CHAPTER 5 MAKING A LIVING CHAPTER OBJECTIVES 1 Know what distinguishes an adaptive strategy and identify the five adaptive strategies in Cohen s typology of societies How does Cohen link economy and social features Adaptive Strategy Horticulture Agriculture describes a society s system of economic doesn t use land or labor intensively they cultivate a hunting and gathering the only human adaptive strategy production societies are similar because of their correlations between their economies and their social features societies that have foraging strategies are very similar to one another Foraging until the advent of food production farming and herding 10 000 years ago food production eventually replaced foraging in most places and now almost all foragers have some dependence on food production or food producers plot for one or two years and then abandon it there s always a fallow period farm the same plot of land continuously and use labor intensively they either use one or more of the following irrigation terracing domesticated animals as means of production or manuring transhumant pastoral population cultivates while another part takes the herds to pasture the New World lacks native pastoralists Industrialism of production distribution and consumption In nonindustrial societies a kin based mode of production prevails One acquires rights to resources and labor through membership in social groups not impersonally through purchase and sale Work is just one aspect of social relations expressed in varied contexts economic anthro is the cross cultural study of systems nomadic pastoralists trade with cultivators part of a Pastoral 2 Understand what foraging horticulture and agriculture entail and know the predominant social features often correlated with these adaptive strategies in Cohen s typology and in particular ethnographic studies Be familiar with the features of agriculture that distinguish it from horticulture refer to question 4 3 Know what pastoralism entails distinguish between pastoral nomadism and transhumance and be able to discuss the social features typically found in pastoral societies Pastoralism herders whose activities focus on domesticated animals such as sheep cattle goats camels yak and reindeer they attempt to protect their animals and to ensure their reproduction in return for food and other products such as leather herds provide dairy products and meat they use their herds for food they consume their meat blood and milk however they also supplement their diet by hunting gathering fishing cultivating and trading move with the animals throughout the year the entire group women men and children Pastoral Nomadism i Example the Basseri and the Qashqai of Iran traditionally followed a nomadic route more than 300 miles long part of the group moves with the herds but most Transhumance people stay in the home village i Example among the Turkana of Uganda men and boys accompany the herds to distant pastures while the majority of the village stays put and does horticultural farming Pastoral Nomads trade for crops and other products with more sedentary people during their annual trek while transhumants don t have to trade for crops because they can maintain year round villages and grow their own crops 4 Consider how contemporary foragers horticulturalists agriculturalists and pastoralists live in nation states and potentially engage in several different adaptive strategies and or forms of labor Horticulturalists don t use any of the factors of production land labor capital and machinery but simply use tools such as hoes and digging sticks to grow their crops They use slash and burn techniques clear land by cutting down and burning forest or bush or setting fire to the grass covering the plot this breaks down vegetation kills pests and the ashes fertilize the soil Horticulture is also known as shifting cultivation because they abandon a plot clear another piece of land until the original plot reverts to forest then they farm that plot again They shift their plots not their settlements Agriculturalists require more labor than horticulturalists They use animals as means of production for transport as cultivating machines and for their manure They can schedule their planting in advance because they control water they water their fields with canals from rivers streams springs and ponds Agriculturalists also use a technique called terracing where they farm on the hills cut into the hillsides and build stage after stage of terraced fields rising above the valley floor Agricultural fields don t necessarily produce a higher yield than a horticultural plot Agricultural advantage is that the long term yield per area is far greater and more dependable Pastoralists focus on domesticated animals cattle sheep goats camels yak reindeer see number 3 for further info 5 Distinguish between modes and means of production and understand how industrialism leads to the alienation of a worker from his or her tools and the product of his or her labor Means of production include land territory labor and technology Land bands had territories but the boundaries aren t marked and there was no way for them to be enforced A person acquired the rights to use a band s territory by being born into the band or by joining it through a tie of kinship marriage or fictive kinship Labor in nonindustrial societies access to both land and labor come through social links kinship marriage descent Technology manufacturing is linked to age and gender people of a particular age and gender share the technological knowledge associated with that age and gender if married women customarily make baskets then most married women know how to make baskets Technology technical knowledge are very specialized Some tribal societies do promote specialization though craft specialization is a reflection of the social and political environment rather than the natural Industrialism Alienation when factory workers produce for their employer s profit they may be alienated from the items they make they don t feel strong pride in or personal identification with their products their products belong to someone other than the person whose labor actually produced it Nonindustrial workers are usually kin or in laws while industrial workers don t know each other will usually become friends after being coworkers for some time This makes industrial workers have impersonal relations with their products coworkers employers they sell their labor