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Economic Thought Among American Aboriginals Prior to 1492
Author(s) -
CICARELLI JAMES
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
american journal of economics and sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.199
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1536-7150
pISSN - 0002-9246
DOI - 10.1111/j.1536-7150.2011.00817.x
Subject(s) - indigenous , interpretation (philosophy) , economic thought , sociology , materialism , section (typography) , history , epistemology , philosophy , political economy , ecology , computer science , linguistics , biology , operating system
A bstract This article explores the nature of economic thinking among indigenous Americans prior to European contact using a methodology that can best be described as applied cultural materialism. The article begins with a discussion of the approach used to infer the economic thought in the preliterate societies that populated the USA before 1492. This analysis is followed with an overview of aboriginal economic practices and thinking. The article's third section—an interpretation of Amerindian economic thought—builds on the materials in the previous sections. The article concludes with two case studies: Cahokia and the Iroquois.