Anthropological and Feminist Perspectives of Political Economy
Although specifically an introduction to this special issue, this article is also an introduction to the anthropological and feminist perspectives of political economy, particularly in the historical context of North American anthropology. The author attempts to define the object and methods of political economy, and to emphasize the particularities of the feminist approach to the subject. Referring to authors who have significantly influenced political economy perspectives, she also discusses four major sets of concepts : 1) production, reproduction, and household ; 2) anthropological subjects, state and agency ; 3) culture and hegemony ; 4) division of labour, restructuration and globalization. Finally, she stresses the importance of the comparative approach and ethnographic fieldwork in strengthening the theory.