Cooperation in Economy and Society

Shall we base our notions of humanity on the limited cultural constructs and religious ideology of one time period, one political-economic system, one system of thought represented by economics? Or shall we free ourselves of these mental and ideological shackles to explore the realities beyond these assumptions? The empirical studies of ethnographic, archaeological, and even the evolutionary fossil record show why we should transcend the imprisonment of the mind that assumes that market-like relations define humanity and even all of nature. This book provides an impressive range of studies across the spectrum of anthropology that illustrate the centrality of cooperation in human relations. The various papers address ways to understand cooperation among individuals, how both hierarchic and more egalitarian organizations solve the problems of their members, the performance of cooperative institutions in difficult economic times, and the regulation of access to common property resources. The strength of the work is its focus on fine-grained empirical work rather than ideologically based assumptions. With its feet on the ground, this book does much to move economic thought toward reality. -- Paul Durrenberger, Pennsylvania State University
This book champions research on cooperation... Although it never left us in practice, social thinkers are increasingly realizing cooperation does not belong on the sidelines, used only to help pick up the pieces where competition fails. It is starting to take its rightful place alongside competition in the center of the field. Cooperation in Economy and Society is part of this realization. * Anthropology of Work Review *