Understanding Economic Anthropology

The economy is the cultural adaptation to the environment that allows humans to utilize resources to satisfy their needs. Economic anthropology is the study of economic activities and relations as movements rather than isolated phenomena. It focuses on key aspects of today’s global economy, such as mobility and connection. In exploring economics and economic anthropology, I decided to examine trends that impact the modern economy.

The modernization theory describes the post-World War II economy, wherein less developed countries follow the same trajectory toward modernization as industrialized or developed countries did. Additionally, development after World War II involved wealthier countries investing in less developed ones, particularly former colonies. This led to the rise of the dependency theory, which argues that although colonialism has ended, the economic relations established through these investments mirror those of colonialism. This has given rise to the concept of neocolonialism (unequal economic relations) and underdevelopment in these former dependencies due to unbalanced economic systems.

In 9th grade, I took AP Human Geography and encountered terms such as core, peripheral, and semi-peripheral countries, which are also relevant in economic anthropology. Core countries have significant global prominence in all aspects, particularly in the economy, and are highly interconnected. Semi-peripheral countries are in the process of industrializing, with better standards of living than peripheral countries, and they often engage in substantial manufacturing and exporting. Peripheral countries are typically poorer, with less global influence, and their economies depend on the production of raw materials and often involve many unskilled workers.

Another concept I came across is the Fordism economy, characterized by mass production and consumption, where a factory's workers each had specific roles contributing to the overall product. As core countries adopted this model, they rapidly industrialized and began outsourcing. Outsourcing involves transferring factory or labor work to peripheral or semi-peripheral countries due to their cheaper labor and land. This has led to the modern economic concept of global commodity chains, where the process of making a product spans different countries or regions. Raw materials come from one place, manufacturing occurs elsewhere, distribution happens in another location, and the final consumer may be from yet another region. This has also introduced the concept of neoliberalism, which advocates for a free market with limited government intervention, facilitating larger and more complex commodity chains.

Although I was familiar with many of these concepts from AP Human Geography, it was enlightening to understand their relevance in economic anthropology and their role in understanding economic dynamics. Even though my primary focus is not economic anthropology, the interconnectedness of politics and economics makes it important to review the economic aspects within anthropology.