Anthropologists have long recognised that even the simple economies not only fulfil biological needs but also contribute to the social needs as determined by socially prescribed forms of kinship, hospitality rules, moral values, prestige requirements, etc. In fact the economic system and the society are so much interrelated that it is not possible to comprehend fully an economic system without reference to the total culture of which it is part. On the other hand however, there is a great debate regarding the subject matter of economic anthropology. This debate has given two schools of thought in economic anthropology - the substantivists and the formalists. Each schoolof thought has its own views to justify for the adequacy of its theory and to explain the economy of primitive and peasant societies. This paper has two basic objectives: i) to analyse the concepts of economics as they apply to a group of people living in east Nepal; and ii) to synthesise the substantivist and the formalist theories and to perceive them as being complementary rather than in opposition.
