Cultural Anthropology

generalized reciprocity

"gift giving" give freely without consciously thinking we want something back, no plan for immediate return or plan of, no precise calculation of value, often involves helping someone in need, sustains family in all societies; main means of distributing good and services in foraging societies, members constantly give=system of continuous obligations=> events out=>social security

racism and social stratification

"them" are in lower class

role of Hindu religion

1. by preaching inequality "all have a place" 2. by belief in reincarnation only way to change caste; if you behave well in this life

child-rearing practices as adaptive

Anth-view child rearing practices as adaptive because they produce personalities well suited to society's survival

Yanomamo

Dense tropical forest covers most of Yanomamo territory. From the air, the typical village is located in a forest clearing and looks like a single, large, circular lean-to with its inner side open to the central plaza. Each individual family has its own portion of the lean-to under the common roof. Each family's portion of the lean-to has a back wall, but the portions are open on the sides to each other as well as onto the central plaza of the village. Get most of their calories from garden produce, actually spend most time foraging. Forest must be cleared of trees and brush, slash undergrowth, felling trees and use controlled burning to clear a garden spot. They have steel machetes and axes given or traded to them by missionaries. Their crops do not yield much protein, so hunting and fishing are important to their diet. Men hunt birds, peccaries, monkeys, and tapir with bows and arrows.

primary subsistence activities

Gathering, hunting, fishing, herding, and farming

Ngatatjara

In the 1960s they still lived by gathering wild plants and hunting wild animals in the Gibson Desert of western Australia. It averages less than 8 inches of rain per year. The area was sparsely populated-fewer than one person per 35 to 40 square miles. Children are sent to fetch water, and the people breakfast on water and food left over from the night before. Men may hunt emus, 6 foot tall ostrichlike birds. Most of the Ngatajara aborigines diet is plant food. traditionally were nomadic, moving their campsites fairly frequently. Were isolated and inhabited by only a small number of people or they were clusters of groups including as many as 80 people. Never established a campsite right next to a place of water, it would frighten away game, or cause tension with neighboring bands.

N Alaskan Inupiaq (Inuit)

Northern Alaska is relatively warm, food is dependent on the season. Critical resources are sea mammals, fish, and caribou or wild reindeer. The usual technique for hunting sea mammals is to hurl a toggle harpoon into the animal from a kayak. Sea animal gets tired of pulling the float until the hunter is able to kill it with a lance. In the winter, hunters must locate a breathing hole and then wait, immobile and attentive, until a seal comes up for air. Women butcher the animal, prepare it for eating or storage, and process the skin. Women sew all the skin clothing. Hunt hares, and fishing. Women make the fishing nets, and takes a year to make one. Related families usually live together and move camp by boat or sled to be in the best place to intercept the migratory animals and fish.

Inuit

Plants are too scarce to be the most important part of the diet. From Greenland and Labrador in the east to Alaska in the west, the Inuit used to depend almost entirely on sea and land mammals and fish.

Lapps

Practice reindeer herding in northwestern Scandinavia. It is cold, windswept with long dark days. Intensively herded reindeer and other animals are accustomed to human contact. The extensive system involves allowing the animals to migrate over a large area. Requiring little surveillance and encompasses larger herds. Men herd. Women do the milking.

Mekong Delta, Viet Nam

Situated along the flat Mekong Delta, comprised about 600 families when Gerald Hickey described it in the late 1950s. It has a tropical climate, with a rainy season. Is habitable only through extensive drainage. Wet rice cultivation is the principal agricultural activity of Khanh Hau. It is part of a complex, specialized arrangement that involves three interacting components: 1. a complex system of irrigation and water control 2. a variety of specialized equipment, including plows, water wheels, threshing sledges, and winnowing machines 3. a clearly defined set of socioeconomic roles-from those of a landlord, tenant, and laborer to those of rice miller and rice merchant. In the dry season the farmer chooses to crop either short or long rice which depends on the capital a this disposal, the current cost of fertilizer, and the anticipated demand for rice. Planting is performed by male laborers. Women to little work in the fields, spending most of their time on household chores.

rural Greece

Situated at the foot of Mount Parnassus on the Boeotian plain. In the 1950s its population was about 220 inhabitants. Grapevines and wheat are cultivated for domestic use. Agriculture begins in March with pruning of the vines and hoeing of the fields tasks regarded as men's work. Wine making begins in September, after the grain harvest, and involves the whole family. Villagers use horses to plow their wheat fields in October, and in November they sow the seed by hand. Wheat constitutes the staple village food and is eaten as bread, as a cereal, or as noodles. Commonly bartered for other food items, such as fish, olive oil and coffee. Cotton and tobacco are the main cash crops, crops raised for sale. Cotton depends on irrigation, and they use efficient diesel pumps to distribute water. The young plants must be hoed and mulched, as task done by women. Irrigation is men's work. Cotton picking is women's work. Raising animals is relatively minor role in the villagers economic life. are prepared to experiment to a certain extent especially with mechanization. Greek farmer is content to be a farmer and to rely on the skills of others to repair his roof, maintain his water pump, and provide the mechanical know how for crop production

Samoans

The Samoans numbered about 56,000 people in 1839, soon after European missionaries arrived. The islands of Samoa, which are about 2,300 miles south of the Hawaiian Islands, are volcanic in origin, with central ridges and peaks as high as 6,000 feet. Though the land is generally steep, the islands have a lush plant cover watered by up to 200 inches of rain a year. All that rain does not interfere much with outdoor activity, because the torrential showers do not last long and the water disappears quickly into the porous volcanic soil. Samoan horticulture involves mostly three tree crops requiring little work except in harvesting. Once planted, and with hardly more than a few years of waiting, the breadfruit tree continues to produce about two crops a year for up to a half century. coconut trees-produce for hundred of years. Young men do most of the harvesting of tree crops. Women to the occasional weeding. Shifting cultivation where men sometimes clear small patches of land for taro. Young men do most of the harvesting and planting. They cannot weed as much because of the risk of erosion. They keep chickens and pigs which they eat only occasionally, but the major source of animal protein is fish.

secondary subsistence activities

The processing and preparation of food for eating or storing

Basseri

Their herds consist principally of sheep and goats, though donkeys and camels are raised for pulling or carrying, and the wealthier men have horses for riding. Theirs is a dry, arid habitat with rainfall averaging no more than 10 inches a year. Their pastoral way of life is based on a regular migratory exploitation of the grazing lands within their territory. Spring is excellent for grazing. Sufficient food for the herds can be found in the mountains at an altitude of 6,000 feet. Annual migrations are important to the economies developed a concept "tribal road"., have a traditional route and schedule. Consists of localities in the order in which each is visited, follows existing passes and lines of communication. They herd sheep and goats together, with one shepherd responsible. The women are skilled spinners and weavers. Must trade for the necessities and luxury items they do not produce within the community.

specialization

There is little specialization of labor beyond that of gender and age. As society's technology becomes more complex and it is able to produce large quantities of food, more people are freed to become specialist. Devote special effort to perfecting a particular skill or craft such as pottery, weaving, doctoring,house building

race as a social category

They are trying to say that it is a "belief." In other words, if people would just stop believing that race exists, it will go away. Sort of like if we change our government type, class distinctions, currency type or religious beliefs. Contact with different outsiders ideas of classification into races; classification is politically convenient "us" civilized vs "them" savage

Kula ring

Trading of necessities, potlatch, in which it takes a form of gift giving between trading partners, social as well for ease and enjoyment.

access to: power

ability to make people do what they don't want to do

mobility between classes

actually low probability to change class, best way to change class is a college education

subsistence technology

affect other aspects of culture

food collecting/foraging

all forms of food getting that depend on wild plants and animals; totally natural resources (at the mercy of nature) getting food by collecting or hunting what is naturally available. The term used to refer to the subsistence patterns of cultures different from our own continually changes as our values change. Initially, these groups were called "primitives." This term came to be viewed as too ethnocentric since it emphasized they were less developed than "modern" cultures. The term "hunters and gatherers" has been replaced by foragers because of the gender associations with male hunters and female gatherers. Since !Kung women produce 85% of the food by volume, is it appropriate to call them a hunting and gathering society?

natural resources

at the mercy of nature

premarital sex

before marriage in some societies children before marriage equal proof of fertility

racism

belief that some groups are inferior=social construction<--(people just made it up) to separate "us" from "them"

general purpose money

characteristic of commercial exchange, medium of exchange (recognized as valuable), non perishable, transportable, standard of value (compare prices)

caste system

class that is ranked relative to other castes; membership determined by birth; marriage allowed only within caste

forced labor

complex societies have ways of forcing people to work ex. taxation-indirectly forced labor, community services, military draft, school, slavery

rank societies

contain groups with equal access to resources and power, but unequal access to prestige; some stratification, horticulturalist and pastoralist, unequal access to prestige is reflected in position to chief, rank that part of society can achieve often not all eligible, position at least partly hereditary

characteristics of: intensive agriculturalists

continuous use of land, basic four permanent, private ownership- if the user can dispose of the land

Semai

crowded, peaceful non aggression is adaptive

food production

cultivating plants and herding animals, 10,000 years ago, more control over resources

permissiveness & restrictiveness

culturally determined; much variability sexuality

slash & burn cultivation

cut/dry/burn [brush, trees]

pastoralism

dependence on herds of domestic animals for a living, animals usually not eaten protein from milk, blood, animals used as beasts of burden, animals products traded for themselves, live mainly on dry grassland areas that can't be cultivated grass-herd animals eat plants humans can't digest, small communities, families individuals own animals, much interaction with cultural groups (trade per plant producers), some practice some agriculture

gender roles

division of labor by sex: its universal/roles are usually complementary

sex taboos

during menstruation, during part of pregnancy, after childbirth, between death and burial of a society member, before activities such as war, sports

balanced reciprocity

equalized barter or trade, more explicit and short term, expect something immediately and of comparable value, motivated by need and desire, creates maintains and strengthens relationships between trading partners who are equals but not necessarily kin

reciprocity as a leveling device

equalized distribution of wealth with in and between communications. No one is too rich. Chief and kin hold a potlatch to enhance status, he and his kin give away things such as food, tools, cones, and copper, blankets to guests. Guests would eventually give them gifts, eventually get back what they gave away. Emphasis on status, rivalry encourage, harder work -->surplus vs. famine (wealth is spread around) -->leveling because Chief ends up with prestige but no wealth

social stratification

exist in society with unequal access to resources, power, and prestige

Yanomamo

fierce, warlike aggression is adaptive

marginal areas

foragers live in these areas these are not easily exploited used with modern technology

hunting & gathering

foraging culture, any group of people that depends primarily on wild foods for subsistence. Their strategies have been very diverse, depending greatly upon the local environment; foraging strategies have included hunting or trapping big game, hunting or trapping smaller animals, fishing, gathering shellfish or insects, and gathering wild plant foods such as fruits, vegetables, tubers, seeds, and nuts. Most hunters and gatherers combine a variety of these strategies in order to ensure a balanced diet.

profit motive

getting ahead not universal

class

group of people with same opportunity to gain resources, power and prestige

horticulture

growing a variety of crops by human labor, with simple tools, how, digging stick, in gardens, plants can be scattered around, no plows, no irrigation

access to resources--land & technology by: pastoralists communal use

herd products traded for necessities- privately, around because animals privately owned

reasons for restrictiveness

heterosexual restrictiveness goes together societies that restrict extramarital sex also restrict premarital sex; to prevent a "bad" marriage to control property;;;homosexuality is likely to be forbidden or discouraged in underpopulated societies because of a desire to increase population likely to be allowed in over populated societies

Female Fertility Factor

idea that heavy exertion affects fertility; long term extreme exertion, low body fat, hormonal changes, temporarily sterile

male & female contribution to subsistence--who contributes more?

if most food from hunting/fishing/herding-men contribution if more fixed from gathering women more contribution

true private ownership

if user can dispose of land, privately owned

fallow

land is left unfarmed (fallow) for many years in order to recover from farming done previously

shifting cultivation

land is worked (farmed) for short periods and then left unfarmed (fallow) for many years in order to recover cut/dry/burn [brush, trees] and moved onto the next piece of land until they come back to the one that has been left untouched

communal use

land use more adaptive because resources fluctuate

task assignment/chores

less conscious-task assignment ex. 10 cultures-children with more chores tended to be more supported, more responsible and likely to help others;;-children with few chores tended to be tuned to own needs, bossy and to seek help

Strength Theory

males have greater strength and quick energy , why males hunt, clear land

political leadership & war

males usually political leader. in 87% of the societies only men --> war, connection to war used making critical decisions, greater experience in outside world, height

closed class system

members cannot change place in life

egalitarian societies

members have equal access to resources, power and prestige; no stratification; forages mainly among them, some horticulturalist adn past, know each other, small communities, does not people all alike, individual excellence is possible but all members have same potential to be excellent; status is based in temporary achievement not inheritable, emphasis on generosity sharing, ways to keep humble

class societies

members have unequal access to resources, power and prestige, well developed stratification, which is reflected in difference between class

men's roles

men almost always: hunt, trap, mining, smelt ores, cut wood, work hard materials, war, politics;; men usually: clear land, fish, herd, butcher, build houses, make tools

Expendability Theory

men do more dangerous jobs because they are more expendable in terms of reproduction , if society allows multiple women

Theory of Economy of Effort

more efficient to perform tasks that are related to each other, men: cut trees, butcher, work hard materials and make tools; women: childcare, household chores

sex within marriage

need for privacy universal

characteristics of: horticulturalists

no individual land ownership because fields can be used permanently, land often controlled by kin group and allocate for use, treated like pretty private property white

characteristics of: foragers

no individual land ownership because products valued, not land, Why own dirt? Communal land use more adaptive because resources fluctuate, all access to other bands "hot pursuit" (lose animal vs being polite)

redistribution

no money, centralized accumulation of good for later distribution, coordinates collection and distribution

slavery-closed system

no way of being freed from slavery, have no rights; caste system-are bound to that place; don't own their own labor, it varies in time and space

reincarnation

only way to change caste was by reincarnation, in you behave well in this life you will have a better one in the next

race and ethnicity

people emphasizing common origins and language, shared history, and selected cultural differences such as a difference in religion; prejudice is learned behavior, negative attitudes toward social groups; discrimination-behavior acting on prejudice it can be collective us group individuals

nomadic

people that move from place to place

sexuality

permissiveness and restrictiveness necessary are culturally determined; much variability

open class system

possible to move between classes, tendency is to stay in the same class

subsistence economy

produce only what's needed, much leisure

stereotype

profiling dealing with people based on qualities of stereotype, not as individuals

factors affecting adult personality

psychologist notice dbehavior stereotypes by socialization; personal beliefs, expectations, desires, values, and behaviors that derive from the interaction between culture and the individual. Personality is the behaviors and techniques for solving problems that are used by an individual. Personality is to the individual as culture is to the group.

access to resources--land & technology by: intensive agriculturalists

purchase tools

race as a biological concept

races are based on valid biological concepts; Anth. says no: race is not a valid biological construction, no biological basis for race, more variation within races than between them .1% biologically

homosexuality

related to population pressure; Etero, New Guinea

extramarital sex

sex outside of marriage, is allowed in most societies;;;in 54% of societies people say it is okay for men to practise extramarital sex but it is practised by men in 69% of societies; 11% of societies say it is okay for women to have extramarital sex but really it is practised by 57% of women.

access to resources--land & technology by: foragers

simple tools, digging stick, snare, nets, fish hooks, bow, owned by maker but obligated to share, borrowers obligated to sell workers killed or captured

access to resources--land & technology by: horticulturalists

simple tools, digging, skill, canoe, maker owns, but obliged to share, manufactured tools are by producers at ones cross

slavery-open system

slaves anyone could become a slave, they saw it as an act of fate, no stigma, could attain status and freedom

access to: prestige

social respect, honor

potlatch

social security for receiver, social credit for giver

child rearing

some societies deliberately shape personality; the process of bringing up a child or children

special purpose money

something of value for which only some good or services can be exchanged, link between currency and what is purchased, not true commercial exchange ex. tokes for games, script (only good in company store), stamps, coupons, gift cards from a special store, tickets, store card, WIC/STAR?/food stamps, poker chips

division of labor

the division of tasks in a society between women and men, old and young, ability, knowledge, experience.

modal personality

the most common personality trait within society, result of similar child rearing, similar adult personalities

socialization

the process by which culture is learned; also called enculturation. During socialization individuals internalize a culture's social controls, along with values and norms about right and wrong.

Indian Caste System

there were 1000s of named and ranked castes/it is also an economic system to exchange goods and services without using money; association between caste and occupation created specialists who took care of each other/relationships also inherited; in reality the high caste of people of the wealthy, religions leaders, landowners had advantages in highest caste

intensive agriculture

use varied techniques that make it possible to cultivate field permanently, used crop, fertilizer, rotational, irrigation, no fallow, more complex technology, plows

commercial or market exchange

usually moves money governed by supply and demand. usually among food producer, especially agriculturalist intensive; happens when transactions are usually impersonal and anonymous, make money exchange move efficient, many specialist who need products.

racial stereotypes

visible differences are superficial; skin color: latitude- dark in near equator; body build-temperature long and lean near equator, stock in cold areas

access to: resources

wealth-money, fishing rights, land

characteristics of: pastoralists

whole communities has loose right to acts a "designated owner" negotiation the ;; animals owned by families or individuals, more possessions because they carry, her products traded for necessities-around because animals privately owned

incentives for labor

why people work harder than the rest; when mouth to feed for social rewards; prestige from generosity; desire to achieve, help others

women's roles

women always: childcare;; women usually: gather plants, process plants, cook, laundry, fetch fuel and water, spin yarn, garden

status of women

women have high status when kinship and residence after marriage are organized around women; kinship=if traced through females they have higher status; residence=married couple live with the wife's family;;;;;Low female status in complex class societies, w/private property, intensive agricultural, craft specialized

Compatibility-with-Child-Care Theory

women tend to have jobs that allow them to nurse and care for children, near home, not dangerous, easily interrupted