Economic and labour anthropology (2008/2009)

Learning outcomes

The course will introduce the students to economic anthropology. The course also presents an approach to education and training for work which takes into consideration its cultural context , and the complex web of subjective and social meanings which turn work into a locus of political and symbolic tensions. Particular attention will be paid to the situational and emotional aspects of learning.

The course will examine,within a comparative anthropological framework, certain institutional cultures, forms of social relations and personal dependence, social perception and apprenticeship, taking into consideration three ethnographic instances: the European garment industry at the peak of its development, the Grameen Bank for microcredit in Bangla Desh,; migrants and entrepreneurs in delocalised industries between Italy and Romania.
Texts for study:
Torsello,D. Dono, scambio e favore. Fondamenti e sviluppi dell'antropologia economica, Mondadori, Milano, 2008
UNO dei seguenti libri.
Gambino F. e Sacchetto,D. Un arcipelago produttivo. Migranti e imprenditori tra Italia e Romania,Carocci, Roma, 2007
Maher, V. Tenere le fila. Sarte, sartine e cambiamento sociale 1860-1960, Rosenberg e Sellier, Torino 2007
Yunus,M. Il banchiere dei poveri,Feltrinelli, Milano, 2008 ( 2000)
Also Kottak C.P, Antropologia Culturale, McGraw-Hill, Milano, 2008( for those who have not yet passed an exam in Cultural Anthropology).

For the students who regularly attend the course, the exam will consist in a written essay which will be discussed with the teacher. Non attenders will be examined orally.