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Trade and Trade-Offs

Using Resources, Making Choices, and Taking Risks

M. Estellie Smith

What do globalization, the abortion debate, and the decision one makes about what to do about dinner have in common? This and other questions that arise from the necessity of individuals and groups to deal with the who, what, where, when and how of production, distribution, and consumption are addressed in this provocative and witty publication. Streetwise and jaded undergraduates will end up taking a fresh look at their everyday lives and the larger world they will someday manage. Casting aside the idea that “economic” deals only with things that can be measured with money, Smith encourages people to think not just about dollars but also about sense. The emphasis is on the sociocultural costs and benefits involved in making choices.

Readers are challenged to rethink many of the usual ways of understanding such everyday concepts as property, capital, poverty and affluence, distribution and exchange, power and authority, rights and privileges versus duties and responsibilities, and even such issues as surplus and waste. Thoughtful people everywhere are asking whether future generations will bask in the sun of such technological innovations as the Internet, cloning and genetic modification, and medical breakthroughs—or live in the shadows cast by these same changes. One of the most important themes addressed is a range of ethical questions, not the least of which is how, when, and to whom future costs and benefits will be distributed.

$21.95 list, 250 pages

10-digit ISBN: 1-57766-092-7

13-digit ISBN: 978-1-57766-092-7

© 2000

“A whole new period in economic anthropology will spring from this book. It is an indication of what anthropology might do to tame the revolutionary changes of the modern world.”  — Paul Bohannan

“I love the book and the very realistic approach to the many genuine trade offs involved when making decisions about resource allocations and business choices. A direct and meaningful approach to risk taking.”  — Robin Taylor, Appalachian State University

“This book approaches economic anthropology from a very practical perspective that many people can easily relate to. The students will love it. Great job!”  — Michael C. Reinschmidt, California State University, Chico

“I like the examples and find the work an important contribution to the field.”  — Celeste Ray, University of the South

“Rather than trying to ape and simplify economics texts while directing the discussion toward non-Western peoples, it deals with those aspects of economizing that the economists—for their own reasons—have generally chosen to ignore.”  — Malcom C. Webb, University of New Orleans

“Trade and Trade-Offs is written in a . . . conversational style. This style has certain advantages. The book is readable and includes numerous intriguing, accessible examples of choice that are discussed in a straightforward way. Smith’s analyses of particular decision-making situations are almost always sensible and sometimes strikingly insightful.” —American Anthropologist

Table of Contents

1. It’s All a Matter of Choice: Economic Anthropology and Today’s World

2. It’s a Great Place to Visit, but I Wouldn’t Want to Live There

3. Economic Laws and Sociocultural Truths

4. Production: Is It the Chicken or the Egg?

5. Innovation, Entrepreneurs, and Risk

6. Distribution and Exchange: Property as the Missing Link

7. Exchange and Distribution: Routes of All Evil?

8. Consumption: Give Us This Day Our Daily Bread

9. Surplus and Waste: An Embarrassment of Riches

10. Comes the Revolution—Again

Glossary

Annotated Bibliography