Lecture 6: Social Organisation, Person and Society

Question 1

why is anthropology humanistic science?

Answer 1

study that seeks reliable interpretations and possibly explanations with reference to the socio-cultural and physical world

Question 2

cultural anthropology and sociology

Answer 2

Cultural anthropology and sociology share an interest in social relations, organization, and behaviour

Question 3

Anthropology and psychology

Answer 3

psychological anthropology studies cross-cultural variations in, for example: cognition, child rearing and identity.

Question 4

Human biological diversity and the race concept

Answer 4

Historically, scientists approached the study of human biological diversity in two ways:

1. Racial classification, now largely rejected
2. Explanatory approach

Question 5

racial classification

Answer 5

attempt to assign humans to discrete categories (purportedly) based on common ancestry.

Question 6

phenotypical traits

Answer 6

an organism’s evident traits, its “manifest biology”—anatomy and physiology

Question 7

are races biologically distinct

Answer 7

no. ‘color based’ racial labels are not accurate. Many populations don’t fit neatly into any one of the three “great races”. No single trait can be used as basis for racial classification. Phenotypical similarities and differences do not necessarily have genetic basis.

Question 8

melanin

Answer 8

a natural sunscreen produced by skin cells responsible for pigmentation. By screening out ultraviolet (UV) radiation from sun, melanin offers protection against a variety of maladies, including sunburn and skin cancer

Question 9

what does traditional racial classification assume?

Answer 9

Traditional racial classification assumes biological characteristics are determined by heredity and were stable. Role of natural selection in producing variation in skin colour offers explanatory approach to human biological diversity

Question 10

two kinds of nature

Answer 10

1. external nature
2. inner nature

Question 11

external nature

Answer 11

ecosystems

Question 12

inner nature

Answer 12

the senses

Question 13

role

Answer 13

dynamic behaviour associated with the social position, for example the role of the father

Question 14

rite of passage

Answer 14

customs associated with transition from one stage of life to another

Question 15

contemporary rites of passage

Answer 15

baptism, confirmations, bar and bat mitzvahs, initiations, weddings etc.

Question 16

liminality

Answer 16

in-between phase of passage rite

Question 17

what does liminality involve

Answer 17

a temporary suspension and reversal of social distinctions

Question 18

examples liminality

Answer 18

humility, poverty, equality, obedience, sexual abstinence and silence

Question 19

social structure or organizations

Answer 19

household / village / descent groups

Question 20

cognition is …

Answer 20

1. conscious
2. unconscious

Question 21

unconscious cognition

Answer 21

that is understanding through thought, experience, and the senses

Question 22

habitus

Answer 22

system of embodied dispositions. This is seen as anthropology of the body

Question 23

distribution knowledge

Answer 23

Knowledge is unevenly distributed, there are many different perspectives such as Marxist perspectives, feminist perspectives and postcolonial perspectives