anthro

Progressivists

all social theories like sociology, anther, philosophy, poly scie, psychology

Negative reciprocity

an immediate exchange of items

symbolic (interpretive) anthropology

anthropology should be the search of meaning to peoples lives how to they express that particular meaning

Independent invention

cultures learning through experimentation and invention, independent of borrowing from other cultures

Geertz(1926-2007) - interpretive ethnography

he methodology was a thick description

Functionalism

how culture functions as a system (to keep culture intact)

Life history

in-depth interview(s) of an individual investigating change over lifetime

Cultural Ecology

looking at how humans use culture to adapt to their environment

animal husbandry

looking for grass and water for their animals, their whole society relies on that

Applied Ethics

taking the ethical standards and applying them real life situations Is euthanasia immoral? - What are human rights and how to we defend them? - Is affirmative action just of unjust? - Is capital punishment a breach of human rights?

transhumans

part of group herd for certain times

ritual

perscribed behavior in which there is no empirical connection between the menas(e.g. tapping home plate three times)

culture core

subsistence & productive strategies

ethnology

systematic comparison between more than one groups(different types of people in different parts of the world doing different types of things)

Genealogies

use of diagrams, symbols to uncover kinship, marriage and descent patterns

Ethnographic realism

"objective" account of group written by someone with firsthand knowledge

Hierarchy of cultural types

-Bands -Tribe -Chiefdom -State

Normative ethics

Assumes that there is only a single principle which to judge all actions e.g., golden rule

Postmodern Anthropology

Belief that an objective neutral knowledge of another culture is impossible

DOMESTIC ECONOMY

HOW LABOR ETC IS ORGANIZED WITHIN THE HOUSHOLD i.e. organization of househol and life, division of labor, gender role

POLITICAL ECONOMY

HOW LOBOR ETC IS ORGANIZED OUTSIDE THE HOUSEHOLD i.e. political organizations, military, police, corporations

Structural functionalism

HOW culture FUNCTION FROM A TOP DOWN APPROACH

Moral relativism

Implies there are no universal moral standards

Cultural Relativism

Judging people by their own cultural standards.

emic

Local explanations of cultural phenomena

Cultural Materialism

Material (not ideological) processes & constraints cause social action

what are the psychological functions of the nacireman body rituals, and how do they fit with malinowskis

The psycological functions of the nacireman inclue mouth-rites, excretion as a holy act, andn dental work to exorsize demons. If an individual is having poor health, they would want to chnge their routine, through a ritual. These affect they psychy of the subject because it is a change of pace from daily life. Malinowski demostrates response to chance and uncertainty, and when the necireman are put into these situations i.e. the latipso, they are unsure of the outcome. this complete change of pace, shocks their mind and may take them out mental trouble they are going through. i.e. when the men enter the latipso, their wives are seeing them fullly naked for the first time, and it is with a female taking care of the man, this affects the unconscious of the female, and may lead her to a change of consciousness. Baseball players have routines and rituals, as do the nacirmen, like excreting their bodily fluids in a specific place in their home. If it is not done there, then Malinowskis theory would hole that uncertainty would come about.

metaethics

What does it mean to have right and wrong behavior? Are right and wrong behaviors universal or relative? How do we support right behavior and punish wrong behavior? (seeks to understand the nature of ethical standards of conduct)

what can surveys and questionarres provide that ethnographic research cannt?

a broad range of respondants who can address a wide range of questions. results are usually faster, and a correlation is sometimes concluded. Does not have to be face to face.

routine

a course of action that is regularly followed

Enculturation

a process by which culture is learned by an individual

Degenerationsim

biblical cause for variation in human society

explicit culture

cultural knowledge that people can talk about

tacit culture

cultural knowledge that people lack words for

explain culture and ethnography

culture is the values, traditions, and customs specific to a certain group of people. ethnography is the scientific description of the customs of individual peoples and cultures

Thick description

describing in detail so that outsiders can understand as if they were insiders

qualitative research

elicits the cultural knowledge of the people sought to understand

what is magic

eliminating uncertanties, and fears, by associating an event with an action to control the uncertanties and fears

culture advances as more energy is captured, what does the equation represent?E X T = P

energy, technology, product

Pastoral nomadism

entire group moves with animals throughout year trade with agriculturalists for crops

Reflective ethnography

ethnographer puts his/her feelings, reactions into text

What can ethnographic research reveal that questionarres and surveys cannot

ethnographic research delves into the core issues at hand. It allows a researcher to pick apart an individuals life, and assess the situation from a birds eye view. The intimacy of the research is, not as common in questionnaires and surveys cannot tap into. For example, an ethnographer can comprehend the interconnected dilemmas that a the social structure of a prostitution ring faces when one of the members has HIV. some customers receive the service unknowing of the virus, making that consumer susceptible to the spread of the disease. Others have the knowledge that the disease is prevalent, but lack the ability to confess it to a client or the ring, because of fear of backlash from the prostitution community, i.e. being ousted of your place of business. This is a specific example of what one ethnographer discovered through her in depth research, not from reviewing the answers from a survey. Ethnographic reseach can expose casualty.

How is ethnographic research different than other social science approaches to research

ethnographic research is complete immersion within the study, an example is the fieldworker who spent ten years in a prostitution ring in New York City.

Tyler - everything in contemporary society derives from a lesser stage

evolution of religion animisim - animals/plants have a spirit polythism - multiple gods monotheism- one god

Acculturation

exchange of cultural features taken FROM another cultural (theirs to yours)

balanced reciprocity

exchange with other people, payback is delayed

etic

external interpretations Researcher's explanatory categories Scientifically and statistical perspective

Harris 3 levels of huan society

infrastructure - mode of production and mode of reproduction structure - social and political relations superstructure - beliefs and value systems

malinowski's theory of magic

is to help us understand how ballplayers[people] respond to chance and uncertanty

Indirect diffusion

items, customs from group A > C via group B (A>B>C)

Fetishes

material objects believed to embody supernatural power that can aid and protect the oner (like a cross, or a neck lass)

Forced diffusion

one culture subjugates another forcing its customs on the other

unilinear Evolutionists

one method that all cultures followed from from primitive to complex believed in the psychic unity of humankind = fundamental similarity of human thought

generalized reciprocity

one person gives to another without expecting anything materially in return

what are some of the ethical issues faced by anthropologists when they conduct an ethnographic study

responsibility to people and animanls. obtain informed consent when conducting research. Responsibility to scholarship and science. Responsibility to the general public. Responsibility to Students and Trainees. In specific the reading gives the example of a women who enters a prostution ring for research. Many dilemas maay occur during that time including, responsbility to report, informed consent, keeping yourself safe(not using the drugs or trying the activity). When you live with prostitutes for ten years it may be difficult to not engage in the act.

Skinner's theory of magic

sheds light on why personal rituals get established in the first place

fictive kinship

social relationship between people not based on ties of blood or marriage

naive realism

the idea that all people see the world the same

Taboo

things that you shouldn't do (stepping on the foul lines)

Direct diffusion

trade, intermarry, war