Chapter 2: Culture Flashcards
Culture
system of knowledge, beliefs, patterns of behavior, artifacts, and institutions that are created, learned, shared, and contested by a group of people
Enculturation
process of learning culture
What are some examples of conscious enculturation?
Learning culture in schools, doctor visits, etc.
What are some examples of unconscious enculturation?
Learning culture from family, the internet, etc.
What four things do anthropologists look at to understand culture?
Norms
Values
Symbols
Mental Maps
Norms
ideas or rules about how people should behave in particular situations or towards others
Exogamy
marrying outside of one’s social group
Endogamy
marrying within one’s social group
Values
fundamental beliefs about what is important, what makes a good life, and what is true/right
Symbols
something that stands for something else; has historical process
Mental Maps of Reality
“maps” that humans construct of what kinds of people and things exist
Unilineal Cultural Evolution
idea that all cultures would evolve through the same sequence of stages
Why did the idea of unilineal cultural evolution develop?
Idea developed to combat prevalent racist belief that many non-Europeans were of a different species
Why is the idea of unilineal cultural evolution criticized?
Places various cultural expressions in a hierarchy with European culture as the ideal
Historical Particularism
ideas that cultures develop in specific ways because of their unique histories
Who developed the idea of historical particularism?
Franz Boaz
Structural Functionalism
conceptual framework suggesting each element of society serves a particular function to keep the entire system at equilibrium
Intepretivist Approach
idea that sees culture as a symbolic system of deep meaning
Thick Description
combining elevated description of cultural activity and an analysis of deep cultural meaning in which those activities are co-embedded
Who developed the idea of thick description?
Clifford Geertz
Power
ability to bring about change through action or influence, either one’s own or that of a group or institution
Stratification
uneven distribution of resources and privileges
Hegemony
ability of a dominant group to create consent and agreement within a population without the use of force
Agency
potential power of individuals and groups to contest cultural norms, values, symbols, mental maps of reality, and structures of power
