Archaeology of Political Economy With a Focus on Inequality - Term Paper Example

Archeology Anthropology of Political Economy with a Focus on Inequality. Specifically on Its Origins and Archeological Reasons for Continuing Growing Of Inequality around the World Table of Contents Introduction 3 Discussion 3 Analysis 5 Archeological Projection of Inequality in the Present Time 5 Archeological Projection of Inequality In The Future Time 6 Conclusion 7 Bibliography 9 Introduction Archeology in logical terms refers to the study procedure intended towards evaluating and understanding every aspect of historical happenings. It projects an integrated understanding of the human history and present scenario. The dimensions of archeological study are wide and do not remains consigned to the evaluation of the actual facts associated with the event. In a likewise manner, this discussion will be evaluating the archeological / anthropological aspects associated with political economy with specific focus upon inequality. Over multiple decades, the US society has been subjected to multiple forms of inequalities that have evolved over time. For instance, the period between the 19th and 20th century addressed the prevalence of racial, gender and income inequalities within the U.S. society (Sokoloff &Stanley 217–232). Moreover, this discussion will also lay considerable amount of focus on the different types of archeological factors that has subsequently supported the existence and growth of inequality throughout the world. The detailed elaborations of such aspects have been provided in the later sections of the discussion. Discussion The United States between the periods of 19th and 20th century underwent tremendous amount of economic upliftment. In fact, the study of political economy within the US encompasses every change that emerged within the society during that period. Inequality within the higher and lower level income groups, gender biasness and racial issues between the blacks and whites turned out to be the highly witnessed inequality patterns within the US society and culture during the era of industrial revolution. Taking reference of these aspects, the discussion majorly focuses towards evaluating three credential aspects that has been summarized as under Archeological Projection of Inequality in The Past The archeological projection of inequality within the US history does not appear to be of much difference than the present state of inequality within the US or other nations. By taking consideration, of the chain of events that took place within the US society between the 19th and 20th century, one can easily relate the emergence of inequality with that of the industrial revolution (Sokoloff & Stanley 217–232). The drastic financial, technological and economic developmental changes brought in by the industrial revolution resulted in giving rise to multiple forms of societal and traditional inequality within every fold of the US society. For analyzing the patterns of social inequality that prevailed within the U.S, archeological studies have been conducted upon the localization, traditional, expenditure, economic issues, societal developmental trait and physical aspects of the US inhabitants or their remains, which belonged from the period before 19th century or above. Such archeological surveys have facilitated in drawing a comparative link between traits and prevalence of inequality within the present day scenario and the past periods (Sokoloff & Stanley 217–232). Archeological survey of political economy within the US also revealed a form of inequality between the lower class and the higher class because of unequal distribution of wealth. Evidently, the archeological aspects associated with the US political economy also revealed a vast gap between the equality types that prevailed within the society before and after the industrial revolution period. Justification to this context can be provided depending on the fact that before the period of 19th century, the US society was crippled due to the increasing rates of gender biasness and inappropriate behavior against the female sections of the society (Williamson 2-29). Evidently, such kind of biasness also prevailed within other nations such as China and India where females were considered weak and incapable. However, this perception changed after the 19th century. In this century, every individual was provided with financial support to lead an independent and better lifestyle. As a chain of events, the industrial revolution during 19th century also projected multiple employment opportunities that eventually attracted huge population of migrants from other nations. As a result, the diversification within the population brought in societal, racial and income inequalities within the American society during that period of time (Williamson 2-29). Analysis Archeological Projection of Inequality in the Present Time Although, the present state of the US society has undergone appreciable level of upliftment, still the traces of multiple sorts of inequalities are prevalent. For instance, the racial inequalities between the Latin Americans and the whites appear to be a major form of societal issues within the US. Apparently, the archeological survey of political economy also revealed the existence of several different kinds of inequalities within the other nations. For instance, the prevalence of gender biasness and the caste system within India has also maintained its historical existence (Corak 1-29). Apart from this, existence of income inequalities and social disparity within China also forms a credential aspect of such archeological findings in relation with the political economy of varied nations. The archeological study from an overall perspective, projects two specific faces of the US society. The first projection reveals about the possible efforts carried out by the US government in terms of eliminating the racial and income related inequalities within the US society. However, the second projection brings a contradictory aspect to the previous projection. In accordance with the second projections, the legislative laws that are being structured by the US government appear to be inappropriate at certain instances towards eliminating the possibilities of such inequality. In context to individual opinions, every individual boosts upon their perception of inequality and free society. However, the real time acceptance of such projections turns out as a mess in numerous scenarios (Corak 1-29). The archeological study regarding the present state of inequality within the US society also embraces the relations of such aspects with the present political structure of this nation. Justification regarding such aspect can be provided by taking reference of the 14th amendment that forms the most credential aspect of the US’s legal system. The 14th amendment holds specific legal guidelines all tended towards eliminating the possibilities of inequality within the society. However, over the time, the legal system was forced to bring considerable amount of changes within the 14th amendment with the intention of serving the president justice system in an effective manner. As a matter of fact, a perception can be attained regarding the existence of certain historical inequality within the present societal scenario of the US through the findings attained from the archeological studies (Huber, Nielsen, Pribble & Stephens 2-28). Archeological Projection of Inequality In The Future Time The facts projected by the archeological surveys regarding the existence of inequality within the US society elaborates about the attempts made by the US government in terms of mitigating the occurrence and the adverse impact of inequality types. Thus from a logical perspective, one can easily perceive about the punishment regarding inequality in the US society in the coming days. Justification to this aspect can be provided by taking consideration of the societal widening and development of broader thinking patterns within individuals of the society (Huber, Nielsen, Pribble & Stephens 2-28). Although, certain loopholes might also exist within the projected analysis due to the unavailability of historical data, yet a projection can be made regarding the functionality patterns of the US society in the future. From a generalized perspective, one can predict about the transformation of the US society as a process and efficiency oriented machinery rather than remaining confined to the traditional inequality norms. Such norms have always been a major deterrent of economic and societal efficiency attainment and thus from a conclusive point, it is worth mentioning that human beings should be measured depending upon their skills and performance capabilities rather than being judged by their religion, status or place of origin (Huber, Nielsen, Pribble & Stephens 2-28). Conclusion The above discussion has been highly informative towards elaborating the relationship between the political economy of the US along with its relation and factors that supported the prevalence of inequality within the US society. Rather than remaining confined to the demonstration of inequality patterns within the US, this discussion has also focused upon multiple other factors that resulted in giving rise to inequality types within multiple other nations such as India and China. Specific preference has also been provided upon the past, present and future trend of inequality within the US economy. Apart from all these, the discussion has also laid significant amount of focus in terms of elaborating the chain of events that has resulted in giving rise to the various economic scenarios within the US. The facts mentioned within the discussion also helped in indentifying the pattern through which the prevalent forms of inequalities within the US society has laid significant amount of impact on the overall political structure of this nation. Appropriate reference related to the effective implementation of the 14th amendments has also been considered for justifying the projected facts. The specific amount of changes that are being brought within the 14th amendment has been categorized as the impact of inequality on the legal system of the US. Thus from an overall aspect, it can be stated that inequality does lay tremendous amount of negative impact on the overall functionality and societal efficiency within the US and thus needs to be eliminated. Bibliography Corak, Miles. “Income Inequality, Equality of Opportunity, and Intergenerational Mobility.” Forthcoming in the Journal of Economic Perspectives (2013): 1-29. Huber, Evelyne., François Nielsen., Jenny Pribble., & John D. Stephens. “Politics and Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean.” University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (2005): 2-28. Sokoloff, Kenneth L. & Stanley L. Engerman. “Institutions, Factor Endowments, and Paths of Development in the New World.” Journal of Economic Perspectives (2000): 217–232. Williamson, Jeffrey G. “History without Evidence: Latin American Inequality since 1491.” Center for European, Governance and Economic Development Research (2009): 2-29. Read More