Exam 4 Vocabulary Flashcards
acephalous societies
communities with no formal positions of leadership
authority
the exercise of power based on expertise, charisma, or roles of leadership
band societies
communities of gatherer-hunters in which leadership is temporary, situational, and informal
big man
an informal leader who has gained power by accumulating wealth, sponsoring feasts, and helping young men pay bride wealth
centralized societies
communities in which power is concentrated in formal positions of authority, such as chiefs or kings
chief
the inherited office of leadership in a chiefdom, combining coercive forms of economic, political, judicial, military, and religious authority
chiefdoms
societies in which political leadership is regionally organized through an affiliation or hierarchy of chiefs. Chiefdoms are associated with intensive agriculture, militarism, and religious ideologies
clans
large kin groups that trace their descent from a common ancestor who is either not remembered or possibly mythological
coercive power
the ability to enforce judgments and commands using socially sanctioned violence
colonial states
state governments imposed by foreigners to rule over local peoples
king
hereditary ruler of a multiethnic empire based on a chiefdom
lineage orders
societies in which extended family groups provide the primary means of social integration. Leadership in these societies is provided by elders and other temporary or situational figures
nation
a sense of cultural belonging or peoplehood based on a common language, common origin story, common destiny, and common norms and values. National identities are actively constructed by states
nation-state
a political institution joining the apparatus of the state with the notion of cultural belonging or peoplehood
persuasive power
the ability to influence others without any formal means of enforcement
political economy
study of the ways in which political and economic realms continually reinforce and sometimes contradict one another over time
politics
all elements of the sociocultural dynamics of power
postcolonial studies
an interdisciplinary field that combines history, anthropology, political science, and area studies in an effort to understand the diversity, complexity, and legacy of colonialism throughout the world
power
the ability to exert control, authority, or influence over others
proto-states
societies that exhibit some but not all of the features of state societies
revolution
the replacement of one social order with a different one, often to create enhanced justice, equality, stability, or freedom
state societies
large, stratified, multiethnic societies with highly centralized leadership, bureaucracies, systems of social control, and military forces exerting exclusive control over a defined territory
tribal societies
an older term used by anthropologists to refer to pastoralist and horticulturalist societies in which extended family structures provide the primary means of social integration
tribe
an old-fashioned term used to describe ethnic groups or groups organized by lineage. Avoided by many anthropologists now because of connotations of primitivism and groupthink
village democracies
acephalous societies in which an array of social groups provide arenas for discussion and consensus
agency
the capability to act and make decisions
biopolitics
the ways in which populations are divided and categorized as a means of control, often by the state
capitalism
an economic mode of production based around markets, ownership of land and resources, and wage labor. Capitalism has produced classes that are grounded in acceptance of the idea that earned wealth or status is the basis for social hierarchy within a nation
caste
a system of social inequality based on an individual’s circumstances of birth, wherein people are not allowed to move out of their social group
class
a group of people with the same socioeconomic status and proximity to power
colonialism
a system through which European (and eventually American) countries exerted power over areas of the world in order to exploit their natural and human resources
cultural capital
competencies, skills, and qualifications people acquire that allow them cultural authority. An institutionalized form of cultural capital is educational attainment
decolonizing anthropology
an approach to anthropology that emphasizes the responsibility of anthropologists to work for the enhancement and empowerment of those most alienated and dispossessed
egalitarian
describes a society or other group in which diverse roles are all given the same decision-making power and accorded the same respect among the group
hegemony
the ways in which people with power keep their power through the subtle dissemination of certain values and beliefs
habitus
the ingrained habits and dispositions that are socialized into people from birth depending on their status in society; used to explain how individuals uphold cultural systems
ideological state apparatuses
distinct and specialized institutions such as religious institutions, public and private education systems, legal systems, political parties, communication systems (radio, newspapers, television), family, and culture (literature, arts, and sports)
inequality
the unequal distribution of resources
inequity
the unequal distribution of resources due to an unjust power imbalance
interpersonal inequalities
power imbalances that are rooted in personal biases and occur every day, reifying and naturalizing inequalities that exist at institutional and systemic levels
intersectionality
the notion that characteristics such as class, race, gender sexuality, age, and ability can all define and complicate one’s experiences, and a single aspect of identity—race, for example—is insufficient to capture the multidimensional nature of people’s experiences of oppression
meritocracy
a system in which people succeed entirely through hard work and natural abilities. Someone who believes that they live in a meritocracy consequently overlooks any structural or racial inequities that may keep individuals from accessing the resources necessary for success
misogynoir
the anti-Black racist misogyny that Black women experience
Nakba
the 1948 displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes; translates from Arabic as “disaster” or “catastrophe”
necropolitics
an extension of Foucault’s biopolitics that explores the government’s power to decide how certain categories of people live and whose deaths are more acceptable
neoliberalism
an economic model that prioritizes privatization of public services in order to decrease government spending
paradigms
worldviews that often define a scientific discipline during a specific time period
repressive state apparatuses
institutions through which the ruling class enforces its control, including the government, administrators, the army, the police, courts, and prisons
social capital
the nonmonetary resources that people use to gain social status, such as mutual acquaintances, shared cultural knowledge, or shared experiences
social mobility
the ability of an individual to move up into higher and thus more powerful classes merely by working hard
social stratification
the hierarchical organization of different groups of people, whether based on racial category, socioeconomic status, kinship, religion, birth order, or gender
Sojourner syndrome
the interlocking ways in which race, class, gender, and resistance to oppression shape Black women’s bodies and biology. The Sojourner syndrome emphasizes that race, class, and gender are not necessarily multiplied to mean more oppression, but they change the ways people experience oppression
state apparatus
a system consisting of two intertwined but distinct sets of institutions, the repressive state apparatus and the ideological state apparatus, which function together to maintain state order and control
structural inequalities
power imbalances that exist at a level above personal interactions and institutions and are based on the accumulated effects of institutional decisions across society and history
structural violence
the experience of intersecting, overlapping structures of discrimination (racism, sexism, classism, ageism, etc)
symbolic capital
the resources available to an individual because of honor, prestige, or recognition
systematic oppression
the intentional mistreatment of certain groups
systemic inequalities
power imbalances created by the confluence of interpersonal, institutional, and structural inequalities
systemic oppression
the ways in which political, economic, and social inequalities are normalized and perpetuated
systems
the powerful, overarching beliefs according to which the world is organized that influence the ways in which individuals interact with their world
ethnosphere
the sum total of all of human knowledge across time
asylum
legal protection extended by one country to citizens of another
cultural hybridity
the exchange and innovation within cultures that is a product of migration and globalization
diaspora
the movement and dispersal of large ethnic groups from their homelands because of warfare, institutionalized violence, or opportunity (usually education or employment)
displacement or forced migration
migration due to persecution, conflict, or violence; involves refugees and those seeking asylum
epidemic
a disease that spreads more than expected among a given group of people
pandemic
an outbreak of a disease over a broad area
migrant
a person who moves from their place of origin to reestablish a household
migration
movement from one place to another that re-establishes a household, whether temporarily or permanently
peasants
a rural, subsistence-based agricultural class with limited landholdings
post colonialism
enduring politico-economic relationships between former colonizers and their former colonies that continue to have negative effects on the former colonies after independence
biodiversity
the variety of plants and animals that exist on Earth and form a living ecosystem
remittances
transfers of money from workers back to their home countries, usually for their families
transnationalism
the construction of social, economic, and political networks that originate in one country and then cross or transcend nation-state boundaries
