The good life : aspiration, dignity, and the anthropology of wellbeing

278 Pages·2014·13.83 MB·English

by  Fischer

the good life

edward f. fischer
The Good Life
Aspiration, Dignity, and the Anthropology of Wellbeing
stanford university press
stanford, california
Stanford University Press
Stanford, California
©2014 by the Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University.
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system without the prior written permis-
sion of Stanford University Press.
Printed in the United States of America on acid-free, archival-quality paper
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Fischer, Edward F., 1966- author.
The good life : aspiration, dignity, and the anthropology of wellbeing /
Edward F. Fischer.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-8047-9096-3 (cloth : alk. paper) —
isbn 978-0-8047-9253-0 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Well-being—Cross-cultural studies. 2. Quality of life—Cross-cultural
studies. 3. Economic anthropology—Cross-cultural studies. I. Title.
hn25.f57 2014
306—dc23
isbn 978-0-8047-9261-5 (electronic)
Typeset by Bruce Lundquist in 10/14 Janson
For Mareike, Johannes, and Rebecca

Contents
Preface ix
Introduction: The Good Life: Values, Markets, and Wellbeing 1
part i: german eggs, cars, and values
1. Values and Prices: The Case of German Eggs 23
2. Word, Deed, and Preferences 43
3. Moral Provenance and Larger Purposes 67
4. Solidarity, Dignity, and Opportunity 91
part ii: guatemalan coffee, cocaine,
and capabilities
5. Provenance and Values: The Case of Guatemalan Coffee 113
6. Agency, Opportunity, and Frustrated Freedom 143
7. Experiments in Fairness and Dignity 161
8. Narco-Violence, Security, and Development 181
Conclusion: The Good Life and Positive Anthropology 201
Notes 219
Works Cited 229
Index 253
Plates, Figures and Tables 259
Acknowledgments 261

Preface
The genesis of this project, as with so many ethnographic endeavors, began
with a chance encounter: in this instance, a reproachful look from the owner
of a small cinema. I was in Hamburg with my family over the Christmas
holidays, and my 7-year-old son desperately wanted to go see the recently
released Harry Potter movie. We had come to Germany to visit family but
also to take a breather from the frenetic commercial pace of stateside holi-
days. Still, Johannes had cheerfully attended all of the gemütliche feasts and
gatherings, and so we felt that we could hardly deny him such a simple, easy
pleasure. Thus, on the zweiten Weihnachtstag (the second day of Christmas,
December 26, a public holiday), we looked up the schedule in the news paper
and discovered that a neighborhood cinema had a showing at 5:30 that eve-
ning. With good German punctuality, and led by my good German wife, we
arrived a few minutes after 5:00, only to find a long line already stretching
from the ticket window. We took our place at the end of the queue and ar-
rived at the window just in time to buy three of the four remaining tickets,
much to the dismay of the family behind us.* As the woman counted our
* The little cinema neatly captures some stereotypical German traits: an usher takes
one to assigned seats; there is a shelf for drinks and snacks; of course, beer is sold at
the concession stand. The Harry Potter movie was subtitled, although most foreign
fare on television and at the movies is dubbed, and the German dubbing industry is re-
nowned. Some dubbing voice performers have become wellknown celebrities in their
own right, complete with fan clubs. The dubbers work to make the German fit the
mouth movements of the English or Swedish or Russian or whatever language is being
spoken. A long way from the kung fu movies I watched as a kid, it is difficult to tell that
the best German work is dubbed at all—you look closely to catch the occasional gap
between what you see and what you hear. It is a minor point of national pride.
ix