Postgraduate Course: Consumption, Exchange, Technology: The Anthropology of Economic Processes (PGSP11176)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Course type | Standard |
Availability | Available to all students |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Credits | 20 |
| Home subject area | Postgrad (School of Social and Political Studies) |
Other subject area | None |
| Course website |
None |
Taught in Gaelic? | No |
| Course description | The course discusses how goods are produced, circulated and consumed, and how these three fundamental processes of social life and reproduction are mediated by technology. Classically, economic anthropologists focused on how such activities were organised in small-scale societies or in colonial territories; often production and exchange, with their associated technologies, were highlighted while consumption received less attention. Today the impact of globalisation, the rise of the digital society, and the overflowing material abundance that characterises life in the advanced economies and aspirations elsewhere, have led many social theorists to focus on consumption and communication as the key factors determining how people experience power, identity, connections and conflicts. We study a range of case studies and theoretical essays, evaluating the strengths, weaknesses and applicability of different approaches. |
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | None |
| Additional Costs | None |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus? | Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Delivery period: 2013/14 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Learn enabled: Yes |
Quota: None |
|
Web Timetable |
Web Timetable |
| Course Start Date |
13/01/2014 |
| Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 20,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
176 )
|
| Additional Notes |
|
| Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) |
Written Exam
0 %,
Coursework
100 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| No Exam Information |
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
| By the end of the course students should have a general understanding of classical and contemporary anthropological approaches to economic processes in non-industrialised, industrialised and 'post-industrial' contexts. Critical analysis and discussion of case studies and theoretical essays will build anthropological skills in evaluating the strengths, weaknesses and applicability of different approaches. |
Assessment Information
| This course will be assessed by a long essay (word-limit: 4,000) |
Special Arrangements
| None |
Additional Information
| Academic description |
Not entered |
| Syllabus |
Week 1 Introduction to Economic Anthropology
Week 2 Money
Week 3 Gifts
Week 4 Gender and Technology
Week 5 Consumption
Week 6 [Reading week]
Week 7 Global Capitalism
Week 8 Internet
Week 9 Corporate Greed
Week 10 Body Commodification
Week 11 Biotechnology & Time |
| Transferable skills |
Not entered |
| Reading list |
Mauss, Marcel (1925) The Gift: The Form and Reason for Exchange in Archaic Societies. London: Routledge.
Miller, Daniel (1998) "Making Love in the Supermarket." In A Theory of Shopping. Cambridge: Polity.
Wilson, Samuel M. and Leighton C. Peterson (2002) "The Anthropology of Online Communities." Annual Review of Anthropology 31: 449-67.
Mellstrom, Ulf (2004) "Machines and masculine subjectivity: technology as an integral part of men's life experience", Men & Masculinities 6: 362-82.
Romain, Tiffany (2010) "Extreme Life Extension: Investing in Cryonics for the Long, Long Term." Medical Anthropology 29, 2: 194-215.
Copeman, Jacob (2005) "Veinglory: Exploring processes of blood transfer between persons." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 11: 465-485.
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| Study Abroad |
Not entered |
| Study Pattern |
The course involves one two-hour session a week for the whole class, together with small group support teaching in separate one-hour sessions just for MSc students. The 'small group' support teaching (tutorials) will normally be concerned with one or more readings that illustrate, underpin or extend issues raised in the main sessions. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Dr Jacob Copeman
Tel: (0131 6)50 6860
Email: jacob.copeman@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Mr Fraser Maxwell
Tel: (0131 6)51 5066
Email: Fraser.Maxwell@ed.ac.uk |
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© Copyright 2013 The University of Edinburgh - 13 January 2014 4:55 am
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