economies and their modes of production. copyright © allyn & bacon 2002 economic cultural...

Economies and their Modes of Production

Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2002

Economic Cultural Anthropologists Look cross-culturally at a society’s way

of producing food and goods Gather data and categorize society

according to their mode of production(These categories blend and overlap)

Examine how a society’s economic system affects that societies perceptions of “culture” and “nature”


ECOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

THE STUDY OF CULTURES AS ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS

CULTURAL AND BIOLOGICAL RESPONSES THAT AFFECT OR ARE AFFECTED BY THE SURVIVAL, REPRODUCTION, HEALTH, AND SPATIAL DISTRIBUTION OF HUMAN POPULATIONS.


Two Ways of Viewing Culture:

Culture as an energy-capturing and storage system

Culture as an information-storage system

The accumulation of both energy and information within cultures is an extension

of basic biological functions.


Culture is the Primary Adaptation of the Human Species….

...but not all adaptations are successful.

In terms of individuals adaptations are judged by their ability to promote reproduction and survival.

In populations adaptations can be judged not simply by reproduction of a species, but the ability of the species to maintain itself at a viable level over time.


Processed and Non-Processed Waste Outputs Per Capita


Efficiencies and Inequities The 20 per cent of the world’s people living in the

highest income countries are responsible for 86 per cent of total private consumption compared with the poorest 20 per cent, who account for only 1.3 per cent.

The richest fifth account for 53 per cent of carbon dioxide emissions, the poorest fifth, 3 per cent.

A child born in the industrial world adds more to consumption and pollution levels in one lifetime than do 30 to 50 children born in developing countries.

Some 60 per cent of the world's poor live in fragile and highly vulnerable areas – on arid and semi-arid lands, on steep slopes and in forests.


Disparity in Consumption in Representative Nations


Humans and Ecosystems ECOSYSTEMS including human systems, tend towards

HOMEOSTASIS. They tend to resist change and remain in equilibrium.

SOURCES OF ECOLOGICAL CHANGE: • CLIMATIC CHANGES• TECHNOLOGICAL CHANGE: DIFFUSION, INNOVATION, LOSS• SOCIAL CHANGE: ORGANIZATION OR DOMESTIC

PATTERNS

MYTH OF THE PRISTINE ECOSYSTEM: Every place where modern humans have dwelt they have influenced the environment. What differs is HOW they influenced it and HOW MUCH


Modes of Production

Foraging

Industrialism

Agriculture

Pastoralism

Horticulture


SummaryForaging Horticulture Pastoralism Agriculture Industrialism

Reasons for Production

Division of Labor

Sustainability

Property Relations

Resource Use

Production for use Production for profit

Family based Class based

Stratified/ privateEgalitarian/collective

Intensive/ expandingExtensive/temporary

High degree Low degree


Hunting and Gathering Economies

Based on using food provided by nature– gathering, fishing, hunting– emerged at least 300,000 years ago in its

present form Maintains balance between resources and

lifestyle (or else….) Today only 250,000 people support

themselves using foraging, e.g. the Ju/wasi people of Southern Africa.


Types of Hunter-Gatherers: Foragers

Simple Hunter-Gatherers (Foragers): • Tend to have limited storage facilities; have

to seek food as the need arises• Live in temporary, semi-mobile camps

(residential mobility)• Have a strong sharing ethic• Exhibit limited or no ownership of resources


Forager Settlement and Land-use System


Types of Hunter-Gatherers: Collectors

Complex Hunter-Gatherers (Collectors):

• .May exhibit high population density

• .Sometimes live in villages (permanent camps) for all or most of the year (logistical mobility)

• Usually exhibit strong social stratification

• Typically maintain a weak sharing ethic: interpersonal competition for resources

• Often exhibit family ownership of resources and resource areas


Collector Settlement and Logistical Land-use System


Population Ecology Terms ~ 1

Carrying Capacity: The maximum population that can be sustained in an area with a particular subsistence system.

Maximum Sustainable Yield : The highest level of production possible in a given area over an extended period of time. Also, the level of production just before the point of diminishing returns is reached.

Point of Diminishing Returns: When additional effort invested in maximizing yield no longer

produces proportionate returns.


Population Ecology Terms ~ 2

Optimal Foraging Theory: A model of hunter-gatherer ecology which holds that, on average, people will concentrate on resources which give them the maximum yield per unit of energy invested. Intensification: Concentration of overall social effort on production output, usually on a limited set of high-yield resources. Liebig’s Law of the Minimum: Growth is limited by the minimum availability of one necessary resource rather than by the abundance of all necessary resources.


Hunter-Gatherer Land Use


“Man the Hunter” versus “Woman the Gatherer” Many anthropologists emphasize the

role of males as the dominant provider in foraging groups (e.g. Lee 1979)

However most everyday food is gathered by women (Slocum 1975) – 75-80% among the Ju/wasi

“Man the Hunter” is an example of male bias in interpretation


Horticulture

Emerged in the last several thousand years

The cultivation of domesticated crops in gardens using hand tools

Crop yields can be great and support denser populations than foraging

Constrained by time required for fallowing


Horticulture and People

A family forms the core work group Children work more in horticultural

groups than any other type of economy– caring for siblings– fetching water– hauling fuel

Gender roles clearly defined


Pastoralism

Pastoralism is an economic system primarily based upon herds of domestic livestock.– Seasonal Transhumance: Regular movement

between different ecotones on a seasonal basis. The same routes and pastures are typically used every year.

– Nomadic Pastoralism: Constant and non-repetitive movements to areas of good grazing. Very large areas where seasonal variations are less significant or unpredictable.


Pastoralism

Existed in Europe, Africa and Asia Based on the domestication of animal

herds and the use of their products Provides over 50% of group’s diet

– Pastoralists trade with other groups to secure food and goods they can’t produce

Groups move to where there is pasture Can be highly successful


Pastoralism and People

Families are the basic unit of production Little overlap between male and female

tasks Generally men herd; women process the

herd’s products; children help in herding Strong value on mobility Social equality


The Fertile Crescent


Agriculture

Intensive strategy of production– more labor, use of fertilizers, control of

water supply, use of animals Permanent settlements 3 main types

– family farming– plantation agriculture– industrial agriculture


Basic Agricultural Practices:

– Rainfall Agriculture Slash and Burn (Swidden) agriculture Runoff control (Terraces, Wash outlets) Dry field farming

– Irrigation Agriculture Malpas (Maya raised-fields) Flooded Terraces/Fields (Rice) Controlled Canal Irrigation


Main Types of AgricultureFamily Farming

•1bn people are involved in family farming

•Family based

•Clear gender roles

•Large families

•More rigid class distinctions

•Land rights can be bought or sold

Plantations

•Used to grow tea, coffee, rubber

•Concentrated ownership of land

•Hired labor

•Severe inequality

•Dominant in former colonies

•Poor social welfare for workers

Industrial

•Capital-intensive

•Uses machines instead of human labor

•Used in industrialized countries

•Uses more energy

•Little research done outside US


Agriculture - a good move?

“Progressive” - Most Euro-Americans think that agriculture is a major advance in cultural evolution.

“Revisionist” - agriculture may be “the worst mistake in the history of the human race”


Industrialism

The production of goods through mass employment in business and commercial operations

Goods produced satisfy consumer demand

Employment increases in manufacturing and service sectors

Formal and informal sections


The BIG Questions Revisited

What is the scope of economic anthropology?

What are the characteristics of the five major modes of production?

What are some directions of change in the five modes of production?

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