Anthropology, Economic and Social: opening the door
Diane Austin-Broos – University of Sydney
In recent decades, anthropology has often juxtaposed itself to economics underlying aspects of humanness not addressed in neo-classical or neo-Marxist thought. A consequence has been that sociality, as conceived in anthropology, commonly has lacked a sense of economy in social life. Central issues have been locked away in the sub-discipline of economic anthropology, applied anthropology or development studies. While these areas have made great strides – economic anthropology is coming back – more generally the discipline’s view of sociality is still diminished by a focus on representation and the state that overlooks economy. In the context of current critical debate on globalization and a neo-liberal world (including Australia), these strategies run the risk of making anthropology seem a trivial pursuit. In this discussion, I propose to (a) note the turn away from issues of economy and critique it; (b) suggest one focus for research; and (c) provide examples both from the Caribbean and Central Australia.
