Using Anthropological Concepts and Ethnographic Studies Covered in the Course, Discuss How Various Forms of Exchanges and Wealth Transfers Create Social Bonds Between People

APL 220 |

Using anthropological concepts and ethnographic studies covered in the course, discuss how various forms of exchanges and wealth transfers create social bonds between people

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Word count: 2267 |

Sinead McCurrie 14197384

10-16-2015

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The following essay discusses how various forms of exchanges and wealth transfers, using anthropological concepts and case studies, create social bonds between people. Types of exchanges will be looked at to see their effect on the transfers of wealth provided for by the case studies and how this creates different types of social bonds between people. The essay focuses on exchange through different forms and concepts according to different kinds of kin.

The first thing that will be discussed are the case studies and the concepts found within the case studies that allow for us to answer the essay question. The case studies that are focused on are: kinship, gender, and household, gift exchange and commodity exchange, gifts and social ties, wealth transfers, money and alliances, an ethnographic case study on the Tiv’s spheres of exchange and another ethnographic study on the Bovine Mystique. These case studies contain exchange in the form of gifts, commodities, different spheres and wealth exchanges in different examples which influence the creation of social bonds between people involved.

There are 3 ways to look at the economy that cover all aspects of it: exchange, production and consumption. Due to the fact that this essay is fixed on the creation of social bonds, the area that is focused on is exchange because it allows the most amount of interaction between people which allows for the creation of social bonds.

Exchange can take place in many different ways involving many different people every day, however two types of exchange will be focused on for this essay: market exchange and gift exchange. An extract from Erikson helps define these two types of exchange, he says that “a capitalist economy...