article
Money walks, people talk: systematic and transactional dimensions of Palauan exchange
L'Homme • 162 • Published In 2002 • Pages: 49-79
By: Parmentier, Richard J..
Abstract
This article discusses the social functions of Balauan traditional money and exchange systems. It argues that the traditional bead money of Balau is better understood from a semiotic perspective in terms of the systemic calculation of value and of the strategies of social transactions. Money's cultural associations can be established by combining historical, narrative, and ethnographic data. Discourse about money, largely by high-ranking titleholders, tends to naturalize the logic of value and to perpetuate the social hierarchy.
- Subjects
- Exchange transactions
- Medium of exchange
- Status, role, and prestige
- Gender status
- Visiting and hospitality
- Buying and selling
- Gift giving
- Family relationships
- Inter-community relations
- Kin relationships
- Mode of marriage
- Sanctions
- Crime
- Mythology
- Sacred objects and places
- External relations
- Acculturation and culture contact
- culture
- Belau
- HRAF PubDate
- 2010
- Region
- Oceania
- Sub Region
- Micronesia
- Document Type
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Anthropologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2009
- Field Date
- 1978-1980
- Coverage Date
- 1890-2002
- Coverage Place
- Republic of Belau
- Notes
- Richard J. Parmentier
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 76-79)
- LCCN
- 64030096
- LCSH
- Palauans