Economy & Politics: Modern Manipulators

Perhaps the two most important social structures in society, especially more developed and industrialized societies such as our own, economics and political systems, represent important avenues through which culture is expressed and affected. The Miller book on Cultural Anthropology discusses the basic concepts of these structures as well as provides various examples of their relation to contemporary cultural issues. In addition, the short video, titled "Stuff", offers a simple and insightful look into these structures and the numerous issues they cause, primarily for the people being manipulated and alienated by them.


Economic anthropology represents a subfield of cultural anthropology that focuses on economic systems cross-culturally. The term economic system focuses on three ares: livelihood, consumption, and exchange. There are five modes of livelihood mentioned in the book, however, the first three (foraging, horticulture and pastoralism) are mainly practiced in developing countries and by indigenous cultures; therefore, there importance to the global importance of economic systems is less significant than the other two. Agriculture is the fourth mode of livelihood, and it is practiced primarily in developing nations as well as in the more rural and poorer regions of countries such as China.

In the globalized capitalist economic superstructure, industrial capital agriculture has taken over. In this system machinery  does what human hands once did, and government subsidies guarantee a sustainable system of fewer farms produces massive amounts of food for consumption (and waste). An issue that cultural anthropologists have become aware of due to this system is the pressure placed on subsistence and family farming communities to compete with industrially advanced and subsidized farms.

The final mode of livelihood, industrialism and informatics, is best represented by industrial capitalism where most "goods are produced not to meet basic needs but to satisfy consumer demands for non essential goods". (Miller, 57) The video "Stuff" discusses this mode as a major issue due to the fact that this leads to increases in demand for resources, production of waste, and consequently damage to the environment. In addition, the video points out the alienation that people are faced with because the demand for non essential goods, caused by the capitalist system, leads to a never ending cycle of continuous buying of depreciating goods (in terms of worth financially and in sustaining happiness). In this mode, manufacturing jobs decline, and employment raises in the service occupations and information processing fields. Subsequently, unemployment becomes and increasing issue for societies following this mode, such as our own.

The dominant form of consumption in the modern world is consumerism, increased by globalization and industrialism. Inequality is the main issue caused by this mode, portrayed in the fact that the "share of total income that goes to the top 1 percent of families is nearly the same size as the total income share of the bottom 40 percent". (Miller, 60) The wealthy are then able to secure futures for their children through education and financial security.

The political and legal systems section of the book discusses various political organizations, leadership methods, social control variations, and changes in contemporary politics systems.

The book refers to politics as the organized use of public power, rather than the more private micro-politics of family and domestic groups. Power, authority, and influence are variations of how a person can achieve desired outcomes. (Miller, 160) All three terms exist in relation to other people; power represents a more hierarchical relationship, while authority and influence offer the greatest scope for cooperative decision making. The book continues to discuss social control, the process by which people maintain orderly life in groups. (Miller, 166) Norms and laws are the most commonly expressed forms of social control. A norm is an accepted standard on how people should behave and is usually unwritten and learned unconsciously. On the other hand, a law is a binding rule created through custom or official enactment that defines correct behavior and the punishment for misbehavior. (Miller, 167)

Two important terms located in this section are critical legal anthropology and the concept of social justice. The former is a cross-cultural study of legal systems that "examines the role of law and judicial processes in maintaining the dominance of powerful groups through the discriminatory practices rather than protecting members of less powerful groups". (Miller, 169) This represents an important sub field of cultural anthropology that in many ways encompasses the concept of social justice in societies. Socia justice is a "concept of fairness based on social equality that seeks to ensure entitlements and opportunities for disadvantaged members of society". (Miller, 170) In many ways the current Democratic Party in the United States has built its foundations on the concept of social justice in the American society. ObamaCare, welfare programs and entitlements, and tax raises on the wealthy represent just some of the ways that the Democratic Party has sought to progress social justice.

In many ways the video, "The Story of Stuff: Materialist Economy", encompasses the context of these two chapters on economy and politics. The video discusses the accepted linear path for discussing the movement that "stuff" goes through from production to waste. This path is misleading, however, because it fails to display the most important piece of the puzzle, people.

The video points out, for the most part, the negatives of the linear model. The first step, the taking of natural resources from third world countries and deprived regions of our own, harms the indigenous groups of those countries. Production of the goods in factories, whether at home or outsourced, harms the factory workers with the toxins produced from the natural resources. These toxins further harm the environment, another issue that humans must face due to a warming climate and environmental damage for animals (which represent a natural resource themselves). The greatest complaint the video addresses is the "golden arrow" found between the market for the produced goods and the consumers. At this stage, the government, aimed more at pleasing the corporations (who now hold a majority share of power in the global economy) than the consumers (people) they're sworn to protect, and the corporations push for constant consumption of the goods produced because our economy is based entirely on consumerism and consumption. They do so by purposefully producing goods with a shorter productivity life-span as well as through marketing for the constant consumption of newer goods. This leads to a cycle, one driven by alienation of the consumer, that is never ending.

The video addresses this cycle as the primary issue within the linear the model of production and consumption in our economy today. Environmental awareness, governmental strength and protection, and awareness on the part of the consumer are all important steps in correcting this model. If these goals are achieved, or even addressed and progressively sought after, then the once linear model will progress towards a cyclical one where fewer goods and resources are wasted and people feel less alienated and pushed to consume unwanted and needed goods.

In conclusion, the chapters on economic and political systems in the Miller book address the necessary terms and foundations of these systems in order to gain a better understanding of the global culture in reference to these points. The video, "Stuff", offers powerful insight into the way these systems coexist in our modern society. While pointing out the countless flaws in the linear model of production and consumption that the global economy faces today, the video also addresses several progressive means for adapting this cycle for the betterment of society.

Cultural Expressions: Communication, Religion & Art

Chapter 9 discusses and analyzes the various forms of communication that people use as well as the important connections between language and culture that exist in the modern world. The process of receiving and sending messages, a simple definition of communication, always involves some for of language, defined as a sustematic set of symbols and signs with learned and shared meanings (Miller, 182) The meaning behind various languages is at the center of the questions that anthropologists ask when studying communication and culture.

Communication can be verbal or nonverbal. Nonverbal language and embodied communication includes sign language, silence as well as body language. These are the most interesting forms to learn about as they are less recognized and openly understood.

Some gestures in sign lagnuage are universally meaningful, such as the peace sign (even it has several different meanings in different cultures) or a wave, but most are culturally specific and often completely arbitrary. Greetings, an important part of communication in every culture, often involve gestures, and they are typically among the first communicative routines that children and tourists learn. Silence is another form of communication, and it is interesting to note that silence is often related to social status. Silence is an important form to be studied through ethnography as well due to the ethnocentric judgements of outside cultures on various indigenous cultures. For example, white outsiders view the silence of Native Americans, due to their cultural norms, as a sign of a lack of emotion or intelligence; however, Native Americans view silence at the beginning of a greeting with a stranger as a possible reason for exhibiting bad manners (Miller, 186).

Media anthropology is an important emerging field that the book discusses which seems very interesting. It links linguistic and cultural anthropology, and people working in the field "study the media process and media content, the audience response, and the social effects of media presentations" (Miller, 188). Critical media anthropology, a subfield that I believe to be an important future topic, asks to what degree "access to media is liberating or controlling and whose interests media server" (Miller, 188). This topic is especially relevant with contemporary politics and various biases prevalent and numerous media outlets.

The chapter also raises the importance of colonialism, nationalism and globalization on communication and language systems around the world. In some ways these forces pose dangerous threats to the de facto systems of communication. For example, "nationalist policies of cultural assimiliation of minorities have led to the supression and loss of loval dialects and the extinction of many indigenous and minority languages" throughout the world (Miller, 196). This has led to the issue of endangered languages and the strive for many anthropologists to push for the renewal of them (known as language revitalization).

Chapter 10 follows suit and discusses religion, ritual practices, and the important world religions prevalent in our contemporary society and increasingly globalized culture. Religion consists of "beliefs and behavior related to supernatural beings and forces", and is essentially related to the people's worldview of understanding how the world came to be (Miller, 204). The book distinguishes between magic and religion, but makes note the prevalence of myths and supernatural forces in modern religions that marks the transisition of humanity from magic to religion to world religion.

A ritual is a "patterned, repetitive behavior focused on the supernatural realm" (Miller, 209). One example of a ritual is a rite of passage, or a life-cycle ritual, that marks a change in status from one life stage to another of an individual. Puberty is an important rite of passage in countless cultures. Another important ritual is pilgrimage, involving the travel to a sacred place or places for purposes of religous devotion. Mecca in Saudi Arabia is a prominent pilgrimage site, but some pilgrimages are partaken upon by several differing religious groups, such as Jerusalem. Sacrifice is another important ritual in many religions; however, in contemporary cultures it is increasingly viewed as part of the old order or even seen as pagan.

World religion is a term first coined in the nineteenth century to refer to religions that were "based on written sources, with many followers that crosses country borders and that had concern with salvation" (Miller, 213). When a world religion moves into a new cultural region, it encounters several local religious traditions. The local and world traditions clash, leading to a coexistence between the two, either as competitors or complements, in what is called religious pluralism. In numerous cases the world religion adopts important traditions of the local culture in order to ease the transition from old to new. This adoption is even apparent in Christianity, as numerous important Christian holidays are actually traced back to Pagan origins.

The final chapter of the book discusses expressive culture, focusing primarily on forms of art, leisure and newer forms of expressive culture such as tourism.

Defining art requires an abstract notion of what is involved in both the creation and interpretation of the object deemed art. The term esthetics is perhaps the most important notion to understanding art, as it refers to the socially accepted notions of quality. Prior to anthropological research and study, Western art experts believed that esthetics did not exist or was poorly developed in non-Western cultures. However, we know understand that esthetics exists in every culture, even if not formally written down, and anthropologists now refer to ethno-esthetics as culturally specific definitions of what art is. This is an important notion derived from anthropological work that transitions people from away ethnocentric views. In this sense, ethnography plays an important role in learning about the importance of art and music in various societies.

The chapter further discusses the importance of music in cultures across the globe. Ethnomusicology is the cross-cultural study of music and how it portrays the culture it is developed in as well as how it affects the perception of that culture to outsiders. An important question in this field is the topic of gender roles in musical performance. Are men and women encouraged to use certain music instruments over others? Are the performances of men and women given equal value by the culture they're presented in? These are important questions to ask and dependent upon whether gender roles in a specific culture and society are egalitarian or patriarch favored.

In analyzing architecture and decorative arts, it is important to note that styles allow people in a specific culture to express what is aesthetically pleasing to them. Important cultural values, and at times beliefs, can be recognized from these expressions of art. The style of architecture and decoration also displays the social positions of people. For example, a Victorian age structure may portray someone expressing sophistication and wealth. Observing the social strata through these means gives an anthropologist a look into the habitus of the person.

Increased leisure time and sustained wealth has led to the growing global market of tourism. Tourist demands for indigenous art has led to what some scholars deem as the decline in quality and authenticity of these arts. However, increased global tourism has also led to increased international and local support for the preservation of material cultural heritage. This includes "sites, monuments and buildings, and moveable objects considered of outstanding world value in terms of history, art, and science" according to UNESCO (Miller, 245). Intangible cultural heritage is another important goal of protection for UNESCO, as these manifested "living heritages", such as language, performing arts, and rituals, provide cultures with a sense of identity and continuity (Miller, 245).

From this information it is easy to see the importance of cultural expressions such as communication, religion, and art, to a society in global and local terms. Gaining a better understanding of the foundations of these topics can lead to a better understanding of where our increasingly globalized society is heading towards in the future. It also provides us with avenues of knowledge that will allow us to protect and preserve indigenous forms of these expressions before cultures become too homogenous and important cultural values are lost.