Course Description
Examination of the efforts of anthropologists to understand the contemporary world by providing a broad overview of approaches to the study of cultures of consumption.
Athena Title
CONS GLOB
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in ANTH 2200
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
(1) Acquaint students with contemporary theoretical approaches in anthropology as these pertain to the anthropological study of consumption and globalization. (2) Introduce students to contemporary ethnographic research methods, especially multi-sited ethnography and institutional ethnography. (3) Provide students with an overview of contemporary ethnographic studies of consumption and globalization. (4) Encourage students to see linkages between past and present processes of commodification and enclosure as these have been studied by historians and anthropologists. (5) Provide an understanding of a range of historical shifts and debates regarding the relation between economics and civic/social life. (6) Promote critical thinking skills by encouraging students to see links between the causes and consequences of contemporary globalization and their own patterns of consumption. (7) Develop familiarity with a number of key institutions and actors (World Bank, IMF) as these impinge on the lives of students. (8) Promote links between learning and civic engagement by encouraging students to relate lectures and readings to contemporary policy debates.
Topical Outline
(1) Anthropology for a New Millennium: The Changing Shape of Anthropology (2) Conceptual Tools for Analyzing Consumption and Globalization Marx, Weber, and Historical Analyses of Capitalism Political Economy and World Systems Theory Modernity and Post-modernity Post-structuralism Cultural Studies Science and technology studies Post-colonial theory Political ecology (3) Defining Globalization (4) Historical Perspectives on Commodification and Globalization (5) From Citizens to Consumers: Consumption and Identity (6) Ethnographies of Consumption (7) Economics and the Shaping of Contemporary Consciousness (8) Redefining the Public Good: Neoliberalism and Discourses of Economism (9) Keywords: Rationality Cost-Benefit Analysis Externalities (10) Key Actors and Institutions: Corporations Multilateral Banks: World Bank, IMF and Structural Adjustment Trade Agreements: WTO, FTAA Stock Markets Nation-States The G-8 (11) Managing Image: The Invisible Hand of Public Relations (12) The Production of Desire: Advertising and Branding (13) The New Enclosure Movement: Intellectual Property Rights (14) Commodity Chains: oil, sugar, coffee (15) Domains of Commodification and Globalization Oil, Energy, and the Consequences of Automobility Industrial Agriculture Water Genetically-Modified Organisms Global Media and the Politics of Representation Between Metallica and the Grateful Dead: Music Piracy The Two Sides of the Global Drug Trade: Legal and Illegal Body Image and the Beauty Myth The Prison Industry Commodification of Sports Corporatizing Education The Commodification of Death (16) Critiques and Alternatives Historical forms of Resistance: Outlaws, Pirates and Poachers The Anti-Globalization Movement (17) Bringing Nature, Culture, History, and Politics Back In Ecological Economics Post-Autistic Economics
Syllabus