Widening Circles

As a social and economic system, capitalism has been very effective in generating wealth and technological innovation, and has also been associated with great social inequity and environmental damage. Its inherent flaws have been highlighted by the escalation of ecological problems arising from growth-oriented capitalism and various economic crises, the latest being the Global Financial Crisis and its ongoing fallout. Anthropology has always been one of the core disciplines informing understandings of capitalism, and many of the theoretical debates within anthropology have been entwined with broader shifts in understanding about the nature of capitalism and economic development. For several decades people have been grappling with how to retain the material safety and cultural richness of indigenous noncapitalist societies and economies, and also gain the health, wealth, education, and life opportunities the modern capitalist world offers. This book brings together examples of attempts to forge locally appropriate versions of modernity, development that suits the aspirations and circumstances of particular groups of people. Authors question how the market economy has been variously negotiated by groups who also have other systems through which they organize their social and economic lives. What has worked for these people and what has not, and why?