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Capitalism and Culture
Anthropology 4392
Peter Benson
wealth, status, power, capital
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What is affluence?
Do technological progress and
modernization satisfy wants?
Do you spend more or less time
than hunters gatherers in
satisfying needs and wants?
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3
Assumption that early life was brutal and
characterized by scarcity, risk, and malnutrition
Not true according to empirical data
Only in a market economy is there a perpetual
difference between wants and resources, and chronic
famine and hunger
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9
The Original Affluent Society
few needs plentiful resources
sporadic work lots of rest and time
underuse of available labor
mobility no private property
health good nutrition, low body fat
affluence without abundance
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By the common understanding, an affluent society is one in
which all the peoples material wants are easily satisfied. To
assert that the hunters are affluent is to deny then that the
human condition is an ordained tragedy, with man the
prisoner at hard labor of a perpetual disparity between hisunlimited wants and his insufficient means.
- Marshall Sahlins
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scarcity is not a natural condition for humans
scarcity is a relationship of means v. ends (Want not, lack not.)
the social definition of norms, expectations, and values
in modern societies endless wanting and working are seen as
normal and natural
the good life is a an anthropological not philosophical or
economic question
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Northwest Coast Indians
Potlatch status &
competitive gifting rituals
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The Rise of Capitalism
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bourgeoisie
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Kanye West (1977 )
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Varieties of Power
material wealth
physical violence & force
formal structural power (e.g., ascribed, delegated)
rhetoric & charisma
knowledge & expertise
expressiveness
social power & differentiation (e.g., race, gender, class, sexuality)
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Michel Foucault (1926 1984)
history of institutions
reproduction of population
workers & consumers
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Pierre Bourdieu (1930 2002)
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Varieties of Capital
economic capital monetary and fixed capital assets
social capital relations, networks, world
symbolic capital prestige, honor, attention
cultural capital competencies, skills, qualifications
all forms of capital derive value from society
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Conclusions
meaning of affluence depends on the context
wealth status power capital
the anthropological approach to studying capitalism and themodern world looks at complex dynamics of power and
resistance
