Reference no: EM133263411

Assignment:

As mentioned in Learning Module 11 course materials, no society practices one subsistence strategy exclusively. The same is generally true for modes of exchange. In the United States we have a market economy, but we also use other modes of exchange. After reading the introductory material for this week, I want you to discuss the different ways we have of exchanging things in the U.S. Which of these do you think are the most important? What types of materials are involved in these exchanges? Who are the people who engage most often in these non-market exchanges? Think about differences in age, sex, socio-economic status. Do some research on your own and ask friends and relatives about how often they use services such as e Bay. This is a new type of economic exchange in our society. Do you see differences in the types of people who use e-bay or other sites like that (craigslist, free-cycle, etc)? What might this type of commerce do to our understanding of our economic system? I hope you will begin to see the interconnectedness of different aspects of culture as you participate in this discussion. You'll see how anthropologists studying one area of culture (say subsistence) will also need to be paying attention to other areas, like gender, exchange, or even religion. Have fun with this one!