Post on 21-Dec-2015
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Are All Humans Driven by a Profit Motive to Accumulate?
How many would ask your boss for a salary cut?
Who aspires to earn less in 5
years than you do now? Which of your possessions are
you willing to give up?
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The Capitalist Market Economy
Assumptions: The world is a commodity Human material wants are
unlimited The means to acquire these wants
limited People economize – make rational
choices among alternatives to maximize individual profit
We allocate scarce resources to increase material well-being
New car? Send child to college? Vacation?
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FORMALIST ECONOMICS
The Capitalist Market Economy Maximization Free Market – Law of Supply & Demand
(“Invisible Hand”) Labor is a Commodity Mechanized Technology (“efficiency”) Rationality
Capitalism Requires Accumulation Inequality is Inherent
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Can Formalist Economics be Applied to Understand
Non-Capitalist Societies?
How well can we understand behavior in other cultures as maximizing or based on profit motive?
Some cultures maximize social realtions !Kung – Ethic of Reciprocity
Some cultures maximize Prestige Melanesia – Big Man gives away wealth Kwakiutl – Potlatch
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Karl Polanyi, Substantivist: 3 Systems of Exchange
Reciprocity Generalized Reciprocity (!Kung, Bands) Balanced Reciprocity (Trobriand Kula,
Tribes) Negative Reciprocity (Gambling, theft)
Redistribution (Kwakiutl, Chiefdoms)
Market Principle (U.S., States) Price based on supply & demand
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All forms may be present: U.S. generalized reciprocity – U.S. balanced reciprocity – U.S. redistribution –
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Non-Capitalist Economies Tiv Spheres of Exchange (Nigeria)
Prestige can be a scarce good Prestige is the basis of an elaborate
economic institution that has little to do with subsistence
Multicentric economy: exclusive spheres of exchange marked by different moral values
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WIVES
PRESTIGE
SUBSITENCE
WIVES – Rights in Wives, Brass Rods = Special Purpose Money
PRESTIGE – Exchange at ceremonies: Slaves, cattle, ritual office, Medicine, Magic, Brass Rods = General Purpose Money within the sphere; Do not enter market sphere
SUBSISTENCE – barter
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Wives Sphere
Marriage: Sister exchange The only “price” for a woman is
another woman Ward-sharing groups; exchange
in women lags in time Brass Rods or Cattle =
Ernest Payment during lag Bridewealth is paid with
prestige goods, brass rods
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Rationale: Invest to convert subsistence goods into prestige goods & prestige goods into wives
CONVEYENCE: Exchange within a sphere (morally neutral)
CONVERSION: Exchange between spheres (moral quality) The Ultimate Maximization
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MONEY
MEANS OF EXCHANGE: Use to purchase goods
MODE OF PAYMENT: Use to pay debts
STANDARD OF VALUE: Can compare value of goods
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If money serves all 3 purposes, it is GENERAL PURPOSE MONEY
If money serves only 1 or 2 of the purposes, it is SPECIAL PURPOSE MONEY
Do we have special purpose money?
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If money serves all 3 purposes, it is GENERAL PURPOSE MONEY
If money serves only 1 or 2 of the purposes, it is SPECIAL PURPOSE MONEY
Do we have special purpose money?Meal ticketCopy cardBus token
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Which did the Tiv have?
Brass Rods = GENERAL PURPOSE MONEY WITHIN the Prestige Sphere
Brass Rods = SPECIAL PURPOSE MONEY ONLY in the Wives Sphere
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Change The British Colonial System
introduced General Purpose Money This broke down distinctions
between the three spheres The British imposed taxes &
outlawed sister exchange The Tiv paid for wives in money,
thus converting down The price of bridewealth soared Wealth differences increased Debts increased
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Trobriand Kula Ring
The Trobrianders maximize prestigeKula is a formalized exchange system, distinct from subsistence activities
Life-long trading partnersThe more partners, the more prestige
Each shell necklace or armband has a known history, acquires fame
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Magical rituals for safe trip, to make trading partner generous Sea reefs, giant octopii, flying
witches The danger makes kula trade seem
irrational Taboos on sex
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Complex Kula Rules
Only trading partners exchange prestige items
They are given to trading partners with great ceremony
Host is obligated to trade & offer hospitality to guest
Subsidiary trade takes place among non-partners These are practical items with no
ritual value
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The Kula gifts are not kept—prestige is gained by giving it away in ritual gesture
There is expectation that items of comparable value will be exchanged within a reasonable time
This is an example of BALANCED RECIPROCITY
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Kwakiutl Potlatch
“Potlatch” means “gift”
Prestige is acquired by giving valuable gifts away
Each village has a hierarchy of offices marked by titles, crests, the rights to masks, songs, & symbols used in ceremonies
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Potlatch Is held to validate hereditary
titles & social rank Totem poles symbolize the
ancestral titles claimed by chiefs of the village
Rank & prestige are scarce commodities
Amount of goods given away reveals prestige
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How to Potlatch
The host traces his line of descent Recounts the ancestral origin of
the title he seeks Demonstrates the validity of his
claim to the title, privileges, masks, etc.
Until publicly validated, no right to titles Like notarizing a document
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The Potlatch Unit
The extended family of the chiefAssist in preparation &
assembling goods for distribution
Convince others to give blankets, carved cedar chests, barrels of oil, boats, etc.
The group may spend years accumulating enough goods
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Formal Ritual With Complex Rules
Invite guests from other villages Guests are seated in rank order Speech making Display of crests, masks,
performance of dances Presentation of title Redistribution of gifts, according
to rank order of guests
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Elaborate System of Conversion Among Economic Spheres
Coppers: (prestige item) Each is named, has a history
that is publicly known If coppers are given
away in ceremony,value is now in the prestige sphere
1875
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Conversion
The ideal is the conversion of goods into a higher, prestige sphere
Introduction of a cash economy intensified the potlatch Caused inflation
Introduction of trade goods led to rivalry potlatches
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Rivalry Potlatch
Where two potential heirs claimed the same title
Each rival held a potlatch, invited the same guests, denied or belittled the claims of his rival
To show economic superiority, destroyed valuable goods
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Aim: to convert goods into coppers, acquire the ultimate prestige of destroying the copper Break copper into pieces &
throw into sea 1880s Canadian law prohibited
potlatch & police confiscated the coppers