The Anthropology of Economy Community, Market, and Culture

Recent, dramatic changes in local and global economies have profoundly affected the lives of millions and have demanded that students of economy rethink their analytical approaches. In The Anthropology of Economy, noted anthropologist Steve Gudeman presents a model and lexicon for thinking about and discussing things economic. This book illustrates that, across cultures, economy can be understood as a combination of both community and market forces. Drawing from the work of anthropologists, as well as that of economists, sociologists, historians, geographers, feminists, and post-Marxists, Gudeman presents an anthropological approach to economy that highlights the centrality of communal processes in the market. His inclusion of over 50 cross-cultural examples from historical and contemporary contexts will clearly demonstrate to readers the significance of this distinctive model. Ultimately, The Anthropology of Economy furnishes readers with a new language for discussing and reconceptualizing vital contemporary issues - including the emergence and distribution of profit, the effects of expanding capital on marginalized people and the environment, and our shifting identities in response to the growth of global markets.

Stephen Gudeman is Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota. Author of numerous books and articles, including The Demise of A Rural Economy (1978), Economics as Culture (1986), and Conversations in Colombia: The Domestic Economy in Life and Text (with Alberto Rivera, 1990), he also edited Economic Anthropology (International Library of Critical Writings in Economics, 1999).