Moral Economy

The Audible Anthropologist

The concept of "moral economy" describes our perception of how people in our economy should behave. "Riots" in 1700s England, historian EP Thompson explains, were only partly caused by a lack of food. More important for the rioters was that farmers sold their products to ‘scalpers’. These ‘scalpers’ bought grains in bulk and sold them on to the common folk at inflated prices. Rioters thought this kind of behaviour was reprehensible, so they took to the cobbled streets. Moral economy has proven to be a powerful concept in understanding contemporary societies, including our own. Listen and find out why.
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