Midterm Flashcards
Agriculture
-first societies built near rivers or in wet environments
-Techniques that allow cultivation more permanently
-High population density with large, permanent communities
-Frequent food shortages
-Trade is very important
-High degree of craft specialization
-Considerable differences in individual wealth
-many full-time political officials, roles still exist even after a person’s death
Agency
-Intermediate contact: diffusion by intermediate contact occurs through the agency of third parties
-Ex: traders carry cultural practices to a society different from the group of origination
-Definition: ability of people to act and make choices within a social and cultural context
Anthropology
-Systematic and scientific study of humans
-Systematic: not always able to use direct experiments, ethnography, observation and interviews
-Scientific: testable, empirical (falsify your own hypothesis)
Applied Anthropology
-practical application of anthropological theories
-goal to solve real-world problems
-employment of outside of academic settings
-more popular with globalization
Archaeology
-study of past cultures
-focus on material remains/ written records
-Use excavation: involved carefully digging and removing sediment to uncover material remains
-record context of material remains
Associations
-Describe a phenomenon by comparing components within a general principle, relationship, or model
-In Anthro: associations are most often presented as probabilities rather than certainties
-variability: has variables
-predictability: predicts a phenomenon
-statistical association: association generated through statistical analysis
Biological Anthropology
-study of human evolution and biological variation
-relies largely on fossils
-can also include the study of our non-human primate cousins
Berlin-Kay Color Study
-Interviewed numerous cultures to catalog and analyze their ‘base color terms’
-base color terms must be widely applicable and monoleximic (one word/ concept)
-used color charts
-2 color cultures: light vs. dark, white vs. black, and wet vs. dry
-3 color cultures: Red, white, Black
-Different stages across chart identification
-only addition of colors across stages, no colors ever lost
-stage is correlated with type of subsistence
-Environmental shift to cultural shift to language shift
-Refute’s the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
Caste Societies
-most closed version of class
-rigid stratification
-a ranked group in which membership is determined at birth
-marriage is restricted to your own caste
-Ex: India and Hinduism
Cultural Anthropology
-study of how and why cultures in the past and present vary or are similar
-interest in all learned ideas and behaviors that have become customary in a group
Cultural Ecology
-Julien Steward
-analysis of relationship between culture and its environment
-cultures develop in response to environmental pressures
-Criticism: does not explain why many cultures develop different adaptations under the same environmental pressures
Cultural Relativism
-objective descriptions
-method to cut through bias
-keep own moral code but harsh judgement is removed
-goal is to develop understanding
-Ex: slavery from a moral standpoint is always unethical
-focus on tolerance
-customs and ideas understood in the context of that society’s problems and opportunities
Culture
-collection of learned and shared behaviors and ideas that are characteristic of a particular society or population
-Center of the anthropological perspective
-Is an evolved trait
-Created the need for additional brain power
-Generally adaptive: culture increases survival likelihood
-Dynamic: whatever you learn must be functional in the environment
Domestication
-taking control over certain natural processes
-animal breeding and plant seeding
-domesticated animals and plants are different from their wild forms
Economy
-all societies have a division of labour based on gender and age
-all cultures have an economy
-Three Major Components of Economies:
*Who gets access to resources (food, land, labour, etc.): transition to ownership , not present in foraging societies
*Conversion of resources: conversion into food, tools and other goods, industrialism
*Distribution of good and services: reciprocity, redistribution and market or commercial exchange
Egalitarian Societies
-no groups or individuals that must always have prestige
-society in which all people have equal access to wealth, power and prestige
-depend heavily on sharing
-roles are not conducive to wealth, power and prestige
-Tend to have leveling mechanisms to prevent arrogance
-community property
-development of group identity over individualism
Ethnocentrism
-cultural bias
-not anthropological, simply judgement
-weird= description of perception/ feeling rather than what that practice is
-inhibits scientific thinking
-judge other cultures only in terms of our own
Ethnography
Extremely in-depth study of 1 culture
Ethnology
Comparative study of cultures
Ethnoscience
-Study of how indigenous peoples classify and understand their world
-bottom up
-very root of cultures engaging with the world
Linear Evolutionism
-very westernized
-more destructive than informational
-Tylor: evolution of humans and their cultures represent a single line of development, primitive to civilized over time, justified oppression and colonization
-Morgan: used terminology; savage, barbaric and civilized, sciencifying already existing values
-Spencer: social darwinism, okay for weak to die or to be poor, eugenics used by Nazis
-Criticism: does not help explain or appreciate individual cultural variation
Multi-lineal Evolutionism
-Julien Stewart
-branching model
-applied new biological evolution knowledge to anthropology
-cultures diverged due to different environmental needs
-must understand context to understand modern forms of culture
-does not allow for linear progression but rather multiple lines of unique evolutionary development
-Criticism: accused of rebranding Historical Particularism
General (Universal) Evolutionism
-Leslie White
-culture follows universal patterns of development
-culture must be understood at the largest possible level acknowledging individual differences
-P=ET, P= production, E= energy consumed, T= efficiency of using energy (technology)
-ecology and economics together in cultural evolution formula
-Criticism: did not explain why some cultures endure under given pressures and others do not, no explanation for increased production of some cultures, difficult to measure and therefore hard to disprove
Fieldwork
-deepest kind of knowledge
-firsthand experience with people being studied
-usual means by which anthropological information is obtained
-usually involves participant observation for a year or more
-may also include censuses or surveys
Food Collection
-food attainment strategy that obtains wild plant and animal resources through gathering, hunting, scavenging, and fishing
Food Production
-Around 10,000 years ago, certain peoples in diverse geographic locations changed to a system of food production rather than collection
-Increase in global population= manipulation of crops/ foods
-emergence of drier summers and colder winters after the ice age
-Three different types: horticulture, pastoralism, and agriculture
Foraging
-food collection subsistence method
-nomadic, hunt diverse food sources
-most live in small communities
-complex foragers: large communities, typically dependent on fishing; more likely to have a permanent location, warfare, and social inequality
Fossils
hardened remains or impressions of plants and animals that lived in the past
Functionalism
-Branislaw Malinowski
-systems have a function
-look for some aspect of culture that functions to provide for individual needs
-society= functional system
-Criticisms: does not explain why specific cultural patterns emerged over other equal alternatives, also does not explain why some societies do not meet the needs of everyone
Historical Particularism
-Franz Boaz
-We should collect as much data as possible about indigenous cultures before they are gone
-each culture is unique and must be understood by historical events that led to its development
-historical context is important
-we should reject evolutionism and any other attempt to develop universal models for cultural development
-ranking of societies is not an accurate description
-Criticism: does not account or explain universal patterns across cultures
Holistic Approach
-study of humans from all aspects
-makes anthropology unique from other fields
Horticulture
-some domestication
-more likely to be matriarchal
-growing of crops with relatively simple tools and methods
-men-oriented societies have a more violent culture
-Low to moderate population density
-small to moderate communities
-more sedentary, communities move every few years
-Minimal trade
-Infrequent food shortages
-None or few craft specialists
-minimal differences in individual wealth
-some part-time leadership officials, usually women
Hunter-gatherer
-Foragers, use food collection methods
-Lowest population density
-Small maximum community size
-Nomadic or semi-nomadic
-Infrequent food shortages
-Minimal trade
-No full time craft specialists
-Generally no individual wealth differences
-Informal political leadership
The Kula Ring
-simple exchange of shells between people which may be engaged in through expeditions to other islands set up by chiefs for relationship establishment, surplus trading, and status increase.
-2 types:
*Mwali: shell armbands
*Soulava: shell necklaces
Lexicon
-Approximated by a dictionary
-words, morphs, and their meanings
Descriptive Linguistics
-how language works, mechanics and rules
-invented special methods and concepts of describing language
-all languages have a basic fundamental structure
-inheritance of common language system from a common ancestor
- includes phonology, morphology and syntax
Historical Linguistics
-How languages change over time
-languages constantly change, especially over generations
-Language families: connections between languages
-culture history: where certain languages came from
-isolation brings about divergence between communities
-contact results in greater language resemblance
Sociolinguistics
-Concerned with the ethnography of speaking or cultural patterns of speech variation in different social contexts
-social status reflection in speech
-gender differences in speech: natural separation of groups
-multilingualism and code switching: yelling or cussing in someone’s native language
-different environments= differences in speech
Maladaptive
-diminish chances of survival and reproduction
-likely to disappear
Market Exchange
-values in terms of costs
-exchange of goods
-dominant way of thinking about the economy
Neolithic
-later part of the stone age
-radical shift from a hunter-gatherer lifestyle to a settled, agricultural one
-permanent settlements, complex social structures, and specialized tools
Norms
-standards or rules about what is acceptable behavior
-importance is reflected in how members of a society react when violated
-act as cultural constraints on our everyday lives
Participant Observation
-careful observation and even participation in the important events of a society
-questioning people about native customs
Pastoralism
-primarily involves raising large heards of animals
-Practiced in grassland regions
-Must interact with agriculturalists to meet their needs
-occurs after the creation of agriculture
-men dominated to work against raiding
-most violence
-low population density and communities
-Nomadic or semi-nomadic
-Frequent food shortages
-Trade is very important
-moderate differences in individual wealth
-part-time and full-time officials
Potlatch
-Nimpkish, group of 19th century Native Americans
-economy based on food collecting
-large catches of salmon helped to support large, relatively permanent villages
-example of a rank society
-proving one’s high status was done through giving away wealth
-Tribal chiefs hosted grand feasts, potlatches, at which they gave gifts to every guest
Primary Subsistence
-responsibility of attainment typically falls to the men
-food getting activities: gathering, hunting, fishing, herding, and agriculture
Secondary Subsistence
-activities that involve the preparation and processing of food to either make it edible or to store it
-household work typically falls to women and therefore are usually in charge of secondary subsistence as well.
Primatology
-study of anatomy, behavior, ecology and genetics of living and extinct nonhuman primates
-gives us insight into how evolution has shaped us
-study of closest living ancestors
Race
-age of discovery: era in which sea travelers can go long distances, recognition of stark differences between populations
-defining of the races= justification for exploitation
-no evidentiary support
-race is a construct
-assumption that there were additional traits associated with race
-no clear lines between the categories of race
Racism
-the belief, without scientific basis, that some races are inferior to others
-associated with social stratification
Rank Societies
-do not have unequal access to wealth or power
-social groups do have an unequal access to status positions and prestige
-often have a position of a chief
Balanced Reciprocity
-works well for small communities
-exchange of gifts
-do not care about monetary value
-removing the price tag, it is the thought that counts
General Reciprocity
-giving and taking system
-building a relationship
-reciprocal expectation
-Giving a neighbor flour with no immediate reciprocation
-Core of many indigenous societies
Redistribution
-taxation
-authority redistributes monetary funds
-want to do right by everyone
Sapir- Whorf Hypothesis
-Derived from Linguistic Determinism: human thoughts are determined by language used, language defines options of how you can think
-Linguistic Relativism is part of the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
-If language determines thoughts, thoughts determine culture, then culture is ultimately determined by language
-language is a force in its own right
-you cannot understand another culture until you understand their language.
Sedentarism
-practice of living in one place for a long time
-often associated with the transition from nomadic to agricultural societies
Society
-group of people who occupy a particular territory and speak a common language generally not understood by neighboring peoples
-can encompass multiple countries: ‘North American culture’
Structuralism
-Claude Levi-Strauss
-humans cultures are manifestations of underlying psychology
-surface representation of underlying structures of the human mind
-Moiety Societies (Romeo & Juliet), reflect left and right sides of the brain
-Criticism: not scientific, no evidence to support, instead assumes an association
Structural-Functionalism
-Arthur Radcliffe-Brown
-Disagreement with Malinowski
-Acknowledgement that many cultures do a bad job of meeting everyone’s needs
-social system once established= organism
-individuals are cells, a few deaths are part of the maintaining the overall organism/ society
-social system overtakes individual needs
-explains wealth and power disparities
-Criticism: does not account for individual or group variability, devalued the individual, negative societal perspective, does not explain why human nature/ society is so detrimental
Subculture
-shared customs of a group within a society
-Ex: culture of poverty
-individual variation is a major source of new culture
Syntax
-study of how words are put together to create complex ideas
-linguistic structure to convey meaning
-Time (tense), space (referential), and relationships
-may convey ideas not defined in the lexicon
Theoretical Orientation
-informs every social science discipline
-give general ideas about how phenomena are to be explained
-based on accepted theoretical frameworks
Theories
-explanations of laws and statistical associations
-statistical association: observed relationship that is unlikely to be due to chance
-scientists formulate theories to explain observed relationships
-may contain unobservable ideas
-never proven
-predict future events
-generate hypotheses for future research
Why do we need different subfields in Anthropology?
-each provide a distinct perspective on the human experience
-more subfields= greater specialization
