AN101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Trobriand Islands, Jomo Kenyatta, Cultural Anthropology
Document Summary
Economic anthropology: a sub-field of cultural anthropology that studies econ practices of past/present societies. Anthropologists examine intricate relationships b/w econ structures and social structures in societies. Past econ logic was different from today and by comparing non-western areas, you can reveal current econ logic of western capitalism. Reveals how economy is connected w/ human kinship, marriage and residential systems. Study how good are produced, distributed and consumed in context of total culture. Though they"ve borrowed theories from economists, anthropologists mainly feel that the principles derived from western market economies are limited when applied to economic systems where people do not produce and exchanged goods for profit. Every human culture has a division of labour by age and sex. Land and other resources usually controlled by groups or relatives aka, bands or lineages or by partner ownership. Most good consumed by the group that produces it. Leveling mechanisms ensure no one gets more than equal share of goods.
