Deck 9: Technology and Economies

Question 1

Both Adam Smith and Karl Marx argued that market exchange and competition would lead to lower prices, higher profits, and increased prosperity for all segments of society.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

A form of exchange in which the time of repayment and the value of the return are not calculated is called generalized reciprocity.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

The attempt to get something for nothing is called negative reciprocity.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

It has been argued by anthropologists such as Leslie White and Julian Steward that technology, as opposed to values, emotions, or social organization, is the basic and primary source of sociocultural change.

Question 5

Bronislaw Malinowski has argued that economic production and exchange in the Trobriand Islands are closely tied to the social and cultural norms of the kula exchange.

Question 6

Anthropologist Alvin Wolfe has proposed that multinational corporations are beginning to evolve into supranational entities that are more powerful and influential than the nation-state.

Question 7

During a potlatch among the Northwest Coast Indians, the more gifts that were given or destroyed by a chief, the higher his status.

Question 8

Most tribal societies that practiced monetary exchange used what is called limited-purpose money, which can be used to purchase any item or service that is desired.

Question 9

Formalists maintain that the best method for studying any economy is to view it as being embedded in the sociocultural system, including the values, beliefs, and norms of the society.

Question 10

Socialism evolved as a reaction to the considerable economic inequalities that existed in capitalist societies.

Question 11

A market economy is one in which the value of goods is determined by supply and demand.

Question 12

The ownership of land in agricultural states became the primary basis for an individual's socioeconomic status.

Question 13

An oligopoly occurs when a few very large corporations control production in major industries.

Question 14

The predominant form of economic exchange found in chiefdoms is redistribution.

Question 15

Capitalism is an economic system in which natural resources and the means of producing and distributing goods and services are privately owned and controlled.

Question 16

Reciprocity occurs only in egalitarian, non-stratified societies.

Question 17

The mobility of the pastoralist lifestyle required them to develop elaborate technologies for transporting and taking care of domesticated animals.

Question 18

All forager groups have a concept of private land ownership that is similar to that found in Western societies.

Question 19

Despite the domination of the peasantry by the state or landlords, the peasantry often adapted at the level of the village or community by cooperating in the production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of goods, thus assuring that individual families did not become destitute.

Question 20

Property rights in tribal societies are usually invested in family and other kinship groupings.

Question 21

It has been suggested that in forager societies the more concentrated and predictable the resources, __________.

A) the less likely that the group will be egalitarian in nature
B) the least amount of reciprocity will occur
C) the more pronounced the conceptions of private ownership and exclusive rights to territories
D) the more likely it will be that negative reciprocity will occur when individuals meet

Question 22

To what does the term "barter" refer?

A) the agreement on a certain price for a specified product
B) a system of unbalanced reciprocity, in which goods of unequal value are exchanged
C) the direct exchange of one commodity for another
D) the redistribution of goods in a marketplace

Question 23

Capitalist societies share three basic ideals. Which of the following is one of these ideals?

A) The elements of production are communally owned.
B) Nations are free to maximize profits and accumulate wealth.
C) Land and resources should be owned and controlled by the state government, while production and services are in the hands of free enterprise.
D) Free competition and consumer independence are basic to all economic activities.

Question 24

Negative reciprocity is most likely to occur between __________.

A) people of the opposite sex
B) people who differ in age and status
C) close kin
D) strangers and enemies

Question 25

The phrase "original affluent society" refers to which of the following?

A) the earliest foragers, who lived in wealthy economic environments
B) the notion that hunter-gatherers spend little time working
C) the ancient Egyptian civilization
D) the concept of the "noble savage"

Question 26

How can food storage directly affect the political economy?

A) Accumulation of surplus within households would result in differences in social status.
B) Storage would reduce the need to be economically productive.
C) It is essential for the survival of foraging societies dependent upon unreliable resources.
D) It makes food a principal commodity in long-distance exchange.

Question 27

Which of the following is a major difference between redistributional and reciprocal economies?

A) Reciprocal economies are more common in societies with inequalities in social status.
B) Redistributional economies tend to make certain individuals wealthier than others.
C) Reciprocal economies always involve the exchange of a recognized form of currency.
D) Only redistributional economies involve transfers of goods among related villagers.

Question 28

The kula is an example of what type of exchange?

A) redistribution
B) balanced reciprocity
C) silent trade
D) market exchange

Question 29

The potlatch feasts of the Northwest Coast societies are usually interpreted as a form of __________.

A) long-distance barter
B) resource conservation
C) ritualized warfare
D) redistributional exchange

Question 30

What is the most likely reason why hunter-gatherer technology is limited to simple tools made of stone, wood, and bone?

A) Foragers lack the basic intelligence necessary to make anything more complex.
B) Foragers are too busy looking for food to spend time on more advanced tools.
C) Foragers have not acquired knowledge of more sophisticated technologies.
D) Foragers rely on knowledge of their environment rather than complex tools.

Question 31

The kula, described by Bronislaw Malinowski in Argonauts of the Western Pacific, refers to which of the following?

A) a type of outrigger canoe, used for long-distance travel by island chiefs
B) a ceremonial dance performed by the indigenous Hawaiians
C) a ritual in which red-shell necklaces were traded for white-shell armbands
D) a sacred beverage whose use was restricted to Tahitian chiefs

Question 32

The principal technology used for obtaining plant foods by tropical foragers is the __________.

A) boomerang
B) blowgun and darts
C) polished stone axe
D) digging stick

Question 33

The __________ of a society consists of the social relationships that organize the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

A) ecology
B) carrying capacity
C) economy
D) technology

Question 34

Which of the following might be interpreted as a modern example of the potlatch?

A) A local politician gives away hundreds of frozen turkeys at a campaign rally.
B) A special interest group pays the salary and expenses of a lobbyist.
C) A former president makes speeches in favor of his party's new candidate.
D) Delegates at a national convention trade buttons and other campaign memorabilia.

Question 35

The !Kung San term hxaro refers to which of the following?

A) a system for circulating material possessions among individuals
B) a complex ritual performed by young boys before their first hunt
C) trade with their agricultural neighbors
D) a type of root obtained in the spring with pointed digging sticks

Question 36

What form of reciprocity is the most common among !Kung San, Mbuti, and Inuit groups?

A) balanced reciprocity
B) generalized reciprocity
C) negative reciprocity
D) unbalanced reciprocity

Question 37

Which of the following would be a common form of generalized reciprocity in Western societies?

A) common acceptance of the value of the dollar
B) communal use of public restrooms
C) a salary increase accompanying a job promotion
D) giving and receiving birthday presents

Question 38

Which of the following is most likely to be interpreted by an archaeologist as evidence for the existence of a chiefdom society?

A) remains from intensive shellfish collecting, fishing, and the hunting of sea mammals
B) agricultural implements such as grinding stones and digging sticks
C) fragments of pottery decorated with intricate designs
D) foundations of a house that is larger than the rest in a given community

Question 39

The substantivist approach in economics differs from the formalist view by __________.

A) suggesting that money is the prime mover in all economic systems
B) focusing on supply and demand economics as opposed to price fixing
C) maintaining that the ways of allocating goods and services in small-scale societies differ fundamentally from those of large-scale Western economic systems
D) assuming that all peoples act to maximize their individual gains

Question 40

The __________ produced the most extensive material culture found among hunting-and-gathering societies.

A) !Kung San
B) Inuit
C) Shoshone
D) Mbuti

Question 41

What is meant by the terms "market economy" and "capitalism"? What are the principal advantages and disadvantages of these systems for the individuals who participate in them?

Question 42

How do property rights differ in agricultural states from those in horticulturalist societies? Support your answer with specific examples.

Question 43

A decentralized form of political economy in which autonomous patrons own the land and demand tribute from those who provide agricultural or other labor is called a(n) __________.

A) landed system
B) peasant state
C) feudal system
D) homage state

Question 44

What are some of the unique characteristics of Japanese industrial corporations? Compare and contrast them to corporations in other areas of the world.

Question 45

Who wrote The Wealth of Nations and is considered the "father of modern economics"?

A) Raymond Scupin
B) Karl Marx
C) Clifford Geertz
D) Adam Smith

Question 46

Which of the following is a pattern of economic exchange based on the supply and demand of goods and services?

A) a market economy
B) a barter system
C) a socialist economy
D) a reciprocal economy

Question 47

Individuals who cultivate land for their basic subsistence while paying tribute to a ruling elite are called __________.

A) slaves
B) peasants
C) laborers
D) journeymen

Question 48

How do the formalist and substantivist approaches understand economic systems? Analyze two cross-cultural economic examples in terms of these approaches.

Question 49

Compare and contrast land use and ownership among nomadic foraging and pastoralist groups. How is access to land determined in these two types of societies? In what ways are they similar? What are some of the differences? How are circumstances changed in today's global economy?

Question 50

What was the role of trade and exchange in chiefdom-level societies? Give some specific examples of how goods were acquired and transferred from one individual to another.

Question 51

Using a specific example, describe what is meant by a multinational corporation. What are the processes by which this multinational corporation can affect the workings of both individual countries and the global economy?

Question 52

Which of the following is a principal criticism of the theory that foragers work fewer hours than agriculturalists?

A) The theory was based on the Western definition of work as the quest for food.
B) It included the labor expended in tool making, cooking, and healing.
C) It was based mostly on archaeological evidence.
D) The theory neglected to take relations of reciprocity into account.

Question 53

How does socialism differ from capitalism? What are the main goals of socialist governments? What are the principal problems faced by socialism in accomplishing its ideals?

Question 54

Karl Marx, in contrast to the views espoused by Adam Smith, __________.

A) argued that a market exchange and competition would bring prosperity and high wages to all segments of society
B) offered a gloomier picture of industrial societies by suggesting that a market economy would bring about misery for millions of people
C) suggested that the best way to have a free, democratic, and prosperous society was for the government to take control of the land, resources, and production
D) felt that forager, horticulturalist, and pastoralist societies could all be transformed into modern market economy states within 10 to 15 years

Question 55

Property rights in horticulturalist and pastoralist societies __________.

A) are usually vested in single, adult males
B) are usually vested in the family and other kinship groups
C) are usually vested in individuals, who then determine who can use the land or resources
D) do not exist because these types of societies are always on the move looking for a new place to live

Question 56

Describe the exchange practices of foraging societies. What factors affected the way exchanges took place? How would you expect these practices to change in response to cultural change?

Question 57

__________ is an economic system in which the state owns the basic means of production.

A) Capitalism
B) Idealism
C) Socialism
D) Futurism

Question 58

Discuss the arguments for and against the idea of the "original affluent society." Do you think foragers were the original affluent society? Why or why not?

Question 59

The sharing of food and labor in a reciprocal manner to provide social and economic security is known as __________.

A) negative reciprocity
B) a moral economy
C) the reciprocal-surplus mode
D) the serf self-sufficiency system

Question 60

Today, the most industrially advanced societies have the vast majority of their people employed in the __________.

A) primary sector, extracting raw materials
B) secondary sector, processing raw materials
C) primary and secondary sectors
D) tertiary sector, providing services