Cultural Anthropology Exam 2
What are the Five basic Subsistence Strategies
1.) Foraging 2.) Pastoralism 3.) Horticulture 4.) Agriculture 5.) Industrialism
What are the Two Types of Families that Anthropologist Identify
1.) Nuclear Families: Organized around conjugal tie, the relationship between a husband and a wife. 2.) Extended Family: The consanguingeal, or blood, relations extending over three or more generations.
What are the Rules of Residence's Five Patterns
1.) Patrilocal Residence - A woman lives with her husband's family after marriage 2.) Matrilocal Residence - A man lives in the household of his wifes family 3.) Avunculocal Residence - A married couple is expected to live with the husband's, mother's, brother. 4.)Bilocal Residence - A type pf residence can choose to live with either the wife or husbands family. 5.) Neolocal Residence - A system under which a couple establishes their own household after marriage.
What is a Potlatch
A competitive giveaway ceremony practiced by the Kwakiutl and other groups of the northwest coast of North America. This ceremony helped share local bounty, keep track of the shifting loyalties among commoners, and legalized claims to nobility entitled names. Guests would receive meals and gifts in return for supporting these changes in the social fabric.
What is Kinship
A culturally defined relationship established on the basis of blood ties through marriage. Kinship systems are used for classification of peoples relations and have several functions such as determining inheritance and succession.
What is households
A domestic group, or household, may include people who aren't related. It's essentially the embodiment of all the individuals typically living under one roof.
What is Bride Wealth
A form of compensation given upon marriage by the family of the GROOM to the family of the bride. Common in Pastoralist societies. However if the marriage is terminated bridewealth is returned.
What is Leveling Mechanism
A practice , value, or form of social organization that evens out wealth within a society.
What is a Cargo System
A ritual system commonly practiced in central and southern America in which wealthy people are required to hold a series of costly ceremonial offers.
What is a Blended Family
A type of family that includes previously divorced spouses and their new partners, children from previous marriages, and multiple sets of grandparents and other similar relations.
What are Modes of Production
Differentiated by the way people organize themselves and their production, but really focused on surplus accumulation during the production of goods. Three types Kin-ordered (division of tasks with family), tributary (occurs when peasants produce their foods, but are taken from them by chiefdom rulers), and capitalist (most people don't have access but rather sell their labor to the people that do).
What's the Division of Labor
Division of labor has universal characteristics of society. In foraging societies men generally hunt and women generally gather. In agricultural societies both men and women play a role in food production.
What is a Firm
In industrial societies it is the basic unit of production. It's an institution that is organized primarily for financial gain. Basically a corporation.
What is the significance of household
In most nonindustrial societies production is based around the household. Household are an economic unit, people united by kinship or other links who share a residence organize production, consumption, and distribution among themselves.
Whats the importance of Organizing Labor
In small-scale preindustrial and peasant economies, the house hold or some extended kin group is the basic unit of production consumption. Labor is just one aspect of membership in a social group such as the family. Work has important social implications.
Kula
Is a pattern of exchange among many trading partners in the Trobriands and other S. Pacific Islands. It is a system of intertribal trade. Shell necklaces go clockwise and bracelets go counter clock-wise. The symbolic trading of items form social and economic relationships.
What is Industrialism
Is a type of subsistence strategy that involves moving away from food production and involves the production of other goods and services. Machines and chemical processes are used for the production of goods. Industrial categories are characterized by complex systems of exchange and high social stratifications. The American beef industry is an example of industrial food production that steers away from quality and focuses more on quantity.
What is Horticulture
Is a type of subsistence strategy used by groups like the Lua'. Horticulturist produce plants by using simple non-mechanized technology and is non-intensive that involve multi-cropping. Horticulturist are sedentary and typically live in humid and tropical environments, because there is no cold seasons plants grow year-round. However, once field nutrients have been depleted Horticulturist must relocate and abandon the fields and use swidden cultivation to grow in new fields. This strategy is best suitable for small groups.
What is Agriculture
Is a type of subsistence strategy used by groups like the Musha Village in Egypt. It involves the intensive large scale permanent production of food using plow, drafting animals, and irrigation networks using the same piece of land. Agriculturists are a sedentary group and consists of a large population who are permanently settled. This can lead to conflict and is often labor intensive.
What is Sororate (Marriage Rule)
Sororate is when a mans WIFE dies, her sister is given to him as his new boo. This is done in order to keep family lineage together. ensure economic support, and ensures off-spring security
What is Specialization
The ability to produce certain goods or perform certain services because of the individuals who have access or rights to do so.
Define Carrying Capacity
The maximum number of people a given society can support given the available resources provided by the environment.
What is the economy
The part of society that deals with production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.
What are the Functions of Marriage
The primary functions or marriage are to regulate sexual access (limits sexual competition, provides stability for children, and allows for stable economic exchange), organize labor (for a common outcome), Take care of children (divides labor to help raise a child), and expand social groups (broadens network of people to gain access to resources)
What are the Means of Production
The primary things required such as information (training and education), land (area to produce), technology (tools), and resources employed in the production process to produce things.
What are Usufructory Rights
The right to use something (usually land) but not to sell it or alter it in substantial ways.
What is Dowry
The transfer of goods or money from BRIDES family to the GROOMS family. In a society where a family is economically disadvantaged women are seen as a burden and the family of the bride will attempt to obtain some economic resource.
Define Culture
The way of life of people including the learned, shared values, beliefs, and rules that structure people's thinking and behavior.
What does it mean by Social relations of production
The way people are formally and informally associated within the economic sphere in the production of goods i.e. coworkers vs. boss and people vs. corporations
Define Subsistence Strategies
The ways that different groups of people take care of their needs.
Rules of Marriage
There are 2 basic rules of marriage: 1.) Endogamy - Having to marry someone from your group. Some examples of endogamous groups can include: race, age, ethnicity, status, religion, language, education level) 2.) Exogamy - Having to marry someone outside your group. Which leads to alliance between two different families and groups.
What is Bride Service
Typically found in foraging societies where men give labor to the brides family in exchange for a wife. Operates like a trial marriage when accumulating material goods is difficult to offer it is traded for labor.
What is Efficiency
Yield per person per hour of labor invested (food production)
What is Productivity
Yield per person per unit (food production)
What is Sedentary
settled living in one place
What is Pastoralism
AKA as Herding is a type of subsistence strategy used by groups like the Maasai and Yarahmadzai. Pastoralism involves the care for domesticated herd animals. Pastoralist have a specialized adaptation to their environment which usually consists of dry, hilly, poor soil that is not suitable for agr., but is suitable to provide enough native vegetation for animals. Because humans can not digest grass pastoralist rely heavily on the animals that can. A pastoralist's diet is primarily dependent on the dairy products produced by the herd animals and their meat. Pastoralism is a Human-animal interdependence. Pastoralist rely on the animals to produce means of food and animals rely on the humans for protection and care. Pastoralism requires an intimate knowledge of their environment as well as well as the dietary requirements of animals. Pastoralist are small mobile population group. There are two groups of pastoralist known as nomadic (whole group of people and animals moves and searches for pasture) and tranhumant (herd animals are moved out regularly throughout the year.
What is Foraging
AKA hunting and gathering. Is a type of subsistence strategy used by groups like the Pintupi people. Foraging involves the use of hunting, gathering, and collecting food that's available in nature and therefore must have extensive knowledge about their environment. Foragers do not directly grow their food by planting nor do they raise animals. Foragers are usually mobile and go where resources are available which change throughout the season. Foraging groups typically operate in a low population density.
What is the significance of Number of spouses
All societies have rules about how many spouses a person can have at one time. -Monogamy (marriage of one person to another person) is the norm ONLY in N. America and in Europe -Bigamy: Two simultaneous monogamous marriages that are separate in a sense that the other spouses do not know about each other. -Polygamy: A rule allowing more than one spouse (multiple marriages). Two types: Polygyny (A rule permitting a man to have more than one wife at a time) & Polyandry (A rule permitting a woman to have more than one husband at a time.
What is Capitalism
An economic system in which people work for wages, land, and capital goods are privately owned, and capital (productive resources that are used with the primary goal of increasing their own wealth) is invested for profit. 1.) Small number of people in a society own productive resources (natural resources like land, technology, raw material, or information) 2.) Individuals main resource is their labor 3.) Value of worker labor needs to be greater than compensation = profit
What is Levirate (Marriage Rule)
Levirate is when a man marries the widow of his deceased brother. This is done in order to keep family lineage together. ensure economic support, and ensures off-spring security
What is Debt Creation
Lowers someone status relative to our own and raising yours. You make someone in debt to you by "lending" out goods or services.
Define Marriage
Marriage is the customs, rules, obligations, and privileges for relationships between: - Sexually cohabiting people - Parents and children - Families of the bride and groom
What is Reciprocity
Reciprocity is the mutual give-and-take among people of equal status. Three types of Reciprocity: 1.) Generalized reciprocity= A DISTRIBUTION of goods w/ no immediate or specific return expected. This is commonly done between kin, or close friends and has a moral obligation. An example of this would be like the relationship between Parents and their children. Parents invest in childrens well-being for possible hope that they will take care of their parents in the future. 2.) Balanced Reciprocity=EXCHANGE of goods of nearly equal value, with a clear obligation to return them within a specified time limit. This type of reciprocity can establish, maintain, and even break a relationship. An example of this is like Giving a friend a Birthday gift and in return knowing you will receive a gift of equal value on your own birthday. 3.) Negative Reciprocity= EXCHANGE conducted for the purpose of material advantage and the desire to get something for nothing. It's often Impersonal and unfriendly =. An example of this would be a car sales person trying to sell a vehicle to a customer. In the end the other party doesnt care if someone comes back.
What are Incest Taboos
Rules that prohibit sexual relations between relatives that are universal to most cultures except for royalty among ancient Egyptian marriage, traditional Hawaiian society, and Ince Emperors. Reasons for Incest taboos include: avoiding increase in deleterious traits, prevents disruption in the nuclear family, directs sexual desires outside family to create more connections and strengthen gene pool.
Who are Peasants
Rural cultivators who produce for the subsistence of their households but are also integrated into larger, complex state societies.
