Malinowski’s Argonauts of the Western Pacific was a major contribution to anthropological theory and method, while simultaneously establishing the sub-field of economic anthropology. Even a century after its publication, Malinowski’s pioneering work remains critical for anthropology in a postcolonial age. This volume uses ethnographic studies from around the world to contextualize the work politically and intellectually, examining its gestation and influence from multiple perspectives. It critically explores the meaning of “economy” for Malinowski from his formation in the Austro-Hungarian Empire to his path-breaking fieldwork in Melanesia and ensuing career in London.
Author(s): Chris Hann (editor), Deborah James (editor)
Series: Max Planck Studies in Anthropology and Economy; 13
Edition: 1
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Year: 2024
Language: English
Pages: 362
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Contents
List of Illustrations
Introduction. Argonauts Revisited • Chris Hann and Deborah James
Part I. Bronisław Malinowski and his Argonauts in Context
1. Cultural Capital and Economic Stringency: Reality and Myth in Bronisław Malinowski’s Socioeconomic Background • Grażyna Kubica
2. Tenerife 1921: The Writing of Argonauts • Michael W. Young
3. Malinowski’s New Paradigm • Adam Kuper
4. Malinowski and the Politics of Economic Anthropology: Between Imperial Trusteeship and Colonial Trade • Freddy Foks
Part II. Economy, Economics, and Epistemics
5. Compulsion to Work? Malinowski and the Labor Question • Rachel E. Smith
6. On Tribal and Other Economies • Richard Staley
7. Malinowski’s Place in the History of Economic Thought • Chris Gregory
8. Can Economic Anthropology Escape from Primitive Economics? Thinking Ethnographically from the Brazilian Oikos • Benoît de L’Estoile
Part III. Cosmology, History, and Social Organization
9. Baloma: The Spirits of the Kula in the Trobriand Islands • Mark S. Mosko
10. The Archaeology of the Kula and Malinowski’s Notion of Economy • Hans Steinmüller
11. Using Laozi to Interpret the Kula Ring: Rethinking the Dual Chieftainship in Kiriwina • Yongjia Liang
Part IV. Adaptations in Space and Time
12. Passing On, Passing Around, and Passing Through: Urban Inheritance in South Africa as Circulation • Maxim Bolt
13. The Anthropological Turn in the Sociology of Money • Ariel Wilkis
14. Digital Argonauts: From Kula Ring to Bush Internet in the Western Pacific • Geoffrey Hobbis and Stephanie Ketterer Hobbis
Afterword • Rebecca Empson
Index
