ANTH203

Students learn about the relationships between systems of production and distribution and the social and cultural contexts in which they occur. After discussing some important theoretical approaches that have influenced economic anthropologists over the years, students consider various ethnographic case studies that provide a more nuanced understanding of both the material and symbolic aspects of economic processes. Attention is paid to the ways in which global economic processes are articulated, and made meaningful, at the local level. Students may also contemplate the relationships between global capitalism and pressing social problems, including hunger, gender inequities, poverty, war, and environmental degradation.