mid-term Flashcards
anthropology
study of mankind; study of the full scope of human diversity and the application of that knowledge to help people of different backgrounds better understand one another; all people in all times in all places
anthropology’s scope
topical, geographic, temporal; holistic approach
topical scope
topics studied: sociology, political science, economics, psychology, religious studies
geographic scope
areas studies: every part of the world; global perspective
temporal scope
time studied: understand modern people and development of our species
holistic approach
fundamental principle
holism
commitment to consider the full scope of human life, including culture, biology, history, and language across space and time
ethnocentrism
belief that one’s own culture or way of life is normal, natural and superior to the beliefs and practices of others; moving beyond it
avoiding ethnocentrism
constantly maintain cultural awareness; identifying and eliminating idea that their own culture is the only right one
four fields of anthropology
physical, archaeology, cultural, linguistic
physical anthropology
study of humans from a biological perspective, particularly focused on human evolution
paleoanthropology
study of the history of human evolution through the fossil record
primatology
study of both nonhuman primate and primate fossils; perspective on the behavior our closest living relatives and ancestors
archaeology
investigation of the human past by means of excavating and analyzing artifacts; excavation of tools, weapons, pottery, and preserved plant, shell and human/animal remains
linguistic anthropology
study of human language in the past and present
types of linguistic anthropology
descriptive, historical, sociolinguistics
cultural anthropology
study of modern people’s communities, behavior, beliefs and institutions,including how people make meaning as they live work and play together
ethnographic fieldwork
on location research; a primary research strategy involving living with a community of people over an extended period to better understand their lives
participant observation
research strategy of participation in and observation of the daily life of those studied
applied anthropology
knowledge and methods to solve specific real world problems often working directly with communities and institutions throughout the world
globalization
worldwide intensification of interactions and increased movement of money, people and ideas within and across national borders
globalization and anthropology
time space compression, flexible accumulation; increasing migration; uneven development, rapid change, adapting to the natural world, shaping the natural world, humans and climate change
biological culture
a medium of nutrients that maximize the growth of a micro-organism
culture in the humanities
cultivation of the mind and aesthetic sensibilities; art music theater dance literature
culture
system of knowledge beliefs patterns of behavior artifacts and institutions that are created learned and shared by a group of people; blue print for living; learned, taught, shared, symbolic and material
enculturated
process of learning a particular culture; norms, values, symbols, mental maps of reality, material objects; structures of power
learned behavior
in all mammals; primates have the greatest ability for learning and teaching behavior; social grooming; tool use
symbols
anything that signifies something else
language
one of the most important cultural symbols we use as humans
cultural relativism
understanding a group’s beliefs and practices within their own cultural context without making judments
early evolutionary frameworks
1850s-1900s; Edward Tylor, james frazer, lewis henry morgan, Charles darwin
American historical particularism
1880s-1940s; franz boas; ruth benedict; Margaret mead
british structural functionalism
1920s-1960s; bronislaw Malinowski; e e evans Pritchard; victor turner
culture and meaning
1950s-present; Clifford geerts;
interpretivist approach
focus on symbolism and meaning
hegemony
ability of a dominant group to create consent and agreement within a population without the use or threat of force
agency
potential power of individuals and groups to contest cultural norms, values, symbols, mental maps of realty, institutions and structures of power
nature
biological/evolutionary needs resulted in human difference over time
nurture
cultural patterns, beliefs and how we are raised shape human difference and how we perceive one another over time
ethnographic fieldwork
involving living with a community over an extended period of time; people; observing and examining the daily lives of a community, participating in the same activities; speaking directly with community members about life and issues important to them
franz boas
1880-1940; salvage ethnography- rapidly collect cultural material linguistic and biological info about us native populations being devastated by western expansion , 4 field approach
bronislaw malinowski
1900-1940; participant observation
e.e evans pritchard
1920s-1960s; social anthropology
Margaret mead
1920s-1960s; public anthropology
fieldwork step 1
must begin with detailed off-site preparation; what is y research question, what site will best address this question; communicate in advance the nature, purpose and potential impact of the planned study o research participants
literature review
read all available published material about a research site and or research issues; learn new language; making contact; securing funding; gaining permissions to conduct the study and protect those being studied
fieldwork step 2
ethnographic fieldwork; surveys, mapping, kinship/social network analysis; photography/film; informed consent
quantitative data
statistical or measurable info
qualitative data
non statistical info
key informants
a community member who advises the anthropologist on community issues, provides feedback, and warns against cultural miscues
informal interviews
an unstructured, open ended conversation in everyday life
formal interviews
structured question/answer sessions carefully notated as it occurs and based on prepared questions
culture shock
a sense of disorientation caused by the overwhelming new and unfamiliar people and experiences encountered every day
fieldwork step 3
analyzing; protect the identities if individuals if requested or needed by ensuring anonymity
fieldwork step 4
results must be reported, often as an ethnography
polyvocality
use of multiple voices/perspectives
reflexivity
self-reflection and identification of biases in research
tone and style
know your audience
ethnographic authority
honesty in research and experience
ethical guidelines
do no harm, obtain informed consent, ensure anonymity
changes is process
travel, communication and technology all make fieldwork contact and interaction more rapid than ever before
changes in content
seek out and ask new questions in our rapidly changing global world
earliest spoken language
2.5 mya; 200,000 years ago
descriptive linguistics
study of sounds, symbols and gestures of a language and their combination into forms that communicate meaning; phonology, morphology, syntax, grammar
phonology
study of what sounds exist and which ones are important for a particular language
phonemes
smallest unit of sound that can make a difference in meaning
morphology
study of patterns and rules of how sounds combine to make morphemes
morphemes
smallest units of sounds that carry meaning on their own
syntax
specific patterns and rules for constructing phrases and sentences
grammar
combined sets of observations about the rule governing the formation of morphemes and syntax that guide language use
gesture call system
body movements noises and tine of voice that accompany language
kinesics
study of the relationship between body movements and communication
parlanguage
extensive set of noises and tones of voice that convey significant info about the speaker
sapir whorf hypothesis
idea that different languages create different ways of thinkin
sociolinguistics
study of ways culture shapes language and language shapes culture particularly the intersection of language and systems of power
dialects
a nonstandard variation of language
prestige language
particular way of speaking that is associated with wealth, success education and pwer
code switching
switching back and forth between one linguistic variant and another depending on the cntext
historical linguistics
study of development of language over time, including its changes and variations
globalization on language
diminishing diversity; language loss; language revitalization
genotype
inherited genetic factors that provided the framework for an organism’s physical form
phenotype
genes are expressed in an organism’s physical form as a result of genotype interaction with environmental factors
colonialism
practice by which a nation state extends political economic and military power beyond its own borders over an extended period of time o secure access to raw materials cheap labor and markets in other countries or regions
racism
complex system of power that draws on the culturally constructed categories of race to rank people as superior or inferior and to differentially allocate access to power privilege resources and opportunities
individual racism
personal prejudiced beliefs and discriminatory actions based on race
institutional racism
patterns by which racial inequality is structured through key cultural institutions policies and systems
racial ideology
a set of popular ideas about race that allows the discriminatory behaviors of individuals and institutions to seem reasonable rational and normal
white privilege
advantages and power conferred systematically an differentially on one group over others
ethnicity
a sense of historical cultural and sometimes ancestral connection to a group of people who are imagined to be distinct from those outside the group
assimilation
the process through which minorities accept the patterns and norms of the dominant culture and ceases to exists as separate groups
multiculturalism
pattern of ethnic relations in which new immigrants and their children enculturate into the dominant national culture and yet retain an ethnic culture
prehistoric archaeology
reconstruction of human behavior in the distant past before written records through the examination of artifacts
historic archaeology
the exploration of the more recent past through an examination of physical remains and artifacts as well as written or oral records
ethnology
the analysis and comparison of ethnographic data across cultures
time-space compression
rapid innovation of communication and transportation technologies that transforms the way people think about space and time
flexible accumulation
use of innovative communication and transportation technologies to enable companies to be flexible about their production process in order to accumulate greater profits
increasing migration
accelerated movement of people within and between countries
uneven development
the unequal distribution of the benefits of globalization
rapid change
dramatic transformations of economics politics and culture characteristic of contemporary globalization
climate change
global warming produced primarily by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases created by human activity such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation
norms
ideas or rules about how people should behave in particular situations or toward certain other people
values
fundamental beliefs about what is important true or beautiful and what makes a good life
mental maps of reality
cultural classifications of what kinds of people and things exist and the assignment of meaning to those classifications
unilineal cultural evolution
theory proposed by 19th century anthropologists that all cultures naturally evolve through the same sequence of stages from simple to complex
historical particularism
attributed to franz boas that cultures develop in specific ways because of their unique histories
structural functionalism
each element of society serves a particular function to keep the entire system in equilibrium
interpretivist approach
sees culture primarily as a symbolic system of deep meaning
power
ability or potential to bring about change through action or influence
stratification
uneven distribution of resourced and privileges among participants in a group or culture
cosmopolitanism
global outlook emerging in response to increasing globalization
anthropologist’s toolkit
tools needed to conduct fieldwork, including notebook pen camera voice recorder and dictionary
rapport
relationships of trust and familiarity developed with members of the community being studied
life history
traces the biography of a person over time examining changes and illuminating the interlocking network of relationships in the community
survey
information gathering tool for quantitative data analysis
kinship analysis
traditional strategy of examining genealogies to uncover the relationships built upon structures such as marriage and family ties
social network analysis
examine relationships in a community often conducted by identifying who people turn to in times of needs
field notes
written observations and reflections on places practices events and interviews
mapping
analysis of the physical and or geographic space where fieldwork is being conducted
built environment
features of human settlements including buildings transportation and public service infrastructure and public spaces
zeros
elements of a story that are not told or seen and yet offer key insights into issues that might be too sensitive to discuss or display publicly
mutual transformation
potential for both the anthropologist and members being studied to be transformed by the interactions of fieldwork
emic
gathering data that investigates how local people think and how they understand the world
etic
local behavior and beliefs from the anthropologists perspective in ways that can be compared across cultures
informed consent
key strategy for protecting those being studies by ensuring that they are fully informed of the goals of the project and have clearly indicated their consent to participate
anonymity
protecting the identities of people involved in a study by changing their names of other identifying characteristics
productivity
the linguistic ability to use known words to invent new word combinations
displacement
use words to refer to objects not immediately present or events occurring in the past or future
lexicon
all the words for names ideas and events that make up a language’s dictionary
focal vocabulary
words that develop with particular sophistication to describe the unique cultural realities experienced by a group of people
language continuum
idea that variation in languages appears gradually over distance so that people who live near one another speak in a way that mutually intelligible
language loss
extinction of languages that have very few speakers
digital natives
generation of people born after 1980 who have been raised in a digital age
race
flawed system of classification no biological basis that uses certain physical characteristics to divide the human population into supposedly discrete groups
white supremacy
belief that whites are biologically different and superior to people of other races
jim crow
laws implemented after the us civil war to legally enforce segregation particularly in the south after the end of slavery
hypodescent
one drop blood rule the assignment of children of racially mixed unions to the subordinate group
nativism
favoring native inhabitants over new immigrants
eugenics
prove existence of separate human races to improve population’s genetic composition by favoring some races over others
racialization
categorize differentiate and attribute a particular racial character to a person or group of people
ethnicity
sense of historical cultural and sometimes ancestral connection to a group of people who are imagine to be distinct from those outside the group
origin myth
story told about the founding and history of a particular group to reinforce a sense of common identity
ethnic boundary marker
practice- food clothing language shared name or religion- used to signify who is in a group and who is not
genocide
deliberate and systematic destruction of an ethnic or religious group
situational negotiation of identity
self identification with a particular group that can shift according to social location
ethnic cleansing
efforts to remove another group in a particular geographic area
melting pot
process of immigrant assimilation into us dominant culture
assimilation
minorities accept the patterns and norms of the dominant culture and cease to exist as separate groups
multiculturalism
new immigrants and their children enculturate into the dominant national culture and yet retain and ethnic culture
state
regional structure of political economic and military rule
nation state
political entity, population shares a sense of culture ancestry and destiny as a people
nation
group of people who shared a place of origin
nationalism
desire of an ethnic community to create and or maintain a nation state
imagined community
invented sense of connection and shared traditions that underlies identification with a particular ethnic group or nation whose members likely will never meet
