Final Terminology Flashcards
the study of all cognition, human and animal, from an evolutionary perspective; seeking similarities and differences.
evolutionary cognition
the (mis)attribution of humanlike characteristics and experiences to other species.
anthropomorphism
a worldview revolving around the human species; centered on humans.
anthropocentrism
an organism’s subjective perceptual world.
umwelt
the ability to attribute mental states to others, such as knowledge, intentions, and beliefs; perspective taking.
theory of mind
study of human-animal interactions
anthrozoology
cultural adaptation to the environment that enables a group of humans to use the available land, resources, and labor to satisfy their needs and to thrive.
economy
the number of people who can be supported by the resources of the surrounding region.
carrying capacity
exchange of goods and services one for the other.
barter
practices and organizations that reallocate resources for the collective good.
leveling mechanisms
exchange in which accumulated wealth is collected from the members of the group and reallocated in a different pattern.
redistribution
humans who subsist by hunting, fishing, and gathering plants to eat.
food foragers
food production involving the domestication of animals…not agriculture.
pastoralism
cultivation of plants for subsistence through nonintensive use of land and labor.
horticulture
intensive farming strategy for food production involving permanently cultivated land.
agriculture
industrial production based on a social contract between labor, corporations, and government.
fordism
flexible strategies that corporations use to accumulate profit in an era of globalization
• Offshoring
• Outsourcing
• Global cities
flexible accumulation
economic and political worldview that sees the free market as the main mechanism for ensuring economic growth, with a severely restricted role for government; promotes privatization of public assets.
neoliberalism
a person who enters a new country to live.
immigrant
a person who leaves their country.
emigrant
the forces that spur migration from the country of origin and draw immigrants to a particular new destination country.
pushes and pulls
factors that enable or inhibit migration.
bridges and barriers
movement of people facilitated by the support of networks of family and friends who have already immigrated.
chain migration
organizations created for mutual support of immigrants from the same hometown or region.
hometown associations
resources transferred from migrants working abroad to individuals, families, etc. in their country of origin.
remittances
persons who move in search of a low-skill and low-wage job, often filling an economic niche that native-born workers will not fill.
labor immigrants
highly trained individuals who move to fill economic niches in a middle-class profession often marked by shortages in the receiving country.
professional immigrants
migration of highly skilled professionals from periphery countries to core countries.
brain drain
assets and skills such as language, education, and social networks that can be mobilized in lieu of or as complementary to financial capital.
social capital
small kinship-based group of foragers who hunt and gather for a living over a particular territory.
band
an indigenous group with its own set of loyalties and leaders living to some extent outside the control of a centralized authoritative state.
tribe
autonomous political unit composed of a number of villages or communities under the permanent control of a paramount chief.
chiefdom
autonomous regional structure of political, economic, and military rule with a central government authorized to make laws and use force to maintain order and defend territory.
state
the ability to dominate a group to create consent and agreement within a population without the use of threat of force.
hegemony
local nongovernmental organization that challenges state policies and uneven development, and advocates for resources and opportunities for members of its local communities.
Civil Society Organization (NGOs)
contested social process through which a civil society organizes for the production of military violence.
Militarization
form of violence wherein some social structure or social institution may harm people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs.
structural violence
potential power of individuals and groups to contest cultural norms, values, mental maps of reality, symbols, institutions, and structures of power.
agency
collective group actions that seek to build institutional networks to transform cultural patterns and government policies.
social movement
creation of shared meanings and definitions that motivate and justify collective action by social movements.
framing process
a set of beliefs and rituals based on a unique vision of how the world ought to be, often focused on a supernatural power and lived out in community.
religion
person who sacrifices their life for the sake of their religion.
martyr
individual considered exceptionally close to God and who is then exalted after death.
saint
anything considered holy.
sacred
anything considered unholy.
profane
an act or series of acts regularly repeated over years or generations that embody the beliefs of a group of people and create a sense of community and belonging.
ritual
category of ritual that enacts a change of status from one life stage to another, either for an individual or for a group.
rite of passage
first stage of a rite of passage.
Separation
stage in a rite when a participant experiences a period of outsiderhood, being set apart, to achieve a new perspective on the past, future, and current community; inbetweenness.
liminality
final stage of a rite of passage.
reincorporation
sense of camaraderie, common vision of what constitutes a good life, and a commitment to take social action toward achieving this vision that is shaped by the common experience of rites of passage.
communitas
religious journey to a sacred place as a sign of devotion and in search of transformation and enlightenment.
(ex. The Muslim Hajj to Mecca)
pilgrimage
theory that argues that material conditions, including technology, determine patterns of social organization, including religious principles.
cultural materialism (Harris)
part-time religious practitioners with special abilities to connect individuals with supernatural powers or beings.
Shamans
use of spells, incantations, words, and actions in an attempt to compel supernatural forces to act in a certain ways, whether for good or for evil.
magic
ritual performance that achieves efficacy by imitating the desired magical result.
imitative magic
ritual words or performances that achieve efficacy as certain materials that come into contact with one person carry a magical connection that allows power to be transferred from person to person.
contagious magic
anything that represents something else.
symbols
complex historical and social developments through which symbols are given power and meaning.
authorizing process
a discrete natural entity that can be clinically identified and treated by a health professional.
disease
the individual patient’s experience of being unwell.
illness
individual’s public expression of illness and disease, including social expectations about how one should behave and how others will respond; cultural performance.
sickness
local systems of health and healing rooted in culturally specific norms and values.
ethnomedicine
documentation and description of local use of natural substances in healing remedies and practices.
ethnopharmacology
a practice that seeks to apply the principals of biology and the natural sciences to the practice of diagnosing disease and promoting health.
biomedicine
an ethnomedical practice focused on balancing one’s qi to promote and improve health.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)
combining ethnomedicine (often TCM) and biomedicine to diagnose and treat disease and promote health.
integrative medicine
the intersection of multiple cultural approaches to healing; creates tensions if not embraced by practitioners.
medical pluralism
all ideas, forms, techniques, and strategies that humans employ to express themselves creatively and to communicate their creativity and inspiration to others.
art
creative expression and communication often associated with cultural elites.
fine art
creative expression and communication often associated with the general population.
popular art
an (assumed) intrinsic way of perceiving art.
universal gaze
the perception of an object’s antiquity, uniqueness, and originality within a local culture.
authenticity
global flows of media and visual images that enable linkages and communication across boundaries; the internet?
global mediascape
an ethnographic approach to studying the tensions that may exist when visual worlds collide.
media worlds
communication based on computer and internet based technologies that facilitate sociality.
social media
the study of music in cultural contexts.
ethnomusicology
a musical genre combining body movement and voice.
kinetic orality
