Students are expected to possess basic competences related to

As a perspective which pays attention to the structures of human organisation, and the webs of meaning people spin for themselves around patterns of activity, commonality and diversity, within the realm of economic activity the anthropological perspective reveals the social and cultural basis of economic action and organisation. Markets are the central social institution for producing, distributing and consuming resources. Moreover, it is through markets that such things as prices, values, wages, symbols, goods, agreements, contracts, social status, desires and much more are made and circulated. Markets then are much more than mere mechanisms of economic exchange and it is this basic principle that forms the bedrock assumption of the course.

To understand how markets work and what they do, we need to work from a cultural perspective which combines both structure and meaning; the logics of cultural structures and the logic of symbolic interpretation and action. It is the aim of the course that the student builds competencies to analyse the way markets change, including evolving, expanding and shrinking, and the reasons for their dynamism, using the conceptual resources of the anthropological perspective. As a foundation for this competence it is the aim that the student builds thorough knowledge of anthropological perspectives on markets, including the content and principles of selected classical and contemporary texts as well as skills in application of anthropological concepts and methods to identify and assess the role of cultural, social and symbolic elements in constituting historical and contemporary market formations.

The course examines the constitution and coordination of markets through systems of practice which transform things into commodities, symbols into values, and humans and non-humans into economic entities. In particular, the course examines markets through four key themes which are important to contemporary understandings of markets:

After the course, students should have advanced knowledge of market anthropology and be able to apply that knowledge to address the types of problems market anthropologists are likely to encounter in their careers. They should be able to describe and analyse the activities of agents within markets capacity and demonstrate a capacity to discern and analyse the symbolic and cultural – or anthropological - basis of these agents’ practices.

In particular, the student should, in the context of the empirical assignment be able to:

Examples:

Spring.

3 hours a week (15 weeks). Classes consist of a mix of standard lecture formats and practical activities.

In order to enable the students to achieve the learning outcomes of the course, the teaching will be organised in such a way that the course provides classes devoted to knowledge dissemination, and classes developed to practical skill building, as well as an opportunity to present the results of practical work in class. Through practical experience students will grasp the complexity and unpredictability of the environments both internal to and external to markets that affect the real world situations in which this knowledge is employed.

These teaching and learning activities result in an estimated distribution of the work effort of an average student as follows:

Lectures: 45 hours.

Preparation for classes, including reading: 90 hours.

Preparation for practical classes: 20 hours.

Fieldwork ethnography: 25 hours.

Presentation preparation of fieldwork cases: 25 hours.

Examination preparation: 55 hours.

Exam: 10 hours.

In total: 270 hours.

Ordinary examination in June.

Reexamination in August.

The form of the reexam is subject to change. This will be announced 14 days before the reexam takes place.

Registration for the course is automatically a registration for the ordinary examination in the course. Cancellation is not possible. If the student does not participate in the examination, the student will use one examination attempt. If the student does not pass the ordinary examination, the student will automatically be registered for the re-exam in the same examination period. Cancellation of registration for the re-exam is not possible.

The student must pass one assignment (course id. 9269112). The assignment consists of a project proposal to test the application of the skills necessary to write the eventual exam paper. The assignment has to be solved individually. The assignment is evaluated internally on a passed/fail basis.

If the requirement is not met, the student cannot participate in the exam and one examination attempt has been used. Fulfillment of the exam requirement is only possible prior to the ordinary exam. Participation in the reexamination thus requires that the exam requirement is met prior to the ordinary exam.

Deviations may be granted by the teacher provided there is a reasonable cause.

Duration: Date for hand-in will appear on the plan for examinations

Location: Home

Internet Access: Necessary.

Hand out: Course page in Blackboard.

Hand in: Via SDU-assignment in the course page in Blackboard.

Extent : 2-3 pages

Exam Aids: All exam aids allowed. It is allowed to communicate with other students.

Project.

Duration: Date for handing in will appear from the plan for examinations

Location: Home

Internet Access: Necessary.

Hand out: Course page in Blackboard.

Hand in: Via SDU-assignment in the course page in Blackboard.

Extent: Max. 15 pages (excluding table of contents, list of references and appendices).

Exam Aids: All exam aids allowed. It is not allowed to communicate with other students.

The project must be completed individually. The project must adhere to the formal requirements described in Formalities for written assignments.

Compulsory course only for students taking combination 1 in the Marketing, Globalization and Culture profile.