The document discusses key concepts from anthropological studies of economic organization and exchange, including Malinowski's work, gift exchange practices like the kula ring and hxaro exchange, and comparisons between patron-client networks and bureaucratic systems of organization. It addresses how exchange serves social and cultural functions beyond just meeting basic needs. Exchange relationships are shown to be mediated by cultural beliefs and norms rather than just rational principles of supply and demand. Money and commodities are discussed as cultural "fetishes" that can obscure the underlying social relationships they represent.

1. SC2218: Anthropology and the Human Condition Lecture 7: Economic Organization and Exchange Eric C. Thompson Semester 1, 2008/2009 MONEY

9. The Kula Ring: Lesson in Complexity If I live here I trade necklaces to get armshells from these people I trade armshells to get necklaces from these people We all know the rules; But none of us may understand the system!

11. Patron-Client Networks and Rational Bureaucracies Comparing Two Cultural Systems (A Clash of Cultures)

21. SMART a poem by Shel Silverstein QUARTER (25 cents) DIME (10 cents) NICKEL (5 cents) PENNY (1 cent)

22. SMART! My dad gave me one dollar bill ‘ Cause I’m his smartest son, And I swapped it for two shiny quarters ‘ Cause two is more than one!

23. SMART! And then I took the quarters And traded them to Lou For three dimes – I guess he don’t know That three is more than two!

24. SMART! Just then, along came old blind Bates And just ‘cause he can’t see He gave me four nickels for my three dimes, And four is more than three!

25. SMART! And I took the nickels to Hiram Coombs Down at the seed-feed store, And the fool gave me five pennies for them, And five is more than four!

26. SMART! And then I went and showed my dad, And he got red in the cheeks And closed his eyes and shook his head - - Too proud of me to speak!

27. Culture, Class Relations & Commodity Fetishism