Dreams, Pyramid Schemes, and Debt in Global Capitalism

Debt is as old as the human condition, but in the sense of reciprocity between kin. Once debt is monetized, it has a long history of replacing mutual social obligations with the extraction of profit and the formation of social classes. In this course we will study the evolution of exchange from kin-based societies to states and empires, then apply the anthropology of exchange to ethnographies of globalization in Latin America, Africa, and East Asia. The ethnographies will focus on how different political economies and cultural interpretations of capitalism encourage people to financialize their obligations to their families, generating unsustainable business models that deepen indebtedness. 3 hrs. sem.