When studying a non-market society, an economic anthropologist adopting a formalist lens would be most inclined to do which of the following?

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Question restatement: When studying a non-market society, an economic anthropologist adopting a formalist lens would be most inclined to do which of the following?
Option 1: Explore the impact of colonialism and globalization on traditional economic systems, understanding that external forces can significantly alter local economic practices.
This option emphasizes external historical and macro-level forces shaping economies. While important, a formalist lens is more closely aligned with analyzing behaviors through universal rational choice rather than focusing primarily on external colonial or global influences shaping structures, which aligns less with the core rational-actor methodology of formalism.
Option 2: Employ quantitative methods to model individual decision-making related to resource management, assuming that individuals seek to maximize their utility even in non-market settings.
This choice reflects the formalist stance: applying market-based rational choice reasoning to non-market contexts, using quantitative modeling to infer utility-maximizing behavior even where prices and markets are not formalized. It embodies the cross-cultural extension of rational choice theory that formalists advocate, making this a strong fit for the lens described.
Option 3: Analyze the role of kinship and social networks in organizing economic activities, recognizing that economic relations are often intertwined with social obligations.
While kinship and social networks are central to many anthropological analyses, this focus is more characteristic of substantivist or other approaches that emphasize social embeddedness and non-market exchange. Formalists tend to abstract away from embeddedness to emphasize individual calculation, so this option aligns less with the formalist emphasis on individual rational choice.
Option 4: Investigate the symbolic significance of gift exchange and ritualized forms of economic interaction, acknowledging the importance of cultural context in shaping economic behavior.
The study of ritualized exchange and symbolic meanings is often associated with cultural or post-structural analyses that stress meaning and social symbolism. Although important in anthropology, this emphasis contrasts with formalist projects that prioritize explicit utility-maximizing behavior and predictability through quantitative methods, making this option less consistent with a formalist approach.

In sum, the formalist perspective in economic anthropology foregrounds rational choice and the use of quantitative modeling to describe how individuals maximize utility, even in non-market settings. The option that most directly aligns with this framework is the one proposing quantitative modeling of individual decision-making under an assumed utility-maximizing motive, despite the non-market context.

SP2025.L48.Anthro.160B.01 Exam 2

When studying a non-market society, an economic anthropologist adopting a formalist lens would be most inclined to do which of the following?

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