C. 1 - The Nature of Anthropology Flashcards
What is anthropology?
The study of humankind in all times and places
What are two significant works of anthropology in antiquity?
the accounts of other people by Herodotus the Geek and by the Arab Ibn Khaldun, written in the 5th century BC and the 14th century, respectively.
Why has anthropology expanded recently?
Until recently, people have been restricted in their geographical horizons. The study of foreign peoples and cultures was not likely to flourish until adequate modes of transportation and communication could be developed and until a literate audience emerged.
What was the failure of Europeans with anthropologic research?
The failure of Europeans to recognize that beneath all the differences, they shared a basic “humanity” with people everywhere.
What was at the root of European cultural arrogance that slowed the growth of anthropology?
Colonialism, cultural imperialism, and a dominant evolutionary theory.
What is colonialism?
When one nation dominates another through occupation (colonies), administration (military presence), ad control of resource, thereby creating dependency.
What is cultural imperialism?
Promoting one nation’s clues, beliefs, and behaviour as superior to those of all others.
-Often associated with the Western world inundating other cultural groups with technology, religion, and ways of living (most often via the media), but also through missions, education, and economic control, thereby strongly influencing how people will live.
When did European colonialism reach its zenith?
In the 17th and 18th centuries, when the Spanish, Portuguese, English, French, and Dutch set up colonies in other lands, dislocating the indigenous populations.
What did the discipline of anthropology arise from?
Early attempts to offer scientific explanations for human diversity.
What is “cultural progress”?
That al cultures passed through evolutionary stages until they reached the technologically advanced level of Western societies. This was also the time when the concept of race was put forward.
What did Franz Boas argue?
“That every culture is unique, with a unique history, and is neither superior nor inferior to another.”
What did Franz Boas reject and promote and develop?
Rejected racism and promoted cultural relativism. Developed the “Four Field Approach”.
What is cultural relativism?
The belief that all cultures are equally vlid and must be studied on their own terms.
What did Bronislaw Malinowski turn his attention to?
Functions of economic, social, religious, and political institutions.
What did Radcliffe-Brown focus on?
How culture as a whole functions to maintain itself.
Who was one of the first anthropologists to pay close attention to his key-informants point of view?
Bronislaw Malinowski
What are three major influences evident in the development of Canadian anthropology?
Museums, academic departments, and applied research
What was a major source of strength and growth in Canadian anthropology?
Applied anthropology
What are the four fields of anthropology that make up the “anthropological perspective”?
- biological anthropology
- archaeology
- linguistic anthropology
- sociocultural anthropology
What is biological anthropology primarily concerned with?
With humans as biological organisms
What is sociocultural anthropology primarily concerned with?
Humans as cultural animals
What is archaeology primarily interested in?
Cultural behaviour, in that it reconstructs the lives of people who lived in the past.
What is linguistic anthropology primarily concerned with?
The study of human languages of the past, present, as a means for people to relate to one another and to develop and communicate ideas about one another and the world.
What is paleoanthropology?
The study of fossil remains of our ancient ancestors, in order to reconstruct the course of human biological evolution.
What is primatology?
The study of the biological and social nature of our closest relatives: prosimians, monkeys, and apes.
What is forensic anthropology?
A field of applied biological anthropology and archaeology that specializes in the identification of human skeletal remains for legal purposes.
What is archaeology?
Is the study of material remains in order to describe and explain the behaviour of people who have lived before us. The tools, pottery, and other enduring artifacts that remain are a legacy of the past that reflects certain aspects of human behaviour.
What is prehistoric/pre-contact archaeology?
The study fanciest cultures the did not possess writing systems to record their history.
What is historic archaeology?
The study of past cultures that possessed written records of their history. Stud those cultures with historical documents available in order to supplement the material remains people left behind.
What is the University of Arizona’s Garbage Project?
- The tests clearly show a difference in what people say they do and what garbage analysis shows they actually do.
- Fifteen percent of respondent households affirmed consumption of beer but no household reported consumption of more than eight cans a week.
- Analysis of garbage, however, demonstrated that beer was consumed in more than eighty percent of households and that fifty percent discarded more than eight empty cans a week.
What was an interesting finding of the garbage project when it discussed beef?
Another interesting finding of the garbage project was that when beef prices reached an all-time high in 1973, so did the amount of beef wasted by house-holds. High prices and scarcity correlate with more waste rather than less.
What allows us to preserve and transmit our culture from generation to generation?
Language
What do linguistic anthropologists study?
The way language is used as a resource for practising, developing, and transmitting culture. They examine how people use language and other means of expression to develop relationships with one another and to maintain social distinctiveness.
What do descriptive linguists deals with?
- The description of a language (the way a sentence is formed or a very is conjugated).
- The study of patterns and structure in language.
What is historical linguistics?
- The history of languages (the way languages develop and influence one another with the passage of time).
- The study of language origins, language change, and the relationships between languages.