Chapter Goals

After studying this chapter, you should be able to do the following:

1. Identify and describe different systems of production.
2. Distinguish between various systems of exchange.
3. Compare and contrast formalist and substantivist economic theories.
4. Appreciate the variety of economic systems described in Scripture.

---

Chapter Outline

Introduction

Organization of Production

Economics and Social Structure

Systems of Exchange

Economic Globalization and Cultural Change

Formalist and Substantivist Economic Theories

Economics, Culture, and the Bible

---

Terms

agriculture

articulation

balanced reciprocity

biomass

dependency theory

economic anthropology

exchange systems

extensive farming

foraging (or hunting and gathering)

formalism

generalized reciprocity

horticulturalism

intensification

leveling mechanism

market economy

modernization theory

multicropping

negative reciprocity

neoliberalism

nomadic pastoralism

pastoralism

production

property rights

redistribution

subsistence farming

subsistence strategy

substantivism

swidden farming (or shifting cultivation, or slash-and-burn)

transhumant pastoralism

usufruct rights

world-systems theory

---

Discussion Questions

1. For each system of production, discuss its presence in Scripture. How could attentiveness to economics shape biblical interpretation?
2. Review the textbox “Foragers: The Original Affluent Society?” Design an experiment like Alastair Bland’s that would allow you to immerse yourself in a different system of production or exchange. What would you hope to learn?
3. Consider your view of globalization. Do you lean toward a more favorable view (neoliberalism) or a more negative view (dependency theory)? What sources of information shape your view? How could ethnographic knowledge of societies around the world contribute to your global perspective?

---