Anthro Final Study Guide PDF

Module 10: Globality, Capitalism i. Power Relations in the Post-Colonial and Post-Cold War World ​ Has Domination Ended? ○​ no - imperialism continues; ○​ disparities of wealth ​ 1st World, 3rd World - 2nd World? ○​ 1st World - industrialized nations ○​ 3rd...

Module 10: Globality, Capitalism i. Power Relations in the Post-Colonial and Post-Cold War World ​ Has Domination Ended? ○​ no - imperialism continues; ○​ disparities of wealth ​ 1st World, 3rd World - 2nd World? ○​ 1st World - industrialized nations ○​ 3rd World - “developing” countries ○​ 2nd World - communists nations ​ trying to fight for control (bet. 1st and 2nd World) for the 3rd World ​ World Capitalist System ○​ Three Tiers of Positions: ​ Core ​ industrialized nations ​ higher standards of living ​ have more clout/ influence ​ economies = capital intensive (investing in machinery) 1.​ imported raw materials and exported manufactured goods 2.​ e.g. United States, UK, Japan ​ Semi-Periphery ​ industrialized nations ​ do not have the clout/ influence 1.​ e.g. Brazil, Mexico, India ​ Periphery ​ nations that are little industrialization ​ very low standards of living - poverty ​ less influence on the global stage ​ economies = labor intensive (hand labor) 1.​ Not diversified (e.g. making money from selling coffee) 2.​ exported raw materials and imported manufactured goods 3.​ e.g. Loas, Cambodia, Guatemala ○​ Power and History - Macro level addressed ○​ Dynamic System - Changes occurs ​ if change economic/ political relations, their position changes ​ e.g. U.S. climbed to be a core nation ii. Globality ​ Living in a world of global interlinkages ○​ economic, social, cultural, political interlinkage ○​ Yet interlinkage is NOT new ​ The Nation-State - diminished importance? ○​ international trade agreements, environmental pacts ​ the world bank - not governments itself, but gain money from governments ​ conditions for compensation - cut programs to have money to pay loans ​ pressure from other identities effects the way of governance ○​ European Union ○​ Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) ○​ Multinational Corporations ​ lots of relevance ​ tapping very cheap labor markets ​ work across national border so they don’t have to pay taxes ​ corporations of companies that are far-flung ○​ Blacklash: winners and many losers Globality as an IDEA ​ Identity: how you think of your relations with the rest of the world ​ Imaginaries and Imagination: imagine peoples of virtue of what you’ve seen, read, learned, etc. ○​ imagine living conditions and the global world ○​ creative capacity to think of things we have never experienced ○​ sources that we pull information from: imaginaries ​ e.g. Antrho lectures, news, documentaries, books ○​ Backlash to Globalization ○​ Nation and Citizenship cast in terms of race, ethnicity, religion ​ “who belongs here?” iii. Capitalism ​ What is it? ○​ a socio-economic order ○​ an anthropological perspective ​ different kinds of human economies ​ Features of Capitalism Feature Capitalism Trobriands Logic governing use Reinvestment for never-ending capital Redistribution of wealth accumulation Capital → Capital overturning yam house Capital → Money → Capital Kayasa - two clans handing out their yams Money → Capital → Money^1 Organization of 1. Class Organization Kinship Labor 2. Labor Power is bought and sold as - yams: B-Z-H-W - commodity (one’s capacity to do work) chief-commoners Control of Means of Private Ownership Corporate Control Production - lineage and land ​ Avoid Ye the Perils of Totalizing! ○​ Totalizing - a form of misrepresentation ○​ e.g. the USA in the early 21st Century ​ Is this capitalist logic the only logic governing our economic practices? ○​ socioeconomic orders are Multi-Centric ​ have to master taxes, gift-giving, etc. in order to be a functional in society iv. Global Expansion of Industrial Capitalism ​ First in Great Britain in late 18th early 19th Centuries ​ Then Western Europe, North America, Japan ​ Imperialism spreads capitalism all around the world ​ accompanying changes ​ Much taken for granted, but no more natural than any socioeconomic order ​ Must produce capitalist workers ​ Spirits of Resistance and Capitalist Discipline: ○​ globalization and global studies v. Intro to Spirits of Resistance by Aiwa Ong  1.​ Malaysia 1.​ Former British Colony 2.​ Now Independent Nation 3.​ Pushing for industrialization 1.​ 2020 Program 2.​ encourage foreign investment 3.​ hired young women for microchip assembly 4.​ tensions as women became industrial workers 5.​ women are focal point of discussion of economic “development” in Malaysia 1.​ talk about it indirectly by talking about Malaysian women 2.​ Recent Changes in Global Economy 1.​ Routinization of Production 1.​ Automation: technological changes/ machinery development 2.​ Taylorist management techniques Spirits of Resistance and Capitalist Discipline i. Recent Changes in Global Economy ​ Routinization of Production ○​ automation (machine) ○​ Taylorist management techniques ​ figure out how to divide up tasks for efficiency ​ routinized production ○​ Don’t need skill labor ​ Poverty in 3rd World (Semi-periphery & Periphery) ○​ people will work for very low wages ​ Multinational Corporations (MNCs) ○​ operations all over the world ​ ex. Ford - have factories all over the world in order to produce car motors ​ also buying parts from other parts of the world ​ Trends in Global Economy ○​ lot of very routinized manufacturing is leaving the core and is being done more often in 3rd World countries ​ Competition among 3rd World Nations for investment ○​ free trade zones ○​ competing with each of contact and cooperations with Core countries ii. Creating a Capitalist Work Force in Malaysia  ​ free trade zones ​ multinational electronics corporations ​ hire women from surrounding villages ○​ turn them into effective industrial workers → proletarianization ​ Proletarianization: capitalist working class ○​ educating women in order to work; have to make a capitalist working class ○​ use forms of discipline to turn village women into efficient industrial workers ○​ “Capitalist Discipline” ​ however, ○​ Hantu - evil demons, can possess the weak ○​ spirit possession in the factories iii. Interpreting Spirit Possession ​ Aiwa Ong: spirit possession is a practice (not supernatural) ​ What are women workers trying to say about their stressors, tensions through spirit possession? ○​ interpret the messages ○​ And why say it in this way? ​ Holistic Approach: have to appreciate in the broader context ○​ village life - raised, living ○​ effect of young single women working for wages on pre-existing patterns of male authority ○​ organization of factories - discipline on women within these factories ○​ why the very negative public opinion of women factory workers ​ very critical iv. Village, Family Life, and Gender ​ Kampung Life: two cultural sources ○​ Adat: cultural order ​ somewhere in the past were matrilineal ○​ Islam: spread to and merged into cultural order ​ a lot of diversity due to the unique application of islam ​ Men, Women, Authority, & Spiritual Essence ○​ Father and Mother in Family Life ​ authority rests with Father ​ Bud Adat: strong connection between mother and children ○​ Gender and Authority ​ Malay Villager Gender Constructions: ​ men: males are spiritually strong & powerful will → can put aside feelings to make a proper decision 1.​ Hantu can’t possess the man  ​ women: are held to be spiritually weak & weaker willpower → hard to resist feeling and emotion ​ Gender Symbolism and Hierarchy of Authority ​ men should have authority over women (”for women’s own good”) ​ weakness: women ​ But women are a threat to men ​ So women must be controlled to destroy the spirituality ​ Spiritual Vulnerability and Stages of a Woman’s Life ​ Youth - virgins 1.​ Weakest state 2.​ under authority of father 3.​ forced to stay in the village 1.​ father’s (protective) authority & cultural construction of space 2.​ girls have little direct supervision ​ Sexualy Mature Woman 1.​ little stronger spiritually 2.​ greatest threat to males 3.​ now in the position to tempt men 4.​ Married Woman 1.​ under authority of husband (always needs to be under a protective authority of a man) 2.​ self-disciplining 5.​ Divorced or Widowed Woman (janda) 1.​ most dangerous woman of all 2.​ not under male authority 3.​ note: the janda lies outside Villager cultural categories 6.​ Elderly Woman 1.​ no longer a threat to men (not sexually tempting) 2.​ spiritually strong 3.​ less subject to discipline 4.​ much respect and authority in family and within the village v. Time in Village and Factory ​ Time: a Cultural Construct ○​ linear? moral dimension about how we think about time. social progression ○​ circular? arises in the day and drops in the night// cycles repeating, reincarnation ​ Time in the Village ○​ “Time is passed, not spent” ○​ No rigid schedule ○​ time flows with rhythm of prayers, chores, activities  ○​ Socializing and Work are seamless parts of daily experience ​ should always be able to socialize and those you cannot, is morally suspect ​ he who is in a hurry… ​ Time in the Factory ○​ the clock regulates the day (more like linear time) ○​ “Now is spent” (time is money) ○​ Factories Schedules for women factory workers ​ very rigid factory schedules ○​ Constantly changing work shifts ​ another source of stress for women ○​ “Fractured Day” ​ once is was whole, but now broken into pieces ​ social time and work time vi. School, Work, & Young Women ​ Boys and Girls in Village Schools ○​ elementary school: girls have better academic success than boys; have more discipline than the boys ○​ secondary school: boys have better academic success than girls; girls are given more chores back at home and therefore, competing with their schoolwork time ​ Different Expectations for Sons & Daughters ○​ Sons ​ government job (secure, pays well) ○​ Daughters ​ in recent past - marry and start families ​ new and unprecedented opportunity - factory employment ​ convergence of many interests 1.​ country wanting to industrialize 2.​ work for a few years to contribute some money for the family ​ Changes at home and in village ○​ working daughter bring income in household ○​ Brothers ​ come to sister for money ​ she controls him (leverage) ○​ Daughter and mother will decide how money is being spent ​ de facto vii. Employing a Female Workforce ​ Microchip assembly world wide - young (single) females ​ Economic Advantages of hiring single young women ○​ low wages/ labor costs  ​ temporary job for a women → able to keep the wages low ○​ Avoid costs associated with deteriorating worker eyesight ​ don’t need to pay for glasses/ etc. because by the time their eyesight is being affected, they quit to start families ○​ tap structures of local patriarchal authority to get worker compliance ​ higher women workers but supervisors are males ​ harder to complain to a male supervisor - so she just doesn’t ​ less likely to organize and go on strike ​ all due to the gender constructs they they grew up on ○​ reproduction of patriarchy in factory ​ use of family terms within factory ​ “Fathers,” “Daughters” ​ Prayer Hall ​ Tours for parents ​ But contrast to village - are these girls being supervised by men? No. Study Guide: Imperialism & the Postcolonial World “Development” Intervention Philosophies Power & Representations Capitalist World System - Core, Semi Periphery, Periphery Globality - forms of social, cultural, economic, and political interlinkage - Nation State and New forms of Governmentality - Identity Capitalism -also relevant material in Chap 5, Mirror for Humanity Totalizing Capitalism on the Periphery Routinization of Production & Taylorism Multinational Corporations Free Trade Zones (FTZ) Proletarianization Capitalist Discipline Anthropological Perspectives on "the Political" Power Docile Bodies Malaysia 2020 Plan Kampung (Village) Adat Islam Rural Malay Gender Constructions Gender & Authority in Village Homes Female Threats to Male Spiritual Purity Dangerous Places Spirits (Hantu) Stages of Woman’s Life Janda Time in the Kampung vs the Factory Tyranny of the Clock Fractured Day Education, Work - Differences between Sons and Daughters Changes in Authority in the Village Micro-Chip Factories in the FTZ - Attracting a Young Female Workforce - Reproduction of Patriarchy in the Factory - Unlimited Production Demands Discipline in the Factory v. the Kampung Worker Responses to Stress Spirit Possessions on the Shop Floor Bio-Politics (Bio-Power) - Constructions of Female Bodies Biological Determinism Public Perceptions of Female Factory Workers Bebas Spirit Possession as Resistance Hegemony Public Transcript & Hidden Transcript See relevant material in Chap 6 Discourse Applied Anthropology Cultural Imperialism Indigenizing Popular Culture Diaspora Postmodernism in Anthropology Essay Questions: What kinds of shifts in global production have occurred in the Capitalist World System over the past few decades, what factors have been behind these shifts, and how have both large corporations in the world’s industrial centers and less industrialized nations like Malaysia tried to take advantage of these shifts? Be sure to describe the different structural positions in the Capitalist World System in the course of your answer. What do anthropologists feel are the principal characteristics of capitalism that differentiate it from other economic systems? For each characteristic you identify, show how capitalist systems like the US differ from the Trobriands. Discuss capitalist discipline as a form of power. What does Aihwa Ong mean by “power”? How is capitalist discipline used in factories in Malaysian free trade zones to transform young peasant women into efficient industrial workers? How do these forms of discipline differ from those operating in the village, and what tensions do the differences between discipline in the village and the factory produce for women workers themselves? Discuss the issues of bio-politics and economic interests in the context of computer microchip production in the Third World. What economic reasons do anthropologists and other social theorists offer for the preference of multinational corporations to hire single young women for microchip assembly? How are power relations between wealthy industrialists and Malaysian women factory workers naturalized? Discuss Malay villager gender constructs and how they organize power relations between men and women. How does gender organize the hierarchy of authority within the village? How does microchip factory management take advantage of these constructs to obtain worker compliance with corporate goals? How do women workers use these same beliefs to express resistance to the forms of discipline to which they are subjected in the factory? Aihwa Ong argues that spirit possession of Malaysian female factory workers is a form of resistance against disciplinary control. What is the political position women in Malaysia given Malaysian gender constructs and what does this have to do with the forms of resistance they employ? How effective are these forms of resistance in changing the structures of power and forms of discipline to which women in Malaysia are subjected?