CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY MIDTERM PREP

How did social scientists such as Herbert Spencer, Henry Lewis Morgan and Sir Edward Burnett Tylor use uni-linealism to justify the colonialism, ethnocentrism and social inequalities of Europe and the United States in the 19th Century?

(1) Herbert Spencer (1876) "Principles of Sociology" - Believed that 'survival of the fittest' is the basis for social and racial inequality. He developed theory "Spencerism" aka "Social Darwinism" or "Scientific Racism." (2) Lewis Henry Morgan was an American Anthropologist. (1877) Published "Ancient Society" and used the 'uni-lineal perspective' in his writings. * Human Process: SAVAGE (Native Americans & Africans) - BARBARIAN (Asian & Mid-East) - Civilized (Western Europeans & Anglo-Americans). (3) Edward Burnett Tylor was a Scottish Anthropologist. In 1877, he published "Primitive Culture" and used a "uni-linealist perspective" in his writing. * Human Progress ANIMISM (Native Americans & African) - POLYTHEISM (East & South Asia) - MONOTHEISM (Western Europeans & Middle East).

Nacirema

(America spelled backwards, from Miner article and Academia: Life off the Street) - How can/persuasive most of us that culture being deceived to us is not our culture?

Roles of men and women in Hunter & gatherers society such as the !Kung

* !Kung (real) social structure 60 years ago. - Women gathered 80% of !Kung's food, hunting by men accounted for 20%.

Define Culture.

* A system of meaning embedded in symbols. Anthropologists think that cultures are defined by multiple symbols. Certain symbols are used to give meaning in a particular culture. - Example: Food becomes a symbol to a particular culture - chocolates (Valentines Day), turkey (Thanksgiving), etc.

Comparative Method

* Cultural Anthropologists learn about other cultures and then compare and contrast them. - Example: What does it mean to be a human being regardless of culture?

Culture Symbols + Cultural Meaning:

* Cultural Anthropologists think of symbols beyond food and clothing people engage in daily. * Where you grew up carries a lot of cultural meaning. Cultural meaning is given to people, such as where you grew up, what car you drive, or what university you went to, etc.

How can Cultural Anthropologists overcome culture shock?

* Cultural anthropologist can overcome difficulty understanding culture and/or language of another by spending time with the different culture to be able to understand that other culture. - EX: Star Trek episode, "Darmok."

Why did Franz Boas find the four-field approach to Anthropology? How did he use each of these to combat the scientific assumptions/biases of his time?

* Franz Boas developed the "four-field approach" to anthropology in order to promote his multi-lineal view and she the weaknesses of the un-ilineal perspective. (1) Physical/Bio. Anthropology: Use this to show that all humans are fully "evolved" - share the same intellectual capacity. No racial group is intellectually inferior. (2) Archaeology: All human societies develop & change and innovate & progress over time (throughout history). No society is stuck in the distant past. (3) Linguistic Anthropology: By studying human languages, we would find that all human languages are fully functioning and complex. (4) Cultural Anthropology: Used to show that all human societies have complex, fully functioning cultures - EX: Difference from European countries does not create inferiority.

Darmok - Star Trek Episode

* Incommensurability" - There may be some value, practices, behavior, belief found in one culture that is very difficult for outsiders to understand. - EX: The human captain and the Tamarians (Western Apache) had a difficult time understanding each others language.

Linguistic Anthropology

* Looks at human forms of human communication. * Tends to focus on "universal/shared" aspects of human communication. - Example: Look at how children learn language.

Define Anthropology.

* Study of man/humanity; human kind. - Coined in the 1800s.

Archaeology

* Study of the Archaic - the old/ancient "past human civilization." * Also, the study of past human societies. - Example: MIDDENS - refers to "trash heaps." Trash heaps are what they leave behind to learn from their society and culture, although, not all leave trash heaps behind.

Cultural Symbols can also have added Constraints:

* Symbol of Gender and Race: society will look at you

Cultural Anthropolgy

* Tends to focus on culture and societies as they exist in the world today. - Example: Engage in cross comparison between different cultures (to understand what makes us human).

Biological (Physical) Anthropology

* What makes us human (compared to other species)? - Example: Human Genome Project; Human DNA; Human Evolution; Primatology (study of primates/great apes). - Also, similarities and differences between humans and chimpanzees; Forensics.

Please explain the main categories of substance presented in lecture:

(1) Foragers (Hunter & Gatherers): Oldest subsistence practice. (2) Horticulture: Small-scale farming. Grow food for own family in order to meet own needs. (3) Pastoralism: Raise herd animals (i.e., goats, sheep, cows). (4) Intensive Agriculture: Large-scale farming. Grow surplus of food. (5) Industrialism: Mass production. Most recent practice.

What are the Four-Fields (Major Divisions) of Anthropology?

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

Slash and Burn (Swidden Agriculture/Horticulture

A field is cleared by cutting down the foliage, burning it, and then planting crops over that burnt foliage. Burning foliage produces nitrogen, which is a natural fertilizer.

Define "Society."

A group of people persisting through time, the social relationships among these people, and their statues and roles.

Participant Observation Method

A technique of gathering info about human cultures by living among people, observing their social interactions on a daily basis, and participating as much as possible in their lives. Graso

Holism

Anthropology is holistic because it combines the study of human biology, history, and the learned and shared patterns of human behavior and thought we call culture in order to analyze human groups.

Structure

Consists of the groups and organizations present in every society that allocate regulate and exchange goods, labor and information. Domestic and political organization/political economy - Sociological.

Cultural Anthropology

Deals with the description and analysis of cultures; the socially learned traditions of past and present ages.

Direct infanticide

Deliberate killing -starvation, dehydration, smothering, placing a child in a dangerous situation, or performing excessive physical punishment.

Emic

Describes cultura from the participant's viewpoint; the observer uses concepts and distinctions that are meaningful and appropriate to the participants.

Etic

Describes culture from the observers perspective; the observer uses concepts and distinctions that are meaningful and appropriate to the observer.

Lactation amenorrhea

Disruption of the menstrual cycle typical accompaniment of breastfeeding and serves as another form of birth control.

Archaeology

Examines the material remains of past cultures left behind on or below the surface of the earth.

Fieldwork

Firsthand experience with people being studied. It involves integration into a community through long-term residence and knowledge of the local language and customs while maintaining the role of observer.

Fieldwork (invented by Franz Boas)

Firsthand intensive systematic exploration of a culture.

Ethnography

Includes both fieldwork among people in society and the written results of fieldwork.

Ethnography

Is a firsthand description of a living culture based on personal observation.

Why does Marshall Sahlins claim that hunter-gathers or foragers are the original affluent societies? In what sense are they affluent even though from a Western perspective they might appear impoverished?

Marshall Sahlins claims that hunter-gatherer societies are actually "affluent" because: (1) The !Kung, the San, the Dobe, only work about 2-3 hours/day or about 20 hours/week to meet their needs. (2) Nutritional profile is very good. Food was available all year. These people lived in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa. (3) Egalitarian Societies: (a) Gender equality and resources were owned by the entire band. (b) Since resources belong to the entire band (social group), there is no need for a market system. Food is shared by the entire group. (c) Theft is not an issue.

How do documentary films convince audiences that the film is telling them the "truth?"

Narrator's voice of authority, the "expert," getting people to lower their critical thinking.

Indirect infanticide

Neglect and under investment - inadequate feeding, withholding emotional support, and careless indifferent handling, especially when the infant is sick.

Enculturation

Partially conscious and partially unconscious learning experience whereby the older generation invites induces and compels the younger generation to adopt traditional ways of thinking and behaving.

Thomas Hobbes

People need rulers to control their behavior

Informants

People through whom the anthropologist learn about the culture through observation and by asking questions.

Participant Observation

Places the ethnographer at the scene where a combination of direct observation and interviewing provides the evidence from which ethnographic accounts are constructed.

Interviews

Rely entirely on research subjects as sources of knowledge.

Cultural materialist mode

Set of categories that is comprehensive enough to afford logical and classificatory organization for a range of traits and institutions that can be observed in all cultural systems.

Cultural Relativism

Stipulates that behavior in a particular culture should not be judged by the standards of another.

What is Cultural Anthropology?

Studies human society and culture.

Physical/Biological Anthropology

Study of people from a biological perspective, focusing primarily on aspects of humankind that are genetically inherited.

Infrastructure

Technologies and productive and reproductive activities that bear directly on the provision of food and shelter protection against illness and the satisfaction of sexual and other basic human needs and drives. - nodes of production; reproduction; and technology.

Colonialism

The active possession of a foreign territory and the main tendency of political domination over that territory.

Superstructure

The behavior and thought devoted to symbolic ideational, artistic, playful, religious, and intellectual endeavors as well as all the mental and emic aspects of a culture's infrastructure.

Define "Ethnocentrism."

The belief that one's own culture is superior to another culture.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one's own patterns of behavior are always natural, good, beautiful, or important and that strangers live by savage, inhuman, disgusting or irrational standards.

Racism

The belief that some human populations are superior to others because of inherited, genetically transmitted characteristics.

What is Anthropology?

The comparative study of human societies and cultures.

Field-notes

The data collected by anthropologists.

Culture shock

The feeling of anxiety and disorientation that develops in an unfamiliar situation when there is confusion about how to behave or what to expect.

Cultural Relativism

The idea that a culture should not be judged or evaluated according to the values of another culture.

Define "Culture."

The learned behaviors and symbols that allow people to live in a group.

Diffusion

The passing of cultural traits from one culture and society to another.

Horticulture

The production of plants using simple, non mechanized technologies. Land is not continuous used. Can sustain 100-1,000 people.

Ethnology

The study of a particular topic or problem in more than one culture, using a comparative perspective.

Culture

The study of human kind of ancient and modern people and their ways of living.

Archeology

The study of past cultures through their material remains.

Linguistics

The study of the great variety of languages spoken by human beings.

Science

The systematic study of the structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.

Egalitarianism

They share everything, like limited resources; Coke bottle.

What is the goal of Anthropology?

To describe, analyze, and explain different cultures; to show how groups have given significance to their lives. It's the study of cultures and how they affect people.

What is Uni-linealism (Un-Lineal Evolution)?

Uni-linealism is the social theory in which different social status is aligned in a single line that moves from most primitive to most civilized.

Applied Anthropology

Uses the findings of the other fields to solve practical problems affecting the health, education, security, and prosperity of human beings in many cultural settings.

Applied Anthropology

Work with governments, corporations, and other organizations to use anthropological research techniques to solve social, political, and economic problems.

Lewis Henry Morgan

claimed Europeans had most advanced society

Culture is:

learned, socially acquired traditions of thought and behavior found in human societies.

Society

An organized group of people who share a homeland and who depend on each other for their survival and well-being.

Holism

Assumes that any single aspect of culture is integrated with other aspects, so that no single dimension of culture can be understood in isolation.

Polygyny

Assures that almost all females will marry and engage in reproductive sex.

Linguistic Anthropology

Concerned with understanding language and its relation to culture. - EX: The "boot" (UK) v. the "trunk" (US) of a car.

Physical Anthropology

Connects other anthropological fields to the study of animal origins and the biological determined nature of homo sapiens.

Subculture

Groups of people who have lifestyles that are not shared by the rest of the society.

What tools do the filmmakers use to help portray the Nacirema as unfamiliar, strange, and different?

Highly scientific language, making the ordinary feel strange, their technology is portrayed as backwards (National Geographic style of storytelling), subjects do not get to speak for themselves.

Subsistence Patterns

Hunter-gather Hortculuturalist Pastoralist Intensive argiculutre industrialism post industrialism