Economic Life in the Real World

This book is directly relevant to students and professionals in anthropology, psychology and economics who are interested in economic life in the real world of everyday human interactions. It is framed around fascinating examples drawn from field research in rural China and Taiwan, and thus provides a useful introduction to these two societies.

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This clearly written and engaging book brings together anthropology, psychology and economics to show how these three human science disciplines address fundamental questions related to the psychology of economic life in human societies - questions that matter for people from every society and every background. Based around vivid examples drawn from field research in China and Taiwan, the author encourages anthropologists to take the psychological dimensions of economic life more seriously, but also invites psychologists and economists to pay much more attention than they currently do to cultural and historical variables. In the end, this intrinsically radical book challenges us to step away from disciplinary assumptions and to reflect more deeply on what really matters to us in our collective social and economic life.