ANTH 049 PZ -Money, Morality, and Crisis

Institution: Pitzer College

Description: How should we understand markets? Are they the apex of rational economics, or are they sites of reckless speculation and white-collar fraud? Who builds them, who controls them, and are they “fair”? Most importantly, how do we come to trust these markets, and what happens to this trust when they fail?

To answer these questions, this course offers an introduction to economic anthropology. We will follow the works of researchers who explore the lives, concerns, and moralities of those who make markets, and the complex and messy social interactions that undergird these apparently abstract systems of calculation. We will also explore ethnographies of financial collapse, and how individuals in South America, Europe, Africa and South Asia grapple with sudden changes in economic fortune, often the consequence of events far beyond their control. Case studies will include ethnographies of traders in the USA and Japan, pyramid schemes in Eastern Europe, and accounts from the great recession in 2010, and the current recession due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our goal will be to better understand the role, meaning and value of money and debt in modern life. No prerequisites or background is required to take this class; people with any level of understanding economics are welcome to join.