Anton Francis T.

Omega July 24,2017

14102591

Making a Living
In chapter 8 of Kottaks Cultural Anthropology book, we will tackle the topic of
Making a Living. This chapter shows us on how Yehudi Cohen used the term
adaptive strategy to describe a groups system of economic production. Yehudi
Cohen argued that the most important reason for similarities among societies is their
possession of similar adaptive strategy. For example, a certain group may have a
specific technique of hunting and gathering while another group can have the same
technique without having to be influenced by the group who pioneered the technique.
This only goes to show how extraordinary the human mind is even without a origin
of an influence. Yehudi Cohen described five adaptive strategies: foraging,
horticultural, agricultural, pastoralism, and industrialism. We will go through each
adaptive strategies and its different factors.

Foraging or also known as hunting and gathering, relies on the collection of

nutritionally significant plant resources and the capture of important animal protein
sources for food. Until 10,000 years ago, people everywhere were hunters and
gatherer. However, environmental differences did create contrast among the worlds
hunters and gatherers. Hunting and gathering continued to exist after the multiple
inventions of agriculture in those areas ill suited to growing crops. Examples of these
groups are the Kalahari bushmen of the Kalahari Desert of Africa, Sentinelese dwell
on the Andaman Islands, amazonian Pirah people, and many more. Because foragers
are highly mobile and frequently live in marginal environments, they tend to live in
groups of 100 or less. This mobile lifestyle leads to temporary housing structures.
Other characteristics of foragers is the division of labor according to sex or gender.
Being a male means being a part of the hunting and gathering activity whereas being
a female means having more indoor oriented labors.

The second adaptive strategy is Cultivation. Cultivation is food production rather

than food gathering. In Cohens scheme, the three adaptive strategies based on food
production in nonindustrial societies are horticultural, agricultural, and pastoralism.
In non-western cultures, as is also true modern nations, people carry out variety of
economic activities. Each adaptive strategy refers to the main economic activity.
Pastoralism, for example, consume milk, butter, blood, and meat from their animals
as mainstays their diet. However they also add grain to the diet by doing some
cultivating or by trading with neighbors. Food producers also may hunt or gather to
supplement a diet based on domesticated species.

The second adaptive strategy is Horticulture. Horticulture is the small-scale

planting and harvesting of food plants using simple tools and small garden plots.
Horticulturalists frequently use swidden or slash-and-burn techniques for
fertilization of the soil. There are advantages and disadvantages to horticulture. On
the positive side horticulture can sustain large groups (example: Kuikuru of South
America) and allows for flexible sedentism (staying in one place). On the negative
side horticulture can limited carrying capacity or leads to rapid soil exhaustion.
Examples of horticultural groups would be theYanomami, The tribes of Papua New
Guinea, The Maya of Mexico, Hawaiian Islanders, and Various Bantu-speaking tribes
of Africa.

Third is Agriculture. Agriculture is cultivation that requires more labor than

horticulture does, because it uses land intensively and continuously. The greater labor
demands associated with agriculture reflect its common use of domesticated animals,
irrigation, or terracing. Domesticated Animals especially cattle and horses, have
played an important role in raising crops, providing both labor (plowing) and
fertilizer. Many agriculturalist use animals as means os production for transport, as
cultivating machines, and for their manure. Irrigation provides nutrients and a
continual source of water to crops, allowing for continual use of fields (rather than
shifting). Terracing allows for cultivation of crops in mountainous areas. There are
cost and benefits to agriculture being human labor input greater for agriculture, since
time and energy are required to build and maintain canals and terraces, as well as to
feed and care for animals. Yields are much greater with agriculture over horticulture;
provides long-term, dependable crops that translates to lower labor costs per unit.

The fourth adative strategy is Pastoralism. Pastoralists are herders who focus on
animals such as goats, sheep, cattle, camels, and yaks. Traditional pastoralists are
found in parts of north and eastern Africa, the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.
Hereders have a symbiosis with the domesticated animals. It is an obligatory
nteraction between groups-here humans ans animals- that is beneficial to each other.

And the fifth and final adaptive strategy is industrialism. Industrialism is a large
scale, industrial production, involving factories and mechanization. Industrial
production can be either capitalist or socialist. Industrialism relies on corporate
agriculture. Means of production. The means, or factors of production, involve
territory, labor, and technology. In non-industrial societies, there is a closer
relationship between laborers and the means of production. In industrial societies,
there is frequent alienation of the workers from the means of production. The Market
Principle: operates in a capitalist economy by governing the distribution of land,
labor, natural resources, technology, and capital. Items are bought and sold, and rely
on the law of supply and demand. Redistribution: goods and services move towards
the center, then redistributed (example: Cherokee chiefs).