Option One:
Drawing upon examples from the course, compare and contrast the social roles and meanings of a) gifts and b) payments, and c) insurance. Your answer should focus on Bahres and other readings of your choice. Is there always a clear-cut distinction between these categories of exchanges? How do different cultures, societies, organizations and/or individuals aim to define or label particular transactions for their benefit (or the benefit of others)? How do these different types of exchange create and/ or undermine social solidarity and connections?
Option Two:
Bloch and Parry put forward the hypothesis that all societies make space within which individual [short-term] acquisition is a legitimate…goal (Money and the Morality of Exchange, p. 26) but that these activities are subordinated to…a sphere of activity concerned with…long-term reproduction. Assess their argument for the existence of long-term and short-term transactional orders (ibid.) by examining short-term and long- term economic decisions in two of the book-length ethnographies from the course (Acheson, Besky or Bahre). Your paper should incorporate a close reading of the ethnographies of your choice. What are the long and short term economic, social and cultural considerations that shape the actions of the people described in your chosen texts? Under what circumstances do people forego short-term gains for long-term benefit? You may bring in additional course materials to develop your points through comparison or contrast.
