Economic Anthropology

Catalog description

Economic anthropology is the comparative study of economic activities and cultural values within societies, across cultures, and through time. This course examines classic, substantivist, formalist, and contemporary approaches in economic anthropology. It draws on the rich history of economic thought in social theory from Adam Smith to Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx, Max Weber, and Franz Boas – all of which have profoundly influenced work in economic anthropology to this day – to trace various schools of thought based on different assumptions about human nature, such as self-interest; other approaches, including social economy, political economy, moral economy, and cultural economy will also be discussed. Current work in economic anthropology on topics such as gender, division of labor, childcare, politics, households, death, religion, gifts, commodities, property rights, wealth exchanges, and small producers will be read, as will selected works in economics, in which history, culture, society play an important role. Building on both bodies of work, we will develop anthropological perspectives on contemporary capitalism and its alternatives. Students will also do fieldwork to explore recent developments in our own economy, culture and society.