affluence

afterology

balanced reciprocity

big man

chiefdom

culture

cunning of culture

develop-man

domestic mode of production

event

general evolution

general reciprocity

generalized reciprocity

human nature

indiginization of modernity

kinship

leadership

moka

negative reciprocity

original affluent society

poverty

reciprocity

social evolution

societies of abundance

sociobiology

stone age economics

structural amplification

structure

symbol

symmetrical reciprocity

tradition

tribe

tribesman

zen society

nationality

American

occupation / innovator as

anthropologist

university professor

University of Chicago

innovator in the field of

economic

historical anthropology

history

structure and agency

pedagogue

scientist

university teacher

scientific organization

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

National Academy of Sciences

anthropology

symbolic anthropology

Stone Age Economics

Culture and Practical Reason

Historical Metaphors and Mythical Realities

is the condition in which all the people's material wants are easily satisfied either by producing much or by desiring little.

Sahlins defines affluence as a condition 'in which all the people's material wants are easily satisfied.' . . . 'There are after all two roads to satisfaction, to reducing the gap between means and ends: producing much or desiring little' (Sahlins 1971: 49)

is a paralyzing fear of structure, which manifests in such things as post-modernism and postcolonialism.

adopted from Jacqueline Mraz to describe . . .Sahlins refers to a 'paralysing fear of structure'. . . .At the turn of the twenty-first century, Marshall D. Sahlins diagnosed the discipline of anthropology as suffering from a 'paralysing fear of structure' (Sahlins 1999:399). Various forms of 'afterology' (postmodernism, postcolonialism, etc.), he states, assume morally appropriate attitudes with respect to colonialism or racism, for example, but instead of facilitating the understanding of other cultures would rather make 'cultural logics disappear' (ibid.: 406). (Peter Berger Zeitschrift für Ethnologie 134 (2009) 1-27 / 2009 Dietrich Reimer Verlag) . . . [Sahlins, Marshall D. 1999: Two or three things that I know about culture. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 5 (3): 399 421]

is an exchange in which the debt is quickly discharged.

exchanges in which the debt is quickly discharged, and in which the norm is near equivalence of value of the objects given. It does not create much of a relationship, since whatever debt might have been incurred is immediately cancelled out. In the terminology of Sahlins (1972: 195), it is less personal and more economic' (Dangerous Gifts: Gender and Exchange in Ancient Greece By Deborah Lyons)

is concerned with the understanding that things will balance eventually.

is a hierarchy of command with the chief functioning as a true authority, an integrating force.

Sahlins defines the nature of chiefdom as a hierarchy of command with the chief functioning as a true authority, an integrating force (Sahlins 1968 pp. 26, 27).

is the total and distinctive way of life of a people or a society.

the total and distinctive way of life of a people or a society' (1995 unesco). . .

is the way that markets are not merely rational, but also shaped by local histories, politics, and cultural systems that add meaning, significance, and value to the process.

Playing with Hegel a bit, Sahlins writes that the 'cunning of culture' thus mediates the invisible hand of the market economy. Modern economic rationality is transformed by a different cultural rationality that can show itself in extravagant traditional ceremonies replete with all manner of Western goods ranging from rolls of cloth to bags of rice, basins of canned goods, cases of beer, adn money trees. Local culture, then, displays itself on an exaggerated, more materially and symbolically enriched scale... what development specialist or economist might call 'waste' or 'backwardness' is actually a form of cultural enhancement determined by local values and logic. Such an interpretation is not to deny the more pragmatic or utilitarian aspects of consumption: people do seek advantage, utility, and satisfaction in their commerce. These transactions, however, cannot be wholly or simply measured in terms of dollars and cents or judged apart from the local histories, politics, and cultural systems that add meaning, significance, and value to the process'

is a local pacific variant to development, meaning both the material and social enrichment of local lifestyles.

a local Pacific variant to development, meaning both the material and social enrichment of local lifestyles. Sahlins defines the term 'develop-man' as capturing the spirit behind indigenous ways of coping with capitalism. Pacific peoples are neither awed nor overwhelmed by external systems beyond their control. Their response is rather to appropriate. Such pragmatic behavior lies at the heart of every cultural scheme known to history. The impulse of local people in the Pacific and elsewhere, writes Sahlins, is not to become like us, but to become more like themselves. Living in cultural systems still concerned with the relationships of kith and kin, Pacific peoples employ Western goods to aid in the fulfillment of the obligations these social arrangements entail' (Remaking Micronesia: Discourses Over Development in a Pacific Territory . . . By David L. Hanlon)

is a mode of production where the household is the dominant unit of production and exchange.

where the household is the dominant unit of production and exchange). . . 'Three characteristics: a small labor force with a gender division of labor in place, simple technology, and finite objectives of production. He also contends that this emphasis on immediate use fosters inertia and production levels below the theoretical capacity of society' (Wage Labor and Guilds in Medieval Europe By Steven A. Epstein)

is a moment in which symbolic, political, and economic planes converge.

a moment in which symbolic, political, and economic planes converge

is defined as the tendency of social systems to increase in complexity and adaptiveness. Specific evolution is defined as ways of adapting to elements introduced to the system via diffusion.

General evolution is the tendency of cultural and social systems to increase in complexity, organization and adaptiveness to environment. However, as the various cultures are not isolated, there is interaction and a diffusion of their qualities (like technological inventions). This leads cultures to develop in different ways (specific evolution), as various elements are introduced to them in different combinations and on different stages of evolution.' (wiki)

is uninhibited sharing or giving without expecting anything in return -one gets the satisfaction of giving.

Marshall Sahlins, a well known American cultural anthropologist, identified three main types of reciprocity in his book Stone Age Economics (1972).[1] (wikipedia) (1) uninhibited sharing or giving without expecting anything in return -one gets the satisfaction of giving. (2) giving where someone expects a fair and tangible return at some point. (wikipedia). (3) barter : a person expects to get paid back immediately (wikipedia)

is concerned with pure altruism such as that between a parent and child where there is no expectation of return.

(1) pure altruism, no expectation of return, parent/child

is reciprocity in which partners give without the expectation of immediate or equal return.

partners give without the expectation of immediate or equal return'.

is reciprocity in which transactions are putatively altruistic, transactions on the line of assistance given and, if possible and necessary, assistance returned.

transactions that are putatively altruistic, transactions on the line of assistance given and, if possible and necessary, assistance returned' (1965: 147)

is, in fact, mostly just the inclinations of (bourgeois) adult males.

human nature mostly consist of the inclinations of (bourgeois) adult males' (Sahlins 44)

is not a long-standing problem which has always confronted humans. Rather it is a discourse which is the recent product of capitalist ideologies in western society.

He argues against the idea that 'human nature' (specifically the Western concept of it) is something that has been nurtured and formed since the dawn of man (and the idea that all humans inherently succumb to the 'bad' side of this nature) but is rather the product of a mainly capitalist (see: Western) society. Specifically Sahlins critiques Hobbes' ideas, calling his 'narrative of the development from the natural to the political state in Leviathan an origin myth of capitalist mentality.' (Sahlins 12.)

is the idea that while we must admit that politically weak societies are changed by stronger ones, they also creatively use what power they have to interpret, adapt and even subvert these pressures.

Sahlins 1993: 21) Sahlins sought to suggest that we should accept that economically and politically weak societies facing outside pressures are no doubt changed by these, but they also creatively use what power they have to interpret, adapt and even subvert these pressures (Sahlins 2005... Babadzan 2009... Engel Merry 2006 and Michelutti 2007 on 'vernacularization of modernity'). (michaud on net)

is a mutuality of being, meaning that kinfolk are members of one another, intrinsic to each other's identity and existence such that 'kinfolk live each other's lives and die each other's deaths'.

mutuality of being, meaning that kinfolk are members of one another, intrinsic to each other's identity and existence. Symbolically and emotionally,' Sahlins says, 'kinfolk live each other's lives and die each other's deaths.' Ideas like these hardly serve counterinsurgency.

is concerned with 'mutual persons', that is people that are intrinsic to one another's existence insofar as 'we are made up of many other people'.

people that are intrinsic to one another's existence, thus mutual persons'. 'We are made up of many other people ( ancestors, people that surround us in our community influence the person that we are and vise-versa)-refers to inter-subjectivity of belonging: shared experiences surpass shared concepts -culture is both natural and socially constructed. Persons who are members of one another, who participate intrinsically in each other's existence. Relatives 'live each other's lives and die each other's deaths'. Mutual persons, intersubjective belonging whether by procreation, social construction, or some combination of these.

Marshall Sahlins

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Marshall Sahlins