Subsistence 1

Anthropology and economy

Anthropology and the Economy

• Three main areas:

• 1) Production• Subsistence

• Modes of production

• 2) Distribution

• 3) Consumption

Subsistence

• Defined as the way in which people gain the food and other resources they need for social survival.

• Social survival is defined as the resources you need to function in a particular society.

• e.g. In industrialized societies you need a much higher level of income than you might in an agrarian society.

Modes of Subsistence

• Foraging (Hunting and Gathering)

• Horticulture

• Pastoralism

• Intensive Agriculture

• Industrial

Foraging

• Relies on wild plants and animals

• Food is “stored” in the environment.

• Foragers must know their environment intimately

• Must know not only WHERE resources are but WHEN they become available.

Example: !Kung San

• Kalahari desert (southern Africa)

• Sometimes known as “Bushmen” -not a respectful term of address.

• Now have been relocated to permanent villages. Not allowed to hunt.

• Before the 1970s, !Kung lived in small, mobile bands.

• !Kung used simple technology but had a great knowledge of their environment.

• Game reserves now forbid !Kung from exploiting traditional territories

• Despite the harshness of their environment, !Kung only had to work for 4 hours a day in the wet season.

• 90% of the calories in the traditional !Kung diet were from plant foods and not from meat.

• Permanent settlements have lead to increasing hunger, disease and conflict. !Kung now rely on government handouts.

• Traditional !Kung life has been over-idealized in racist movies such as “The Gods must be Crazy”

• This lifestyle is now performed for tourists but is not possible in real life.

Horticulture

• Also known as “gardening”

• Uses domesticated plants and animals

• Uses simple technology

• Top: Lo`i kalo (taro pond-field) at Ulupo Heiau, O`ahu

• Bottom: Milpa (maize field) in Guatemala

Example: Slash and Burn

• Also called extensive farming.

• Forest is cut, allowed to dry out, then burned. The ash is mixed into the soil. Plots last a few years then must be allowed to lie fallow to rejuvenate

• Horticulture produces more food per unit of land than foraging.

• Requires storage technology

• Requires intimate knowledge of environment.

• Villages or farmers must move when new fields are opened up.

Pastoralism

• Relies on domestic animals.

• Can be carried out in areas with low rainfall that would not support farming.

• Often relies on trade with farming villages: (meat or milk for grain)

• Top: Maasai herder with cows

• Bottom: Mongol herders with goats

• Pastoralists are highly mobile. They follow migration routes from summer to winter grazing and back.

• Each group must monitor its own consumption of grass. Over-grazing will lead to conflict with other groups.

• Since they are mobile, they often raid one another and villagers.

• Historically they were hard to beat militarily until the development of the railway and the machine gun.

Intensive Agriculture

• Uses domestic plants and animals.

• Differs from horticulture in the degree of investment in labor and technology (often includes irrigation systems, terracing, rice paddies, fertilizer etc.)

• Intensive agriculture produces large surpluses, and hence can support large populations.

• Villages are large and permanent to defend land/crops

• Large families are an asset.

• Intensive agriculture often involves draft animals (water buffalo, oxen etc.) as the amount of work involved is stupendous. Draft animals are often the most valuable possession a family has.

Industrial Production

• Uses high levels of technology and energy investment.

• Uses industrial techniques to mass-produce crops or animals.

• Mass-production reduces unit-cost but also reduces diversity

• In an industrial economy, only a tiny fraction of the population grows its own food.

• Industrial economies rely on infrastructure to get food to markets and to consumers.

• Poor infrastructure will make an industrial economy untenable