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Information about Anthropological Theories Of Value

Anthropological theories of value attempt to expand on the traditional theories of value used by economists or ethicists. They are often broader in scope than the theories of value of Adam Smith, David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, Karl Marx, etc. usually including sociological, political, institutional, and historical perspectives (transdisciplinarity). Some have influenced feminist economics.

The basic premise is that economic activities can only be fully understood in the context of the society that creates them. The concept of "value" is a social construct, and as such is defined by the culture using the concept. Yet we can gain some insights into modern patterns of exchange, value, and wealth by examining previous societies. An anthropological approach to economic processes allows us to critically examine the cultural biases inherent in the principles of modern economics. Anthropological linguistics is a related field which looks at the terms we use to describe economic relations and the ecologies they are set within. Many anthropological economists (or economic anthropologists) are reacting against what they see as the portrayal of modern society as an economic machine that merely produces and consumes.

Marcel Mauss and Bronislaw Malinowski for example wrote about objects that circulate in society without being consumed. Georges Bataille wrote about objects which are destroyed, but not consumed. Bruce Owens talks about objects of value that are neither circulating nor consumed (e.g. gold reserves, warehoused paintings, family heirlooms).

David Graeber attempts to synthesize the insights of Karl Marx and Marcel Mauss. He sees value as a model for human “meaning-making”. Starting with Marxist definitions of consumption and production, he introduces Mauss’s idea of "objects that are not consumed" and constructs a list of things that are neither consumption nor production. Graeber’s list includes those human activities that are not consumption, in the narrow sense of simply purchasing something, and are not production, in the sense of creating or modifying something intended for sale or exchange. It includes
  • cooking a meal
  • extinguishing a fire
  • dressing and undressing
  • applying makeup
  • watching television
  • playing in a band
  • falling in love
  • reading
  • listening to music
  • going to a museum or gallery
  • taking a photograph
  • gardening
  • writing
  • conducting a coming of age ceremony
  • going window shopping
  • doing sports
  • acting
  • turning around in a circle
  • teaching
  • having an argument
  • playing games
  • having sex
  • attending a religious service
  • looking at old photos

Criticisms

Economists typically use the term consumption in a way that is far broader than merely purchasing something. It is quite common to talk about the consumption of time. Many of the items on his list would be considered either production or consumption by most economists. Also Gary Becker's household production functions and similar topics note that people often purchase goods and then combine them with time to produce something that has meaning or practicality to them (which produce utility).

Further reading

  • Graeber, David: Towards an Anthropological Theory of Value (ISBN 0-312-24045-7)
  • Owens, Bruce McCoy: "Unruly Readings: Neofetishes, Paradoxical Singularities, and the Violence of Authentic Value," in Ethnos 64(2): 249-262.

See also

Theory of Anthropology (Documents No. 9 and 10 in English)
Economics is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Greek for oikos (house) and nomos (custom or law), hence "rules of the house(hold).
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Adam Smith FRSE (baptised June 5 (OS) / June 16 (NS) 1723 – July 17, 1790) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneering political economist. He is a major contributor to the modern perception of free market economics.
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David Ricardo (18 April, 1772–11 September, 1823), a political economist, is often credited with systematizing economics, and was one of the most influential of the classical economists, along with Thomas Malthus and Adam Smith.
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John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 – 8 May 1873), British philosopher, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential liberal thinker of the 19th century.
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Sociology (from Latin: socitus, "companion"; and the suffix -ology, "the study of", from Greek λόγος, lógos, "knowledge") is the systematic and scientific study of society and societal behavior.
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Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. Although the term is generally applied to behavior within civil governments, politics is observed in all human group interactions, including corporate, academic, and religious
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History is the study of the past, focused on human activity and leading up to the present day.[1] More precisely, history is the continuous, systematic narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race [1]
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neutrality is disputed.
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Feminist economics broadly refers to a developing branch of economics that applies feminist insights and critiques to economics. Research under this heading is often interdisciplinary, critical, or heterodox.
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Anthropological linguistics is the study of the relations between language and culture, and the relations between human biology, cognition and language. This strongly overlaps the field of linguistic anthropology, which is the branch of anthropology that studies humans
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Marcel Mauss (May 10, 1872 – February 10, 1950) was a French sociologist best known for his role in elaborating on and securing the legacy of his uncle Émile Durkheim and the Année Sociologique.
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Georges Bataille (French IPA: [ʒɔʀʒ ba'taj]) (September 10, 1897 – July 9, 1962) was a French writer and philosopher, though he avoided this last term himself.
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antique (Latin: antiquus; old) is an old collectible item. It is collected or desirable because of its age, rarity, condition, utility, or other unique features. It is an object that represents a previous era in human society.
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David Graeber is an anarchist and anthropologist. He was an associate professor of anthropology at Yale University, although Yale controversially declined to rehire him, and his term there ended in June 2007.
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Love is an intense feeling of affection related to a sense of strong loyalty or profound oneness.[] The meaning of love varies relative to context.
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photograph (often shortened to photo) is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip.
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Horticulture and Gardening

Gardening
Gardening  Garden  Botanical garden  Arboretum  Botany  Plant
Horticulture
Horticulture  Agriculture  Urban agriculture  City farm  Organic farming  Herb farm  Hobby
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household production function. It is these goods that they value. The idea was originally proposed by Gary Becker and Kelvin Lancaster in the mid 1960s.

Example

A simple example of this is baking a cake.
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In economics, utility is a measure of the relative satisfaction or desiredness from consumption of goods. Given this measure, one may speak meaningfully of increasing or decreasing utility, and thereby explain economic behavior in terms of attempts to increase one's utility.
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lifestyle is the way a person lives. This includes patterns of social relations, consumption, entertainment, and dress. A lifestyle typically also reflects an individual's attitudes, values or worldview.
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list of lifestyles.
  • Activism
  • Affluent
  • Ahimsa
  • Artist
  • Asceticism
  • Athlete
  • Back-to-the-land
  • BDSM
  • Bahá'í Faith
  • Beatnik
  • Belongers
  • Bohemianism
  • Breatharianism
  • Buddhism
  • BMXER
  • Celibacy
  • Chastity
  • Child soldier

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Quality time is an informal reference to time spent with loved ones (eg. close family, partners or friends) which is in some way important or special. It may also refer to time spent performing some favored activity (eg. a hobby).
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Economic anthropology is a scholarly field that attempts to explain human economic behavior using the tools of both economics and anthropology. It is practiced by anthropologists and has a complex relationship with economics.
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In cultural anthropology and sociology, reciprocity is a way of defining people's informal exchange of goods and labour; that is, people's informal economic systems. It is the basis of most non-market economies.
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Atheism

Concepts
ReligionNontheism
AntireligionAntitheism
AgnosticismHumanism
Metaphysical naturalism
Weak and strong atheism
Implicit and explicit atheism
History
History of atheism
EnlightenmentFreethought

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Conformism is a term used to describe the suspension of an individual's self-determined actions or opinions in favor of obedience to the mandates or conventions of one's peer-group, or deference to the imposed norms of a supervening authority.
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Herd behaviour describes how individuals in a group can act together without planned direction. The term pertains to the behaviour of animals in herds, flocks, and schools, and to human conduct during activities such as stock market bubbles and crashes, street demonstrations,
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Nonconformism is in general the refusal to conform to common standards, conventions, rules, customs, traditions, norms or laws. In specific usage (usually capitalized), however, it refers to the Protestant Christians of England who refused to "conform", or follow the governance and
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