Culture and Economy: Games That "Play People"

Neoclassical economics favored a conception of the economy as a set of largely free, autonomous actors, each with a set of many tastes, goals, or wants, who seek to obtain from other like-motivated individuals satisfaction of those ''utilities'' by production and exchange at a Pa...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of economic issues 1986-09, Vol.20 (3), p.661-679
Main Author: Alverson, Hoyt
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Anthropology
Behavioral economics
Classical economics
Cultural economics
Culture
Ecological economics
Economic anthropology
Economic systems
Economic theory
Economics
Economy
Marxian economics
Neoclassical economics
Political economy
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Summary:Neoclassical economics favored a conception of the economy as a set of largely free, autonomous actors, each with a set of many tastes, goals, or wants, who seek to obtain from other like-motivated individuals satisfaction of those ''utilities'' by production and exchange at a Pareto optimum. Classical political economy took as its principal object of study the totality of arrangements by which individuals were organized to undertake their tasks of production and reproduction necessary to provision themselves and the institutions that encapsulated them. The main object of study in anthropology is culture. It is shown that the conception of culture most widely accepted in anthropology today is quite consonant with the classical conception of political economy and quite opposed to that predominating in modern economics. The 3 dimensions of culture -- ecology, institutional organizations, and systems of knowledge or ideology -- together constitute the basis for a cultural description and are necessarily aspects of all patterned human behavior.
ISSN:0021-3624
1946-326X
DOI:10.1080/00213624.1986.11504536