François G. Richard
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226252407
- eISBN:
- 9780226252681
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226252681.003.0006
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
Chapter 6 examines Siin’s entanglement with the Atlantic economy through archaeological evidence collected in the region. While studies of the Atlantic commerce have often focused on the stagnation ...
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Chapter 6 examines Siin’s entanglement with the Atlantic economy through archaeological evidence collected in the region. While studies of the Atlantic commerce have often focused on the stagnation or destruction of African economies, the cultural life of mundane trade goods – liquor, beads, imported ceramics and tobacco pipes – reveals complex strategies of appropriation, creative transformation, and consumption. The chapter explores practices of ‘composition’ and ideas of ‘wealth in people,’ which framed understandings of value and steered the popular reception, rejection, and circulation of foreign commodities. Different categories of imported material culture show different trajectories. Some were rapidly integrated into local cultural repertoires, while others were deliberately ignored. Social elites attempted to control the circulation of certain goods, while other objects were more widely available. One interesting trend is that the Atlantic era seems to have presided over a relative democratization of African consumption, as peasants managed to use their crops and cattle to participate in coastal trade networks and access a greater world of goods. These examples underline the importance of not viewing Africa’s insertion into the Atlantic economy as a wholesale phenomenon, but rather as a tale of many histories, which feature farmers as active historical figures.Less
Chapter 6 examines Siin’s entanglement with the Atlantic economy through archaeological evidence collected in the region. While studies of the Atlantic commerce have often focused on the stagnation or destruction of African economies, the cultural life of mundane trade goods – liquor, beads, imported ceramics and tobacco pipes – reveals complex strategies of appropriation, creative transformation, and consumption. The chapter explores practices of ‘composition’ and ideas of ‘wealth in people,’ which framed understandings of value and steered the popular reception, rejection, and circulation of foreign commodities. Different categories of imported material culture show different trajectories. Some were rapidly integrated into local cultural repertoires, while others were deliberately ignored. Social elites attempted to control the circulation of certain goods, while other objects were more widely available. One interesting trend is that the Atlantic era seems to have presided over a relative democratization of African consumption, as peasants managed to use their crops and cattle to participate in coastal trade networks and access a greater world of goods. These examples underline the importance of not viewing Africa’s insertion into the Atlantic economy as a wholesale phenomenon, but rather as a tale of many histories, which feature farmers as active historical figures.
Juliana Mansvelt, Mary Breheny, and Iain Hay
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781474402613
- eISBN:
- 9781474422291
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474402613.003.0005
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
This chapter considers how the concept of luxury is deployed in both talk and practice. Drawing on qualitative interviews with older New Zealanders from a range of socio-economic positions, ethnic ...
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This chapter considers how the concept of luxury is deployed in both talk and practice. Drawing on qualitative interviews with older New Zealanders from a range of socio-economic positions, ethnic groups, and geographic locations across New Zealand, the chapter demonstrates how understandings of luxury are materially grounded and morally constituted. It provides some insights into how and why constructions of luxury are drawn upon to describe a range of consumption practices, and vary across people, place, and time. By examining the heterogeneity and construction of luxury beyond the consumption practices of the wealthy, this chapter shows that a ‘little bit of luxury’ in everyday life matters and more critically reveals how the manifestations and moralities of luxury consumption vary greatly.Less
This chapter considers how the concept of luxury is deployed in both talk and practice. Drawing on qualitative interviews with older New Zealanders from a range of socio-economic positions, ethnic groups, and geographic locations across New Zealand, the chapter demonstrates how understandings of luxury are materially grounded and morally constituted. It provides some insights into how and why constructions of luxury are drawn upon to describe a range of consumption practices, and vary across people, place, and time. By examining the heterogeneity and construction of luxury beyond the consumption practices of the wealthy, this chapter shows that a ‘little bit of luxury’ in everyday life matters and more critically reveals how the manifestations and moralities of luxury consumption vary greatly.
Marius C. Claudy, Andrew Keating, and Andrea Prothero
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198792376
- eISBN:
- 9780191834387
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198792376.003.0007
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Macro- and Monetary Economics, Public and Welfare
This chapter investigates changes in consumption during the years of the recession and the subsequent recovery. Drawing on national statistics, attitudinal survey data, and in-depth qualitative ...
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This chapter investigates changes in consumption during the years of the recession and the subsequent recovery. Drawing on national statistics, attitudinal survey data, and in-depth qualitative interviews with Irish consumers, the chapter provides insight into how people adjusted their consumption and spending habits. Importantly, the study goes beyond macro-trends and seeks to shed light on the personal experiences and behavioural changes that Irish consumers adopted during this time. The research shows that consumption patterns and consumer values have experienced significant changes. Importantly, findings suggest that many spending habits and consumption practices that altered during the recession have been ‘normalized’ for consumers and are likely to influence consumption in the years to come.Less
This chapter investigates changes in consumption during the years of the recession and the subsequent recovery. Drawing on national statistics, attitudinal survey data, and in-depth qualitative interviews with Irish consumers, the chapter provides insight into how people adjusted their consumption and spending habits. Importantly, the study goes beyond macro-trends and seeks to shed light on the personal experiences and behavioural changes that Irish consumers adopted during this time. The research shows that consumption patterns and consumer values have experienced significant changes. Importantly, findings suggest that many spending habits and consumption practices that altered during the recession have been ‘normalized’ for consumers and are likely to influence consumption in the years to come.
Nilotpal Kumar
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- February 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199466856
- eISBN:
- 9780199087402
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199466856.001.0001
- Subject:
- Sociology, Gender and Sexuality, Social Psychology and Interaction
‘Farmers’ suicides’ have largely been framed through official suicide statistics, and they have been explained in terms of agrarian production-related crisis across geographies. Based on ethnographic ...
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‘Farmers’ suicides’ have largely been framed through official suicide statistics, and they have been explained in terms of agrarian production-related crisis across geographies. Based on ethnographic work in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, this book offers a qualified challenge to such explanations. First part of the book describes local transformations that are taking place in interconnected domains of production, consumption, and social relationships. The attempted transition from a century-long involvement in rain-fed groundnut cultivation to groundwater-irrigated horticulture, which is being actively promoted by a pro-market state, has aggravated production-related risks in this fragile ecological zone. The book then explains how production risks contribute to causing anomic frictions amongst local small and middle farmers who aspire to adopt refined lifestyles and consumption practices. Emergent ideas of individualism, competitiveness, and status inequality are stressing familial roles and bonds. A key argument advanced here is that these local processes, their subjective experiences, and the manner in which they are acted upon, are all mediated by the local ideology of masculinity. Against the background of new social and economic processes, the second part of the book suggests that officially certified cases of ‘farmers’ suicides’ are not always marked by ‘farm-related’ economic factors in an objective and uniform manner. In other words, the entire process of production of official statistics of suicide is socially organized. The book concludes by suggesting that ‘farm-related suicides’ relate to the wider field of rural suicides through new ideas and practices around individual and family honour, status inequality, and dignity.Less
‘Farmers’ suicides’ have largely been framed through official suicide statistics, and they have been explained in terms of agrarian production-related crisis across geographies. Based on ethnographic work in Anantapur district of Andhra Pradesh, this book offers a qualified challenge to such explanations. First part of the book describes local transformations that are taking place in interconnected domains of production, consumption, and social relationships. The attempted transition from a century-long involvement in rain-fed groundnut cultivation to groundwater-irrigated horticulture, which is being actively promoted by a pro-market state, has aggravated production-related risks in this fragile ecological zone. The book then explains how production risks contribute to causing anomic frictions amongst local small and middle farmers who aspire to adopt refined lifestyles and consumption practices. Emergent ideas of individualism, competitiveness, and status inequality are stressing familial roles and bonds. A key argument advanced here is that these local processes, their subjective experiences, and the manner in which they are acted upon, are all mediated by the local ideology of masculinity. Against the background of new social and economic processes, the second part of the book suggests that officially certified cases of ‘farmers’ suicides’ are not always marked by ‘farm-related’ economic factors in an objective and uniform manner. In other words, the entire process of production of official statistics of suicide is socially organized. The book concludes by suggesting that ‘farm-related suicides’ relate to the wider field of rural suicides through new ideas and practices around individual and family honour, status inequality, and dignity.
Samuel K. Byrd
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781479859405
- eISBN:
- 9781479876426
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479859405.003.0010
- Subject:
- Anthropology, American and Canadian Cultural Anthropology
This chapter demonstrates how the festival facilitates communication between Latina/o musicians across genre boundaries and between musical communities. During and after their participation in these ...
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This chapter demonstrates how the festival facilitates communication between Latina/o musicians across genre boundaries and between musical communities. During and after their participation in these events, musicians engage in heated intellectual debates about the best way to organize festivals and treat performers, constructing social rules that guide their sense of ethics and their judgments about the “success” of an event. These ethical sensibilities stem from these musicians' training and their relationships with fellow musicians and audience members that shape what constitutes “professional” behavior. By situating musicians' labor in the nexus of cultural production and consumption practices associated with festivals, the analysis shows how working musicians face many of the same political and economic limitations that dull to gray the immigrant dream.Less
This chapter demonstrates how the festival facilitates communication between Latina/o musicians across genre boundaries and between musical communities. During and after their participation in these events, musicians engage in heated intellectual debates about the best way to organize festivals and treat performers, constructing social rules that guide their sense of ethics and their judgments about the “success” of an event. These ethical sensibilities stem from these musicians' training and their relationships with fellow musicians and audience members that shape what constitutes “professional” behavior. By situating musicians' labor in the nexus of cultural production and consumption practices associated with festivals, the analysis shows how working musicians face many of the same political and economic limitations that dull to gray the immigrant dream.
Franck Mermier
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9789774165290
- eISBN:
- 9781617971334
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- American University in Cairo Press
- DOI:
- 10.5743/cairo/9789774165290.003.0006
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Middle Eastern Studies
Before it became the capital of a unified Yemen (in 1990), Sana'a was the political and economic hub of the high plateau. Located at the crossroads of seven tribal territories, the city is situated ...
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Before it became the capital of a unified Yemen (in 1990), Sana'a was the political and economic hub of the high plateau. Located at the crossroads of seven tribal territories, the city is situated at the center of a regional network of weekly markets. Before the 1960s, its market included about forty specialized suqs. Today, many specialized suqs have disappeared while the number of actual shops has reached two thousand. The market continues to be an important centre for the commercialization of agricultural products and the production of certain crafts. This chapter discusses the pivotal role played by the suqs in the relationship between the city and the countryside, as well as the issue of the market's centrality in the context of Sanaa's actual urban expansion.Less
Before it became the capital of a unified Yemen (in 1990), Sana'a was the political and economic hub of the high plateau. Located at the crossroads of seven tribal territories, the city is situated at the center of a regional network of weekly markets. Before the 1960s, its market included about forty specialized suqs. Today, many specialized suqs have disappeared while the number of actual shops has reached two thousand. The market continues to be an important centre for the commercialization of agricultural products and the production of certain crafts. This chapter discusses the pivotal role played by the suqs in the relationship between the city and the countryside, as well as the issue of the market's centrality in the context of Sanaa's actual urban expansion.
