Chapter 2: Culture: Giving Meaning to Human Lives

Holistic Perspective

A perspective that aims to identify and understand the whole-that is, the systematic connections between cultural beliefs and practices-rather than the individual parts.

Symbol

An object, idea, image, figure, or character that represents something else

Cross-cultural Perspective

Analyzing a human social phenomenon by comparing that phenomenon in different cultures

cross culture

Anthropologists believe that analyzing human cultural phenomena by comparing those phenomena across different societies, called the ________ approach, is necessary to appreciate how "artificial" our beliefs and actions are

True

Anthropologists generally believe in one unified theory of culture

integrated

Because our values and beliefs include many elements of life such as clothes, food, and language means that culture is

Ethnocentrism

Belief in the superiority of one's nation or ethnic group.

learned and shared

Culture is

It is important to understand Native American claims from their point of view though it doesn't necessarily mean we should accept them as the only way to view an issue

How would a critical relativist explain Native American criticisms of cultural appropriation ?

everyday interactions

If you wanted to understand the norms of a society, you would most likely focus on

Customs

Long-established norms that have a codifies and lawlike aspect

social institutions

Organized sets of social relationships that link individuals to each other in a structured way in a particular society

Tradition

Practices and customs that have become most ritualized and enduring

Values

Symbolic expressions of intrinsically desirable principles or qualities

false

T or F: Activities that are biologically based, such as eating and sleeping, are universally the same for all humans

The power of tradition

The controversy between Native Americans and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) schools using mascots illustrates

Cultural Determinism

The idea that all human actions are a product of culture, which denies the influence of other factors, such as physical environment and human biology, on human behavior

social evolution

The idea that cultures pass through stages from primitive to complex is known as

Cultural Construction

The meanings, concepts, and practices that people build out of their shared and collective experiences

traditions and customs

The most enduring and ritualized aspects of culture are referred to as

Enculturation

The process of learning the social rules and cultural logic of society

functionalism

The theory of culture that proposes that cultural practices, beliefs, and institutions fulfill the psychological and physical needs of society is called

functionalism

The theory that posists that cultural practices and beliefs serve purposes for society is called

cultural appropriation

The unilateral decision of one social group to take control over the symbols, practices, or objects of another culture

Norms

Typical patterns of actual behavior as well as the rules about how things should be done

Enculturation

What is the process of learning culture from a very young age called

English social anthropologist Alfred Radcliffe-Brown

Who was responsible for the theory of functionalism?

William F. Ogburn

Who was responsible for the theory of social evolution

Frank Boaz

Who was the american anthropologist responsible for the concept of historical particularism was

Renato Rosaldo

Who was the theorist most connected with post-structuralsim

Constructs

collective definitions of proper and improper behavior that "build" meanings through common experiences and negotiations are cultural

holism

the perspective that aims to identify and understand cultures in the entirety is called

Enthocentrism

-presents a major problem for anthropologists -means you think your culture is superior to others -is a common feature of culture

Functionalism

A perspective that assumes that cultural practices and beliefs serve purposes for society

Social Sanction

A reaction or measure intended to enforce norms and punish their violation

Interpretive theory of culture

A theory that is embodies and transmitted through symbols

True

T or F: Culture can be transmitted virtually through the internet in addition to face-to-face interaction

True

T or F: Culture consists of the collective processes that make the artificial seem natural

False

T or F: People rarely hold conflicting values