Anthropology

H.L. Morgan

· Unilineal evolution (every society goes through stages) · Systematically thought about why there are diff types of social structures o Early stages—no real division of labor, social classes o People wanted to know who children and spouse—idea of property · 2 different classes: (kinship systems) o classificatory—everyone above mom/dad, younger son/daughter, same generation sister/brother § iroquis o descriptive—specific names; distinguish b/w uncles and dads, § Arian, Simitic § Marriage as institution § Division of labor § Property § More complex organization · Primitive—no institutionalized ideas, no marriage · Idea of evolution came from Darwin o Species diverged and came from one another

M. Weber

· Weber is best known for his thesis combining economic sociology and the sociology of religion, · He proposed that ascetic Protestantism was one of the major "elective affinities" associated with the rise in the Western world of market-driven capitalism and the rational-legal nation-state. · Against Marx's "historical materialism," Weber emphasized the importance of cultural influences embedded in religion as a means for understanding the genesis of capitalism. · The Protestant Ethic formed the earliest part in Weber's broader investigations into world religion o he would go on to examine the religions of China, the religions of India and ancient Judaism, with particular regard to the apparent non-development of capitalism in the corresponding societies, as well as to their differing forms of social stratification.

Inference

· a conclusion reached on the basis of evidence and reasoning

Cultural Relativism

· a principle that was established as axiomatic in anthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the 20th century and later popularized by his students. o Boas first articulated the idea in 1887: "...civilization is not something absolute, but ... is relative, and ... our ideas and conceptions are true only so far as our civilization goes." · concept that cultural norms and values derive their meaning within a specific social context.

Symbolic

· a thing that represents or stands for something else; physical objects, colors, sounds, movements, scents which convey information through an arbitrary or culturally assigned meaning

Gestalt

· an organized whole that is perceived as more than the sum of its parts. · Looking at Culture as a gestalt—interrelationship, big picture · The way it all fits together

Culture Trait

· any trait of human activity acquired in social life and transmitted by communication

Anthropology (four fields)

· archaeology—artifacts: the study of the human past through its material remains · cultural: draws together the principle aces of cultural anthropology and social anthropology. cultural anthropology is the comparative study of the various ways in which people make sense of the world around them. social anthropology is the study of the relationships among persons and groups · biological: describe anthropological research focused on the study of humans and non-human primates in their biological, evolutionary, and demographic dimensions. examines the biological and social factors that have affected the evolution of humans and other primates, and that generate, maintain or change contemporary variation linguistic: seeks to understand the processes of human communications, verbal and non-verbal, variation in language across time and space, the social uses of language and the relationship between language and culture.

Unilinear Evolution

· based on the premise that all human societies had traveled along the same continuum from very primitive to self-serving. · Savages → Barbarians → Peasants → Civilization · Idea of a singular line or path of cultural development · Unilineal evolution—was no need to distinguish b/w barbarians or savages because everyone was so similar and sleeping with each other o Promiscuity, don't know if my brother or cousin or whatever o Monogamy o The idea of property—want to make sure goes to children—one way why went from Barbary to savagery; and because of promiscuity o Marriage is a tie that relates to property

Quantitative

· can put to numbers, can be expressed in numbers or quantity

Inductive

· characterized by the inference of general laws from particular instances

Ethnography

· description of a culture, usually based on the method of participant observation.

Systematicity

· done or acting according to a fixed plan or symbol; methodical

Social Institution

· is any structure or mechanism of social order governing the behaviour of a set of individuals within a given community; may it be human or a specific animal one. · "institution" is commonly applied to customs and behavior patterns important to a society, as well as to particular formal organizations of government and public services. As structures and mechanisms of social order among certain species, institutions are one of the principal objects of study in the social sciences, such as political science, anthropology, economics, and sociology

Fieldwork/Field research

· living among a group of people for the purpose of learning about their culture · Qualitative approach · Observation and participation o Live with these people in the community participate in their every day life to understand their linguistics and the way they live o Interviewing people and establishing a sort of trust to become apart of the community · Getting to know people you see aspects of their world you wouldn't know unless you had created these relationships with them o Being there for a long period of time and trying to get the insiders perspective on what their lives are like

Participant Observation

· living in a culture that is not your own while also keeping a detailed record of your observations and interviews

Holistic

· no dimension of culture can be understood in isolation, cultures are integrated wholes · study and look at every possible context

Superorganic

· of or pertaining to the structure of cultural elements within society conceived as independent of and superior to the individual members of society.

Emic

· of, relating to, or involving analysis of cultural phenomena from the perspective of one who participates in the culture being studied · refers to getting an insiders perspective/knowledge · What does it mean for those living within the culture; what we are trying to obtain with ethnographic fieldwork research · Phonetics- classifying and studying sounds; measuring what's happening; sound system · Phonemics- trying to find out the meanings of those sounds; how did the sounds becoming meaningful, and for who are those sounds meaningful; meaning system

A. Kroeber

· primary concern was to understand the nature of culture and its processes · concerned with culture as a universal human characteristic and believed that a complete understanding of culture must contain explanations not only of specific cultures but also of cultural elements and patternings that transcend specific cultures.

Qualitative

· relating to, measuring, or measured by the quality of something rather than its quantity

Division of Labor

· the assignment of different parts of a manufacturing process or task to different people in order to improve efficiency.

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

· the early 20th century idea of Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf that language predetermines what we see in the world around us. · language acts like a polarizing lens on a camera in filtering reality--we see the real world only in the terms and categories of our language. · This hypothesis was objectively tested by anthropologists in the 1960's. That research indicated that Sapir and Whorf went too far. It is now clear that the terminology used by a culture primarily reflects that culture's interests and concerns. All normal humans share similar sense perceptions due to the fact that their sense organs are essentially the same. Therefore, they can understand and perceive the categories of reality of another culture, if they are explained.

Colonialism

· the establishment, exploitation, maintenance, acquisition, and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. · It is a set of unequal relationships between the colonial power and the colony and often between the colonists and the indigenous population

Culture

· the evolved human capacity to classify and represent experiences with symbols, and to act imaginatively and creatively. · the distinct ways that people, who live differently, classified and represented their experiences, and acted creatively. · the behaviors and beliefs characteristic of a particular social, ethnic, or age group

Liminality

· the quality of ambiguity or disorientation that occurs in the middle stage of rituals, when participants no longer hold their pre-ritual status but have not yet begun the transition to the status they will hold when the ritual is complete. · During a ritual's liminal stage, participants "stand at the threshold" between their previous way of structuring their identity, time, or community, and a new way, which the ritual establishes.

Diffusion

· the spread of cultural items—such as ideas, styles, religions, technologies, languages etc.—between individuals, whether within a single culture or from one culture to another. It is distinct from the diffusion of innovations within a single culture.

Social roles/role relationships

· the way we are perceived by and placed in our society and how that affects our relationships with others

Dialectical

· two or more parts, a mutual shaping relationship, not just one way, ex: humans + environment, mother + child mutually shaping and influencing each other · Dialectical relativism—if you take out one thing it will change the whole

Age of Discovery/Exploration

· when the European travelers/colonizers came over to America they tried to explain the origin of native populations and their differences from Europeans · Age of exploration wasn't just about people being curious, but motivated by economic, political issues o Ability to build and navigate to explore world really transformed the world · Side effect of Christopher Columbus o Thinking he was going to India then believed he could sail around the world o Control trade routes then you can take control of economic and political aspects

Communication

The way people in specific cultures understand one another and express one another's ideas

Intersubjective/Intersubjectivity

existing between conscious minds; shared by more than one conscious mind

Ethnocentrism

judging other cultures by the standards of your own, which you believe to be superior

"Human beings live in two worlds simultaneously"

§ 2 worlds simultaneously · 1. Physical/empirical o have all senses- see, touch, measure, describe o ex. Only squirrels live in this world · 2. Cultural/symbolically- mediated world **what anthropologists are focuses on o rituals, communication o isn't instantly noticeable o the things we can sense are viewed differently in other cultures o make inferences about underlying meanings, make educated guesses § test them by continually watching and studying the people § communicate with those people

F. Boas

· Actually an anthropologist that did field work and ethnography · Studied at Columbia University · Looked at cultural relativism—looking at framework of society in itself · Culture is something we learn—because we are social creatures · Critique/challenger of scientific anthro · Focused on particular environments people lived in o Material dimensions o What's the means of sustenance o Tool kit of culture—we are able to adapt to certain environments

Cross-cultural comparison

· Comparison of various psychological, sociological, or cultural factors in order to assess the similarities or diversities occurring in two or more different cultures or societies. · The origins of cross-cultural analysis in the 19th century world of colonialism was strongly grounded in the concept of cultural evolution, which claimed that all societies progress through an identical series of distinct evolutionary stages.

"Nothing Human is Ever 100% Biological"

· Culture: is o Learned o Shared o Adaptive o Symbolic o Patterned o We are not born with it · Born with the capacity to make meaning and convey meaning

E. Durkheim

· Didn't do field research; better to call him a sociologist · Wanted to have a more empirical scientific approach—wanted to establish a science of society (and did) o Saw society as a phenomenon · Society is o generalized—participate in social roles, social institutions o compulsory o measurable o exists before and after the individual · social institutions: o A constellation (arrangement) of social roles, social role relationships, procedures, goals, values that are related to a particular end § Basic unit of social is the social role relationships o He studied relationships in religion: § How people express themselves § Unseen world—ancestors, gods,

Alcohol as a "total social fact"

· Drinking is a social practice shaped and influenced by certain cultural values · Alcohol has evolved into something that brings people together and specific events revolve around drinking alcohol

Frames of Meaning

· Figure out what culture is and how we study it · How people communicate ideas

"Society is an Objective Reality/Humans are Social Products/Society is a Human Product"

· Society exists before and after the individual: · *society is an objective reality o can study in scientific way · *humans are social products o socialized into roles o learn to be children, siblings, students, workers, · *society is a human product o independent of the individual o values change over time § ex. Women didn't used to work or receive education o people/society/groups of people put pressure on society itself to change o we produce new social institutions and new social forms § technology has allowed us to form new connections and stay in touch with people and meet new people we may have never met, never used to be able to do this § online communities—a human creation ú gives us new possibilities o we are not just a social being but society is a human product

E.B. Tylor

· Tylor is representative of cultural evolutionism. · In his works Primitive Culture and Anthropology, he defined the context of the scientific study of anthropology, based on the evolutionary theories of Charles Lyell. · He believed that there was a functional basis for the development of society and religion, which he determined was universal. Tylor is considered by many to be a founding figure of the science of social anthropology, and his scholarly works helped to build the discipline of anthropology in the nineteenth century. · He believed that "research into the history and prehistory of man... could be used as a basis for the reform of British society."

Race

a classification system used to categorize humans into large and distinct populations or groups by anatomical, cultural, ethnic, genetic, geographical, historical, linguistic, religious, and/or social affiliation.

Ritual

an established or prescribed procedure

"The basic unit of society—and thus, of social analysis—is the social role relationship."

relationships—basic unit of society and social analysis—the social role relationships · social role relationship—constructed out of necessity o we are social beings and interdependent creatures o cannot serve with out collaboration o glue that holds social role together-- o Social roles with agriculture § Someone to build tools, plow field, separate seeds § Many interdepend parts · Trying to figure out how people fit into a social structure: o Is not the people, but the relationships/patterns among the people and things o Look at roles and relationships people are involved in—basic unit of social structure o Social roles are tired together through mutuality, has to do with mutual rights and duties § Ones right are another's duties and vice versa § We have social roles because we are human beings and cant just live my instinct like animals § We have qualitative value added advantages § To survive we have to interdepend

Social Structure

the arrangement of and relations between the parts or elements of something complex

Socialization

the process by which culture is learned. · During socialization individuals internalize a culture's social controls, along with values and norms about right and wrong

Gender

the socially constructed roles, behaviors, activities, and attributes that a culture considers appropriated for men and women.

B. Malinowski

· From 1910, Malinowski studied exchange and economics at the London School of Economics (LSE) analyzing patterns of exchange in aboriginal Australia through ethnographic documents. · In 1914 he was given a chance to travel to New Guinea accompanying anthropologist R. R. Marett, but as war broke out and Malinowski was an Austrian subject, and thereby an enemy of the British commonwealth, he was unable to travel back to England. · Australian government nonetheless provided him with permission and funds to undertake ethnographic work within their territories and Malinowski chose to go to the Trobriand Islands, in Melanesia where he stayed for several years, studying the indigenous culture. · Upon his return to England after the war he published his main work Argonauts of the Western Pacific which established him as one of the most important anthropologists in Europe of that time. · Took posts as lecturer and later as a chair in Anthropology at the London School of Economcs, attracting large numbers of students and exerting great influence on the development of British Social Anthropology. · From 1933 he visited several American universities and when the second World War broke out he decided to stay there, taking an appointment at Yale. Here he stayed the remainder of his life, also influencing a generation of American anthropologists.

R. Benedict

· Gestalt cultures are more ... · Relationship between culture and personality · Cultural relativism · major contribution to anthropology, compares Zuñi, Dobu, and Kwakiutl cultures in order to demonstrate how small a portion of the possible range of human behaviour is incorporated into any one culture · she argues that it is the "personality," the particular complex of traits and attitudes, of a culture that defines the individuals within it as successes, misfits, or outcasts. · Individuals behaviors reflect culture

Descriptive and Classificatory Kinship systems

· Kinship terminology is the systems used in languages to refer to the persons to whom an individual is related through kinship. · Different societies classify kinship relations differently and therefore use different systems of kinship terminology - for example some languages distinguish between affinal and consanguine uncles, whereas others have only one word to refer to both a father and his brothers.

K. Marx

· Marx's theories about society, economics and politics - collectively known as Marxism - hold that human societies progress through class struggle: a conflict between an ownership class that controls production and a dispossessed laboring class that provides the labor for production. · He called capitalism the "dictatorship of the bourgeoisie," believing it to be run by the wealthy classes for their own benefit; and he predicted that, like previous socioeconomic systems, capitalism produced internal tensions which would lead to its self-destruction and replacement by a new system: socialism. · Argued that class antagonisms under capitalism between the bourgeoisie and proletariat would eventuate in the working class' conquest of political power in the form of a dictatorship of the proletariat and eventually establish a classless society, socialism or communism, a society governed by a free association of producers. · Along with believing in the inevitability of socialism and communism, Marx actively fought for their implementation, arguing that social theorists and underprivileged people alike should carry out organized revolutionary action to topple capitalism and bring about socio-economic change.

Organic/Mechanical Solidarity

· Organic solidarity—complex divison of labor - Mechanical solidarity: Society would still function w/o specific groups · Biggest difference between the two about is interdependence

M. Mead

· Researched Samoan society and many other societies o Those in adolescent (Somoa) were encouraged to be sexually experimental · Why are we the way we are: o Looked at childhood, parenting, and sex · Gender and child rearing · Different because her theories on cultural differences are based on childhood · Pg 104 looked are relationship between individual and cultural behavior o Concept of nature vs. nurture · best known for her studies of the nonliterate peoples of Oceania, especially with regard to various aspects of psychology and culture—the cultural conditioning of sexual behaviour, natural character, and culture change. · most notable for her forays into such far-ranging topics as women's rights, child rearing, sexual morality, nuclear proliferation, race relations, drug abuse, population control, environmental pollution, and world hunger. · key figure in the second wave anthropology, for her work distinguished between sex and gender. Her theories were influenced by ideas borrowed from Gestalt psychology, that subfield of psychology which analyzed personality as an interrelated psychological pattern rather than a collection of separate elements · Her work separated the biological factors from the cultural factors that control human behavior and personality development. Her work influenced Rosaldo's and Lamphere's attempts to build a framework for the emerging discipline. Mead's work contained an analysis of pervasive sexual asymmetry that fit with their reading of the ethnographic literature · addresses the theory that various so-called masculine and feminine characteristics are not based on fundamental sex differences, but reflect the cultural conditioning of different societies · cultural icon · humans are a product of cultural behavior · she is more of a biological anthropologists—interested in gender roles, biological processes · tells us how different cultures do different things in terms of : o parenting, sex, child upbringing, child birth and rearing, education, family unit, socialization o some traits in other cultures might be worth adopting

E. Sapir

· Sapir suggested that man perceives the world principally through language · A thorough description of a linguistic structure and its function in speech might, he wrote in 1931, provide insight into man's perceptive and cognitive faculties and help explain the diverse behavior among peoples of different cultural backgrounds. · He was a linguist, interested with language, particularly native American · Influence from Boez · Sapir hypothesis: o Idea that language influences cultural relationships of world o Language influences the way people see world · **Idea that different cultures live in different worlds o language gives us different worlds · worked with benjarim worf

Modes of Organization

· Social organization o Think of economics and materials - The way we make a living - How use resources - Produce things to consume them - Stages: - Modes of production - Consumption - distribution o Can think of alcohol - Social arrangements that go into producing it - Also involves a mode of organization of people - Distribution—modes involved in distributing it - Gift - Way of expressing how felt about people a. The rights and duties between us with social roles have to do with moral values and beliefs. b. Culture and Society go hand in hand - can't have one without the other.