Chapter 7 Test Bank

KNOWLEDGE OF KEY TERMS AND CONCEPTS

Multiple Choice

1. According to anthropologists, what social institution is the structured patterns and relationships through which people exchange goods and services?

a) political systems

b) holistic systems

c) kinship systems

d) economic systems

2. __________ anthropologists study the decisions people make about earning a living, what types of work people choose to do, and the creation of value.

a) Political

b) Economic

c) Biolinguistic

d) Deterministic

3. Which type of money is created and guaranteed by a government, such as the American dollar bill?

a) fiat money

b) commodity money

c) general purpose money

d) sphere money

4. Which economic theory studies how people make decisions to allocate resources like time, labor, and money to maximize their personal satisfaction?

a) neoclassical economics

b) Marxism

c) Substantivism

d) cultural economics

5. The collection of goods in a community and the subsequent redivision of those goods among members of a society is called

a) exchange.

b) production.

c) redistribution.

d) capitalism.

6. The circulation of arm bands and necklaces as part of the Kula ring in the Trobriand islands is an example of __________ reciprocity.

a) delayed

b) negative

c) persistent

d) generalized

7. Which perspective incorporates symbols and morals into the understanding of a society’s economy?

a) neoclassical economics

b) substantivism

c) Marxism

d) cultural economics

8. Economies in which people seek high social rank, prestige, and power instead of money and material wealth are known as

a) capitalist.

b) surplus value.

c) market exchange.

d) prestige economies.

9. The exchange of brass rods for the purchase of cattle or the payment of a bride price is an example of the use of

a) surplus value.

b) general-purpose money.

c) limited-purpose money.

d) exchange value.

10. Gift exchange for Marcel Mauss is based in

a) prestige.

b) profit.

c) obligation.

d) equality.

11. In Malaysia, capitalist entrepreneurship is

a) about economic action.

b) about profit accumulation.

c) usually successful.

d) respectful of Islamic and Malay obligations and values.

12. When you are consuming an object, the process of taking possession of it is called

a) gift exchange.

b) surplus value.

c) appropriation.

d) exchange value.

Fill in the Blank

13. The relative worth of an object or service is its ____________________.

value

14. The cooperative organization of work into specialized tasks and roles is the ____________________.

division of labor

15. The ____________________ is a social institution in which people come together to buy and sell goods.

market

16. ____________________ is the economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, in which prices are set and goods distributed through a market.

Capitalism

17. ____________________ criticized substantivists for lack of attention to individual action and behavior and their focus on investigation into individual economic behavior and rationality.

Formalists

18. People who live through objects and images not of their own making are ____________________.

consumers

True/False

19. Malay entrepreneurs have long been resistant to capitalism and industrialization because they contradict their religious beliefs.

a) True

b) False

20. Economists and economic anthropologists are not that different in the way they study how people get the things they need to survive.

a) True

b) False

21. The use of money is a human universal.

a) True

b) False

22. Exchange is a human universal.

a) True

b) False

23. In the Kula exchange, the prestige lies in receiving armbands and necklaces, not in giving them.

a) True

b) False

COMPREHENSION OF FUNDAMENTAL CONCEPTS

Multiple Choice

24. The main difference between economists and economic anthropologists is that economists

a) try to understand and predict economic patterns.

b) do not assume economic transactions are the same everywhere.

c) tend to look at the day-to-day economic decisions of people.

d) find macrolevel economic transactions irrelevant.

25. Which of the following words is most closely linked to the Marxist perspective?

a) inequality

b) equality

c) rationality

d) relativism

26. Why is Karl Polanyi’s distinction between formal and substantive economics important?

a) It explains why states control economies in Europe.

b) It distinguishes between primitive and capitalist economic systems.

c) It recognizes that economies involve both how people think and the actual transactions they engage in.

d) It laid the groundwork for the rise of Marxist theory in anthropology.

27. The themes of reciprocity and gift exchange are critical to anthropologists because

a) they are economically insignificant in market-based economies.

b) the exchange of gifts is present in all societies.

c) reciprocity is rarely embedded in social relations.

d) they are only found in pristine, untouched societies.

28. A good illustration of the Marxist concept of surplus value is

a) a worker shows up to work late and gets his pay reduced, generating more profit for the owner.

b) a worker makes one $30 sweater every hour in a factory but gets paid only $15.

c) a worker improves her or his efficiency by not taking bathroom breaks.

d) a factory owner prevents labor unions from forming in the factory.

29. From an anthropological point of view, people remove the price tag from gifts and wrap birthday presents because

a) people like surprises.

b) people are anxious about being seen as spending too much on gifts.

c) the paper industry has convinced people it is necessary.

d) people are ambivalent about expressing their connections with others using impersonal goods.

30. The main reason you cannot simply go buy a BA from your institution is that

a) education is a long-term transaction steeped in morality and obligation.

b) the value of a college education is too difficult to concretize.

c) institutions of higher education are not profit-driven.

d) the debt incurred in obtaining a BA builds social cohesion.

31. When a parent pays for a child’s piano lessons, he or she is engaged in __________ reciprocity.

a) delayed

b) generalized

c) balanced

d) negative

32. Cultural economics operates with the view that

a) economics are ruled by practical reason.

b) noncapitalist and capitalist economies are so different that they require different theoretical approaches.

c) social inequality emerges from the conflicting interests of wealthy class and the working class.

d) morals and economic activity are intertwined with one another.

33. From an anthropological perspective, the main reason Wall Street banks are not the bastions of individualism and cold rationalism many think they are is that

a) bankers can be quite compassionate and donate money to many worthy causes.

b) personal relationships and local knowledge are critical to successful transactions.

c) the government heavily regulates the decisions bankers make.

d) certain bankers think more like Marxists than neoclassical economists.

34. Food stamps are an example of __________ money.

a) general purpose

b) limited purpose

c) commodity

d) transactional

35. Which of the following is not true of economic anthropology?

a) It is skeptical of the idea that there is a universal value for anything.

b) It challenges the notion that economic transactions are the same everywhere.

c) It assumes that free market capitalism will take over the world.

d) It encompasses multiple theoretical approaches to explain how economies work.

Fill in the Blank

36. ____________________ money is characterized by its portability and mobility.

General purpose

37. An example of ____________________ reciprocity is the Sagali rite in the Trobriand Islands, in which women make and give away banana leaf bundles when somebody dies.

delayed

38. A key feature of any economy is that it organizes people into social roles. In the case of ____________________, these roles include the state, consumer, laborers, and entrepreneurs.

capitalism

39. Barter, or the direct swapping of goods, is different from ____________________ in that a giver has no expectation of return.

generalized reciprocity

True/False

40. Gift exchanges are important because people everywhere invest symbolic meaning in the things they give, receive, and consume.

a) True

b) False

41. Malinowski’s analysis of the Kula cycle is important because it helps explain how Trobriand men get social status.

a) True

b) False

42. With the spread of capitalism, the world’s economic systems are becoming homogenized.

a) True

b) False

43. Spheres of exchange create specific social networks where money and goods flow freely across borders.

a) True

b) False

APPLICATION OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL CONCEPTS

Multiple Choice

44. A formalist anthropologist doing fieldwork in a supermarket would be most interested in

a) the geographic location and formal spatial layout of the supermarket.

b) how shoppers decide which cat food to buy when they have fifteen varieties to choose from.

c) the ways managers appropriate the labor of checkout clerks, butchers, and other workers.

d) the diverse ways general-purpose money circulates in the store.

45. If you applied the notion of transactional orders to understand a scandal in which a college professor accepts payment for a grade, you would most likely focus on the

a) poor morality of the professor.

b) symbolic meanings Americans hold about the morality of education and student–teacher relations.

c) fact that American higher education pays its professors very little.

d) widespread corruption that runs throughout universities.

46. A substantivist perspective on the economic life of a college fraternity would likely focus on the

a) spending the fraternity does on parties.

b) informal exchange of favors and goods among members.

c) exploitation of pledges’ labor by full-fledged members.

d) prestige that accrues to members who give a lot of goods and services to other members.

47. Which of the following analyses of Christmas shopping would be least likely to come from a follower of cultural economics?

a) People buy gifts to reaffirm and strengthen social relations.

b) People buy certain gifts to build their stature among friends and family.

c) People might buy some gifts in a store and trade and barter for other gifts.

d) People always make decisions about what to buy on the basis of getting the lowest price.

48. A Marxist approach to the cultural processes Karen Ho studied of Wall Street would be most focused on

a) the tendency to lay off employees on a regular basis as the bank suffers through financial crises caused by its own activities.

b) the rational decision-making logic of bankers.

c) the value placed on individual wealth and conspicuous consumption among bankers.

d) the way government regulations moderate the worst effects of financial crises caused by the banks.

49. A substantivist would be most likely to explain the Kula cycle as

a) an elaborate exercise with little useful benefits to the society.

b) closely tied to important social institutions, such as kin networks, trading ties, and political structure.

c) an opportunity for individuals with keen negotiating skills to get a lot of goods.

d) a way of gaining personal prestige.

Short Answer

50. If you wanted to study consumer fashion trends in China, which theoretical approach would be most valuable? Why?

51. Is cultural economics applicable to a study of an industrial factory? Explain and illustrate your answer.

52. How might an economic anthropologist approach rebuilding pathways of exchange in a war-torn country differently from a traditional economist?

Essays

53. If you had a goal of understanding the economic life of a typical American suburban family, which theoretical approach(es) from economic anthropology would you find most valuable? Explain your answer.

54. Compare and contrast how two theories—formalism and substantivism—would explain how and why people consume prestige goods, like Ferrari automobiles and Gucci bags.

55. What role do you think cultural economics could play in a real-world application, such as an economic development program headed by anthropologist Jim Yong Kim?

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS

Essays

56. How do culture and social relations shape the meaning of money?

57. Are there distinct cultures of capitalism?

58. How are reciprocity and gift-giving related to the economy?

59. How are economic transactions, consumption, and exchanges related to social and individual identities?