Cultural Anthropology Exam 3 Study Guide

family in Botswana

- Botswana has walls along the road that delineate family compounds, with multiple houses within a single compound - individual households have husbands and wives who are all related because the husbands are all brothers with one another - the sons are ranked by age => bridewealth is best for the oldest brothers, while the youngest son inherits his father's house and compound when his father dies in exchange for a poor bridewealth, which forces the other sons to move out and become heads of their own compounds

lineage vs. clans

- HOUSEHOLDS ARE COMPOSED OF LINEAGES THAT COLLECTIVELY COMBINE TO TEND LAND AND LIVESTOCK, MULTIPLE LINEAGES TOGETHER FORM A CLAN - you have more obligation to your lineage as opposed to your clan; clans are established to protect the resources within a lineage - clans and lineages are not mutually exclusive; clans are broader relations than lineages are

how is life course defined in our society?

- LIFE COURSE IS DEFINED BY LEVELS OF INDEPENDENCE - it is a cycle of dependent, independent, and then back to dependent

extended family

- a family based on both marital ties and descent - in Botswana, a single compound consists of the father and mother in one household, the first son and his wife in a second household, and the second son and his wife in a third household

conjugal family

- a family based on marital ties - nuclear: marital tie between a husband and wife pair - compound nuclear: marital ties with multiple ties to one partner as resulting from polygyny or polyandry (husband has one house, wife one's house consists of her and her dependents, wife two's house consists of her and her dependents; these houses all exist on one compound)

chiefdom

- a form of centralized political organization, also referred to as rank society

Subsistance Strategy

- a framework of comparison when determining who uses what descent group structure - how do people subsist and get food? - continuum of subsistence from foraging to horticulture to agriculture to industrialism; these terms are ideal types with specific characteristics (generalities, not TRUTHS in that there is variation within each category)

bands

- a group only found in foragers, consisting of 25-50 foragers who cooperate and co-reside so long as circumstances are favorable - bilateral descent structure where they try to keep every alliance as open as possible to facilitate movement - leadership consists of various "headmen"

age

- a kind of social organization based on life course

marriage in Botswana

- a patrilineal, virilocal post-marital residence (trace descent through men, live with or near husband's family post-marriage) - men first pursue women, then go back to their lineage and propose a marriage - the man's lineage will ask who the woman's lineage is, what her values are, etc. - representatives from the man's lineage will propose a marriage to representatives of a woman's lineage and discuss the terms - if the lineages determine it is a good match, they discuss the bridewealth, and at marriage, the man's lineage will give to the bride's lineage some token in recognition of her reproductive and productive value because the bride's lineage loses the bride's productive value and the value of her children as laborers as her labor now benefits the husband's lineage - in Botswana, romantic love is seen as a very bad reason to get married; they consider marriage in terms of how it benefits the group because the group is most important; the terms of marriage differ between cultures

tribes

- a political economy organization - a TEMPORARY and PURPOSEFUL alliance of bands or clans/villages (depending on whether the groups are foragers or food producers) - one clan consisting of various lineages will combine with another clan consisting of other lineages when there is a purpose, such as a marriage or the need for extra hands during the hunting of large game that come through an area in a particular season - TRIBAL IDENTITY TURNS ON AND OFF DEPENDING ON NEED AND CONTEXT => someone's first identity is their lineage, then their clan/village, THEN their tribe WHEN NECESSARY

status

- a position in society - one status can't be more or less than any other, but a status can carry a higher prestige, which then leads to social hierarchy (it is not the status itself, but rather the connotation around that status)

politics

- a sociocultural system for coordinating social life and resolving disputes

economy

- a sociocultural system for the production, allocation, and consumption of goods and services

circumscribed habitat theory

- a theory of why centralization occurs, as proposed by Robert Carneiro - fission is typically a form of management that occurs when a group such as a clan or village gets too big and unmanageable, but sometimes fission isn't possible - consider a collection of villages along farmland next to a river in an area locked by various difficult terrains such as mountains and forested plateaus; if one village gets too big, the original solution was to engage in fission, but eventually the farmland fills up and no more fission can take place => *moving after the village populations fill up the available farmland is challenging because the area is bound by difficult terrain and because the area is nice and fertile, so the pressure can (but does not have to) push people to form a centralized political organization because they can no longer split*

age sets

- all the people who inhabit an age grade and who move through the grades as a unit e.g. the people inhabiting the class of 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022

elderly (our society)

- an ASCRIBED status by others in the society, who say people are elderly without the necessary agreement on the part of the ascribed - consists of retirement (a class-bound property), physical/medical problems and increasing medical concern, more dependence/neediness (challenging because our culture values independence), a lack of value because they are considered "past their time" due to new advancements and the increasing pace of new technological advancement (the experiential knowledge is different and less relevant)

descent group structure

- any publicly recognized social entity such that being the lineal descendant of a particular ancestor is the criterion for membership - most common kinship structure; not necessarily American in that we cannot name our great great great great grandfather, for instance, because it is considered irrelevant - places importance on a single ancestor that everyone traces back to => if someone can demonstrate relation to that ancestor, it is important and signifies relation

ascribed status vs. achieved status

- ascribed status: an involuntary status you are assigned (e.g. old man vs. middle-aged man) - achieved status: a status that is voluntary or competitively obtained - every culture has ascribed status, and ascribed and achieved statuses can be blurred together (e.g. cultures ascribe gender, but some cultures also allow you to achieve gender => fluidity between the concepts) - is wealth ascribed or achieved? America is supposed to be the land of opportunity, and engrained in that narrative is the ability to ACHIEVE a socioeconomic class, but statistics demonstrate that people most likely die in the class in which they were born, contradicting the narrative that we can move fluidly between statuses => ascribed statuses such as race maintain your other statuses (such as socioeconomic class) and prevent you from moving to achieve other statuses

political economy of horticulturalists and agriculturalists

- because they are producing their own food, which requires more labor exertion, one can expect more territoriality in addition to greater populations - there are too many people in a single village to engage in generalized reciprocity, so what is necessary is the formation of labor groups that are smaller and more manageable, which can then engage in generalized reciprocity between themselves => these small labor groups are formed by lineages - in a semi-permanent village of ~250 people, there are many lineages that form a clan; within a lineage (~50 people), there is generalized reciprocity, but between each lineage (within the clan) there is balanced reciprocity - domestic economy: generalized reciprocity - political economy: balanced reciprocity - headmen can act as leaders within an entire clan => headmen will talk to lineal elders before talking to the clan as a whole (utilizing kinship structure for influence because people might not listen to the headmen, but they will listen to their lineal elders) - the tools for resolution used in bands (except flux) apply, plus the ideology of ancestral veneration that imparts a sense of sacredness onto the elders is important, as it gives elders more influence over resolution - division of labor is based on gender and age

results of neolithic revolution

- changes in territoriality - changes in population density and hierarchy - changes in diseases

family types

- conjugal family (nuclear and compound nuclear) - extended family

lineages

- demonstrative descent and co-residential - members of a lineage can show (DEMONSTRATE) how they are commonly related to others based on a specific apical ancestor - can be considered corporate; the entity exists as itself, and the presumption is a perpetual existence => the lineage is itself greater than the sum of its individual parts, with clear succession pathways and the ability to control resources - it offers practicality because you are able to look to people every day to provide you with resources and their unquestioned support/alliance due to the connected lineage

cross cousins

- etic term for children of opposite-sex siblings (children of a sister and a brother) - in patrilineal descent, these children are not in your descent group at all because you both trace your descent through your respective fathers, who are not in the same descent group; these children are often ideal for marriage

parallel cousins

- etic term for children of same-sex siblings (children of 2 sisters/2 brothers) - in patrilineal descent, the children of your father's brother are considered your brothers and sisters, and your father's brother is considered your father

why do we find these family structures in these particular subsistence strategies?

- foraging and industrialism utilize nuclear families because they require movement, and nuclear families are easily movable (foraging bands follow animals and gathered resources as they come up, while industrialists follow job availability and income); small, movable nuclear families are also easier to support on income/foraging resources than a lineage of 50+ people - horticulture and agriculture utilize descent group structure and extended/compound nuclear families because they are semi-permanent; the more hands you have, the more labor you have, which means more food production, which means more hands you can feed - foraging uses bilateral descent to maximize their association with other bands while industrialism uses bilateral descent to cut down kin into manageable numbers

centralized political organization

- full time political specialists with permanent political statuses in structure

political economy of foraging bands

- generalized reciprocity - we all gather, hunt, and consume together => everything is distributed the same way

redistribution

- goods and services flow to a central stockpile and are returned to its contributors as needed

tools for resolution & solving disputes in foraging bands as it relates to political organization

- gossip: means of social control (first line of control); e.g. Mbuti pygmies will organize the children to perform a play making fun of the disputes to resolve them - influence of headmen: the second line of social control, where headmen who are best at negotiating the end of a dispute will be called upon to do so - ignoring reciprocity: the third line of social control; stopping trading/sharing will either cause people to stop the dispute or leave the band altogether (flux) - expulsion: fourth line of social control in which someone is forced out of the band - execution: fifth line of social control in which someone is killed

foraging

- hunting and gathering - the division of labor is typically gender and age - small populations of around 25-50, with low population density (i.e. they are spread out) - political organization is bands - egalitarian in that everybody has equal access to strategic resources - TYPICALLY CONSIST OF PEOPLES WHO UTILIZE BILATERAL DESCENT because it is to their benefit to keep their kindred broad so that if they leave one band, they can have a reason to join another

negative reciprocity

- immediate and equivalent exchange; most common when there is a surplus of a product that you can trade with another group you infrequently encounter ex: Trobrianders will trade their ornaments in Balanced Reciprocity system of the Kula Ring, and will then trade the surplus of their produce with an equivalent surplus of the other island's produce while they are present on that island for the Kula Ring; the obligations to trading partners mean that if someone on island x is short-changed in a negative reciprocal exchange with someone on island y, they cannot demand an equal exchange because the person on island y who short-changed them has a trading partner on island x who will protect them => the balanced reciprocity system exists to mitigate disputes that arise from the negative reciprocity system

adult (our society)

- independence (residentially, economically, socially, reproductively) is the most important factor - legally, the age of adulthood is 18 (except with alcohol which is 21 and insurance is 25); physical markers are much more indicative of adulthood - those of us in class are in a liminal space between adolescent and adult because we enter college rather than the workforce

Kathleen Goff's definition of marriage

- legitimates reproductivity; allocates members of a household; etc. etc. - IT IS REALLY HARD TO DEFINE MARRIAGE CROSS-CULTURALLY - marriage creates artificial ties which come with real obligations

2 types of descent groups

- lineages - clans

generalized reciprocity

- neither the time nor the equivalence of the exchange matters => what you give back (if it is greater/less than the original) and when the gift is returned are not important - common in foraging bands - the exchange occurs because of the relationship (it is the bond that counts, moreso than the exchange itself) ex: Suggs gets a bedpan of beer in Botswana because someone had an excess, and he is expected to return the favor if he has an excess of anything because THAT IS WHAT IS EXPECTED OF THE BOND HE HAD WITH THE PEOPLE IN THE BOTSWANA GROUP HE STUDIED - our system of exchange is different because our associations/relationships are themselves created by systems of exchange

middle-aged (our society)

- new category within the last century because people are living longer due to medical and nutritional changes - physical markers overlap with elderly markers so they cannot clearly indicate it => a physical reality is beginning to set limits - best indicated by continuation of career due to capitalist cash economy => one is at the peak performance in their career, the highest point because of the time spent proving it - people encounter a middle-aged crisis in response to our cult of youth (self-reflection leads to rumination over regrets and a loss of youth; "I can't do what I used to or the way I used to falsified")

uncentralized political organization

- no permanent political status that must be filled - found in tribes, villages, bands, etc. - when a headman dies, they die without someone to fill that position unless they prove themselves worthy of the position based on merit

life course

- not necessarily about age; rather, it is about *expected behaviors at certain times in one's life based on culture* - life course has three universal categories: child, adult, elderly - we have the tendency to believe these categories are inherently biological but THEY ARE NOT

moiety of descent group (RULE FOR DESCENT GROUPS MODELED IN CLASS)

- only two descent groups

status incongruity & role conflict

- problems juggling multiple roles and statuses e.g. in 1989, there was a Kenyon scandal involving a student and faculty member, causing concerns with faculty/student relations; a new rule was proposed that banned student/professor relationships due to an extreme power difference; the conflict was a result of clashing between two statuses as man/woman and professor/student

the hydrolic theory of centralization

- proposed by Wittfogel - the impetus for centralized political authority comes from the management of water, which is a main resource - if one person does not get the amount of water necessary for irrigation due to being at the bottom of the water flow behind other villagers, they might require someone to centralize all villagers into one government so water can be distributed equally for irrigation as mandated by a centralized power

Karl Polanyi

- proposed three kinds of easily recognizable economic systems: reciprocity, redistribution, and market

affines

- relation by marriage - in the patrilineal descent group structure, E's mother is related to him by marriage because she married into the kin group

role

- rights, duties, and responsibilities associated with a status - what you must do as a result of your status in society

rites of passage

- rituals that mark a change of status - NOT ALWAYS ABOUT AGE => AGE IS IRRELEVANT IN SOME CASES (such as in marriage) - according to Arnold van Gennep, all cultures everywhere have rights of passage and all rights of passage follow the same tripartite structure of separation, liminality, and reincorporation that mark a change of status (not necessarily associated with age) e.g. Kenyon Graduation as a rite of passage: - separation: all seniors stay on campus an extra week while underclassmen are asked to leave (separated, ritualized community) - liminality: seniors have no classwork but are not yet graduates, which spurs a feeling of being 'betwixt and between' (they will ask questions such as "remember when..." and "what next?") - reincorporation: Baccalaureate & Commencement occurs, making all graduates alumni (their new status is one of "graduate" or "alumni" rather than "student")

social use of sexuality

- sexuality can be used and employed in a variety of ways - dominant female Rhesus Macaque monkeys mount subordinate females to assert their dominance in a sexual way - subordinate bonobos will present themselves sexually to alpha males to get bananas from the alpha male - humans do not have an estrus, unlike all other primates, so we do not have the requirement of sexual behavior or compulsory sexual behavior at any particular time => we have continuous proceptivity (we can have sex when we want and we are not compelled to do so) - Romer's Rule of Human Sexuality: our sexuality was originally selected for to ensure reproduction under any condition, but it is now selected for due to other social reasons such as exchange, affection, dominance hierarchies, etc.; because we can do it whenever and because it happens so often for any reason, reproduction will happen anyway, so sex has become a cultural activity sustaining a biological process - hetero/homosexuality are not natural, but SEXUALITY is natural => the things we do with sexuality in various cultures are not natural (though it feels natural because it is within our nature to be cultured)

reciprocity

- simple exchange of goods and services - has 3 types based on the timing and the equivalence of the exchanges (generalized, balanced, negative)

age grades

- social statuses based on socioculturally defined age e.g. freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior class distinctions in college; seniors are purposefully at the top (it is a status of higher prestige)

kindred

- specific to bilateral descent - all of the potential kin that Ego treats as effective kin - self-defined kin based on the perception of Ego - varies based on the individual, so two siblings may define it differently

adolescent (our society)

- stage of life course after child (hard to pin down an age range) - puberty, sexually aware but not yet active or ready, more responsible, more independence, responsibilities for younger children

child (our society)

- stage of the life course ranging from 1-12 years - consists of expectations such as irresponsible, developing physical features, a lack of judgment, learning emotional control and social boundaries, dependent

2 building blocks of social organization

- status - role *we all juggle multiple statuses and roles at once*

clans

- suggestive descent and commonly dispersed - there are limits to human memory, so those in a clan can demonstrate relatedness through a common totemic display - the totem itself doesn't matter => it merely represents names beyond 3 generations - totems have become mystified because of Western influence; they merely represent the idea that "I am in the land of my ancestors" and many in totem-using cultures practice ancestral veneration, which has been interpreted as 'warding off evil spirits' by outsiders (most magic isn't overtly mystical => it's a way to ensure that you don't have to worry about something) - ceremonial in that they are called upon when more labor or resources are required than an individual lineage can supply - integrative in that they give you direct contact to others in other areas, are more nebulous and dispersed but nonetheless related

agriculture

- technological shift to plough and draft animals in food production (ploughs turn last year's materials back into earth and reclaim it for new production => semi-permanent food production from one plot that is sometimes left to fallow); ploughs open up new environments for planting such as grassland that mere hoes and digging sticks can't cultivate (allows for an increase in energy return from the amount of energy invested) - results in towns and cities with relatively high population density - ranked or class societies rather than egalitarian societies - tribes or chiefdoms or states - descent group structure

Nyakyusa age grade & set example

- the Nyakyusa are a group of agriculturalists in Central Africa who believe that the most wonderful part of life is good company, and that good company is hard to come across when younger kids are around - their life course consists of age villaging - at around age 10, the boys are taken away from their parents' village B and placed in their own village - when the boys are around age 20, the first wife enters that newly formed village and eventually more wives follow - when the boys are around age 25, the first children are born in the newly formed village - when the children of the boys in the newly formed village are around 10, they are moved into their own new village; the herd control is turned over to the working adult village C and the original village is considered retired Village Breakdown: Village A = retired adults Village B = working adults Village C = children *people transition to different villages as they age*

Sambia rite of passage example

- the Sambia are a group of horticulturalists in New Guinea - the people believe that we as a species lean toward women (i.e. there is no natural cause of becoming a man) and that, if not separated, boys are at risk of becoming women because women are naturally polluted (men can absorb the pollution when around women, and because they do not menstruate, they cannot expel that pollution, so they can become sick or even die) - the people believe that semen is the adult masculine life force - before age 10, boys have no responsibilities, while girls have many - at around age 10, the boys in the village will be taken into the highlands (men's space), thus beginning the Rites of Passage for boys - separation: boys are taken into the highlands at around age 10 - liminality, stage 1: while in the highlands, the men will rub the boys with stinging nettles and shove saw grass up the boys' nostrils in order to rid them of the women's pollution; during this time, men will also show the boys how to get semen from older men through fellatio because they do not believe that semen is naturally present even though it is important as the natural masculine life force => during this time, the only sexual contact boys have is with men - liminality, stage 2: after 5-6 years of performing fellatio on older men, when the next generation of boys is old enough, the previous generation becomes the semen donor and a marriage is planned, with oral sex being permitted between men and women - reincorporation: a 3rd generation of boys is brought into initiation, at which point the original generation stops sexual contact with men and engages in sexual intercourse with women for reproductive purposes only; after 3 children, the men are reincorporated into the village as full men - the sexual activity is considered hard work because semen is a finite life force resource that the older men have to give up for the sake of the greater good and the new generations of boys - transitioning in this rite of passage is designated by type of sexual contact (sexual activity with men only => sexual activity with men and women => sexual activity with women only); SOCIAL USE OF SEXUALITY

Tiriki age grade & set example

- the Tiriki are a group of pastoralists in Kenya - a new age set is created every 15 years - 1900: FRED age set is formed => all boys of this age set are brought into the 1st age group of Warrior (age 15-29) - 1915: BILL age set is formed => BILL age set becomes part of the Warrior age group, while the FRED age set becomes the 2nd age group of Elder Warrior (30-44) - 1930: DAVE age set is formed => DAVE age set becomes part of the Warrior age group, BILL age set becomes part of the 2nd age group of Elder Warrior, and FRED age set becomes the 3rd age group of Judicial Elder (45-59) - 1945: JIM age set is formed => JIM age set becomes part of the Warrior age group, while DAVE age set becomes part of the 2nd age group of Elder Warrior, while BILL age set becomes part of the 3rd age group of Judicial Warrior, and FRED age set becomes the 4th age group of Ritual Elder (60-79) - power in this system is accrued over time as one moves through the grades - people who are 15 when they enter the Warrior age group do the most grunt work compared to the 29 year olds, but they are most likely to survive to the Ritual Elder age group, which holds the most power

iroquois/bifurcate merging

- the kinship nomenclature used in patrilineal descent; not necessarily used in matrilineal descent because tracing descent through mothers does not necessarily erase the influence of the patriarchy - the logic of this system is not biologically based

headmen

- the leadership/political structure in foraging bands - a position of leadership as it applies to a specific realm, with no coercive power - *contextual leadership with no coercive power* - someone becomes a headman in a particular realm if they have demonstrated a level of excellence in that particular realm that affords them the right to do more in that particular realm - considered the first among equals and a voice more closely heard; it is not necessary to obey headmen, but people will listen to them more closely because their demonstrated excellence suggest expertise in their particular field - headmen are not necessary or required in a band, and when one dies they are not immediately replaced => a replacement comes when someone has demonstrated excellence in that field

push theories

- the neolithic revolution is a response to NEEDS - there are population and resource imbalances, so one way to stabilize this instability is to increase foraging - behaviors such as weeding & creating food storage are ways to remain foragers, but they are also behaviors that attract more people and allow for greater population support => increases in volume attract people - ROMER'S RULE IS AT PLAY: INTENSIFICATIONS OF FORAGING BEHAVIOR LEAD TO FOOD PRODUCTION (adaptations for stability produce change)

pull theories

- the neolithic revolution is a response to WANTS - consider this situation: seasonal heard animals are in one edge of the territory while a seasonal grain resource is in the opposite edge of the territory; the solution is to either move the grain resource to the seasonal herd's path or corral the herd to the grain resource so that there is no need to choose between resources - investing labor in moved resources means you repeatedly tend to those resources to reap their rewards => you must stay close and invest more energy

two myths of the forager in the academy and American culture in general

- the noble savage (the savage that is perfectly in balance with their environment) - the savage forager (the warlike barbarian who is unsophisticated in practices)

Eskimo/Descriptive terminology

- the nomenclature assigned to bilateral descent

market

- the purchase and sale of goods & services at money price (CAN EXIST OUTSIDE OF CAPITALIST SYSTEMS)

balanced reciprocity

- the timing of the returned exchange is irrelevant, but the equivalence matters; the value of the exchange is remembered and expected to be matched whenever it might come ex: the Trobrianders group of Papua New Guinea have a Kula Ring that defines their exchanges; through cooperation with chiefs on other islands, men who come of age on islands x, y, and z are assigned trading partners on the other neighboring islands and are expected to exchange ornaments of equal value to their partners (necklaces & armbands => trade necklaces one way, get armbands back; trade armbands the other way, get necklaces back); while they can only trade ornaments with their trading partners, they can trade other stuff with others on the island

apical ancestors

- those ancestors that descent is traced from

matrilineal descent

- traces linearity through females (mothers +) - lacks concrete naming systems because matrilineality doesn't necessarily erase the patriarchy's influence

patrilineal descent group

- traces linearity through males (fathers +) - the brothers of your biological father are also considered fathers, and their children your brothers and sisters, and their wives your mother - the sisters of your biological father are considered your father's sister, their husbands your father's sister's husband, and their children your father's sister's sons & daughters - a mother is a mother if she marries into your lineage group and produces your siblings - FZS/FZD/MBS/MBD are ideal marriage partners for E because they are cross cousins, or children of opposite sex sibling that makes them belong to different descent groups (parallel cousins are children of same-sex siblings, i.e. children of 2 sisters/brothers) - the logic of this system is not biologically based

bilateral descent

- tracing descent side to side from ourselves - descent is traced from ego through both father and mother - the nuclear family is the only distinct group in this structure - any member of the bilateral descent group has the potential to be Ego's kin, but Ego must subjectively assign them to be effective kin

why did the neolithic revolution occur/why did foragers move to planting?

- two theories: push theories vs. pull theories - BOTH THEORIES PRESENT THE IDEA THAT INTENSIFYING FORAGING LEADS TO FOOD PRODUCTION (adaptation for stability lead to change)

horticulture

- utilizes some type of technology (e.g. digging stick or hoe) - typically a forest edge people who grow food from the ashes of recently burned forest - have shifting cultivation because every so often the population moves - the division of labor is typically gender and age - low population densities with small and semi-permanent villages of ~250 people - egalitarian - utilize a descent group structure such as patrilineal or matrilineal descent

kinship

- we are all born into cultures that present us with family structures, connections to ancestors, etc.; *the ways in which we are connected by family structure* is kinship - we ascribe our own kinship structures to other cultures or animalia because we think it is about our biological connections to people, but IT IS NOT (e.g. most cultures do not have nuclear families)

descent group exogamy (RULE FOR DESCENT GROUPS MODELED IN CLASS)

- you must marry out of the descent group

B

brother

−

cohort (same generation)

D

daughter

|

descent

F

father

FZS/FZD

father's sister's son/father's sister's daughter

FZ/FB

father's sister/father's brother

o

female

∆

male

=

marriage

M

mother

MZ/MB

mother's sister/mother's brother

Z

sister

S

son