The Anthropology of Complex Economic Systems

Niccolo Leo Caldararo, PhD, is a lecturer at San Francisco State University. He is also the owner, director, and founder of Conservation Art Service.

By bringing together economic anthropology, ecology, and culture history, The Anthropology of Complex Economic Systems not only proposes a new model of human social evolution, but equally importantly creates a methodology for speaking to, and against, our present economic and environmental situation.

PrefaceAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPart I: Anthropology and Economics: A ReviewChapter 1: Anthropology and the Cosmology of Modern EconomicsChapter 2: Wants, Needs, and the Question of Surplus versus WealthChapter 3: Complexity and Stability or Stagnation: Declining Returns and the Business CycleChapter 4: Wealth, Consumption, Quality of Life & Standard of LivingPart II: Introduction to Hominid EconomicsChapter 6: IntroductionChapter 7: Forest Fires, Origins, and MythsChapter 8: Traditional Peoples and FireChapter 9: Climate and Fire, Assessing Time's Arrow and the Antiquity of Anthropogenic FireChapter 10: Forest Management in Modern and Traditional SocietyChapter 11: The Degraded Environment and Homo SapiensChapter 12: Co-evolutionary Processes & Environmental ExploitationChapter 13: Makeup and Nature of Forests: Fire-adapted Species vs 'Old Growth'Chapter 14: Determining Fire History: Fire Scars, Fire Histories, and Thermal AlterationChapter 15: Insects, Biomass Reduction, and PesticidesChapter 16: Conclusion: Forests and the Future ManPart III: Cycles of Growth & Collapse versus the Possibility of Sustainable SocietiesChapter 17: IntroductionChapter 18: The Problem of Population & the Nature of Human SocietyChapter 19: Consumerism and Sustainability: Japan as an ExampleChapter 20: The Evolution of Modern Japan and its TransformationPart IV: The Role of Ideology and Religious Precepts in the Containment and Change of Society: A Modernist ViewChapter 21: The Credit Crisis of 2008 to 201?Chapter 22: Ideology and Religious Precepts and Motivations: Why People WorkChapter 23: Fundamentalism versus GlobalismPart V: ConclusionBibliographyIndexAbout the Author