cultural anthropology Flashcards
emic
Insiders perspective
etic
outsiders perspective
culture
values that group members hold, the way they communicate, the norms they follow, practices, and material culture they create.
subculture
a group that has norms/values distinct from those of the majority
societies
people in sustained communication with rules and structures that organize them in relation
-a common territory subject to a common system of political authority
-few dozens to billions
power + inequality
societies create more reliable food sources/methods, and claim one territory for longer, establishing material culture; increasing complexity = rise of divisions of labor, more inequality
ethnography
field work within a particular culture; provides account for community, society, and/or culture
- goal to grasp the natives POV- their relation to life, their vision of the world
ethnology
Study of sociocultural differences +similarities
-comparative, cross-cultural study of ethnographic data, society + culture
Ethnocentrism
the tendency to view one’s own culture as superior, use ones own standards while viewing other cultures
Armchair anthropology
research conducted at home
-relied on accounts from missionaries +travelers
-no direct experience
-never physically visited places they wrote about
Verandah anthropology
Lived near, but not with, the people they were researching
-hired by European colonial governments
Barefoot anthropology
learning about people through direct observation and interaction
-ethnographic fieldwork + participant observation
key cultural consultant:
an expert on a particular aspect of local life; every community has members who can provide the most complete or useful information about particular aspects of life
Key informant
An individual with extensive knowledge of the inter-workings of a group/process; may make referrals to other sources, establish credibility
Band organization
Band: 20-60 ppl, close relations, mobile hunter gatherers
Tribe: settled or transhumant. conception of common ancestor
cheifdom: rank and hierarchy, redistribution of resources, 10,000+ people
state: institutionalized control, protected wealth +rank
food producing strategies
Foraging, Horticulture, agriculture, pastoralism, industrialism
economies
systems of production, distribution, and consumption of resources
modes of production
kin, tributary, capitalism
modes of exchange
market economy, redistribution, reciprocity
Religion:
the extension of human society and culture to include the supernatural
Magic:
practices intended to bring supernatural forces under one’s control
