Robert C. Marshall is professor of anthropology at Western Washington University.

Shall we base our notions of humanity on the limited cultural constructs and religious ideology of one time period, one political-economic system, one system of thought represented by economics? Or shall we free ourselves of these mental and ideological shackles to explore the realities beyond these assumptions? The empirical studies of ethnographic, archaeological, and even the evolutionary fossil record show why we should transcend the imprisonment of the mind that assumes that market-like relations define humanity and even all of nature. This book provides an impressive range of studies across the spectrum of anthropology that illustrate the centrality of cooperation in human relations. The various papers address ways to understand cooperation among individuals, how both hierarchic and more egalitarian organizations solve the problems of their members, the performance of cooperative institutions in difficult economic times, and the regulation of access to common property resources. The strength of the work is its focus on fine-grained empirical work rather than ideologically based assumptions. With its feet on the ground, this book does much to move economic thought toward reality.

• Part 1 Part I. IntroductionChapter 2 Chapter 1. IntroductionPart 3 Part II. Cooperation and CompetitionChapter 4 Chapter 2. From Reciprocity to Trade: How Cooperative Infrastructures Form the Basis of Human Socio-cultural EvolutionChapter 5 Chapter 3. Market Integration and Pro-social Behavior: Some Evidence from the Standard Cross-Cultural SampleChapter 6 Chapter 4. Critique of Reciprocity: Shifts in Ayni among Andean GroupsChapter 7 Chapter 5. Commerce and Cooperation among the Classic Maya: The Chunchucmil CasePart 8 Part III. Cooperation and HierarchyChapter 9 Chapter 6. Cooperation in Conflict: Negotiating Inequality in Midwestern U.S. Hog ContractingChapter 10 Chapter 7. Cooperation, Equality, and DifferenceChapter 11 Chapter 8. Cooperation, Conflict, and Communal Complexity in Marginal Levantine Social LifePart 12 Part IV. Co-operativesChapter 13 Chapter 9. Cooperation in the Informal Economy: The Case of Recyclers at a Brazilian Garbage DumpChapter 14 Chapter 10. Is It Possible to Overcome the "Tragedy of Ubuntu?" The Journey of a Black Women's Economic Empowerment Group in South AfricaChapter 15 Chapter 11. The Role of Social Norms in the Construction of American Agricultural CooperativesPart 16 Part V. Cooperation RisingChapter 17 Chapter 12. Creating Common Grazing Rights on Private Parcels: How New Social Norms Produce Incentives for Cooperative Land ManagementChapter 18 Chapter 13. Cooperation and the Development of Conservation Laws: The Case of the Maine Lobster Industry