Exam 9: Political Economy

In hospitals where the union was powerful, people thought of themselves as parts of it.

In the U.S. when the Republicans gained power, the ruling class declared war on the working class.

George W. Bush and union reps mean the same thing when they say "base."

List two anthropologists mentioned in this chapter:

If economists identify a problem, it is probably something everyone should take seriously.

Discuss the history of the Icelandic idea of the skipper effect.

The tragedy of the commons shows that if they aren't controlled by states, people will always do the worst thing for themselves and others.

Anthropologists try to find out what people really think.

Political economy determines culture.

In Iceland, the idea of a skipper effect has been:

It's OK to feel uncomfortable about things that challenge your cultural code.

In the U.S. union stewards are very political.

Explain how the breaking of the shrimpers' union in the Gulf of Mexico provides evidence that they are not so independent that they can't organize.

The Taft-Hartley amendments:

Today in the U.S. meat packers make more than generations before did.

List three things unions had to do to change from the servicing to the organizing model:

Etic realities, cultural codes, and political economies usually align pretty well.

The economic system of any culture is independent of the political system.

Discuss how science can help sort out cultural illusion from political-economic realities and why it is important to do so.

Explain why there was a skipper effect in Iceland but not in the Gulf of Mexico.