Anthropologies of Value

Anthropologies of Value analyses the creation of value in a wide range of political and cultural contexts. This edited collection includes anthropological case studies from around the globe; from the commodification of a Venezuelan waterfall to the relative value of penguins in periods of imperialist expansion. Questioning the validity of binary oppositions such as north/south, core/periphery and west/the rest as the basis of generalisations about culturally-mediated engagements with capitalism, this collection leaves no stone unturned in its search to understand and define anthropological value theory. It provides much-needed, controversial new material for students of anthropology, and proposes an alternative, rarely discussed method of studying the world system which challenges mainstream existing work in the field.