cunning of culture

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'

cunning of culture, n.All

cunning of culture