[GPC-ANTH] Discussion Topic for Chapter 8 - Anthropology & Economic Globalization

Discussion topic for Chapter 8
What is the contribution of anthropology to understanding and implementing economic globalization?


Student Response
Anthropology allows us to understand the context of an economy system against the backdrop of the culture that practices it, regardless of the commodity’s worth or trade values as perceived by external cultures.

When we look at the marketing practices of indigenous peoples or hunter-gather societies, we are tempted to think of them “wasting time trading worthless junk” when we may not understand the cultural significance or ecological value a given item may have. We perceive it only within the context of our own economy, as that is the sum of our own experience. Anthropology strips that away, however, by giving us the how and the why of individual systems, on their own merits.

In forcing us to take a step back to observe the transactions that are taking place at and below the surface, we can gain a better understanding of the things held dear to any given society. In rooting down to the underlying reasons for their practices, we can see that “primitive” economies are often more inclusive of the society’s customs and needs than our own “sophisticated” system of trading bits of paper and metal for everything else.

In these other culturally supporting economic systems, we see the significance placed on familial relations – as in the case of banana leaf bundles and yam banks of the Trobriands, where it boils down to the man supporting his wife’s need for funereal payments within the greater group. Or the importance of good relations between labor or regional groups – as seen in the tradition of pots of millet beer shared by workers at the end of a day in East Africa or in the giving and receiving of soulava and mwali in the Kuli Ring of the South Pacific.

Though it seems strange to us – in our modern world of political gift giving and funding life via credit – these systems work to keep their society stable. Without the work of anthropologists dedicated to supporting the integrity of these oh-so-different cultures, there could be another push to eradicate their systems in the name of “global progress”, as occurred during the previous era of colonialisation.