Key points
Foragers
Economic types are ecological strategies, not rungs on a ladder.
- Settlement follows water and season (Ju/’hoansi near mongongo; Great Basin Shoshone in Steward’s ecology).
- Pressures: parks, logging, climate, state borders. Responses: partial wage work, not ‘museum freeze’.
India
Pastoralists
- Goats to yak/reindeer by climate. Herd = food, bridewealth, ritual, politics, feeling.
- Indian peg: FRA claims often fail; OBC vs ST labels differ by state; fodder markets when pastures close.
Key points
Shifting cultivation
- Jhum, podu, bewar. Women and light tools; bridewealth where female labour is heavy.
- Fallow crash 10–20 years → 2–3 years: erosion, yield drop, criminalised custom.
Thinker
Tribal economic typologies
- Majumdar and Madan: gatherers (Chenchu), jhum (Kamar, Mizo, Naga), plough (Ho, Oraon), and so on.
- Vidyarthi: forest-hunting, hill jhum, plains agriculture, artisan (Mankidia, Irula mats), pastoral.
- Banaba / phosphate (Katerina Teaiwa, consuming an island): extraction as ethnography of ruin.
WRAP Exams coaching notes for UPSC Anthropology optional. Pair with the official syllabus when you need every heading in order.