Economic Systems Presentation
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Transcript of Economic Systems Presentation
Economic Systems Presentation
By: Jaskaran, Sach, Zak H. and Daniel
Economic System
Economic System: the production, distribution and consumption of goods
Each distinct culture has an economic system 3 types of Economic Systems: -1. Consumption(capitalism) -2. Redistribution (socialism) -3. Exchange (gift giving) Understanding economies of other cultures are hard due to
ethnocentric assertions No realization that these cultures’ peoples wants, are
maintained at a level that does not affect the environment Goods are produced in quantity and time required (viewed as
lazy by Western society)
Non-economic
Variable
To understand how the schedule of wants of society balances with supply of goods on hand, one must understand the noneconomic variable.
Economic processes cannot be understood without culturally defining demands and conventions dictating how they are satisfied
Economic sphere of behavior linked with social, religious, environmental and political sphere
Example:
TheTrobrianders
Men raise yams because he gives it to his daughter or sister to enhance his own influence
By giving these yams he not only expresses his confidence in the women’s husband but the latter is indebted to him
Yam exchange are as much social and political transaction as economic transactions
Small Scale Cultures
Small scale cultures do not operate in isolation
Small scale economic systems coexist within larger economic sphere
May come to conflict at times
Resources and
Patterns of Labour
In every culture, rules govern the kinds of work done, who does the work, who controls the resources and tools and how the work is accomplished.
Rules allow for a culture’s economy to run efficiently.
The division of labour is an unwritten rule but it is accepted by cultures as it allows for the most amount of efficiency within the culture’s economy.
It is divided based on sex and age.
Dividing based on sex increases the chances that learning the necessary skills will be more efficient.
Dividing labour based on age provides sufficient time for developing those skills.
Sexual Division of
Labour
In general “women’s work” tends to be around the home (gathering food, taking care of children)
The tasks most often regarded as “men’s work” tends to require physical strength (hunting, travelling away from home, dealing with danger)
However there are many exceptions
Researchers have found that there are three ways of dividing the sexual division of labour. One featuring flexibility and sexual integration, another involving rigid segregation by sex and a third combining elements of the other two.
Examples of Sexual
Divisions
The Ju/’hoansi show the flexibility and
integration method as both sexes perform 35 percent of activities with approximately equal participation, while the other 30 percent is assigned equally to men and women for their respective specialties. This allows for maximum efficiency within the economical structure and is shown through food forager and subsistence farmers.
Example 1.
Sexually segregated cultures rigidly define
almost all work as either masculine of feminine, so men and women rarely engage in joint efforts of any kind. Shown through the pastoral nomadic, intensive agriculture and industrial societies.
Example 2.
This combination is shown through most First
Nations peoples. This is because even though they had assigned tasks there relationship had balance rather than an inequality.
Example 3.
Age Division of
Labour
- Generally children are required to learn from their parents in order to develop small skills that will help them in the future.
- Seniors are usually the ones that guide the middle aged men and women. Through there wisdom they help the cultures economy.
- Middle aged men and women around the ages of (15 – 50) are required to provide for the culture. They are the main sources for economic survival.
Cooperation
Cooperative work groups are found in all sorts of living arrangements and cultures, from the industrialized to the unindustrialized.
Usually there is a festive spirit that permeates collective efforts.
This also deters large game from attacking them.
In most societies the Home is the most basic cooperative unit
Industrialized cities are the only ones where the production and consumption nature of the home have been separated, in most other countries the home as a source of subsistence is still maintained(like family farms).
Craft
Specialization
In unindustrialized countries all members of the collective have knowledge of all the tasks appropriate to their age and sex.
There is some specialization even in unindustrialized countries though, such as among food foragers like the first nations specialization of traditional craft and its subsequent trading is booming.
In food producing unindustrialized nations and cultures, like the Trobianders, we see specialization as well.
In Industrialized areas we see specialization, and it is nowhere near conceivable for an individual to learn all aspects of the different areas of work.
Control of Land
We see land regulations among all of the worlds cultures, and regulation where resources are put.
Food foragers decide who can hunt/forage and where the collected resources go.
Horticulturalists make decisions on their farmland.
Pastoralists have a system of deciding who has rights to a watering area and grazing pastures.
In industrialized societies we have land ownership rights and in Unindustrialized societies land is generally passed down through family lineage.
Technology
All societies have some mean of creating and allocating the tools/artifacts used for goods production
Amount/Type of tools used depend on the lifestyle of the group and its members
Ex. Food Foragers/Pastoral Nomads have fewer and less complex tool sets, and can trade said sets for their reapings (Ju/’hoansi “Arrow Method”)
Sedentary farming communities’ tools/productive goods are more complex, thus there is more absolute ownership over them
Resource Depletion
Can lead to social and economic implications within a society
Ex. Eco. Crisis facing worldwide fisheries and future of groups who require fish to survive (First Nations, New Foundland fishing co.’s)
Marine Transhumance used by immigrants, lead to small boating operations and has continued to evolve, as to adapt to the situation
Leads to fishing companies competing with Aboriginal fishers, outside fisheries encroaching on protected areas, and environmental threats.
Illustrates how a society with a certain way of life, can be put in danger when lacking its essential resources
The End