Wealth, Poverty and Consumption - ANTH222
This course will trace the often extraordinary human connections that together comprise the global chains of production, distribution, consumption, and destruction that make possible the consumption of everyday commodities. Drawing on recent exciting work devoted to “following the thing” through global value chains, we will strive to put a human face on often anonymous networks. In addition we will question the ethical basis of such anonymity in the first place. We will do so via a sustained focus on the strangeness of familiar objects. From chocolate and T-shirts to bottled water to coffee to tupperware, papayas and smartphones, we will trace the connections that have linked distant and different peoples in emergent global economic institutions. We will both attend to the inequalities of wealth and poverty in contemporary global economic formations and seek to illuminate more equitable potential forms such institutions might take in the future.
| Credit Points: | 3 |
| When Offered: | S2 Day - Session 2, North Ryde, Day |
| Staff Contact(s): | Dr Chris Vasantkumar |
| Prerequisites: |
ANTH150 or (12cp at 100 level or above) or admission to GDipArts |
| Corequisites: | |
| NCCW(s): | ANTH278 |
| Unit Designation(s): | |
| Unit Type: | |
| Assessed As: | Graded |
| Offered By: | Department of Anthropology Faculty of Arts |
Course structures, including unit offerings, are subject to change.
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