signaling theory (Other Keyword)
1-3 (3 Records)
During slavery, enslaved and freed Africans throughout the Caribbean engaged in commodity production and exchange for many different but complementary reasons. Slaves and freedman raised crops and animals and produced crafts that they traded as well as engaged in rented labor, both allowed them to barter for other goods and earn cash. For some, this exchange allowed them to survive the hardships of slavery and marginalization. Others were able to accumulate goods and cash that allowed them to...
Credibility Enhancing Displays and the Changing Expression of Coast Salish Social Commitments (2016)
Recent developments in evolutionary psychology expanding on signalling theory provide key insights to the connections between expressing social commitments and resource rights. Credibility enhancing displays (CREDs) are a means to convince individuals of commitment to belief systems and can link costly acts or extravagant displays to social success. In the Salish Sea the transition from labrets to cranial modification from 3200-1000 BP has often been framed in terms reflecting a shift from...
Signaling Theory, Network Creation, and Commodity Exchange in the Historic Caribbean (2016)
Signaling theory is becoming a common tool in the interpretation of slave-era households in the United States and Caribbean. As a heuristic tool, signaling theory’s effectiveness lies in its ability to provide insight into the differential consumption and disposal habits of past populations. This paper addresses not only consumer and disposal habits, but also commodity exchange and personal networks to place the material culture of enslaved and freed Africans from the Caribbean island of St....