Characteristics of the Primitive Economy – Anthropology by K.V RAMESH

Definitions of Primitive Economy

Ralph Piddington (1952) says “Economic system is designed to satisfy material wants of the people, to organize production, to control distribution and to determine the rights and claims of ownership within the community.

Raymond Firth (1952) is of the opinion that “Economic organization is a type of social action. It involves the combination of various kinds of human services with one another and with goods in such a way that they serve the given ends.”

George Dalton (1971) argues that “All societies have structured arrangements to provide the material means of individual and community life. It is these structured rules that we call an economic system. The economic system with special reference to the tribals may be defined as the primitive economic system that may have two important things, viz., the mode and structure of production and its relations, and the process of distribution existing and operating in a given socio-political set up. The mode of production implies technique and organization of economic activities relating to production.

Finally, it may be concluded that the mode of production in tribal economy is traditional and, indigenous and culturally predominant. The tribal people are culturally a social unit and at the same time enterprisers, workers as well as producers and consumers, the system of distribution is linked to the barter system or to the mutual exchange or the least monetary system.

The tribal people work hard to get their livelihood to meet the basic needs of life like food, shelter, etc., as well as the social needs like the materials for rites-de-passage, through their economic performances.

Herskovits has rightly said that an individual operating as a member of his society in terms of the culture of his group is the economic unit.

Characteristics of the Primitive Economy

There are many characteristics of the primitive economic system which have been enumerated by some of the scholars which are given below for the benefit of the students.

According to Dalton (1971), there are three important characteristics of the primitive economy, such as:

(a) Small Economy: It is this smallness of scale which is the fundamental characteristic of primitive life , (i) most (but not all) resources, goods and service transactions take place within a community of persons numbered in hundreds or thousands. (ii) frequently one or two staple items comprise usually large proportion of total produce. It is common for these important staples to be produced within the small framework of a tribe (iii) a relatively small number of goods and services is produced and acquired.
(b) Simple technology compared to the industrialized economies: The tools are either made by the user himself or are acquired free from a craftsman or from a manufacturing group.
(c) Geographical or cultural Isolation (Comparatively)

Majumdar and Madan (1956) have found nine important traits of a primitive economy as noticed in the tribal India and elsewhere.

There is an absence of technological aids in a tribal economy which results in inefficient, inadequate or even wasteful exploitation of nature. Consequently, the bare minimum necessary for sustenance is raised with great difficulty. An economic surplus is rare in their community.
The economic relations among the tribals themselves are mostly on barter and exchange, money as a store and measurement of value and medium of exchange is not used widely. Institutions like banking and credit are used only in dealing with non-tribal groups which depends upon the nature and frequency of contacts with them. The profit motive in economic dealings is generally absent. The role of an incentive is fulfilled by a sense of mutual obligation, sharing and solidarity.
Co-operative and collective endeavour is a strongly developed feature of their economy.
The rate of innovation, internal or included, is very low and consequently they are stable and make hardly any progress.
The regular market as an institution along with its conditions of market like perfect competition and monopoly is absent and what comes nearest to it is the weekly market or festival and seasonal meets.
The manufacturer of consumer rather than capital goods is common and the same are consumed, nothing being saved or exchanged in trade.
Specialization based on specially acquired specific technical abilities is absent. However, division of labor based on factors other than specialization, like sex, is widely present.
The notion of property is closely related to display and expenditure of wealth rather than to its accumulation. Material goods, movable and immovable may be referred to as property and this entails the existence of some rules of inheritance. Both types of ownership, collective and individual, are known.

The characteristics of the tribal economy may broadly be viewed in three ways, viz., (i) the structure of the tribal economy, (ii) the tribal economy as a socio-economic and cultural system, and (iii) economic characteristics of the tribal economy.

The structure of the tribal economy is generally based on forest, sea and forest coastal and island tribals. The simple technology and absence of technological aids is the other structural feature of the tribal economy.
At the socioeconomic and cultural level the family is a unit of both production and consumption. The community itself acts like a co-operative unit, and the tribal communities living in a village or locality are economically independent. The distribution is generally based on gift and ceremonial exchange.
Lastly, in analyzing the pure economic characteristics as general economics prescribes the features as two, viz., absence of profit in economic dealings and presence of periodical markets.

Finally, keeping in view, the close association of indigenous tribals production and social organization, a nine point framework has been given to illustrate the fundamental characteristics of tribal economy,

(i) Forest based economy,
(ii) Unit of production, consumption and pattern of labor being the family,
(iii) Simple technology,
(iv) Absence of profit in economic dealings,
(v) the community as a co-operative unit,
(vi) Gift and ceremonial exchange,
(vii) Periodical markets,
(viii) Interdependence, and
(ix) The minor institutions related to tribal economy.

Vidyarthi (1977) suggested that the first and foremost characteristics of the tribal economy are the close relationship between their economic life and the natural environment or habitat which is usually the forest. Besides the forest, the existing natural environment moulds their economy to a great extent.

For example at Lakshadweep Islands, the existing ecology of sea and the coconuts forest exert significant influence on the economy of the islanders (Jha, 1992). The Birhors of Bihar, the Chenchus of Andhra Pradesh, the Juangs of Odisha, the Kadars of Kerela, the Paliyans and Panians of Tamil Nadu, etc., depend on the forest and in these areas, the flora and fauna predominates as the primary source of food. The Bhils of western India depend on forest of Mahua and Biri/beedi leaves to a great extent.

The pastoralists Gaddis of Himachal Pradesh depend on forest for the pasture for Dhar for their goats and sheep. In this way, the tribal economy is usually forest-based. However, some changes have occurred among the agriculturalist tribes like the Mundas, the Oraon, the Santals, the Raj Gonds, etc., especially after independence of India and their economy is now no more forest based.

Some anthropologists believe that man has passed, through four major stages of livelihood: – hunting and food gathering, fishing, pastoralism and agriculture.