Theories of peasant economy at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City

Abstract

This paper discusses the usefulness of the Semantic Conception of Scientific Theories as a tool for analyzing exhibitions in science museums. It focuses on representations of peasant economies in the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico City, and reconstructs the conceptualization underlying said representations. The apparatus utilized for this task is based on the Structuralist Program, but presents the reconstruction as a category theory diagram instead of a set-theoretic predicate. The paper proposes a possible connection between the Museum’s conceptualization and Chayanov’s theory of the Peasant Economy. It ends with a final reflection on the structural transformations of scientific theories as they pass into the realm of popular science communication