Exam 1 (History of Anthropology) Flashcards
theory
a statement that suggests a relationship among phenomena and explains that relationship.
Theories can generate hypotheses to be tested in an empirical research investigation.
Evolutionism
Attemptedtoexplainvariationsinworldculturesby the single deductive theory that they all pass through a series of evolutionary stages
Ethnocentric
Evolutionists put their own societies at the top
Morgan’s Evolutionary Stages
– Defined by the presence or absence of certain technological features.
– Savagery – Barbarism - Civilization
Diffusionism
A theory that stated that certain cultural features were invented originally in one or several parts of the world and then spread to other cultures
Functionalism
cultures provide means to satisfy both
societal and individual needs, like a biological organism with many interconnected parts
Classes of contemporary theory
- Interpretive- understand the symbolic meaning used to express and transmit culture.
- Evolutionary- understand how culture changes in response to human needs.
- Activist- direct social change for a purpose
Positivism
there is a structure that determines truth and it can be identified (science)
Materialism
physical matter determines human nature. (biological characteristics,
wealth)
diffusionism
theory that claims certain cultural features were invented in one or several parts of the world, and then spread to other cultures.
Postmodernism
- A school of anthropology that advocates the switch from cultural generalization and laws to description, interpretation, and the search for meaning
- Ethnographies should be a dialogue between the anthropologist and those of the people under analysis.
- Interpretive anthropologist Clifford Geertz focused on culture as symbols.
Coevolution
culture (symbols) and agency (ideas) both influence and are influenced by the material (physical environment)
