Lecture series 1 Flashcards
anthropology
the holistic and scientific study of humanity
anthropos: human
logos: study
holism
an attempt to synthesize distinct approaches into a single compregensive interpretation. (all that is known about humans?) The theory that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts
holistic approach
an integrated perspective that assumes interrelationships among parts of a subject including both biological and cultural aspects.
eg. cultural artifact and layers of symbolic reasoning (physical/material, sumbolic, socially constructed)
emergent properties
characteristics of culture that are not innate elements of the individual characteristics (materials, symbols) but come about because of their display or use within a social construct
four subfields of anthropology
The four subfields of anthropology are archaeology, physical/biological, linguistic, and cultural
foundations of cultural anthropology
- cultrure
- symbols
- values, norms, traditions
- institutions
- cultural relativism
culture
culture is the patterns of learned and shared beliefs and behavior
culture consists of the collective processes that make the artificial seem natural
naturalness of beliefs and actions are “artificial”, in that they are
arbitrary, they are variable across social groups, and they can change quickly
presenting culture as a dynamic and emergent process based on social relationships leads anthropologists to study
the ways cultures are constantly created and recreated in people’s lives
symbol
a symbol is something (object, idea, image, figure, character) that conventionally, and arbitrarily, stands for comething else.
symbols can and do change, but
- symbols are stable because people may rely on using them (currency)
- symbols are easily remembered (used)
- symbols preserve a culture’s conventional meanings (used by powerful, older, privleged)
Clifford Geertz’s interpretive theory of culture is the idea that
culture is embodied and transmitted through symbols
types of symbolic patterns
- values
- norms
- traditions
culture is comprised of a dynamic and interrelated set of social, economic, and belief structures
values
symbolic expressions of intrinsically desirable principles or qualities
norms
typical patterns of behavior, viewed by participants as the unwritten rules of everday life.
traditions
the most enduring and ritualized aspects of culture.
social institutions
the organized stes of social relationships that like indiiduals to each other in a structured way in a particular society. (patterns of kinship and marriage, economic activities, religious institutios, political forms)
applied cultural anthropology
the component of anthropology that focuses on resolving societal problems
what sets cultural anthropology apart?
- ethnographical and ethnological approaches
- the essential perspective of cultural relativism
- advocacy for maintaining cultural diversity
ethnocentrism
the assumption that one’s own way of doing things is correct, while dismissing other people’s practices or views as wrong or ignorant.
cultural relativism
interpreting another culture using their goals, values, and beliefs rather than our own to make sense of what people say and do.
- serves as a cognitive tool to help us understand why people think and act as they do
- one gains the abiltiy to use cultural relativism through the exposure to “other” ways of living. This is why cultural anthropology values a cross cultural perspective
- the goal is to develop an understanding eye and ear for appreciating cultural differences in symbolic meaning
absolute cultural relativism
- whatever goes on in a culture must not be questioned by outsiders
- extreme: genocide of holocaust from the view point of Nazi culture?
critical cultural relativism
- poses questions about cultural practices in terms of who is accepting them and why.
- recognizes power relationships (oppressors, victims)
- a critique of absolute cultural relativism
limits of cultural relativism
some cultural practices that lead to harm (such as genocide) are morally indefensible in any context.
distinctive features of ethnography
- means “culture writing”
- the descriptive study of one culture, subculture, or microculture based on fieldwork
- provides a first-hand, detailed description of a living culture
- based on first hand research
distinctive features of ethnology
- the comparative study of cultures; it presents analytical generalizations about human culture (marriage forms, economic practices, religion etc.)
- uses ethnographic material
etic view of culture
- data gathering by outsiders that yields answers to particular questions posed by outsiders
- an outsiders view of culture
emic view of culture
- descriptive reports about what insiders say and understand about their culture
- “people’s talk”, an insiders view of culture
cultural imperialism
situation in which a dominant culture claims supremacy over minority cultures and makes changes in both its culture and the minority culture(s) that serve its own interests at the expense of the minority culture (ex. missions, colonialism)
diversity refers to
multiplicity and variety, which is not the same as difference. Within multiplicity and variey, there is both difference and similarity
cultural survival
nongovernmental organization aiming to preserve cultural diversity
three tenets of cultural anthropology for the study of culture
- holism
- diversity
- change
holism
broad and interconnected view of the human experience, that integrates biological, cultural and dynamic temporal aspects of humanity into a whole with emergent properties (symbolism)
diversity
use the comparative method of ethnology to study cultural similarities and differences. Use the concept of cultural relativism as a way to understand a culture in it’s own terns, rather than impose ones own alien or outside categories and interpretations. The opposite of relativism is ethnocentrism. When you see the world using only your own categores and meaning
change
culture is not stagnant.
cultural evolution
culture adapts to physical, biological, and cultural forces over time. Individuals have “power” to cause or create cultural change
homogeneous culture/heterogeneous culture
culture informs the stories you tell yourself about the world around you. It is shared with people around you.
culture is
- learned (active teaching and passive “habitus”)
- shared (defines a group, meets common needs)
- patterned (reoccurance of similar ideas)
- adaptive (helps individuals meet needs across variable environments)
- symbolic (simple and arbitrary signs represent something else, something more)
- everything people have (material posseessions)
- everything people think (ideas, values, and attitudes)
- everything people do (behavior patterns)
layers of meaning
symbols may have different meaning to different individuals
symbols help people
identify, sort, and classify things, ideas, and behaviors
familial culture
the culture you share with your family, your learning context, people who share your language (primary shared symbolic system)
enculturation
the process of learning the cultural rules and logic of a society, which begins at birth
proscribed enculturation
prohibited behaviors and beliefs
prescribed enculturation
encouraged behaviors and beliefs
subculture
a subdivision in complex diverse societies that shares some features with the larger society and also differsin some important respects. ex. Cuban Americans
In heterogeneous cultures you may participate in multiple________if they differ from familial culture you learn through acculturation
subcultures
cultural universals
general learned behavior patterns that are shared by all of humanity (because they solve problems shared by all human societies)
Human Biology and Culture: Biological capacity for culture (Potts, 1996)
- transmission
- memory
- reiteration
- innovation
- selection
nature and/or nurture
- are intertwined processes
- nature and nurture, biology and culture work together to shape human lives
- biology predisposes, it does not determine, making possible broad variation or human natures
- human brains grow and develop substantially after birth (75%)
how is culture coevolved with human biology
culture: ideas/symbols and agency/behavior
human biology: brain, language, fine motor dexterity, strength, visual aculty, diet/nutrition, behaviors-parenting, hunting, sharing…ideas…institutions
adaption
the way that humans cope with (or productively interact with) the environment. Adaption allows humans to satisfy basic needs in varying environments
human environments include:
- the natural or biological ecology
- the human or political-economic ecology
human adaptive modalities and rate of change
- genetically over generations (20+ years)
- developmentally (malnourished-short stature)
- physiologically (cold-shiver, altitude-Hbg)
- via culture and technology
internal changes (process of culture change)
inventions and innovations (can spread to other cultures. Changes may be deliberate or unintentional)
external changes (process of culture change)
cultural diffusion (spreading of cultural elements from one culture to another. Diffusion is responsible for the greatest amount of change in a society)
acculturation
a specific form of cultural diffusion in which a subordinate culture adopts many of the cultural traits of a more powerful culture
linked changes (process of culture change)
changes in one part of a culture brought about by changes in other parts
___________can lead to the evolution of anything
punishment
biocultural synthesis
a theory which explains the human condition by understaning how biology and evolution predispose and culture offers working rules
- pysiological facets
- cultural conditions
- personal culture
culture-bound syndromes
mental illnesses unique to a culture. Different cultures have various ways of treating and handling culture bound syndromes.
