Alternative Economies

4.0 credits

Our current resource-intensive economic practices have led to ecological and social crises, among them climate change, mass extinction, and vast wealth and racial inequities. Are there alternative practices that would instead promote human flourishing within planetary limits? In this course, we will learn about capitalism from an anthropological lens and then contextualize it by exploring a cross-cultural range of economic practices through classic economic anthropology texts alongside other ethnographic and historical materials. To help us imagine alternate ways of organizing economic life, we will read contemporary writing on degrowth, regenerative economies, reparations, and cooperatives; examine primary sources; and learn about local economic experiments through field trips and class visits. Weekly readings, discussions, and short writing assignments will guide our learning.