Evaluation of transition of Initiative-based FS to FR
Re-evaluating Advantages of Small-Scale Economies: Finding
Title of the Project

Alternative Strategies to Overcome Vulnerability in Large-Scale
Economies

Project Leader

HABU Junko

General advice and comments of PEC:
The project mainly consists of the past archaeological studies on small-scale economies with astrong international framework. However, PEC found it difficult to see any clear and convincing
hypothesis on how the research on small-scale economies can be linked with improvement ofvulnerability in large-scale economies on the basis of RIHN’s philosophy focusing on environment. Itis again difficult to find any rational reasoning behind the selection of case studies and sites. Clear
vision, including the title, and a rather integrative methodology are other main conditions required toproceed to the next stage. Despite these insufficiencies and missing link with contemporary issues andstrategies that this institute aims to advance in terms of transdisciplinary interactions, there is a certain
potential on investigating the past archaeological studies with this project. PEC strongly recommends
narrowing down the research theme with more precise and relevant case studies and scaling down thetime-scale and financial scope of the project before the start of full research implementation.

Reply:As stated in the proposal, this project uses three defining characteristics of a small-scale economy
and society: 1) its goals are not limited to the pursuit of short-term efficiency and profits; 2)
locally-based production is emphasized over aiming for active participation in, and possibly
domination of, the world market; and 3) information about the producers is readily available toconsumers. In other words, what is at issue is less the size of the entire system, but the size of theindividual unit for determining the production, circulation and consumption strategies. To emphasize
this point, we have changed the project title. Our project is particularly interested in theinterrelationships between the size of the production/circulation/consumption unit, the breadth ofsubsistence diversity, and the long-term sustainability of cultures and societies.
Our main hypothesis is that, all other things being equal, highly specialized and low diversity
subsistence strategies can support a larger population for a short period, but make the system more
vulnerable in the long-run. We believe that the most robust test of this hypothesis is to use data fromboth the past and the present. There is excellent precedent for archaeological and historical analysis tothrow new and valuable light upon actions and behaviors in the present. This is especially true in thecase of archaeology, which can address issues of contemporary importance from a deep time
perspective – assessing resilience and vulnerability over many millennia. Other factors, including
climate change, mobility of people, goods and information and technological developments, will also
be taken into consideration.
The core of our methodology consists of 1) biochemical analyses of material culture, faunal/floral
remains, and soil/water, 2) spatial analysis of the distribution and size of settlements andproduction/circulation/consumption units, 3) ethnographic interviews and participant observations, and4) simulation and formal/informal modeling in the fields of historical ecology and agroecology. Given
that our project will be only for three years, our main geographic focus will be on Japan andCalifornia/Northwest Coast of North America, where project members have already conducted
substantial amounts of preliminary research. Many environmental similarities as well as historical,
social and cultural parallels make these regions particularly suitable for comparative studies. Ourarchaeological subprojects will focus on assessing the long-term sustainability and vulnerability ofearly to middle Holocene subsistence strategies in these two regions and compare prehistoric examples
to modern data of production and distribution within existing small-scale economies. In this way, we
hope to identify common elements that can contribute to resilience and sustainability at all economic
levels.