Abstract:

Economics is said to be the ‘science of choice’, stereotypically focused on the area of activity/behavior that emerges from interactions between entities offering things up for sale and the consumers choosing among the available options. The economistic assumption is that such choices are to be based on ‘self-interest’ or the search for the most profitable exchange. Starting from this, this paper explores the ‘market’ for Anthropology as seen in the results of a 2004 survey by UP Mindanao, and in decision trees modeling the rationality in selecting their degree courses made by UP Diliman students who were taking up Economic Anthropology. (Both projects also conducted by students as pedagogical/educational exercises in social science and anthropology.)