Chapter 4 Making a Living
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. Which mode of livelihood has characterized most of human existence?
A) foraging
B) horticulture
C) pastoralism
D) agriculture
2. One topic on which many economists and economic anthropologists both do research is __________.
A) the pure gift
B) food security
C) the foraging mode of livelihood
D) life histories of workers
3. The measure of subjective well-being is based on __________.
A) the availability of basic needs such as food and shelter
B) the presence of luxury goods and material excess
C) what people understand a good life to be
D) life expectancy
4. Compared to temperate-climate foragers, circumpolar foragers __________.
A) rely more on plant food
B) spend less time and energy on constructing shelters
C) spend less time and energy procuring food
D) have a more sharply differentiated gender division of labor
5. In foraging societies, the division of labor is __________.
A) differentiated by age
B) dictated by social status
C) organized within the permanent settlement
D) always sharply differentiated by gender
6. Among the Hare Indians, the most important animal is __________.
A) dogs
B) horses
C) sheep
D) dogs and horses
7. Property relations in foraging societies are best termed __________.
A) class-based
B) use rights
C) age-based
D) gender-based
8. The country in which the so-called Jarawa people live is __________.
A) Papua New Guinea
B) India
C) Brazil
D) Indonesia
9. Children have the most tasks in which mode of livelihood?
A) pastoralism
B) industrialism/digital economy
C) intensive agriculture
D) horticulture
10. Maintaining the fallow period is essential for the sustainability of which system?
A) foraging
B) horticulture
C) pastoralism
D) agriculture
11. The two most important factors on which the division of labor is based in horticultural societies are __________.
A) age and race
B) gender and race
C) age and gender
D) gender and class
12. The Yanomami region is located __________.
A) between Brazil and Venezuela
B) between Peru and Brazil
C) on the coast of Brazil
D) in Chile
13. Pastoralism __________.
A) is a mode of livelihood based on domesticated animal herds and the use of their products, such as meat and milk
B) is the oldest way of making a living
C) has more occupational specialization than agricultural societies
D) gives women a dominant economic role in all pastoralist societies
14. Which culture depends mainly on pastoralism for its livelihood?
A) Hare
B) Mundurucu
C) Yanomami
D) Qashqa’i
15. The gender division of labor in the agricultural mode of livelihood __________.
A) is the most egalitarian of all modes of livelihood
B) involves highly overlapping tasks for males and females in most societies
C) means that men work more hours and women work fewer than in horticulture
D) is more segregated than in temperate foraging societies
16. Compared to family farming, corporate farming is __________.
A) more geared to production for sale
B) less reliant on capital
C) declining in importance as an economic system in the United States
D) more energy-efficient
17. Female farming systems are __________.
A) mainly associated with wet rice cultivation
B) numerically more predominant than male farming systems
C) found mainly in Europe
D) mainly associated with wheat cultivation
18. Which of the following is a characteristic of the industrial/digital economy mode of livelihood?
A) It produces goods in response to needs.
B) The labor of children is used extensively.
C) It bases access to resources on informal use rights.
D) It is divided between the formal and informal sectors.
19. One effect of industrial agriculture is __________.
A) that capitalization increases the ability of small farmers to adapt quickly to the changing market
B) the use of complex technology provides an advantage to larger landowners
C) the global market stabilizes nitrate and fuel prices and acts as a safety net for farmers
D) that modern technology has improved the yield in calorie terms for the amount of resources used in farming
20. An example of work that fits into the category of the informal sector is __________.
A) sales clerk in a department store
B) professional basketball player
C) sex worker
D) college professor
21. Cultural revival among the Tiwi of Australia involves them in the market economy to a certain degree; before
this, their economy was based mainly on __________.
A) foraging
B) horticulture
C) pastoralism
D) agriculture
22. Before they began migrating to settlement areas for work on rubber plantations, the Mundurucu of the Amazon
relied mainly on which mode of livelihood?
A) foraging
B) horticulture
C) pastoralism
D) agriculture
23. Mongolian pastoralists of the former Soviet Union are now adjusting to __________.
A) having to become citizens of China
B) a collectivized system of agricultural production
C) the market economy
D) becoming part of the urban poor
24. With its population of 2.9 million and its vast territory, __________ is the most sparsely populated country of
the world.
A) Russia
B) Mongolia
C) Brazil
D) China
25. A cause of change in the family farming system of the Maya in Chiapas, Mexico, was __________.
A) increased dependence on corn as a crop
B) the construction of roads
C) privatization of land ownership
D) decreased government spending on infrastructure
26. A case study of a Taiwanese factory in South Africa found that the main reason for South African workers’
resentment against the Taiwanese managers is __________.
A) the exploitative wages
B) the failure to provide a lunchroom where management and workers ate together
C) the Taiwanese way of organizing production based on Taiwanese hierarchical kinship structures
D) the excessively long work hours without a break
TRUE/FALSE
27. According to the textbook, economic systems include three components: production, consumption, and
sustainability.
28. Foragers of temperate climates have a more clearly marked gender division of labor than foragers of the
circumpolar region.
29. The mode of livelihood that is based on growing food through a system of shifting cultivation is agriculture.
30. The concept of property relations that exists among traditional, undisturbed foragers is called the informal sector.
31. Fallowing is a critical phase in foraging.
32. The control of distribution is the critical factor for women’s status in horticultural societies.
33. The precolonial Iroquois depended mainly on pastoralism for their livelihood.
44
34. Compared with pastoralism and horticulture, agriculture is a more land-intensive strategy.
35. Compared with working in the formal sector of the economy, working in the informal sector is more likely to
provide a secure income.
36. Tibetan Buddhism is Mongolia’s primary religion.
ESSAY
37. Describe the foraging mode of livelihood, including its property relations and sustainability, and explain why it
has been referred to as “the original affluent society.”
45
38. Explain the difference between an extensive strategy and an intensive strategy and provide an example of
livelihood in each.
39. How does children’s labor differ in different modes of livelihood and what factor best explains the variation?
40. What are use rights and in what mode of livelihood area they most prominent?
46
41. How do property relations differ in the various modes of livelihood? Provide illustrations.
42. Who are the Andaman Islanders, what is their recent history, and what challenges are they facing today?
43. Describe some of the key features of the horticultural mode of livelihood.
47
44. List some of the characteristics of the division of labor in agricultural societies.
45. Define the formal/informal sector dichotomy and provide an example of work in each sector.
46. What are some of the general effects of contemporary economic globalization and the spread of Western
capitalism?