Barter, Exchange and Value: An Anthropological Approach

by Caroline Humphrey (Editor), Stephen Hugh-Jones (Editor)

Economists treat barter as an inefficient alternative to market exchange, assuming that it is normal only in primitive economies. For their part, anthropologists are more concerned with the social and moral complexities of the "gift," and treat barter as mere haggling. The authors in this collection do not accept that barter occupies a residual space between monetary and gift economies. Using accounts from different parts of the world, they demonstrate that it is more than a simple and self-evident economic institution. Barter may constitute a mode of exchange with its own social characteristics, occupying its own moral space. This novel treatment of barter represents an original and topical addition to the literature on economic anthropology.

Genres: Anthropology, Economics

203 pages, Paperback

First published June 26, 1992

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

A rather dense book with plenty of examples from various indigenous societies across the globe — what did you expect from a work on anthropology?

N.B. In this review I cite the conclusions, the reasoning and evidence behind them you will have to read from the book.

The most interesting part is, however, the fact that it lays to rest many myths that economists (mostly bourgeois ones) are readily to accept about the 'natural' tendency for markets to emerge:

"we reject the idea of 'natural' economic propensities as the explanation for any specific economic institution. The point derives not only from the advance made in the political economy approach following Marx and Polanyi, but also from the anthropological view of economics as cultural systems, i.e. economies as taking place within cosmologies and schemes of value." — p. 13

Or about the 'natural' emergence of the money commodity:

"We have then reached the conclusion that, in order for a medium of exchange to serve its function efficiently, not only should it be supplied in sufficient quantity, but it should also be appropriately (not 'too unequally') distributed among the traders. This problem is all too often ignored in the economic literature. Some of the extreme 'monetarist' conclusions, for instance, rest upon a complete disregard of these issues." — p. 82

Clearly showing that a fairly often encountered alternative to the money commodity was the introduction of credit:

"[...] we seem to have resolved the 'difficulties of barter' simply by introducing credit. We want to stress tat this stage that this is quite distinct from the introduction of a medium of exchange." — p. 79

And last, one more myth that is essentially dismantled, is the orthodox view on price formations:

"The obvious starting point for a review of the theories of price formation is what one could call the demand and supply approach. This approach, until relatively recent times, has not just had a dominant place among theories of price formation, but had come dangerously close to a monopoly position, and, as everyone knows, one should beware of that. — p. 97

It is also refreshing to see Marxist theories of value being challenged:

"We argue against the above theory [Marx's theories on barter] on the following grounds. Firstly, on the empirical level, it is clear from many ethnographies (Jest, 1975; Orlove, 1986; Fisher, 1986; Gell, this volume) that, whilst barter certainly does aliante goods, it does not entail the reciprocal independence of the transactors, a mutual turning-of-backs when the exchange is over — indeed it may take place within a given society between people who interact on a regular basis." — p. 13

This book has represents the beginning of a human (in the most literal sense possible) theory of economics, which breaks away from the praxeological nonsense (together with its precursors and descendants) that informed bourgeois theories of economics of what seems to be a completely alien society, certainly not of any human one.