Course: Political and Economic Anthropology

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Course title Political and Economic Anthropology
Course code KSA/PEAK
Organizational form of instruction Lecture
Level of course Bachelor
Year of study not specified
Semester Winter and summer
Number of ECTS credits 4
Language of instruction Czech
Status of course unspecified
Form of instruction Face-to-face
Work placements This is not an internship
Recommended optional programme components None
Lecturer(s)
  • Šotola Jaroslav, Mgr. Ph.D.
Course content
1. Cultural ecology - adaptation of companies to the natural environment. 2. Evolutionist perspective of political anthropology: acephalic societies, tribes, chiefship, state. 3. Economic anthropology - dispute between formalists and substantivists, criticism of homo economicus. 4. Reciprocity and redistribution, kula phenomenon; money and exchange systems. 5. Main approaches in political anthropology: structural functionalism, process and actor approaches. 6. Anthropological conceptualization of power. 7. Conflict and resistance. 8. Capitalism and its characteristics from the perspective of economic anthropology. 9. Theory of the world system, dependency theory. 10. Post-development studies. 11. Globalization. 12. Political and economic aspects of post-socialism.

Learning activities and teaching methods
Lecture
Learning outcomes
The course is aimed at introducing basic topics in political and economic anthropology - both in the contemporary and historical perspective of the field. Firstly, the relationship of cultural anthropology to the economic and political systems of non-European societies will be explained on the basis of well-known researches of the 20th century. Consequently, the conceptual frameworks in which the power and exchange of economic goods are grasped in anthropology will be presented. Emphasis will also be placed on presenting the potential of anthropology to describe and explain current phenomena and processes in the political and economic sphere - ie in relation to the issue of globalization and social inequalities.
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to gain an anthropological view of the study of political and economic aspects of social reality; use the conceptualization of power and exchange to grasp current processes in the local and global framework; to discuss the link between economic and political phenomena with the broader framework of the social structure of societies.
Prerequisites
unspecified

Assessment methods and criteria
Seminar Work

Recommended literature
  • ERIKSEN, T. H. (2008). Sociální a kulturní antropologie. Praha : Portál.
  • Hahn, Ch., Hart, K. Economic Anthropology. History, Ethnography, Critique. Cambridge; Malden: Polity, 2011.
  • LEWELLEN, Ted. C. Political Anthropology. An Introduction. Westport: Praeger, 2003..
  • Varufakis, J. (2018). Co jsem řekl své dceři o ekonomii. Stručná historie kapitalismu.. Praha: Grada.


Study plans that include the course
Faculty Study plan (Version) Category of Branch/Specialization Recommended year of study Recommended semester