Economic Anthropology

Economic Anthropology is a department of anthropology. It researches human financial conduct across various aspects. It also considers the societal components. When the individual disciplines of Economics and Anthropology were synthesised, it gave rise to Economic Anthropology. The theme of economic anthropology is well researched.

Economics solely deals with market mechanisms, demand, and supply. Contrastingly, Anthropology primarily deals with human societies. The ideologies and standards of both the subjects were found reciprocally associative with each other. Further, we have discussed economic Anthropology, Economic Anthropology, the meaning, and scope.

Some important subject-concern of Economic Anthropology are indexed below-

• Monetary pursuits
• Natures of investments
• Financial and Fiscal constituents of human societies
• Commercial engagements of humans.

They could be used extensively to study the financial undertakings of human society. There is a critical correlation between Economics and Anthropology. The data of the research conducted related to economic anthropological studies help comprehend the financial depth of the society. It reveals the structure of the distribution of income.

The scope of Economic Anthropology has developed in the recent past. Primarily it studies the below-mentioned topics-

• It primarily studies the money-related matters of worker communities. It includes peasants, agriculturists, and labourers
• The exchange culture in the economy is highly considered by economic anthropologists
• Economic anthropologists study the marketing mechanisms like demand, supply, production, consumption, and other aspects and evaluate their relationship with the ethnic and social multiplexes
• They determine the degree of development brought about by the economic aspects to the socio-anthropological aspects of society
• Economic anthropology, on broadening its scope has increased its horizons, and some sub-branches have been developed. Some of the sub-branches are-

1. Business Anthropology
2. Anthropological studies on urban economy and marginalities.

Individuals who want to pursue economic anthropology as their specialisation need to have the following degrees-

1. Bachelor’s degrees in Anthropology
2. Master degrees in the same field

Unlike economists, who construct models based solely on profit or utility maximisation, anthropologists consider a variety of motives and aims, including cultural, social, and moral impacts on behaviour.

Economic anthropologists investigate this variation by examining how individuals produce, exchange, and consume tangible objects and the role that immaterial things like labour, services, and knowledge play in our efforts to secure a living.

Opinions about Economic Anthropology

• Bronislaw Malinowski stated about the reciprocity culture. There exists a sense of expectation of receiving a reward that weighs equally when some goods are exchanged
• Mauss, who opposed Malinowski’s view, said that exchanging gifts was just a way to maintain good terms in a relationship
• This chief consideration of exchanging commodities led to the establishment of differences between commodity exchange and gift exchange.

When commodities were exchanged

1. It was faster.
2. The ownership of the goods was transferable.
3. It led to a quantitative aspect.

In the exchange of gifts

1. The exchange was not immediate.
2. The goods were featured as inalienable.
3. The qualitative aspect was more.

Views in the Cultural Spheres

• Karl Polyani recognised categorised indications of the word ‘economics’-

1. Formalist Utility refers to logical decision-making about how to effectively utilise limited resources.
2. Substanvism was different. He said that it primarily depicted the idea of how humans effectively use natural resources.

• Stephen Gudeman illustrated an example of a community consisting of workers and labourers. They did not believe in unequal replacement. They exchanged goods that had equal values. They did not have any profit motive.    

The primary themes in the concerned subject are listed below-

1. The centre of attention was the Human-nature relationship. This influences the economic subordination of the environment.
2. Humans make use of their environment. They extract goods from nature. The subjects depict the role of nature in the consumption pattern of human life.
3. Economic maximisation is a significant theme as researchers in economic anthropology depict ways to allocate resources logically.
4. money-related concerns in man’s society are the primary theme concentrated in this subject.
5. This subject is a balanced combination of financial matter and human behaviour. The subject focuses on the evolution of society’s social and cultural aspects. Individual researchers analyse the degree of change that economic factors bring about in society.
6. The money distribution is different in every form of society. It varies to the degree of modernisation that occurred in the society. Money consumption in contemporary societies is more than in primitive societies.

Significance in Human Societies

In the recent past,  the value of Economic Anthropology has grown widely. It studies the connection of finance with the different levels of human societies. It teaches human beings to allocate resources effectively. Amplifying the available resources is the main motive of this subject. Further, it studies the nature of the financial cycle in societies. Economics solely deals with market factors. They helped researchers analyse the money mechanism in society and its major determinants like production, distribution, consumption, demand, supply, and others. Economic anthropologists focus on the development of social aspects of society. They try establishing ethnic progress in a community by moderating the economic features of a society.

Conclusion

Economic Anthropology is an integral sub-part of Anthropology, and it directs the way to improve social and economic features of the society. Themes in Economic Anthropology have been elaborated. Economic Anthropology, the meaning, and scope have been defined in the article. The importance of this subject in our society is immense as the researchers of this subject tend to strategise ways that administer the improved allocation of the limited resources available with optimum efficacy.

Economic anthropologists study the financial nature of human societies and decipher their effect on social aspects of the community. They expanded their studies in all organisations, including primitive and contemporary. Economic anthropologists analyse the determinants of the economy in society and suggest ways to maximise profitability.