historycircus

I'm glad this thread fills you with positivity Zynox.

There is some great work out there for reading if you are interested in learning about exchange, or pre-capitalist, economies. THE BEST, the book that sort of changed my life, is a book by French Anthropologist Maurice Godelier titled "The Mental and the Material." He has another book out, "The Enigma of the Gift," which is partly his own views on gift giving, and partly a critique of another, early twentieth century anthropologist named Marcel Mauss. One other name worth mentioning is Claude Meiliaseux [sic - I never can spell the guy's name right unless I'm looking at it, sorry], who wrote "The Anthropology of Slavery," and "Maidens, Meal, and Money." All of these works give insight into the process called "articulation," which is the way exchange/pre-capitalist economies succumb to external market forces.

I'm also going to instant messenge you on another point, so as not to derail the thread.