anthropology + primitive Flashcards
western enlightnment
17-18th century
sociopyschological unit of humanity in rational nature
» humans subject to laws of pgoress of nature and itself
- from begginging of time aim is to improve;
resulted in EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY
evolutionary anthro
human society; dynamic movement by evolution from lower to higher civillization (in lin ewith gods laws and nature)
savage societies—> civillized societies
truer knowledge-> superior technology -> control over nature –> finer arts —> truer religion
stages of human society
Economic:
hunter gatherer - pastoralist - agricultralist- slavery-feudalism-industrial capitalism/socialism/communism- end of human history
social;
primitive promisciuty to polygamy to matriniliny to patriniliny
evolutionary image of primitive humanity
- human (not homo monstrous)
- savage/british (biolent aggresive and immoral, eogistic) and underveloped (technology and politics and religion)
- sexually controlled (primitive promisciuty)
- instinct and reflexible yaware (only more or less aware of rules and norms)
- rough assembly, social structure
famous evoluitonary anthopologists
edwardy tylor
lewis henry moran
- built on ‘scientific findings’
- little ethnography; ‘army chair field work ‘
- speculated evolutionary schemas on datter
signs of evolutionayr anthropology
framed 19th century political and intellectual views:
- musuems of ‘human social evolution condition’
- justification of colonialism on basis of social darwinism
- justification of social reforms to ‘improve’ poor and ensalved
change of evolutionary anthropology?
moved away from evolutionary anthropology in 20th century
omai
1768 and 1774:
‘individual, polynesian ‘ brought to west and dressed up as a ‘greek philosopher’ to paint ‘savage’ as noble
- challenged previous conceptions of primitive as dirty and immoral and stupid
= resulted in a famous painting by sir Joshua Reynolds
rousseau
j.j. rousseau ‘the noble savage’; believed human society in state of ‘primtiive perfection ‘ at beginiing of time
primitive technology= more happy and content people= more at one with nature and social world; social and cultural belief sin harmony internally and exetnerally without ‘evils of modern simulation’
e.g. indigenous and neative beliefts; are logical, scientific and FUNCITONAL in the environment
in modern societies; social evolution is regressive and fractured unition
previous belief of hunter gatherers
seen as bottom of social human evolution as ‘at mery of nature’ and ‘dismayal existnece’
; lack society and are ex-svaages
- hunting as an ineffective economy
-domestification of nature= sign of evolved society
levi strauss re-analysis of hunter gatherer
hg are not primitive; are complex and its a choice to occupy a different ecosystem as:
1. they produce ans socialize in complex social organizaitons and beliefs
- accuulated knolwedge of terrirtory
- rarely starve; hence economically self sustaining
- they REJECT and KNOW of agriculture/alternative lifestyles, but choose not to follow as agriculturists stuck in society
- instead, maximize leisure over wealther to enjoy freedom of movement
marshall sahlins on HG
‘original affluent society’ 1968;
an affluent society is where all matieral needs are satisfied;
zen philosophy where its a self-sustaining economy
- happiness= out of low standards
thats why; HG societies have low standards; easily satisified; not poor in possession as poverty is a social status relative to a civilizaiton
Kwakiutl in Australia (levistrauss take) HG society
different marriage and age section patrimony and matrinony slave and slave system know where water, fishing hunting is inveted smoked salmon have knowledge of orientation and geography
bushmen in kalahari
- aretefacts; free from matieral pressure as purely tools addapted to living
- accumulation of objects; not a sign of status
- borrowing and no hoarding
- sloppy with posessesion (according to westerners)
- division of labour for food and water; energy conserved for maxiimum amount of people
- work less than we do; only work they have to feed for survival
- lack of schedule
- food quest as leisure
McCarthy-McArthur Study
- study on the nutritional outcomes of australian bushmen
1. erratic work patterns (2.5 hrs per adult per week); low economic standards and highly concentrate dphysical work
2. adequate dietry intake
3. food collecting is primary productive activity
4. less mobility means less wealth
5. no food storage= no hoarding= efficien thunting
6. rely on ECOLOGICAL Pressures
pastoralists (stateless societies)
no state, politically uncertrainsed and have hostility to strong and centralist leaderships
e.g. nuer in souther sudan
nuer development
- in 1930: 200,000
- in 1950; 450,000
in 1980s; 800,000 to 1 million people
have a warrior ethos (fierce); fights betwene clans and war with dinka neighbours
inittiation rituals for boys to kill something
are a stateless society
evans pritchard
conducted reanalysis in 1940 of nuer society; how do they remain society without state
nuer findings evans pritchard
- patriclian exogamy; they marry out to keep peace by family negogitation in between clans
- cross cut membership (seasonal break up and recompositions of wet season villages); migraiton i dfferent seasons allows for groups to join [ climate change affecting this by creating political fonlicts due to less wet season]
- aggression aroudn chiefly lineasges
- junior age grade; warriorhood intitaiton based on age, not clan
- kin related reules for weapons use and biolence (kins; use fits, nonkins; use spears) to regulate fonlict
- equillibrium in fued; close kin fueds only involve few, distant kin fueds involve whole clan
- leopard skin chiefs; ritual mediators; figre out compensations in fights
- prophets unite clans for war; they live in pyramids
= inner, balance eqiulibrium, of ‘ordered anarchy’
max gluckmann
‘the peace in the feud’ 1955
- societies without a state; lack power sto judge and mediate conflict= but have own moral codes
gluckmann on nuer
- forced cooperation in wet season
- nomadic rules= friendships create peace
- no chiefs but marriage between clans
- cattle as currency
- all NUER against foreigns (unity against greater enemy)
- ancestral linkages and brotherhood in kinship systems
- earth; has mystical value; to live on earth men must be friends
= balance and cooperation and fonlict for cusotm unity
margaread mead
‘coming of age in samoa’ 1938
mead findings
- modern american teenagers have culturally problematic and painful puberty
- mead when to samoa in polynesian pacific islands and found:
its non repressive
girls have several boyfriends/sexual experitation wtihout guilt
‘painless mentruation’ as ‘samoan ethos encourages natural expression’
critiques of mead
derek freeman: samoa is also represseive/unhappy
- mead idealized it due to her own preconcieved prediction
- she lied with a gender goal and misinformed whole societiy
- cult of virginity, rape and female sucidie still takes place as men still onctorl women in public
- all socieities have same level of happiness and unhappiness
anthropological critiques of ‘primitive notion’
1980s; flaws of rousseaous ideas of ‘primtiive perfection’ pointed out:
- nonmodern blief systems are plural and not logically odered
- non moden economics can also deplete or spoil environments
- non modern politics can also be violent and oppresive
- primitive societies are globally incoporated
aim of critiques on primitive notion
problematize opposition of primitive=modern
abolish ide aof primitive; all cultures complex
different societies= different types of complexities exist
e.ardner
‘belief in the problem of women’ ; studied the bakweri women in mt camerron
- unconvered internal variation of cultural perspectives
friednman
‘kachin people in burma mynanmar’ ecological crisis going on in microcosm as people are over hunting and over fisthing; distruption of harmonious relationships to nature in both primitive and modern societies
nonmodern politics and violence
- no ordered anarhcy exists (even ‘stateless societies’ have meditiating shamans)
- sorcery, tighting, alcholo, drugs, murder and crime in all societies
globalization and the primitive?
- no ‘uncontacted societies’ exist
1971; unkown tribe in Mindaneo, phillipines, ‘discovredy; turns out to be environment hoax
persistance of primitive condition in popular culture?
- idealization of native american societies and shaminism (e..g commersialization of native american spa in sedona)
- idealization of primitive religion
- people ‘feerer’ in hg societies; fiji weddings are sold - idealization of primitive medicine;
shamans, yoga, chakras and herabal medicines as superior to western meidicne - communism idealization
- peace and beauty aesthetic idealization ; art, fiji water as liequid purity
- idealization of ‘untouched’ societies; aim to find innocence of modernity and garden of eden?
casse; bakweri
bakweri women ritualize their understanding of a woman in the world. men and women are not uniform in their cultural perspectives and differential
MEN: view themselves as civilized representatives on which women depend [patriarchy]; against nature
= are the ‘visilbe structure’
WOMEN; ardener found in ethnography that women can ritually transform themselves into mermaids with civilized and culture relations to sea; overlap with nature
= complex, invisible structure
ritual of llengu; the water spirit;
for men; cleansing of spiritual illness, infertility and witchcraft
for women; process of becoming a llengu is process of a girl becoming women by self-acceptance of spirit
