The Anthropology of Global Trade

Catalog description

What is global trade? How does it affect social and political life and how is it shaped by politics? Under globalization the world appears to be seamlessly connected. This is in part because of the ease and speed of access we have to goods, services, and commodities. In this class we look at global trade (the flow of goods and services between different countries) as a product of political relations at various scales. This class introduces students to global trade as a product of power and a producer of unequal economic conditions across the globe. Students will explore the categories, meanings, and experiences of labor, work, gender, and race produced in contexts such as logistics, mining, domestic work, migrant labor, and corporations. This course is aimed at students who are interested in anthropology, development studies, geography, international political economy, and politics.