121-065 Working with Value

This subject examines the diverse ways people have gone about 'making a living', and the ways anthropologists have sought to explain them. The focus is on the social relations involved in production and reproduction of material life, and on the importance of culture and environment in the construction and transformation of those relationships. Ethnographic examples from systems of different complexity are used to explore the diverse ways in which production, consumption and exchange may be organised and understood, and the ways these domains are articulated. Students should not only become familiar with local economies, but with the emergence of a global economy and the ways it is transforming local and regional logics.

• have practice in conducting research and speaking articulately;

• have practice in writing clearly in a variety of formats and reading with attention to detail;

• have experience of systematically evaluating a body of empirical data and identifying its theoretical context;

• have experience of methods of critical inquiry and argument leading to improved analytical skills;

• have acquired awareness of issues relating to cross-cultural communication.

A 750 word class paper 20% (due mid-semester) a tutorial presentation and 500 word paper 20% (due during semester) and a 2500 word essay 60% (due at the end of semester). A hurdle requirement of participation in 8 of 10 tutorial (ie 80% of tutorials).

A subject reader will be available from the Bookroom at the beginning of semester