Economic anthropology : the economic life of primitive peoples

599 Pages·1965·25.89 MB·English

by  Melville J Herskovits

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ECONOMIC
ANTHROPOLOGY
A
Study in Comparative Economics
Originally published in 1940as
THE ECONOMIC LIFE OF PRIMITIVE PFOPLES
B Y
MELVILLE HERSKOVITS
J.
1952
NEW YORK: ALFRED KNOPF
A.
V
5; 11IIS IS A ROR/OI BOOK
>fe PITRLISIlt|) B\ AIFRH) A. KNOIPF, INC. ^
Copyright 1910, 1952 by Melville J. Herskovtts. All rights reserved. No
part of this book in excess of five hundred words may be reproduced in
any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by
a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a
magazine or newspaper. Manufactured in the United States of America.
Published simultaneously in Canada by McClelland & Stewart Limited.
Originally published in 19-JO as THE ECONOMIC LIFEOF PRIMIIIVK PEOPLES.
Second edition, revised, enlarged, rewritten, reset, and printed from
new
plates.
ECONOMIC: ANTHROPOLOGY
PREFACE
THIS BOOK, a thorough revision of The Economic Life ofPrimitive
Peoples, is an introduction to comparative economics, in the
broadest sense of the term. It would have been desirable so to
entitle it, had not economic science already assigned to this
designation the more restricted field of the comparison of free
enterprise with communist and fascist economies. The present
title, which stems from a suggestion put forward in 1927 by
N. S. B. Gras, seemed a feasible alternative, especially since the
term "economic anthropology" has slowly been finding a place
in the relevant anthropological literature. It is to be hoped that
it will gain currency among economists to define an aspect of
their discipline whose significance is receiving increasing recog-
nition from them.
The change in title represents a reorientation in point of view
that goes far beyond the question of mere terminology. Ten
years ago, the word "primitive" came easily to the lips. It is only
with the rapid development of communications of the past
decade, and the growing integration of peoples of the most
diverse cultures into the world scene, that the essentially pejora-
tive and tendentious character of this designation, like others
such as "savage," "backward," or "early," when applied to any
functioning way of life, became apparent. This is not the place
to analyze the cultural or psychological problems of the emergent
nationalisms found in expanding and newly literate communities
of Africa and Asia and of other non-machine societies. Yet when
their story is told, the role played by the reaction of their leaders
against designations of this order will be found to be a major
PREFACE
VI
factor in the latent or explicit hostilities of which these move-
ments are in many cases the expression.
The word "primitive" is open to objection, further, because it
is incapable of precise definition. The presence or absence of a
written language, of power machinery, of least common de-
nominators of value these are objectively ascertainable facts
that have bearing on the study of many problems where cultures
of differing historical backgrounds, institutional organization, and
psychological orientations are to be compared. They are of
relevance where economic behavior and mechanisms
particular
are under consideration, and in this context exemplify strikingly
their desirability as criteria of comparison when contrasted to the
essential lack of preciseness of the earlier, more inclusive desig-
nation
"primitive."
The fact that this revision has necessitated what in many
cases amounts to a re-writing of the original work reflects in a
very real sense the developments in the study of the economics
of nonliterate, non-industrial, and non-pecuniary societies that
have taken place since 1940, when the earlier volume was pub-
lished. The neglect by earlier anthropologists of the economic
aspects of the cultures they studied no longer exists. Under
present conventions of field-work, no anthropologist of com-
petence takes as synonymous the technology of a people with
their economics, or considers it sufficient it he only studies the
canons of ownership, where problems of differentials in wealth
and position are his concern. The change is shown by the differ-
ence in length and treatment of many topics in this volume and
in its predecessor. The earlier single chapter on labor has had
to be expanded into two, one on work-patterns, the other on the
rewards of labor. Consumption norms now require separate
treatment. Elsewhere, the new data amplify presentations and
make it possible to clarify the implications of points that could
only be sketched a decade ago.
The expansion and revision of the first section, which deals
with theoretical and historical aspects of our subject, is likewise
the result of this development, though it concomitantly repre-
sents a growing interest in the subject-matter on the part of econ-
omists. It is true that much of this interest, expressed in con-
versations, has not as yet yielded substantial published results;
but it is apparent that the interest is there, and that systematic
PREFACE
Vll
exploitation of the data by economists is only a matter of time.
I have made it a point to discuss with economists of widely
differing orientations problems of mutual concern treated in this
book, and have found a receptivity and understanding that could
not have been predicted ten years ago.
There will perhaps be those who will seek in these pages some
treatment of the effects of contact with the economies of Europe
and America on the systems with which we are concerned. This
is an aspect of the contemporary scene which is focal to the
problem of world adjustment. Too often, however, those who
must deal with situations of this order assume that the changes
that are concurring must be uni-directional, that the simplicity of
the "primitive" systems on which the industrialized order is
impinging makes the problem one of imposition rather than of
interplay. To the extent this is the case, this book may contribute
to the understanding of the historical forces at play by bringing
to those having to do with problems arising out of the spread of
Euroamerican technology and industrialization throughout the
non-industrial world a realization of the background against
which these innovations must be projected, if a workable adjust-
ment is to be achieved. But these situations of contact, or the
processes involved in them, are not within the terms of reference
of this particular work. It is rather my aim to give the reader a
sense of the variation that marks the manner in which all men
achieve those aims of the application of scarce means to given
ends that can only result from an overview of the various systems
that mankind has devised to accomplish this fundamental re-
quirement of human civilization.
The purpose of this book thus remains what it was when first
written to provide information concerning the economic life of
nonliterate peoples, to consider some of the questions in eco-
nomic science that can be examined by the use of these data, and
to suggest lines of attack which may be profitably defined for
future use. In the main, I have tried to follow the conventional
categories of economics and to indicate the points at which the
economies with which we are concerned diverge so sharply from
our own that it is not possible to follow these conventions. I have
kept to a minimum the specialized technical terms of both an-
thropology and economics, so that what is written may be ac-
cessible to all whose interest lies in the dynamics of culture and
PREFACE
Vlll
the variety of forms in which comparable institutions of differing
ways of life can be cast.
In documenting my discussion, I have used examples from my
own field research sparingly, sacrificing at times the special in-
sight that first-hand knowledge of a culture affords in enlarging
on a point, in orderto use pertinentmaterials from other societies.
The history of social science is replete with examples of students
who have not learned the lesson of scientific method, that valid
generalization must rest on a broad base of factual materials. On
the other hand, I have not gone to the lengths of some of the
older writers of the comparative school, such as Frazer, or
Westermarck, or Sumner, who saw to it that every possible in-
stance bearing on a given point was included in their discussions.
For this, we have learned, means that while the reader ranges
widely, he is left without any sense of cultural depth and co-
hesiveness. It has seemed to me to be more advantageous to cite
fewer cases, and to present these more fully, than the tradition
ofthe comparative method as classically practiced would dictate.
I have therefore turned in the main to those contributions
wherein economic life is adequately treated in preference to
those where economic facts enter incidentally, to works repre-
senting the use of modern field techniques rather than to the
older sources; and I have favored the use of less well-known
data over those few instances of economic processes and institu-
tions, like the potlatch, which have been cited so often that they
need only to be referred to in order to call them to mind.
I may express again my indebtedness to the John Simon
Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and to Northwestern Uni-
versity for the support that made it possible for me to write the
original study, and to Northwestern University for funds that
aided me in preparing the manuscript of the present work for the
press. I may likewise repeat my thanks to those institutions,
colleagues, and friends whose advice and assistance were so
valuable in helping me write the earlier book. In addition I
should like to acknowledge the stimulating suggestions of those,
like Professor K. F. Walker of Adelaide University, Australia,
whose perceptive and detailed reviews of that work I have found
To those others who have read and commented on
helpful. parts
of this re-writing in manuscript I likewise extend my thanks
Professors Yale Brozen, Frank Fetter, Jules Henry, Elmo Hoh-
PREFACE IX
man, Dr. Helen Hohman, Mr. Edward E. LeClair, Dr. Karl
Jr.,
de Schweinitz, Professors Sol Tax and Harold Williamson.
Jr.,
Finally, I take pleasure in expressing my appreciation to my
friend, Professor Frank II. Knight, for his willingness to allow me
to reprint his analysis of my original presentation which, with
my reply, will be found in the Appendix.
MELVILLE HERSKOVITS
J.
Evanston, Illinois