Test 4 Short Answer Flashcards
What are the three components of linguistic analysis?
- Phonology- study of speech sounds
- Morphology- formation and composition of words
- Syntax- the formation and composition of phrases and sentences from these words
What is the difference between Relativist and Universalist approaches to understanding language?
Universal approach- all languages have a common structural basis or a universal grammar. This is supported by translation between languages.
The linguistic relativity approach on the other hand is the principle that the structure of a language affects the ways in which its speakers conceptualize their world. (i.e. we understand the world in terms of our language)
How do Malinowski and Durkheim’s theories of functionalism differ?
For Malinowski, biological needs were preeminent and other aspects of a culture developed to help those needs. For Durkheim, customs and social practices function in order to preserve the social structure.
What is the difference between revolutionism and neoevolutionism?
Evolutionism is the simplistic idea that cultures, like biological organisms, evolve. On the other hand, Neoevolutionism is the renewed interest, sparked by Leslie White and Julian Steward, in why cultures change and evolve and the realization that particular cultures might not evolve in the same direction. White’s approach is known as general evolution, the idea that over time we can see evolution of culture as a whole. Steward’s method was known a multilinear evolution, and it shows how cultures have followed several different evolutionary paths.
What does it mean to say that race is a social construct?
Anthropologist claim that race is a social construct for many reasons. One is that there is no significant DNA evidence that suggest those in racial categories are genetically different or superior in any way. Another is that people oftentimes overgeneralize racial categories, forcing people to place themselves in concrete under descriptive racial categories.
What does it mean to say that racial categories are institutionalized?
A form of racism expressed in the practice of social and political institutions, as distinct from racism by individuals or informal social groups. It is reflected in disparities regarding criminal justice, employment, housing, health care, political power and education, among other things. Whether implicitly or explicitly expressed, institutional racism occurs when a certain group is targeted and discriminated against based upon race. Institutional racism can go unnoticed as it is not always explicit and can be overlooked.
An example of this type of racism is the redlining of districts to keep certain people from moving into a new neighborhood, pervasive in the financial industry in the 1950s and 60s.
What is the difference between prejudice and discrimination?
Prejudice-refers to devaluing or looking down upon a group of people because of assumed behavior, values, or capabilities
Discrimination- consists of policies and practices that actively harm a group and its members
According to the video that you watched in class, what is the connection between the race of an expectant mother and the rate of miscarriage?
In the video it was found that the race of a woman has an effect on the probability of her having a miscarriage. Those women not a part of the dominant race (In the video it speaks of black women) had a higher probability of having a miscarriage as opposed to the women who were members of the dominant race (white women in this case). This is in part due to the immense stress placed upon these women that is often the result of everyday institutionalized racism. It can also have to do with lack of healthcare due to being in poverty which is more likely the case with women that are not in the dominant racial group.
According to the video you watched in class, why is it that the rate of diabetes is so high among Native American and First Nation communities?
Being subject to discrimination and prejudice is taxing on the health of Native Americans which can lead to higher rates of diabetes. Also, losing their land and lacking in cohesion with their people often causes depression and low self-esteem which can lead to habits that can cause diabetes
What is an ethnographic present?
The ethnographic present is an arbitrary time period when the process of culture change is ignored in order to describe culture as if it were a stable system. It is ultimately an attempt to reconstruct a culture from the beginning in order to better understand said culture.
How do big men achieve their status?
Big Men achieve their status through redistribution and reciprocity. They do so by obtaining excess amounts of goods and distributing them to others, typically in festivals or feasts.
How are achieved and ascribed statuses different? Example
Ascribed - inherited ie egyptians
Achieved - worked for ie village heads
What is the relationship between hegemony and resistance?
- Hegemony - social order in which subordinates are socialized to accept hierarchy as “natural”
Social Control
Ideology - Resistance - opposition to the dominant social order
Critique
Protest
Revolution (ex: the french revolution)
Different social groups resist in different ways
EX: Basque people that were controlled by two nation-states
What is economic anthropology and what are two topics addressed by economic anthropologists?
Economic anthropology studies how human societies provide the material goods and services that make life possible. The two main topics addressed are “how are production, distribution, and consumption organized in different societies, and what motivates people in different cultures to produce, distribute, or exchange, and consume?”
What are two key differences between segmentary societies and chiefdoms?
Segmentary societies have no formal political institutions or class system (usually kin based), while chiefdoms follow the class system and have political and religious leaders.
What are the major types of reciprocity? Examples
- Generalized reciprocity is gift giving without the expectation of an immediate return.
Ex. Buying a friend a cup of coffee while shopping. You wouldnt expect him to buy you one as well at the same time but maybe in future trips. - Negative reciprocity is the exchange of goods and services where each party intends to profit from the exchange, often at the expense of the other.
Ex. your friend is moving and needs to sell his car in the next day and you want to buy it for far cheaper than its worth to take advantage of his situation. - Balanced reciprocity includes an explicit expectation of (more or less) immediate
Return.
Ex. when you go to the store to buy something you are expected to pay for it
pretty much immediately
Define and compare contrast agriculture vs horticulture
Horticulture includes nonindustrial plant cultivation. No plows- digging sticks, hoes, etc. Agriculture is the intensification of production with the use of domesticated animals to plow, irrigation, and terracing.
How do modes of production vary between industrialized and non industrialized economies?
- Non-industrial societies: economic relations are one component of a continuum of social relations; often kin-based.
- While industrial societies: workers have impersonal relations with their products, coworkers, and bosses.
What does industrial alienation refer to?
People are alienated from the products they make. The product belongs to someone else. Found in industrial economies.
Compare the market principle to redistribution and reciprocity
The market principle includes buying, selling, and valuation. Determined by supply and demand. Aim is to maximize profit. Governs the distribution of the means of production: land, labor, natural resources. Redistribution is the system of economic exchange within a social group intended to alter the distribution of goods. Capital flows to a central authority, who then redistributes it. Reciprocity is the exchange along various continuums.
Describe sex and gender and explain the distinction
Sex is the biological categories of female and male that are differentiated by genes, hormones, and reproductive organs. Relatively constant across cultures but the assumption of only two sex categories is problematic. Gender is social categories differentiated by psychological characteristics and role expectations. Traits and characteristics of genders vary in different cultural contexts. Gender identification varies depending on the individual and cultural context.
What is the feminization of poverty? How does it transpire and why is it a problem?
Women are poorer than men. They only get like 50% of how much men make regarding employment.
How do gender roles change within different adaptive strategies?
Ie within hunting and gathering adaptive strategy, women gather, men hunt. Within industrial adaptive strategy, women take care of kids, men work
What is the relationship between the family of orientation and the family of procreation?
Family of orientation is the family one is born into. Family of procreation is the family one establishes and reproduces in. Both are important units of cultural production and reproduction. Parents teach children their culture.
