Anthropology

People, Culture and the Global Economy

Module code: L6070E
Level 4
15 credits in spring semester
Teaching method: Lecture, Seminar
Assessment modes: Essay

On this module, you will learn how social anthropologists have conceptualised, researched, and generated new understandings of the human activities that
comprise economic life.

Studying economic life anthropologically requires us to rethink such concepts as work and leisure, poverty and wealth, gifts and commodities, money and markets, and the term 'economy' itself. Economic anthropology enables us to critique the universalism of mainstream economics through which capitalism has become naturalised.

Using in-depth case studies, we reflect upon humans' material needs on finite planet, considering environments, non-human beings, and care for others as integral parts of economic life.

Module learning outcomes

• Demonstrate understanding of how social anthropologists research and theorise economic life
• Demonstrate the ability to critically read, assess, and write about ethnographic case studies.
• Demonstrate knowledge of how to apply anthropological theory to the study of production, consumption, exchange, or human labour
• Apply anthropological theory to different historical and cultural contexts.