Of all the many fine examples the author has described, my favourite has to be the trading system of the New Guinea coastal villages where every village had its fixed position in the trading network which worked like clockwork. Having culled through a massive assortment of ethnographic texts, most of which dealing with the material conditions of 'primitive' peoples, Sahlins provides an astute empirical analysis on th. No informed anthropologists now question its basic thesis regarding the early economic expressions of our inherently social nature; some actually suggest it does not go far enough in viewing the life of nomadic cultures on their own terms. This was an utterly life-changing and paradigm-shifting book for me--on par with Jared Diamond's Gun's Germs and Steel, but more rigorous and scholarly in its execution. A radical study of tribal economies, domestic production for livelihood, and of the submission of domestic production to the material and political demands of society at large, Stone Age Economics regards the economy as a Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Sahlins examines notions of production, distribution and exchange in early communities and examines the link between economics and cultural and social factors. Interesante crítica a la "ortodoxia económica", aunque se echa en falta un hilo conductor más claro entre los distintos ensayos. As such it is the invention of civilization.”. . Offline Computer – Download Bookshelf software to your desktop so you can view your eBooks with or without Internet access. The free VitalSource Bookshelf® application allows you to access to your eBooks whenever and wherever you choose. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Ambitiously tackling the nature of economic life and how to study it comparatively, Stone Age Economics includes six studies that reflect the author's ideas on revising traditional views of hunter-gatherer and so-called primitive societies, revealing them to be the original affluent society. Sahlins writing is lucid and relatively easy for even the general reader to follow, but has great impact and persuasiveness. A scheme of reciprocities alone, which is well elaborated in here, is enough to open my mind for a world where alternatives to economic and monetary exchange are possible. Stone Age Economics is the most important book in the field of economic anthropology produced by an American cultural anthropologist since M. J. Herskovits published The … If only things could be so democratically controlled in the modern world. A good case can be made that hunters and gatherers work less than we do; and, rather than a continuous travail, the food quest is intermittent, leisure abundant, and there is a greater amount of sleep in the daytime per capita per year than in any other condition of society. ' Starts out fascinating with a chapter/essay on primitive tribes as the "original affluent society." Sahlins concludes, controversially, that the experiences of those living in subsistence economies may actually have been better, healthier and more fulfilled than the millions enjoying the affluence and luxury afforded by the economics of modern industrialisation and agriculture. Lettura estremamente utile per riconsiderare molti pregiudizi legati ai mercati contemporanei, tramite un confronto con economie "primitive". See all 4 questions about Stone Age Economics…, Mariah Carey Is Telling Her Own Story (and Recommending Books). Sahlins shows an endless and elegant detail of how we should rethink the notion of affluence. Okay sahlins, 'primitive society' was good and you have a fairly straight forward idea about a theory of primitive exchange value, one that contrasts with bourgeois economics as you put it, but your writing is damn dense. Cyril S. Belshaw, American Anthropologist, "Stone Age Economics, while not a survey of the economic anthropology, is as of now the most sophisticated, extensive presentation, and argument in and about, the field." I had wanted to read this book for a long time, and when the price dropped for the e-reader version I decided to buy it. When it was originally published in 1974, E. Evans-Pritchard of the Times Literary Supplement noted that this classic study of anthropological economics "is rich in factual evidence and in ideas, so rich that a brief review cannot do it justice; only another book could do that.". To see what your friends thought of this book. Of all the many fine examples the author has described, my favourite has to be the trading system of the New Guinea. Marshall David Sahlins (/ˈsɑːlɪnz/ SAH-linz; born December 27, 1930) is an American anthropologist best known for his ethnographic work in the Pacific and for his contributions to anthropological theory. An altogether important text for economists, anarchists and cultural anthropologists alike. December 31st 1974 We’d love your help. There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Though the intervening years have dimmed some of the initial enthusiasm about this book, it remains a seminal work of economic anthropology. A radical study of tribal economies, domestic production for livelihood, and of the submission of domestic production to the material and political demands of society at large, Stone Age Economics regards the economy as a category of culture rather than behaviour, in a class with politics and religion rather than rationality or prudence. No informed anthropologists now question its basic thesis regarding the early economic expressions of our inherently social nature; some actually suggest it does not go far enough in viewing the life of nomadic cultures on their own terms. Start by marking “Stone Age Economics” as Want to Read: Error rating book. [one study showed ~26 hrs/wk, another ~35/wk, a 3rd 15 but excluding cooking and preparation time; dependents are part of the calculatio, '…on evidence largely from these two groups [the Bushmen and the native Australians]. Even though the book can be taken as a polemic against all economic and philosophical myths of human nature, Stone Age Economics has a charming grace to it. Contributions to historical anthropology [ edit ] After the publication of Culture and Practical Reason in 1976, his focus shifted to the relation between history and anthropology , and the way different cultures understand and make history. "Sahlins’ forays into economic anthropology are full of interest." As Marshall Sahlins stated in the first edition, "It has been inspired by the possibility of 'anthropological economics,' a perspective indebted rather to the nature of the primitive economies than to the categories of a bourgeois science."