Exam 3 Flashcards
“War and Violence as Cultural Expression”
-Meaningful violence
-Violence as cultural performance
-Violent symbolism
-Violence and the cultural imaginary
- Meaningful violence:
some argue that this activity and concept can be senseless, but it can also be analyzed as a human cultural activity like other cultural performances, such as dance and religious ceremonies
Contemporary issues in the anthropology of violence
The cultural aspects of particular forms of violent practice, the nature of state terror, the resurgence of “tradition” in violent practices, and violence as exchange are all aspects of these
Violent imaginaries
Far from being fanciful or unreal, this concept, represented in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ah2I166f_U describes how representations of violence are not just about violence but are actually integral to it
“Army Enlists Anthropology in War Zone”
This New York Times article describes how Human Terrain Teams assign anthropologists to American combat units in Afghanistan and Iraq
Human Terrain Teams
They undertake research among the local population, and represent that population (referred to as the “human terrain”) in the various stages of military operations: planning, preparation, execution, and assessment.
Ju/’hoan counterinsurgency
Counterinsurgency Recruitment
Counterinsurgency is “the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces”. The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any “military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionaries” and can be considered war by a state against a non-state adversary.
Drone aircraft technologies an the poetics of violence
This increasingly prevalent mode of Western warfare extends remote combat capacities through cultural projections of violent symbolism including the “Reaper,” “Hermes” and “Sentinil”
Medical anthropology
The biological and cultural study of disease, health problems, health care systems, and theories about illness in different cultures and ethnic group
Medical encounters
As part of our discussion in lecture, our own experiences with health care systems, Western medicine, and alternative medicine could be described as these healthy or unhealthy meetings.
Disease and illness
Cross-cultural approaches to disease
Health care systems
These include beliefs, customs, and specialists concerned with ensuring health and preventing and curing illness
Scientific medicine
A health care system based on scientific knowledge and procedures (including pathology, microbiology, biochemistry, surgery, diagnostic technology, etc.)
Western medicine
A broader category- also includes overprescription of drugs, unnecessary surgery, impersonality & inequality of physician patient relationship
Paul Farmer
Prior to his relatively recent death, this anthropologist and medical doctor spoke at Notre Dame and his brother of World Championship wrestler, Sting
“Culture, Poverty, and HIV Transmission”
Understanding the rural Haitian AIDS epidemic by focusing on how inequality, poverty, and political disruption contribute to the spread of HIV
Ju/’hoan complaint discourse
Complaint discourse is a performance strategy to prevent neglect.
– Describes cases in which “real” abandonment may have occurred
– Is used as a social regulatory mechanism to reinforce sharing and caregiving
– Is used as a vehicle to tell a good story
“The Split Horn” (film)
-Hmong Shamanism
World-system theory:
-Core
-Semi-periphery
-Periphery
World-system theory:
Asserts that an identifiable global system, based on differences in wealth and power, extended beyond individual nation-states since the 16th century
Consists of:
– A core of dominant countries
– A semiperiphery of intermediate countries
– A periphery of underprivileged countries
Globalization as systemic connectedness:
-Speed
-Scale
-Volume
Globalization as systemic connectedness:
Reflects the relentless ongoing growth of the world system through…
– The speed of global communication
– The scale of global networks
– The volume of transnational exchange
This linking concept reflects the relentless ongoing growth
of the world system through the speed of global
communication, the scale of global networks, and the volume of transnational exchange.
Transformations of a global economy
Based on transnational networks and informational flows
– EX: Multinational corporations move operations to where labor and materials are cheap while creating world trade alliances.
– This expansion of world trade alliances creates a widening gap between rich and poor
Based on international networks and informational flows, these transnational changes were described in lecture using the example of a map of Facebook “friendships,” Neenah Foundry manhole covers, and police operations of 2003’s APEC meetings.
Intervention philosophy
Colonialism’s civilizing mission as “an ideological justification for outsiders to guide native peoples in specific directions”
Lee’s 2010 social survey of Namibian town
Ju/’hoansi attitudes towards old an new ways of life: Do you like the Dobe?
–50.8% surveyed said they “like the bush” in 1968-60 compared to 96.9% in 2010 because :
- Food is plentiful and free
- Peace and quite
- No problems with alcohol
- The bush is part of cultural tradition
- Town life is stressful and dull
