Chapter 5 Consumption and Exchange
MULTIPLE CHOICE
1. If you were invited to attend a potlatch among the Kwakwaka’wakw Indians of the Pacific Northwest, you would
probably __________.
A) be expected to bring cash to give to the host
B) come back empty-handed
C) eat a lot
D) never see those same people again afterward
2. In foraging societies, the largest share of people’s “budget” usually is devoted to __________.
A) taxes, just like the rest of us
B) contributions and gifts for the chief
C) basic needs such as food and shelter
D) parties, public ceremonies, festivals, etc.
3. Minimalism most characterizes which mode of consumption and exchange?
A) foraging
B) pastoralism
C) agriculture
D) industrialism/digital economy
4. Which of the following occurs at the industrial/digital economy mode of consumption and exchange?
A) increased expected reciprocity
B) increased social equality
C) increased leisure time
D) increased unbalanced exchange
5. Infinite needs most characterize which economic system?
A) foraging
B) horticulture
C) agriculture
D) industrialism/digital economy
6. An unwritten, culturally embedded rule that prevents an individual from becoming wealthier or more powerful
than anyone else is known as __________.
A) personalized consumption
B) depersonalized consumption
C) balanced exchange
D) a leveling mechanism
7. If you were to spend time and money for your group’s upcoming potlatch, you would be using your __________.
A) leisure-time fund
B) recurrent costs fund
C) ceremonial fund
D) entertainment fund
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8. If access to food or other resources is dependent on a form of exchange, that access is referred to as __________.
A) an indirect entitlement
B) exploitation
C) negative reciprocity
D) redistribution
9. Which of the following is an intra-household entitlement?
A) inheritance law
B) tax policy
C) ownership of food-producing land
D) access to energy as a paid public utility
10. An example of an important cash crop is __________.
A) manioc
B) wheat
C) tea
D) rice
11. The social distribution of the disease kuru in Papua New Guinea reflects an entitlement pattern based on which
microcultural factor?
A) ethnicity
B) class
C) age
D) gender
12. A study of consumption patterns among low-income African American schoolchildren in New Haven,
Connecticut, revealed that __________.
A) the children do not understand the negative effects of overspending when money is available
B) the children learn practical lessons about household finances at a young age
C) the boys are more likely to spend their money on family needs and gifts than girls are
D) girls spend most of their money on clothes for themselves when they shop in a mall
13. A culture has a long-standing prohibition against eating a particular fruit. What aspect of the fruit would an
interpretive anthropologist focus on to understand this taboo?
A) diseases associated with eating it
B) rarity
C) occurrence in folklore
D) difficulty in obtaining
14. In Oman, the typical items served to close neighbors when they visit are __________.
A) pizza and Coca-Cola
B) salty snacks
C) tea and cookies
D) coffee and dates
15. In the Balgo Hills of Australia, myths and rituals are an important item of exchange __________.
A) among men in warring groups as a way of conflict resolution
B) among women in the region
C) as part of a marriage engagement
D) between the family of a bride and groom at the wedding
16. A pure gift is __________.
A) the predominant form of exchange among foragers
B) something that is given only once
C) something for which a “return” is not expected or calculated
D) when reciprocity is immediate and completely balanced
17. Balanced exchange __________.
A) is nonexistent in industrial/informatic societies
B) involves only inexpensive, everyday items
C) is usually administered or regulated by a central leader or by the government
D) is a system of transfers in which the goal is either immediate or eventual balance in value
18. The kula is an example of __________.
A) balanced exchange
B) market exchange
C) unbalanced exchange
D) the “pure” gift
19. Buying a cup of coffee for a friend is an example of __________.
A) balanced exchange
B) unbalanced exchange
C) redistribution
D) theft
20. Tokyo’s Tsukiji fish market __________.
A) sells only to individual customers
B) is declining in importance due to globalization
C) is the largest fish market in the world
D) allows only Japanese people to spend time in the market
21. The state in the United States with the greatest economic inequality between reservations with and without
casinos is __________.
A) California
B) Wisconsin
C) Nebraska
D) Maine
22. Exchange relationships between settled Lese farmers and Efe foragers in the Ituri Forest are best characterized as
__________.
A) sustained unbalanced exchange
B) generalized reciprocity
C) exchanging pure gifts
D) market trade
23. The major item of exchange between the Lese and Efe is __________.
A) children
B) food
C) water
D) cloth
24. The production of __________ has nearly destroyed Banaba Island in the Republic of Kiribati.
A) palm oil
B) aluminum
C) silver
D) phosphates
25. Because of missionary and government pressures, the Northwest Coast Indian potlatch system now __________.
A) is completely extinct
B) exists among some, but not all, tribes where it is practiced in modified forms
C) resembles a North American-style Christmas
D) is completely unrecognizable from its pre-contact, traditional form
TRUE/FALSE
26. Cultural anthropologists have studied patterns of livelihood and consumption, but they have neglected the study
of exchange.
27. The basic needs fund is the largest budgetary category among foragers.
28. Minimalism is the mode of consumption most associated with settled agriculturalists.
Copyright © 2017, 2013, 2011 by Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
29. During a famine, people are better off if they have access to indirect entitlements.
30. The famine in southern Sudan in 1988 is an example of how entitlement analysis can help improve the
effectiveness of humanitarian aid.
31. Money is the oldest form of item used for exchange.
32. The kula is an example of expected reciprocity.
33. The primary category of exchange in market economies is sale for profit.
34. The income and other effects of gaming in California are so substantial for Indians and their neighbors that the
gap is nearly closed between conditions on Indian reservations and those for most Americans.
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35. Slavery is considered a form of unbalanced exchange.
ESSAY
36. Explain what is meant by minimalism and describe an ethnographic example.
37. Discuss some of the major effects of the global spread of consumerism.
38. What are the five household consumption funds and how do they vary in different cultural contexts?
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39. Define the concept of entitlements and explain the difference between direct and indirect entitlements, providing
an example of each type.
40. Describe how consumption varies in three different microcultures.
41. How did Claude Lévi-Strauss argue that marriage is a form of exchange? What is a counterargument to this
position?
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42. What are three characteristics of modern money?
43. Describe how debt is a form of unbalanced exchange and hypothesize why it is not found in foraging societies.
44. Describe balanced exchange and its two major patterns, listing examples of each. How are these patterns
associated with modes of livelihood?
45. Explain the concept of exploitation as a form of exchange and provide an ethnographic example.