Intro to Cultural Anthro Exam #1
who came up with the niche concept?
barth
who conducted a study on ecological relationships of ethnic groups in Swat valley, North Pakistan?
barth
why did Lee's informants tell him that his ox was worthless at the Christmas party (from "eating Christmas in the Kalahari")?
because arrogance would cause him to cause a conflict
What is empathic understanding? how is it achieved in anthro?
being aware of, sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing feelings, thoughts & experiences of another (goal of anthro that's achieved through fieldwork)
what disciplines is environmental anthro a collaboration accross?
bio, ecology, economics and demography
who had a strong inclination to make first hand observations (natural sciences)?
boaz, malinowski & radcliffe-Brawn
what was the belief system of the nacerima (Minor)?
body is ugly. Tendency to debilitate and decay. Ritual behavior to combat ugliness and decay
how does the enculturation process of mothers and children in bali differ from what we are accustomed to (think video)?
bond between mother and child in US is considered sacred and unique while in Bali, everything is shared (i.e. child's mother is mother of entire community and must be shared)
how is value created according to neoclassical and formalists?
by competition between buyers and sellers
how is value created according to marxists?
by exploitaiton of labor (class and power)
what is the spectrum (from less structured to more structures) of the interview continuum?
casual conversation (head/jot notes) = open-ended (notes & transcription) = semi-structured (notes & transcription) =structured (data base entries)
what is ethnographic research inherently?
collaborative
what is triangulation?
comparing data collected via several different sources (think triangle with participant observation interviews and surveys at peak; if all point toward middle, then
why did harris say that potlach was good?
competition through redistribution: 1. ensured production and distribution of wealth in a non-centralized political system 2. through villages together in exchange network that encouraged long-term social ties 3. encouraged people to work hard to have surplus
what can moderate labor exploitation?
consumer concern for human rights (cultural and social institutions)
what can generate labor exploitation?
consumer demand for low prices (competition between buyers and seller)
what are tibetan buddhist concepts?
container (environemnt and its contents (living beings) interactions between environmental health and individual/community well being (i.e. physical and cultural realms inter-connected)
what is data from one point in time?
cross-sectional data (snapshot of present)
how is value created according to substantivist?
cultural and social institutions
what is rational choice embedded in?
cultural notions (i.e. value of time and fitness when deciding to walk or drive to work)
what was the popular opinion of why poor people are poor and why they stay poor (view that Bourgois refutes)?
cultural reproduction theory: b/c of their resistance to assimilate
What is culture's agency and practice?
culture influences (NOT determine) people's actions & is used actively and creatively by individuals
how does culture differ from identity?
culture: distinctive WAYS OF LIFE of group of people identity: a person's (or group's) sense of self and way of expressing affiliation and belonging
how does culture differ from society?
culture: distinctive WAYS OF LIFE of group of people society: group of PEOPLE who interact more with each other than with others
what type of research method quantifies fertility and mortality rates?
demographic survey
what are tender age shelters?
detention facilities for undocumented migrants under age 12
how did anthropology and colonialism collide in Lee's christmas ox account?
difficulty documenting foodways without interfering depicted African groups as static and unchanging
what is the marxist position?
division of labor creates inequality and conflict, focuses on power, socioeconomic class and unequal distribution of wealth
what includes, "hidden costs" like pollution and energy usage?
ecological footprint (america was around 21 while india was around 6)
what is the substantivist position?
economic activites are embedded in social institutions and cultural practices
what is the substantivist position?
economic activities embedded in social institutions and cultural practices (i.e. cross cultural variation)
what is a sub discipline concerned with how people make, share and buy things and services?
economic anthro
what is the study of interactions within a community of species (including humans) and biophysical environment?
ecosystems approach
who studied the evolution of religious thought and systems? what did he believe happened as humans evolved?
edward burnett taylor: they become more rational
what is the point of view of those being studied (an objective of GOOD fieldwork)?
emic
how is culture learned?
enculturation: social process by which culture is learned and transmitted (within generations, across generations, or across societies)
what is the human terrain system and when was it established?
established in 2007, social science support for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan created from need for cultural/linguistic knowledge to support military objectives
What was Conklin's study on?
ethnoecology (ethnobotony, ethnozoology)
what type of kinesics is universal?
facial expressions (b/c part of evolutionary heritage, shared w/ many primates
what is a specialized set of terms and distinctions that are particularly important to certain groups?
focal vocabulary
how does anthro view macroeconomics?
focus on systems of behavior and organizaiton
what does Wegerif say about tanzania and food?
food system in Darcalon is a model for US (small scale, close friendly interactions, Symbiotic food production, low waste)
who is the big fight between in economic anthro?
formalists, substantivists and marxists
who were trained in the humanistic approach of societies (historians and philosphers who saw no need to go out to people who they study)?
frazer, morgan and tylor
how did collaborative ethnography emerge (according to Lassiter)?
from ethical concerns within discipline & pressures from peoples being studied
for rural to urban migrants what provides an opportunity to make more than they could farming? how (from "Misplaced Matter" by Godden Bryson)?
garbage: fewer hours, more flexibility and better wages than factory work
what is balanced reciprocity (according to Marshall Sahlins)?
giving entails expectation that something of roughly equal value will be returned, can be immediate return
what is generalized reciprocity (according to Marshall Sahlins)?
giving something without expectation of an immediate return (i.e. giving = expression of personal relationship)
who controls field work?
good question in all contexts; best anthropologists take into account needs, interest and status of informants
what can shape the feelings and associations of speakers toward an object (think fork in Spanish/French)?
grammatical genders
what are the food preferences/taboos in Islam?
halal: permissibile haram: forbidden
what type of kinesics is not universal?
hand gestures
what is the food production method that utilizes small plots cultivated for household consumption?
horticulture
what is welsch and vivanco's question?
how do people secure an environmentally sustainable food supply?
what is the difference between humanities and social science? where does antro belong?
humanities: Provide readers with an empathic understanding of another society. Reduce the perception of cultural differences between "us" and "them" social science: Provide plausible and reliable explanations of social processes. Provide data and perspectives that have tangible applications ANTHRO IS BOTH!
what is the difference between ideal culture and real culture?
ideal: what is expressed through values real: what is actually expressed and said
what equation measures population's effects on the environment?
impact = pop x affluence x tech
what is the meaningful ethnographic knowledge emerging out of deep and complex relationships that research and research subjects have with one another (Oguz Alyanak)?
inter-subjectivity
what are the 2 most common types of gathering ethnographic data?
interviewing and participant observation
what type of interviews did childs use for the anthropology part (why is it happening) in his research on migration in tibet?
interviews (like surveys for demographic data) and participant observation
who studied urban red light district in D.C.? What position maximized access to diverse people and knowledge of diverse activities? what was one bad thing he did?
jack Weatherford cashier/store operator (i.e. gatekeeper) = neutral, social movement & access to diverse, detailed and reliable info *didn't tell subjects he was a researcher
Who argued that geographic or climatic changes pressure life forms to adapt? Who argued that some variations are more benifical for survival/reproduction than others (long-term adaptation, i.e. natural selection)?
jean lamarck Darwin
What were the methodological shortcomings of early fieldwork?
journeyed to socieites they studied, but brought informants to won camp for interveiwing non-natives (not arm-chair but still not living w/ natives, i.e. "interviewing on the veranda)
from whom did political ecology take a lot of inspiration?
karl marx
what is body movements, postures expressions and gestures as a form of communication called?
kinesics
what is inter-subjectivity?
knowledge about other people emerges out of relationships that individuals have with one another
what are the food preferences/taboos in judaism?
kosher (fit to eat)
what did early European anthropologists think of "primitive" people?
living fossils, equivalent to the most ancient ancestors of "civilized" European people
what is data compared across time?
longitudinal data (change over time)
What does Bourgois instead say is the reason for why poor people are poor
mainstream US culture has left many immigrant groups and people of color on the outside and without opportunities (i.e. not a "faulty culture" of poor people but practices of exclusion)
who wrote the stone age economics, a classic ethnology (uses ethnographic data to critique mainstream theories about "rational" economic behavior)?
marshall sahlins
what is the goal of economic actor?
maximize utility
can out migration have a positive impact on fragile himalayan environment?
maybe, depends
what was mining of plastic compared to (from "Misplaced Matter" by Godden Bryson)?
mining "ore"
what influences material aspirations in hunter gatherer tribes?
mobility (NOT productivity)
what were the pathan niche?
multi-cropping supports complex social organization limited to low lying areas surplus required for leadership/potlaches & specialization (exchanging food for services)
how did boas dispute diffusionism (i.e. Historical changes in cultural life are the result of contact between more and less "civilized" peoples)?
must assume migration/contact over enormous geographic areas, Ignores possibility of independent invention
does participant observation result in objective data?
naw fam (BUT ensure that data is collected routinely and repeatedly via observation and also who shows up to talk to you, who you are, assumptions you make/made about you etc)
what does lansing argue that the subak is?
network of interacting agents ensure that both farmers yield maximum yields by upstream farmers giving up some water and downstream farmers harvesting at the same time (controlling pests)
are psychological and biological explanations enough for understanding culture/human experiences?
no! culture is shared (not individual, not part of DNA or in brain)
what aspect of enculturation is known to change?
norms (albeit slowly)
what were two critiques of rappaport's work?
not enough historical depth and closed system is unrealistic (which started a movement away from studying systems in equilibrium to systems in flux)
what is cultural materialism
notion that basis of cultural world is based on material interactions with physical world
what do symbols provide?
order (think map, traffic signals, etc)
how was waste as "treasure" described (from "Misplaced Matter" by Godden Bryson)?
phones, cash, jewelry, clothing: matter misplaced rather than trashed
what is political ecology?
relationship between humans and their environment cannot be understood without considering inequalities of power and wealth produced by the global economy (Most widely used approach in environmental anthropology since the 1990s)
who is your primary obligation to in cultural anthro?
research subjects
what is spiritual ecology?
researching links between religious beliefs/practices and the environment (indigenous people often have beliefs that protect environment)
what are the markers of social adulthood (aka "adulting" according to J. Hill)?
respectable job/career, good income, house ownership (mortgage), marriage and children etc
what was rappaport's lasting contribution?
rituals have measurable material effects in ecosystem
what is the stone age economics about?
sahlins got ethnographic data and said how if hunteras and gatherers "wants are scarce, than his means (of getting materials) are plentiful"
what does neoclassical economics assume defines the human condition?
scarcity
what was the genealogical method that evans-pritchard found within the Neur in Africa during the height of British colonialism?
segmentary lineage political organization (they would unite against each other/others based on their lineages)
how do people in east Harlem reject racism and marginalization?
selling drugs: underground economy is the best way for upward mobilityd (Bougois saw this as entrepreneurship)
how is hunting still a large part of inuit culture?
sharing meat still key part of reciprocity, large part of culture,
what is anthropological demography?
simultaneous use of ethnographic and demographic concepts and methods to analyze pop processes (fertility, mortality and migration) in small-scale societies
what were the kohistani niche known for?
single annual crop on higher grounds driven from lower valley by pathans (altho some have pathan ancestry) use both agricultural lands and high lands
what did aihwa ong study?
spirit possession provided culturally appropriate way for Malay women to rebel against male authorities and factory conditions
Who, like Rappaport, recognitized that rituals can have regulatory functions?
stephen lansing (on Balinese agriculture)
what are green laws (a Tibetan environmental practices)?
stipulate where and in which months people can graze their livestock, fell trees, etc
why is pork consumption prohibited in 2 major world religions according to mary douglas (from "Thinking with pigs")?
structuralism (people make sense of world via binary oppositions) and symbolism (suggests that pork violates binary oppositions, i.e. don't fit in b/c no cud)
what were all the research methods that Child's combined for his research?
structured interview, participant observation, in-depth interview, history/geneology, & archival research
what did stephen lansing find on balinese agriculture?
subak: self governing democratic association of framers, regulated by one main temple (everyone coordinating activities to maximize productivity/resources/water)
what is how you meet your bacis nutritional needs?
subsistance
what is the most common form of horticulture?
swidden agriculture, also called "slash & burn" : clearing off and using until nutrients depleted and then moving on and letting return to natural state
what is agency in terms of culture?
the capacity of human beings to affect their now life chances and those of others and to play a role in the formation of social realities in which they participate
what as the niche concept?
the place of a group in the total environment, its relations to resources and competitors
How is culture transmitted?
through learning (shared among members of same cultural group)
how is a language learned?
through symbols (therefore, direct transmission)
what is a body of knowledge that is extensive, observationally grounded and complementary to western environmental knowledge?
traditional knowledge
what were the gujar niche known for?
trans-humanance in symbiotic relationships with pathans (use crop residue to feed animals & heard Pathans animals) solely herders
what did the formalists believe?
universal rules explain economic behavior & goal of economic actor is to maximize utility (measure of usefulness of a good/activity, constantly weighs costs v benefits)
how did boas refute unilineal social evolution (i.e. Historical changes in cultural life follow definite laws which apply to every society)?
unproven (and unprovable) hypothesis, Cultural similarities can arise through diffusion, adaptation to similar environments, and/or independent invention
what is the dialogic writing technique
using conversation between anthropologist and collaborators to illustrate how ethnographic understandings emerge in fieldwork (approach emphasized in collaborative ethnography)
what is mongo?
valuables found amidst the garbage (treasure hunt for garbage collectors)
what if the formalist position (neoclassical economics) based on?
value and wealth created by competition between buyers and sellers as individuals attempt to maximize satisfaction
what is the substantivist position for hunter gatherers?
value is placed on mobility, autonomy, and egalitarianism rather than on material accumulation
In lee's account, what shapes consumption and joking relationships?
values of equality and humility
how does social roles relate to fieldwork?
what social role will you assume in fieldwork? how will that role affect rapport? access to info? nature of interactions with subjects? *sometimes "researcher" may not be the best social role
When is a direct and immediate relationship between utterance and effect met?
when all social and linguistic conventions are met
what was the pig equation according to Roy Rappaport?
when pig pop too high = human environment equilibrium disrupted = equilib reestablished by ritualistically killing em = everyone happy
when are you likely to experience generalized reciprocity (according to Marshall Sahlins)?
with a close relationship
what were the 3 domains that constructed meaning in the everday lives of migrants?
workspace, leisure space & home
Why is the stigma surrounding sanitaiton workers ironic?
-front-line guardians of public health -capitalist economy dependent on continuous consumption and disposal -Quotidian velocity: speed of everyday life facilitated by ability to discard goods.
what were the ethical concerns of human terrain system?
-how to obtain informed consent (consent during wartime is not freely given) -do no harm? ha!
who are anthropologists good at studying from a grass roots perspective? What are they not as good as studying?
-inequality, resistance, and social movements -systems of power, domination, and inequality from the perspective of those who hold power
what was Julian stewards definition of cultural ecology?
-institutions are developed by interactions with environments they occupy -natural environments shape human cultures in v unique ways
where was stewards fieldwork?
-on native Americans (shoshone of great basin) -pine nuts main food in winter -subsistence based on family level organization -resource competition = social fragmentation most of the time (except during communal hunts)
Who was Franz Boas?
-physicist turned geographer -encountered Inuits and then studied culture -first professor of anthro in America at Columbia 1899 -developed anthro as methodologically rigorous discipline (get rid of arm chair approach)
what was edward tylor's theory of religion? What was morgan's theory on kinship?
-savegery (anamism) = polytheism = monotheism = atheism -promiscuity = polygym = monogamy
what was the impact of Geertz's narrative?
-self-reflexive style of ethnographic writing -ethnographic vignette becomes standard formula for starting an ethnographic account
what are symbols in the context of culture? how does it develop its meaning? how is it learned?
-signs that have no necessary or natural connection to the things they stand for a signify -convention -enculturation
What were the beliefs of unilineal evolution?
-similar customs found throughout world cannot be result of diffusion -historical changes in cultural life follows laws that apply to every society -All societies follow the same evolutionary trajectory (economics, political institutions, social institutions, religion, rationality, etc) -European societies are pinnacle of social evolution
what were malinowski's new standards? *which one was the only one that is not still emphasized (100 yrs later)?
-sufficient field time -live among subjects -communicate in subject's language *studying all of culture
what is culture? how does it exist?
-taken-for-granted notions, rules, moralities, and behaviors within a social group that feel natural and the way things should be -NOT static, a dynamic process that influences and is influenced by human action (not toolbox!)
what did chagnon's argument that the Yanomamo were naturally violent say?
-unfairly stereotyped amazonian peoples -misrepresented them as isolated -ignored his own role in arming villagers -may have helped to justify gov policies aimed at their removal
What were the 3 big questions about anthropology at its birth (cultural, biological & archaeological q's from first reading)?
1. How to explain cultural diffs between groups of humans 2. How to explain biological origin of humans and other species 3. How to understand human antiquity based on old artifacts?
what is lelwika's assessment of gender, power, and the "religion of thinness" (3)?
1. Is dieting a means for women to negotiate gender ideals by dissociating from food production, preparation, and serving? 2. A means for women to assert a level of self-determination usually reserved for men? 3. Or does dieting perpetuate women's subservience to the dominant social and religious order where her "salvation" depends on sacrifice and submission?
What are the 3 assertion categories of Hopi language?
1. Reporting fact 2. Declaration of expectation 3. Statement of general truth
what was Geertz's dichotomy?
1. Sacred (religious fasting): ontological values (moral purity, spiritual insight). 2. Secular (dieting): worldly values (health, beauty, social acceptance).
What 2 markers of time do native Hopi speakers use?
1. Something already happened (past) 2. Something in progress (present but also future)
what was Lelwika's thesis (2 parts)?
1. Weight concerns and dieting are pervasive in US society. 2. Dieting and pursuit of thinness have religious-like dimensions and functions.
what makes cultural anthro unique
1. approach: holistic 2. unit of analysis: micro-scale research (researcher personally gathers data, more depth but less generalization) 3. focus: culture 4. method: participant observation
what were the origins of fieldwork?
1. boas to baffin island (early 1880s) 2. haddon to Torres strait (late 1890s)
what are the two methods of enculturation?
1. direct transmission 2. observation
How do boys and girls learn what constitutes proper behavior for their respective genders (i.e. gender enculturation)?
1. direct transmission: think birthday parties or "that's not a toy for boys" 2. observation: what do men do?
what are the 2 questions you should ask when doing collaborative research (according to Lassiter)?
1. do research that community not just anthropologists thinks is important 2. seek comments/direction from subjects throughout research process
Why does culture feel static and stable (5)?
1. enculturation 2. symbols conserve meaning (warehouses of meaning), they (& values) change VERY slowly 3. values express intrinsically desirable principles or qualities (values conserve ideals) and there may be opposing/conflicting values w/in society 4. norms encourage conformity (i.e. traditions are passed down/protected that are actually recent inventions but SEEM ancient, think kilts!)
what are the 2 types of cultural knowledge?
1. explicit cultural knowledge: knowledge that can be talked about/communicated with ease 2. tacit (implicit): implied, that people lack words for, or that lies outside our explicit awareness
what are the 2 different modes of subsistence?
1. foraging (hunting and gathering) 2. food production (horticulture, agriculture, pastoralism)
what are the 2 different methods of diffusion?
1. heliocentric: all cultural traits originate/diffuse from single source (i.e. ancient Egypt, Egyptian pyramid & Mayan pyramid) 2. culture circles: cultural traits originated at multiple sources
What were the 3 features that shaped anthropology?
1. industrialization: rapid social changes prompt new Q's about society 2. colonialism: Encountering & governing other people provides incentive to study them 3. academia: various theories develop to explain human differences
what should you do during collaborative writing (according to Lassiter)?
1. integrate responses so that consultants shape representations and interpretations 2. write clearly so community members know how they are represented
what is the transition from horticulture to agriculture
1. new labor requirement and more work hours 2. needs complex social organization of labor 3. land used intensively and continuously 3. higher yields than horticulture but lower rate of returns
what are the 2 main types of pastoralism?
1. nomadism: movement of entire group throughout year (no perm settlements( 2. transhumance: part of group moves with herd, part stays in village
What are the steps of the comparative method?
1. place all societies on scale from "primitive" to "civilized" 2. Analyze "living fossils" (the so-called primitive societies) as exemplars of earlier evolutionary stages 3. Compare institutions (e.g. political systems, kinship, religion) to understand evolutionary trajectory from primitive to civilized
what are the 2 assumptions of the comparative method?
1. psychic unity of mankind - humans everywhere think alike 2. all societies undergo parallel but independent evolutionary stages
how to analyze another culture based on Spradley's methods?
1. reject "Naive realism:" notion that all people define objects/events/concepts in same way 2. understand 3 fundamental aspects of human experience (cultural behavior, knowledge and artifacts)
what were some research questions of the question of identity and immigration? What do we need to address these questions?
1. what identities are important among recent immigrant to the US from central america? 2. why and when are these different identities important? NEED PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION (and interviews, life histories, etc)w
what did barth find in his study?
3 distinct ethnic groups with 3 diff languages and with 3 different strategies that are inter-dependent
What was the good news and bad news about the video on Bergamasco?
Bad: perpetuates stereotypes Good: link language to new media/pop figures & videos include language mixing
What is purist ideology?
Belief that mixing language is an inferior mode of communication, as compared to using a pure language
Who started out at an insurance company but then conducted a comparative study on Native American languages?
Benjamin wharf
What is a language spoken in Italy that is seen as old fashioned and is a low status language?
Bergamasco
what did malinowski find in his studies on the kula ring?
Ceremonial gift exchange network. Items continually passed along. Items tie people into enduring trade relationships. Possessing items enhances individual's status. Demonstrated function of what appeared to outsiders as irrational exchange of "worthless items".
What does performance of speech acts mean?
Change in status is effected via an utterance (I.e. I now pronounce you man and wife)
who studied Taiwanese immigrants in LA? what social role did she take?
Christine Avenarius optometry shop, dance group, university campus, Daoist organization, religious group, etc. (i.e. occupied multiple social roles to get best data)
who has worked for many years with women who sell sex for income and emphasized that you need to help people where they are?
Claire Sterk
What is cultural capital (Pierre bourdieu)?
Cultural assets that afford a particular social status, and may be converted to economic gain
what was the purpose of the article on body rituals of the nacerima by Minor?
Document unusual magical beliefs and practices of poorly understood group with a highly developed market economy. Focus of ritual activity is the body
How did early theorists explain human differences (cultural q from McGee & Warms reading)?
Early theorist: 1. degenerationsim: all once civilized but after dispersed (Tower of Babel incident) some "degenerated" while others remained civilized 2. progressivism: human history is characterized by advances from primitive to civilized 3. diffusion: Cultural traits originate in one area and then spread to other areas (so migration & diffusion explain cultural similarities in diff societies)
what were some positive impacts of the Ok Tedi mine in PNG
Economic development, employment, infrastructure
who studied native Americans and what was his big questions?
Ely Parker: when we write, to whom are we ethically responsible? to the research subjects who gave us info!
What is how one speaks the product of?
Enculturation into a particular social class
who argued that food habits communicate symbolic messages (i.e. hierarchy, inclusion/exclusion, chinese food practices)?
Eugene Cooper
what is reciprocity (according to Marshall Sahlins)?
Exchange between people of similar social standing who have close personal ties
what did Conklin's find?
Filipino gov said no to swidden agriculture b/c thought environmentally bad but Conklin found that natives were smarter and swidden was sustainable/good!
who had deeper collaboration and acknowledged contributions?
Franz Boas and George Hunt & Alice Fletcher
who was a major proponent of interpretive anthro?
Geertz
who demonstrated how seemingly irrational institutions and practices actually have a cultural logic and provide reader with an "empathic understanding" of another society (i.e. interpretive anthro)?
Geertz (breakthrough/gained rapport after cock fight)
what are the salvation stories of the "religion of thinness?"
Glimpses of human fulfillment that is associated with social approval from weight loss (think biggest losers)
who applied biological concepts from Darwin/Lamarck to society? how?
Herbert Spencer: societies like organisms develop from simple to more complex and heterogenous types (ex. regulative = nervous system = government)
how can non-western environmental knowledge combine with traditional knowledge according to Hildegard Diemberger?
Indigenous knowledge/observations important for assessing impacts of climate change. Connecting indigenous knowledge (small scale) with scientific knowledge (large scale) can help people adapt to rapidly changing environment
What is code switching?
Individuals switching between language, dialect or style based on social context
why is pork consumption prohibited in 2 major world religions according to marvin harris (from "Thinking with pigs")?
Material reasons: it didn't make economical sense to share food resources with pigs (other animals don't eat what humans eat so they maximize food resources)
who argued that cultural concepts about the body shape beliefs, behaviors and domestic organization (also wrote body rituals of the nacirema)?
Minor
what do other believe that scarcity represents?
NOT a state of being, but a reationship between means and ends (if you want a lot, produce a lot; if not want a lot, then you cool)
who wanted to know the human costs and labor requirements of garbage? how did she begin this research?
Nagle maneuver through "gatekeepers" (sanitation officials) to gain access
who studied morality, masculinity and urban space (escape) among Turkish migrants in Strasbourg, France?
Oguz Alyanak
what is one of the world's largest open pit copper mines?
Ok Tedi Mine in PNG
how does Ok Tedi mine respond to Welsch and Vivanso's question: How is globalization linked to increasing environmental and health problems?
Ok Tedi mine improves the lives of some while creating immense problems for others
who lamented that professionalization created need to demonstrate scholarly ability and independence (more focus on theory, less on "native point of view")?
Paul Radin
What is practice theory and who formed it?
Pierre Bourdieu: -individuals w/in every society have diff. motives/intentions and degrees of power/influence (agency) -Culture shapes and constrains thoughts, actions, and behaviors of individual. -The agency of individuals transforms culture in subtle yet cumulatively important ways.
how is cultural relativism NOT moral relativism?
Recognize value of cultural beliefs/practices to a community, but this does not preclude taking a moral or political stance
who tracked the flows of info, energy and matter through the system (i.e. used ecosystems approach)? where did he go?
Roy Rappasort (Pigs for the Ancestors) in Papua New Guinea
What is language ideology
Set of beliefs about superiority of one language/dialect over others (way to justify dominance)
What is ideology
Set of beliefs promoted by powerful group in order to justify that group's hold over power
what supported colonialism?
Social Darwinism -some societies are more fit than others -justifcation for european powers to dominate other societies (moral imperative)
what was the answer to welsh and vivanco's question: How do people secure an environmentally sustainable food supply (3 views)?
Steward's Shoshone: organizing into small bands to minimize impact on resources Barth's Swat: exploiting different niches and trading goods and services Lansing's Bali & Rappaport PNG: coordinating via ritual
who talked to us about the work of Jared Diamond ("Vengeance is ours": said strong legal state stops vengeance while weak legal state allows for it, he used names of violent people and misrepresented data)?
Stewark Kirsch
who's initial study centered on rituals and sorcery but instead became on environmental anthro?
Stuart Kirsch
What is the cross cultural perspective of purist ideology
There is no "pure language" & there is no "right" way to speak
what are the moral teachings of the "religion of thinness?"
Thinness is evidence of restraint and self-control. Overweight signals lack of self-control. What to eat, how much to eat, has moral significance.
What is Sociolinguistic capital
Using linguistic features as evaluator of competence and value
how efficient are hunter and gatherers"?
VERY efficient = lots of surplus time but not surplus material
What was a process of national unification in Italy?
Variety of Italian spoken by upper class in Florence made national language in 19th century
what happens when the researcher becomes more familiar with the linguistic and behavioral norms of their subjects?
YOU GET BETTER DATA!
What did Basso come across in his studies of Apache people?
"Stories are like arrows:" telling moral tales is way of indirectly calling someone out for behavior that violates cultural norms (i.e. metaphors powerfully shape how one experiences world!)
Why does storytelling often include references to landscape in Western Apache?
"The land is stalking people": connecting stories to a place ensures that moral is recalled whenever person passes by that place
What is participant observation also known as?
"disciplined hanging out"
who was the french sociologist who wrote the Gift, an important theoretical exploration of reciprocity and exchange (i.e. gift giving = social obligation to give, receive and reciprocate)?
Marcel Mauss
Who are often forced to code switch?
Marginalized populations (I.e. pops who speak with African American vernacular English, AAVE)
who was polish by birth, started out as an armchair study of Australian Aborigines and was "exiled" to Melanesia during WWI? what was his famous book?
Malinowski: Argonauts of the western pacific (participant observation!)
what were malinowski's impacts (2 things, first to do and anthro future)?
-first to live among subjects (for longest period of time atm at trobrirand islands) and use their language -trained next gen of anthro (i.e. Pritchard) with methodological rigor
what is boas' historical particularism?
-each cultural group has its own history of change driven by inner developments and external influences -no general theories (i.e. evolution, diffusion) can explain processes of cultural change -detailed investigations = theory building
what are some consequences of retreating glaciers discussed in class?
-Glacial runoff critical for irrigated agriculture in arid areas (i.e. Receding glaciers = less water) -creates unstable lakes = dangerous flooding
what was durham's assessment on Population Growth and Environmental Degradation in Honduras?
-IPAT is too simplistic -need to account for structural causes of environmental destruction (POLITICAL ECOLOGY!) -impact of human pops on environment mediated by cultural and political economic forces
What effects did the introduction of coffee as a cash crop by Australian officials have on highland society in Papua New Guinea?
-access to cash in an egalitarian society based on gift-giving resulted in tension -young people now have high social status (instead of elders)
what was the ethnographer's magic (i.e. what does intensive fieldwork involve)?
-acquiring "the feeling" for proper behavior -getting to know daily routine (i.e. imponderables of everyday life) -getting to know subjects as companions/informants -establishing trust/rapport -developing empathic understanding of native life
What were some donwstream impacts of the Ok Tedi mining?
-chem pollutants destroy fish/wildlife & cause health problems -Mine tailings and excess sedimentation overflows banks, destroys forests
how did douglas blur the distinction?
-dieting goals resemble moral salvation -Dieting creates or reflects a worldview and an embodied sense of self-definition -Religious function of dieting: a way to seek meaning and fulfillment in life.
What did Clifford Geertz develop?
Interpretive Theory of Culture: culture is embodied and transmitted through symbols & people express culture in everything they do (i.e. all human action is symbolic)
what were some of the first types of focal vocabulary?
Inuit terms for snow mongol terms for horses, chefs' terms for knives
what are sealing decrees (a Tibetan environmental practices)?
Issued by lamas to make certain areas off-limits to human activities.
who studied the migratory commercial fisherman? what social role in fishing camp maximizes chances to collect data from all sectors of community?
Jeffrey Johnson he became a carpenter, he worked really hard and they appreciated (cooks, crew members, captains, etc) it = social movement, access to diverse info, neutral status, high rapport
who worked in urban China and studied gender and masculinity in elite male network?
John Osburg
who realized the importance of participant observation and how the researcher's characteristics can influence the data they collect?
LOOK NOTES (think from readings)
who argued that cultural concepts about maintaining ideal body generate religious-like behaviors
Lelwika
who studied the evolution of social and political institutions (e.g., marriage, governance)?
Lewis Henry Morgan
Who studied the Iroquois nation to gather info about kinship and political system?
Lewis Henry Morgan (Eli Parker helped him collect data)
What is the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis?
Linguistic Relativity: People speaking different languages perceive or interpret the world differently because of differences in their languages
what are the tangible effects of the rules/regulations of the tibetan environmental practices?
Loss of prosperity (i.e., economic productivity), negative impacts on health, diminishing social disharmony
what is person-centered interviewing?
asked about generally held cultural ideals, beliefs, and practices (what they are expected to do) followed up by asking about own experiences, beliefs and behaviors (what they actually do)
when are field notes recorded?
at the end of the day or after a shorter period of participant observation
what can be facilitated or inhibited by personal characteristics (i.e. age, ethnicity, citizenship, etc) of ethnographer?
acceptance, rapport and access to info
what method of food production is defined by set of processes that intensify production and increase yields?
agriculture: uses more complex tech like plows, machinery, larger labor force
what are the food preferences/taboos in hinduism?
ahisma (no violence so no killing)
what is the basic tenet of economic anthro?
all economic activities are shaped by social hierarchies
what was the conclusion about how value is created?
all reasons given play a part in varying degrees
what increases as economics become more "developed"?
amount of work and rate of hunger
How do anthropologists view culture?
as a social construction, as artificial (even if it seems natural, think central park!)
what was William Durham's research?
political ecology approach to deforestation in latin america
how has the approach on anthropological research changed?
problem oriented research now instead of general overview of different culture
what describes how people react to and use space/distance as a form of communication?
proxemics
how did anthropologists come to study complex societies?
recognized that isolated communities are not so isolated (connected through markets, etc.)
what is a potlach?
redistribution (in US, this would be taxes): festival of competition for prestige among leaders in order to solidify their rank and ensure followers required that they amass LOTS of goods and even burn some
what is rapport?
relation, especially one that is harmonious or sympathetic (in Bali, its being teased)
what are the two factors that influence reciprocity (according to Marshall Sahlins)?
relationship (how close?) & how quickly/unselfishly gifts reciprocated
