ANTH 201 Exam #1

According to Wade Davis, what is the role of language with regard to assessing the degradation of the ethnosphere?

"Every two weeks, some elder dies and carries with him into the grave the last syllables of an ancient tongue" - when once there were over 6,000 languages spoken worldwide, no nearly only half of those languages still exist - local languages should be embraced, not degraded - it is not right for this world to only speak 1 language, because how would it ever be decided which language to speak

How did anthropology emerge within the context of European colonialism?

"The process of European global power has been central to the anthropological task of recording and analyzing the way of life of subject populations" - provide specific information about particular societies which would help conquered people adjust to life under colonial rule - specialized information - motives that led anthropologists to carry out work under colonial conditions were complex and variable

What is the significance of cultural relativism within anthropological theory and fieldwork?

- To promote understanding of cultural practices, particularly those that an outsider finds puzzling, incoherent, or morally troubling - Coming to terms with the tensions produced by cultural differences while conducting fieldwork - Understand cultural change

What are the key characteristics of the methodological approach?

- living as closely as possible to the people whose culture they are studying - participating in lives of those they are living closely to as much as possible - conducting interviews - administering surveys - consulting previously published literature relevant to their research - face to face contact with people as they go about their daily lives - asking questions - videos, photos

What are some research topics that you could pursue by means of multi-sited ethnography?

- tourism studies - migration studies - diaspora studies

Give some examples of the utility of cultural relativism in dealing with contemporary issues. 1. Ebola 2. Female Genital Cutting

1. - identify health lowering and health enhancing beliefs - improve doctor/patient relationships - improve health education - work with local belief systems 2. - increase understanding - practice becomes comprehendible - understand internal variation/ cultural change - facilitates supporting internal initiatives - helps to take a closer look at our own culture practices

What are some examples of types of participant observation? (4)

1. Abroad - fieldwork in societies that were culturally and geographically distant from that of the ethnographer 2. At Home - paying attention to the forms of social differentiation and marginalization present in the society in which the ethnographer belongs 3. Virtual World - online World 4. Multi Sited - not contained by traditional boundaries, follow people/ things/ lives from site to site

1. What is Ankarana? 2. To whom is Ankarana significant and why?

1. Area located in the northernmost tip of Madagascar known as "the place of the rocks" - supply of sapphires and great biodiversity 2. - Sacred Place: Pilgrims of the region who look to these places as sources of prosperity, fertility, and health (for blessings) - Place of Opportunity: those who are interested in making money through sapphire mining and ecotourism - Natural Wonder: those who are engaged in ecotourism as well as conservationists

What are 3 more ethical obligations of anthropological research as outlined in AAA Code of Ethics?

1. Be open and honest regarding your work - be clear about your purpose, methods, outcomes, and sponsors of your work - hold an ethnical obligation to consider the potential impact of both your research and communication of the results of your research 2. Obtain informed consent and necessary permissions - must obtain voluntary and informed consent of informants - must tell participants the possible impacts of participation and make clear that confidentiality may be compromised or outcomes may differ 3. Make your results accessible - research should be disseminated in a timely fashion - do not withhold research results from research informants - do this unless it harms informants

What are the 4 fields of anthropology?

1. Biological 2. Linguistic 3. Archaeology 4. Socio-Cultural (Cultural Anthropology)

How were Boas's ideas of diffusionism different from theories of unlined cultural evolution? (American vision)

1. Change had not progressed through uniform stages for all societies, rather through different historical routes 2. Porous boundaries around different societies that made cultural borrowing (idea new culture forms were more often borrowed from neighboring societies than invented independently) possible 3. Saw social groups as open to the outside world, not as bounded, timeless social groups. 4. Races, languages, and cultures varied independently from one another - not about a timeline

1. Where does "MIM" take place? 2. Where is it located on a map?

1. Country of Madagascar 2. Off the southeast coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean

1. How was unilineal cultural evolution used to justify colonial rule? 2. It this concept still used today by anthropologists?

1. Different kinds of societies represented different stages of cultural evolution therefore living societies that had not already reached "civilization" level were seen as relics of more primitive stages that the West had already left behind 2. No, this concept is not still used today because anthropologists have found this approach to be inadequate

1. What European power colonized Madagascar? 2. When did this occur? 3. Where is the colonizing country located on a map?

1. France 2. 1896 3. In Europe situated between Spain and Germany

What are the 4 key characteristics of anthropology?

1. Holistic - the whole is greater than the sum of the parts 2. Comparative- look at a wide range of evidence before generalizing opinions or ideas 3. Field-based - direct contact with the object of interest/study for a long period of time (hallmark of anthropology) 4. Evolutionary- changes over time (biological and cultural)

How are ethnographic manuscripts organized?

1. Preface 2. Two Part Introductory Chapter - Entrance narrative - Academic context 3. Presentation and interpretation of data (topical chapters) 4. Conclusion

How do positivism and reflexivity differ?

1. Reflexive fieldwork takes into consideration a broader range of contextual info. than does positivistic fieldwork 2. Reflexivity - situated knowledge (make exact details explicit; especially who you are as an ethnographer because this is vital to relationships with informants) Positivism - objective knowledge (knowledge about reality that is true for all people in all times and places) 3. Reflexivity - strong objectivity Positivism - weak objectivity

1. What is globalization? 2. How does it relate to your daily life?

1. Reshaping of local conditions by powerful global forces on an ever intensifying scale; suggests a world full of movement and mixture, contacts and linkages, and persistent cultural interaction and exchange 2. - Transnational corporations - Toursim - Diversity of cultures that we experience in daily life; such as different style of foods, different outfits, courses we take, etc.

1. What is agency? 2. What is its relationship to culture?

1. The exercise of at least some control over their lives by human beings 2. Rooted in cultural and historical context to determine how humans act; culture has set limitations on behavior that is appropriate for human beings to show in everyday life

What is ethnography?

An ethnographer's written or filmed description of a particular culture.

What is ethnographic fieldwork?

An extended period of close involvement with the people in whose language or way of life an anthropologist is interested, during which anthropologists ordinarily collect most of their data

Where does contemporary anthropological fieldwork take place?

At home, abroad, online, and in multiple locations

Why did colonialism end?

Because most of the European colonies in the Americas gained independence - Reconstruction in Europe - World War II

What was Wallerstein's world systems theory?

Between 1450-1750, the expanding European capitalist economy had incorporated vast regions of the globe into an economic world system held together by the capitalist market - The Core: benefits the most - The Periphery: other end of the scale from the Core, lack strong central governments, controlled by other states, exported raw materials to the Core - The Semi Periphery: lies in the middle of extremes of the Core and Periphery, acts as a buffer between these two - emergence of economic world that had never been integrated before - led to anthropology

Who pioneered the ethnographic method of participant observation?

Bronislaw Malinowski

What nascent form of economic organization drove European colonialism?

Capitalism - market based economic system that determined the prices of goods

What is reflexivity?

Critically thinking about the way one thinks; reflecting on one's own experience

Is biology or culture the predominant manner in which human groups vary from one another?

Culture

What are emic and etic perspectives within anthropology?

Emic - insider's point of view (native's outlook) Etic - outsider's point of view (scientific western explanation)

True or False: Anthropologists often work as invisible observers that record objective facts.

FALSE

True or False: Cultural relativism means that you need to give up on all of your socioculturally- constructed values.

FALSE

True or False: The Transatlantic Slave Trade primarily occurred from early 1300s to 1450.

FALSE - It occurred primarily from 1500-1870.

True or False: Biological evolution equates to cultural evolution.

FALSE - Biological evolution refers to how and to what variation humans have genetically evolved over time - Cultural evolution refers to how material objects change throughout time, as well as social features

True or False: In his TED talk, Wade Davis focused on his desires to live in a monochromatic world of similarity.

FALSE; Wade Davis "all people are simply culture options, different visions of life itself"

True or False: Culture is non-adaptive.

FALSE; culture is adaptive meaning that cultural traditions are reconstructed and enriched.

True or False: Culture is innate (not learned).

FALSE; culture is learned.

True or False: Field data are subjective and therefore fictional.

FALSE; field data are intersubjective = the shared, public symbolic systems of a culture

True or False: According to Kelli Swazey's TED Talk, the cultural expression of death is universal.

FALSE; varying beliefs of whether life ends at death.

What is archaeology?

Form of cultural anthropology of the human past that involves the analysis of material remains left behind by earlier societies

Who is often know as the "Father of American Anthropology"?

Franz Boas

How does Clifford Geertz's definition of culture differ from that provided in your textbook?

Geertz - Culture is NOT a specific set of ideas, beliefs, or behaviors but IS symbols and the system of meaning those symbols embody - takes a symbolic approach - analysis of culture is an interpretive search for meaning - culture is a context, a conceptual world

Explain why "Humans are bicultural animals" is true.

Humans' biological makeup is the outcome of developmental processes to which our genes and chemistry contribute in fundamental ways, which makes us capable of creating and using culture; as well as our survival depends on learned ways of thinking and acting. --> Our biological endowment makes culture possible; human culture makes human biological survival possible

What is "Made in Madagascar" (MIM) about?

It is an ethnography about the connection between local people and the global economy through mechanisms of ecotourism and sapphires in the country of Madagascar (specific focus was region of Ankarana).

What is socio-cultural (cultural anthropology)?

Study of the recognition that biology is not responsible for human variation - shows how variation in the beliefs and behaviors of different members of a group is shaped by sets of learned behaviors and ideas that human beings acquire as members of society (by culture)

What are two key dimensions of culture?

Symbolic and material

What is the author's main argument?

THESIS - "Ecotourism and sapphire industries are fundamentally similar, in how they supply foreign demand for what i term "natural wonders" - dazzling gemstones and awe inspiring ecotourist attractions that are commoditized and valued in ways that reveal just how profoundly entangled foreign consumers are in the global bazaar that people in Ankarana have come to know through a very different sort of experience." - IN OTHER WORDS: Ecotourism and sapphires look different on the surface but are the same thing as part of the exploitation of natural wonders in the country that is fed by the global economy.

True or False: Anthropological research on globalization focuses on how the global articulates with the local.

TRUE

True or False: Culture is patterned.

TRUE

True or False: Culture is symbolic.

TRUE

True or False: Humans learn culture by means of social interaction.

TRUE

True or False: Humans use culture to adapt and transform the world around us.

TRUE

True or False: Modern humans appeared approximately 200,000 years ago.

TRUE

True or False: Participant observation can generate both emic and etic perspectives.

TRUE

True or False: The new typologies of "First World/ Third World" and "Developed/Undeveloped" are simply a new form of evolutionist thinking.

TRUE

True or False: Access to information depends on a researcher's gender expression, age, ethnicity, personality, interest, etc.

TRUE

True or False: An estimated 10-15 million slaves were shipped from Africa to the New World.

TRUE

Under capitalism, what is the conversion of "land" into "real estate" an example of?

The conversion of a good with a use value into a commodity with a market value

What is colonialism?

The long term political, economic, and social domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power

What is ethnocentrism?

The opinion that one's own way of life is natural or correct and indeed the only true way of being fully human

What is the dialectic of fieldwork?

The process of building a bridge of understanding between anthropologist and informants so that each can begin to understand the other - dialogue is led by the researcher

What is positivism?

The view that there is a reality "out there" that can be known through the senses and that there is a single, appropriate set of scientific methods for investigating that reality

Give some examples of human agency.

- going to college - whether or not to work - strikes/ protests

What is biological anthropology?

Study of humans and non human primates as living organisms; tries to discover what characteristics make them different from other organisms and what characteristics they share

What are a few consequences of ethnocentric worldviews?

1. value judgements (their way can only be wrong) 2. dualism (us vs. them & good vs. evil & civilization vs. savagery) 3. attempts at conversion 4. war/ genocide (in extreme cases)

During which time span did colonialism occur?

15th-20th centuries (1400-1900)

Unilineal Cultural Evolution

19th century theory proposed by LH Morgan and EB Tylor that put forth a series of stages through which all societies must go (or had gone) through in order to reach civilization 1. Savages - people who didn't farm or herd (foragers) 2. Barbarians - those who had domesticated plants/ animals but not yet understood writing 3. Civilization - showcased achievement

Is "race" a biological fact or a cultural construct?

A cultural construct - a cultural label created by humans to sort people into groups - races with distinct and unique sets of biological attributes do not exist

According to Geertz, is culture public or private? Explain.

Public because it is shared.

What is culture? (textbook definition)

Sets of learned behaviors and ideas that humans acquire as members of society. Humans use culture to adapt to and transform the world in which they live. (p.22) - patterns of learned behavior and ideas

What is the difference between socialization and enculturation?

Socialization - the process by which humans, living together with other similar organisms, cope with the behavioral rules established by their respective societies (behavioral approach) Enculturation - the process by which humans living with one another must learn to come to terms with the ways of thinking and feeling that are considered appropriate in their respective cultures (cognitive approach)

Kelli Swazey's TED talk is entitled "Life that doesn't end with death" - What is meant by that title?

Some cultures in the World believe that life does not end at death; the video showcased a culture that kept bodies of their dead relatives with them for weeks to months after they died before having a funeral service. Even after funeral services, these people clothed and cleaned the dead bodies as if they were alive.

Which of these statements are true? 1. Evolution means progress 2. Evolution means change over time

Statement 2: Evolution means change over time is TRUE

What is linguistic anthropology?

Study of human languages as a form of symbolic communication and as a major carrier of important cultural information - studies language and ____ (gender, race, class, and ethnicity identity)

What is the primary ethical obligation of anthropological research as outlined in AAA Code of Ethics?

To do not harm

Why do anthropologists prefer to refer to the people with whom they conduct research as "participants" and "co-intellectuals" rather than "informants"?

To regard the people with whom they conduct research as full human beings; to form positive ethical and political dimensions of the relationships that anthropologists develop with these people

According to Geertz in "Thick Description," what is the difference between the similar physiological actions of a twitch, a wink, and a mocking wink?

Twitch - involuntarily, means nothing Genuine Wink - voluntary, can mean many things Mocking Wink - voluntary, a means of making fun of

What is cultural relativism?

Understanding another culture in its own terms sympathetically enough so that the culture appears to be a coherent and meaningful design for living