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![After having lived in Kandoka village in Papua New
Guinea on several different occasions, anthropologist
David Counts learned important lessons about life in a
society that practices reciprocity:
First, in a society where food is shared or gifted as
part of social life, you may not buy it with money. . . .
[Second,] never refuse a gift, and never fail to return
a gift. If you cannot use it, you can always give it to
someone else. . . .
[Third,] where reciprocity is the
rule and gifts are the idiom, you cannot demand a
gift, just as you cannot refuse a request.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/culturaleconomicsystem-180628011602/85/Cultural-economic-system-23-320.jpg)
Cultural economic system
- 1.
- 2. Division of Labor: GenderSpecialization Age Specialization Labor Specialization Distribution of Goods and Services Reciprocity: 1. Generalized Reciprocity 2. Balanced Reciprocity 3. Negative Reciprocity
- 3. The rulesfound in all societies dictating how the day-to-day tasks are assigned to the various members of a society.
- 4. Cultures determine whichtasks are for men and which are for women.
- 5. 1.Men have greaterbody mass and strength, they are better equipped physically to engage in hunting, warfare, and land clearing. 2. A second argument is that women do the things they do because those tasks are compatible with child care.
- 6. 3.In terms ofreproduction, men tend to be more expendable than women. In other words, because women have more limited (and therefore more valuable) reproductive capacities, they are less likely to be required to engage in dangerous activities.
- 7. An Ecuadorian manworks at a sewing machine, a job usually associated with women in the United States.
- 8. In some partsof traditional Africa, for ex.,women are known to carry much heavier loads than men, work long hours in the fields, and even serve as warriors.
- 9. In muchthe same way that societies divide labor on the basis of sex, they also allocate tasks according to age. In our own society, where formal education routinely lasts through the late teens (and often beyond),young people generally do not engage in much productive work.
- 10. Today anincreasing number of children aged fourteen and under are engaged in wage employment or commercial activity. According to a study by the U.S. Department of Labor (2007), approximately191 million children between the ages of five and fourteen work throughout Asia, Africa, and Latin America, and of these, nearly half work full time.
- 11. This Dalit girl fromIndia is working full time making bricks for pennies a day rather than going to school.
- 12. Old menamong the Tiwi of north Australia give up the strenuous work of hunting in favor of staying at home to make hunting tools, such as spears and throwing sticks, for the younger men.
- 13. Among theAbkhasians in the nation of Georgia, who are known for their longevity, the elderly do not retire, but the nature of their work becomes less strenuous. Men in their eighties and nineties no longer are expected to plow fields but to continue doing light work like weeding; women of similar age stop working in fields and confine their chores to light housework, knitting, and feeding chickens (Benet 1976).
- 14. another termfor division of labor— is an important descriptive characteristic of any society. Subsistence societies , with low population densities and simple technologies are likely to have a division of labor based on little more than gender and age.
- 15. Industrialized societies, wheremost people are engaged in very specialized occupations, such as computer programmer, TV repairperson, kindergarten teacher, janitor, CPA, or thoracic surgeon.
- 16. A type ofsocial integration based on mutual interdependence—found in societies with a relatively elaborate division of labor.
- 17. A type ofsocial integration based on mutuality of interests—found in societies with little division of labor.
- 18. Goods andservices are allocated in all societies according to three different modes of distribution: reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange
- 19. In theUnited States, most commodities are distributed according to a free-market exchange system based on the principle of “capacity to pay.” People receive money for their labor, and then use that money to purchase the goods and services they need or want.
- 20. A mode ofdistribution characterized by the exchange of goods and services of approximately equal value between parties.
- 21. Generalized Reciprocity -which isusually played out among family members or close friends, carries with it the highest level of moral obligation. -Those who give goods or services do NOT expect the recipient to make a return at any definite time in the future.
- 23. After having livedin Kandoka village in Papua New Guinea on several different occasions, anthropologist David Counts learned important lessons about life in a society that practices reciprocity: First, in a society where food is shared or gifted as part of social life, you may not buy it with money. . . . [Second,] never refuse a gift, and never fail to return a gift. If you cannot use it, you can always give it to someone else. . . . [Third,] where reciprocity is the rule and gifts are the idiom, you cannot demand a gift, just as you cannot refuse a request.
- 24. Balanced Reciprocity -The practice of giving with the expectation that a similar gift will be given in the opposite direction after a limited period of time. -Involves more formal relationships, greater social distance, and a strong obligation to repay the original gift.
- 25. Example: Indians ofOaxaca, Mexico A man is expected to sponsor at least one fiesta celebrating a major saint’s day. Such events, involving elaborate food, beverages, and entertainment, almost always are beyond the capacity of a man to provide by himself. Consequently the man solicits the help of his relatives, friends, and neighbors, thereby mortgaging his future surpluses. Those who help out expect to be repaid in equivalent amounts when they sponsor a similar fiesta.
- 26. In some casesof balanced reciprocity, people go to considerable lengths to maintain the relationship. For example, the Semang of the Malay Peninsula engage in a form of silent trade, whereby they studiously avoid any face-to- face contact with their trading partners.
- 27. A form ofreciprocal trading found among the Trobriand Islanders involving the use of white shell necklaces and red shell bracelets.
- 28. the kulainvolves an elaborate and highly ritualized exchange of shell bracelets and shell necklaces that pass (in opposite directions) among a ring of islands. main significance is as symbols of the reciprocal relationships among trading partners. When trading partners meet, they exchange shell necklaces for shell bracelets according to a set of ceremonial rituals. Then, for the next several days, they also exchange many of their everyday commodities, such as yams, boats, pigs, fish, and craft items.
- 29. These shell necklaces and braceletshave been used for generations to facilitate trade among the Trobriand Islands.
- 30. -form of economicexchange between individuals who try to take advantage of each other. -It is based on the principle of trying to get something for nothing or to get the better end of the deal.
- 31. Selling prepared foodin an urban center at an inflated price when there is very little competition and high demand (North America)
- 32.
Editor's Notes
- #4 One very important aspect of the process of production is the allocation of tasks to be performed—that is, deciding which types of people will perform which categories of work. Every society, whether large or small, distinguishes, to some degree, between the work appropriate for men and women and for adults and children. Even though many societies have considerably more complex divisions of labor, all societies make distinctions on the basis of gender and age.
- #5 Although some roles (jobs) found in the world are played by both women and men, many others are associated with one gender or the other. For example, women generally tend crops, gather wild foods, care for children, prepare food, clean house, fetch water, and collect cooking fuel. Men, on the other hand, hunt, build houses, clear land for cultivation, herd large animals, fish, trap small animals, and serve as political functionaries. There are exceptions to these broad generalizations about what constitutes men’s and women’s work. In
- #7 For example, if men risk their lives hunting buffalo or whales, reproduction in the group will not suffer, provided that women continue to have access to men
- #8 Although some roles (jobs) found in the world are played by both women and men, many others are associated with one gender or the other. For example, women generally tend crops, gather wild foods, care for children, prepare food, clean house, fetch water, and collect cooking fuel. Men, on the other hand, hunt, build houses, clear land for cultivation, herd large animals, fish, trap small animals, and serve as political functionaries. There are exceptions to these broad generalizations about what constitutes men’s and women’s work. In
- #10 In much the same way that societies divide labor on the basis of sex, they also allocate tasks according to age. Because of their lack of knowledge and physical strength, children are often excluded from certain tasks. In our own society, where formal education routinely lasts through the late teens (and often beyond), young people generally do not engage in much productive work. By way of contrast, children in less industrialized societies usually become involved in work activities at a considerably earlier age. In traditional times children were expected to do household chores, help with subsistence farming, and tend flocks of animals.
- #11 children in less industrialized societies usually become involved in work activities at a considerably earlier age. In traditional times children were expected to do household chores, help with subsistence farming, and tend flocks of animals. Today an increasing number of children aged fourteen and under are engaged in wage employment or commercial activity.
- #14 Although normal adult work generally ceases during old age in these societies, the elderly do assume new roles dealing with spiritual matters. Moreover, given their advanced years, they take on the role of societal historians and advisors because they are the repositories of traditional wisdom. By way of contrast, the transition from being employed to being retired in the United States is considerably more abrupt. When most workers reach the age of sixty-five, they receive a plaque or a certificate and cease their productive activity. Unlike the situation among the Tiwi and Abkhasians, when workers in the United States retire, they usually suffer a noticeable loss of prestige and self-esteem
- #15 A subsistence economy is a non-monetary economy which relies on natural resources to provide for basic needs, through hunting, gathering, and subsistenceagriculture. ... As urbanization, civilization, and division of labor spread, varioussocieties moved to other economic systems at various times.
- #17 According to French sociologist Emile Durkheim (1933), in highly specialized societies in which people engage in complementary roles, social solidarity arises from their mutual dependence on one another. That is, teachers need to be on good terms with a butcher, a carpenter, and an auto mechanic because teachers are so highly specialized that they cannot procure meat on their own, build a wood deck, or fix a faulty carburetor. Durkheim calls the social solidarity resulting from this labor specialization and mutual interdependence organic solidarity.
- #18 In contrast, societies with minimal division of labor also possess a form of solidarity, but of a different type. This type of solidarity, which Durkheim calls mechanical solidarity, is based on commonality of interests, social homogeneity, strict conformity, kinship, mutual affection, and tradition.
- #20 The principle of reciprocity operates, for example, when friends and relatives exchange gifts for birthdays, holidays, and other special occasions. We can see the principle of redistribution at work when people hand over a certain portion of their personal income to the government for taxes. Even though more than one mode of distribution can operate in any given society at the same time, usually only one mode predominates.
- #21 Reciprocity is the exchange of goods and services of roughly equal value between two parties without the use of money. Economic anthropologists generally recognize three types of reciprocity, depending on the degree of closeness of the parties involved in the exchange: generalized reciprocity, balanced reciprocity, and negative reciprocity (Sahlins 1972).
- #22 In most foraging societies, when a large animal such as a bushbuck is killed, the hunter keeps enough for his own immediate family and distributes the rest to his more distant relatives. With no refrigeration or other way of preserving meat, it would make little sense for the hunter to hoard all of the meat himself because it would spoil before it could be eaten. Instead sharing with others becomes the expected norm. And, of course, given the uncertainty of hunting, sharing your kill today would entitle you to share someone else’s kill tomorrow. Such an economic strategy helps all family members sustain themselves by providing a fairly steady supply of meat despite the inconsistent success of most individual hunters. In such societies generosity is perhaps the highest ideal, and hoarding and stinginess are seen as being extremely antisocial. After having lived in Kandoka village in Papua New Guinea on several different occasions, anthropologist David Counts learned important lessons about life in a society that practices reciprocity: First, in a society where food is shared or gifted as part of social life, you may not buy it with money. . . . [Second,] never refuse a gift, and never fail to return a gift. If you cannot use it, you can always give it to someone else. . . . [Third,] where reciprocity is the rule and gifts are the idiom, you cannot demand a gift, just as you cannot refuse a request. (1995: 95–98)
- #25 is a form of exchange involving the expectation that goods and services of equivalent value will be returned within a specified period of time. A major economic motivation of balanced reciprocity is to exchange surplus goods and services for those that are in short supply. Shortfalls and surpluses can result from different levels of technology, environmental variations, or different production capacities. But whatever the cause, balanced reciprocity enables both parties in the exchange to maximize their consumption. The Indians of Oaxaca, Mexico, exemplify balanced reciprocity in the exchange of both goods and services.
- #27 Silent Trade -A form of trading found in some small-scale societies in which the trading partners have no face-to-face contact. The Semang leave their products collected from the forest at an agreed-upon location near the village of their trading partners. They return at a later time to receive the commodities (usually salt, beads, and tools) left in exchange. By avoiding social contact, both the Semang and their exchange partners eliminate the risk of jeopardizing the relationship by haggling or arguing over equivalencies (Service 1966).
- #28 the kula involves an elaborate and highly ritualized exchange of shell bracelets and shell necklaces that pass (in opposite directions) among a ring of islands. The necklaces move in a clockwise direction and the bracelets move counterclockwise. Many of these shell objects have become well known for their beauty, the noble deeds of their former owners, and the great distances they have traveled. Their main significance is as symbols of the reciprocal relationships among trading partners. These partnerships are often maintained for long periods of time. The Trobriand Islanders and their neighbors have fairly diversified systems of production with considerable labor specialization. They produce garden crops such as yams and taro, are skilled at fishing, build ocean-worthy boats, raise pigs, and produce a wide range of crafts—including dishes, pots, baskets, and jewelry. When trading partners meet, they exchange shell necklaces for shell bracelets according to a set ofceremonial rituals. Then, for the next several days, they also exchange many of their everyday commodities, such as yams, boats, pigs, fish, and craft items. The shell necklaces and bracelets have no particular monetary value, yet they are indispensable because they symbolize each partner’s good faith and willingness to maintain the longevity of the trading relationship. Trading partners must avoid at all costs any attempt to gain an advantage in the exchange. Generosity and honor are the order of the day. Whoever receives a generous gift is expected to reciprocate. This very complex system of trade found among the Trobriand Islanders has been surrounded with ritual and ceremony. Individuals are under a strong obligation to pass on the shell objects they receive to other partners in the chain. After a number of years, these bracelets and necklaces will eventually return to their island of origin and from there continue on the cycle once again. Thus the continual exchange of bracelets and necklaces ties together a number of islands, some of which are great distances from one another. Because the ceremonial exchange of shell objects has always been accompanied by the exchange of everyday, practical commodities, the kula ring has clearly functioned as an effective, albeit complicated, system of exchange of goods. Yet the kula ring is more than just an economic institution. Because there are no all-encompassing political institutions to maintain peace among all of these islands, the maintenance of cordial relationships between trading partners no doubt serves as a peacekeeping mechanism. Moreover the kula ring plays an important sociocultural role by creating and maintaining long-term social relationships and by fostering the traditional myths, folklore, and history associated with the circulating shell bracelets and necklaces.
- #31 Involving the most impersonal (possibly even hostile) social relations, negative reciprocity can take the form of hard bargaining, cheating, or out-and-out theft. In this form of reciprocity, the sense of altruism and social obligation is at its lowest, and the desire for personal gain is the greatest. Because negative reciprocity is incompatible with close, harmonious relations, it is most often practiced against strangers and enemies.