselves form some kinds of selection pressures while exposing themselves to others. Because humans construct their own niches they construct their own patterns of consumption as well.