Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey

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FYSE1458A-F20

Pyramid Schemes & Crashes

Pyramid Schemes, Bubbles, and Crashes
In this seminar we will study the anthropology of exchange, then use it to analyze ethnographies of financial speculators, labor migrants, microcredit borrowers, and other agents and victims of global capitalism. We will focus on conflicting obligations to kin and to creditors, on how people in different cultures and social classes juggle these obligations, and how the growth of financial debt can turn social relationships into commodities. Studying debt and how it is leveraged in different societies and historical eras will show why capitalism is so vulnerable to speculative booms, swindles, and collapses. 3 hrs. sem. )
Course Reference Number (CRN):
92570
Subject Code:
FYSE
Course Number:
1458
Section Identifier:
A

Course

FYSE 1458

All Sections in Fall 2020

Fall 2020

FYSE1458A-F20 Seminar (Stoll)