Bad Year Economics: Cultural Responses to Risk and Uncertainty

doi:10.1017/CBO9780511521218

Bad Year Economics explores the role of risk and uncertainty in human economics within an interdisciplinary and cross-cultural framework. Drawing on archaeology, anthropology, and ancient and modern history, the contributors range widely in time and space across hunting, farming and pastoralism, across ancient states, empires, and modern nation states. The aim, however, is a common one: to analyse in each case the structure of variability - particularly with regard to food supply - and review the range of responses offered by individual human communities. These responses commonly exploit various forms of mobility, economic diversification, storage, and exchange to deploy local or temporary abundance as a defence against shortage. Different levels of response are used at different levels of risk. Their success is fundamental to human survival and their adoption has important ramifications throughout cultural behaviour.

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv
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Contents
pp v-vi
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List of contributors
pp vi-vi
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List of figures
pp vii-viii
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List of tables
pp viii-ix
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Preface
pp ix-x
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1 - Introduction: cultural responses to risk and uncertainty
pp 1-7
- By Paul Halstead, John O'Shea
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2 - The spirit of survival: cultural responses to resource variability in North Alaska
pp 8-39
- By Leah D. Minc, Kevin P. Smith
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3 - Saving it for later: storage by prehistoric hunter–gatherers in Europe
pp 40-56
- By Peter Rowley-Conwy, Marek Zvelebil
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4 - The role of wild resources in small-scale agricultural systems: tales from the Lakes and the Plains
pp 57-67
- By J.M. O'Shea
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5 - The economy has a normal surplus: economic stability and social change among early farming communities of Thessaly, Greece
pp 68-80
- By Paul Halstead
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6 - Changing responses to drought among the Wodaabe of Niger
pp 81-86
- By Karen Legge
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7 - Of grandfathers and grand theories: the hierarchised ordering of responses to hazard in a Greek rural community
pp 87-97
- By H. Forbes
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8 - Risk and the polis: the evolution of institutionalised responses to food supply problems in the ancient Greek state
pp 98-105
- By P. Garnsey, I. Morris
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9 - Monitoring interannual variability: an example from the period of early state development in southwestern Iran
pp 106-113
- By Henry T. Wright, Richard W. Redding, Susan M. Pollock
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10 - Public intervention in the food supply in pre-industrial Europe
pp 114-122
- By Willem Jongman, Rudolf Dekker
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11 - Conclusion: bad year economics
pp 123-126
- By Paul Halstead, John O'Shea
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References
pp 127-139
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Index
pp 140-145
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ALSO IN THIS SERIES
pp 146-146
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Bad Year Economics

Cultural Responses to Risk and Uncertainty

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Contents

Frontmatter
pp i-iv

Contents
pp v-vi

List of contributors
pp vi-vi

List of figures
pp vii-viii

List of tables
pp viii-ix

Preface
pp ix-x

1 - Introduction: cultural responses to risk and uncertainty
pp 1-7

2 - The spirit of survival: cultural responses to resource variability in North Alaska
pp 8-39

3 - Saving it for later: storage by prehistoric hunter–gatherers in Europe
pp 40-56

4 - The role of wild resources in small-scale agricultural systems: tales from the Lakes and the Plains
pp 57-67

5 - The economy has a normal surplus: economic stability and social change among early farming communities of Thessaly, Greece
pp 68-80

6 - Changing responses to drought among the Wodaabe of Niger
pp 81-86

7 - Of grandfathers and grand theories: the hierarchised ordering of responses to hazard in a Greek rural community
pp 87-97

8 - Risk and the polis: the evolution of institutionalised responses to food supply problems in the ancient Greek state
pp 98-105

9 - Monitoring interannual variability: an example from the period of early state development in southwestern Iran
pp 106-113

10 - Public intervention in the food supply in pre-industrial Europe
pp 114-122

11 - Conclusion: bad year economics
pp 123-126

References
pp 127-139

Index
pp 140-145

ALSO IN THIS SERIES
pp 146-146

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Bad Year Economics

Cultural Responses to Risk and Uncertainty

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