Anth Spring 2021 Exam 2

True or false - For antidiscrimination activists and educators, it is usually enough to simply demonstrate the existence of prejudice and discrimination.

True

A good illustration of the Marxist concept of surplus value is a) a worker shows up to work late and gets his pay reduced, generating more profit for the owner b) a worker makes one $30 sweater every hour in a factory but gets paid only $15 c) a worker improves her or his efficiency by not taking bathroom breaks d) a factory owner prevents labor unions from forming in the factory

a worker makes one $30 sweater every hour in a factory but gets paid only $15

The most important goal of the Congolese sapeur is to a) imitate European consumers b) steal and resell secondhand clothes c) accumulate prestige d) all of the above

accumulate prestige

Which of the following theories is most concerned with understanding how people maintain political power in their daily activities and decision-making processes? a) action theory b) Marxist theory c) structural-functionalist theory d) world systems theory

action theory

A cultural constructionist who studies class would be interested in a) the ways intelligence tests are designed in ways that demonstrate that poor people are less intelligent than rich people b) the cultural practices of an emerging middle class in a place like Nepal c) the new ways in which class identities are combined with racial and ethnic identities, such as the idea that WASP signifies white or Jew signifies middle class d) all of the above e) none of the above

all of the above

Economic anthropologists study a) the decisions people make about earning a living b) what types of work people choose to do c) the creation of value d) all of the above

all of the above

In many societies people resolve disputes by restoring harmony, even though they are not always satisfied with this resolution. Why? a) because it's better to win a dispute b) because most people would rather avoid the issue altogether c) because adversarial relationships are more effective at getting to the bottom of the problem d) because of a preference for justice, fairness, and the rule of law

because of a preference for justice, fairness, and the rule of law

The theory that explains why cultural differences have not disappeared because cultural consciousness is increasingly bringing people together around cultural similarities is a) world systems theory b) cultural convergence theory c) clash of civilizations theory d) hybridization theory

clash of civilizations theory

A substantivist would be most likely to explain the Kula cycle as a) an elaborate exercise with little useful benefits to the society b) closely tied to important social institutions, such as kin networks, trading ties, and political structures c) an opportunity for individuals with keen negotiating skills to get a lot of goods d) a way of gaining personal prestige

closely tied to important social institutions, such as kin networks, trading ties, and political structures

Financial globalization has allowed for a) wealth to be evenly distributed throughout the world b) corporations to move factories from one country to another c) the minimum wage to increase d) all of the above

corporations to move factories from one country to another

Negative or unfair treatment of a person because of his or her group membership or identity is a) racism b) prejudice c) discrimination d) violence

discrimination

True or false - Exchange is a human universal

false

True or false - Globalization is so exciting to anthropologists right now because they have never studied is interconnectivity before.

false

True or false - People in the periphery responded passively to capitalist expansion.

false

True or false - The use of money is a human universal

false

True or false - When people around the world have disputes, they are most concerned with winning and losing.

false

Anthropologist Ashraf Ghani's successes as a finance minister and presidential candidate in Afghanistan can be attributed to what? a) his attentiveness to local social norms and priorities b) his strong anticapitalist credentials as a Marxist c) the retraining he went through as a developmental economist d) his close ties to anti-Taliban sectors of the population

his attentiveness to local social norms and priorities

Eric Wolf encouraged anthropologists to consider what in their field studies? a) language b) economics c) history d) sexuality

history

For anthropologists, political power refers to a) how elected officials use power b) how violence is used by the nation-state to subdue dissent c) how politics operates informally d) how power is used to attain goals for the good of the community

how power is used to attain goals for the good of the community

A formalist anthropologists doing fieldwork in a supermarket would be most interested in a) the geographic location and formal spatial layout of the supermarket b) how shoppers decide which cat food to buy when they have fifteen varieties to choose from c) the ways managers appropriate the labor of checkout clerks, butchers, and other workers d) the diverse ways general-purpose money circulates in the store

how shoppers decide which cat food to buy when they have fifteen varieties to choose from

Which of the following is not true about hybridization theories? a) it has several aliases, among them "syncretism" b) it explains why conflict is growing in the world c) it reimagines old racialist thinking that abhorred mixture d) it rejects the existence of cultural purities

it explains why conflict is growing in the world

One of Hortense Powdermaker's key insights about prejudice is that a) it is based on flawed logic b) people are born with prejudices c) it is based on generalizations that are generally correct d) once learned, prejudices are impossible to give up

it is based on flawed logic

The exercise of political power requires a) force b) violence c) authority d) legitimacy

legitimacy

If you wanted to study ongoing racialization processes in the United States, you would most likely focus on a) new ideas emerging about the moral purity and pollution of black people b) new patterns in which people are dropping ethnic identification in favor of whiteness c) the creation of new products for Latinos by companies like Goya foods d) the ways whites use their unearned privileges

new patterns in which people are dropping ethnic identification in favor of whiteness

Which of the following analyses of Christmas shopping would be least likely to come from a follower of cultural economics? a) people buy gifts to reaffirm and strengthen social relations b) people buy certain gifts to build their stature among friends and family c) people might buy some gifts in a store and trade and barter for other gifts d) people always make decisions about what to buy on the basis of getting the lowest price

people always make decisions about what to buy on the basis of getting the lowest price

From an anthropological perspective, the main reason Wall Street banks are not the bastions of individualism and cold rationalism many think they are is that a) bankers can be quite compassionate and donate money to many worthy causes b) personal relationships and local knowledge are critical to successful transactions c) the government heavily regulates the decisions bankers make d) certain bankers think more like Marxists than neoclassical economists

personal relationships and local knowledge are critical to successful transactions

The importance of structural functionalism is that it a) helped anthropologists understand the evolution of political systems b) showed that violence and chaos are universal aspects of human affairs c) showed that non-Western societies have order without formal government d) none of the above

showed that non-western societies have order without formal government

The "natural" order represented in social hierarchies of any society is supported by a) biology b) truth c) social institutions d) historical facts

social institutions

Power that transcends individuals, operating in settings and orchestrating settings in which social and individual actions take place, is a) authority b) structural power c) domination d) violence

structural power

The exercise of political power in state and nonstate societies is different in all of the following respects except a) the ways in which power is gained b) the uses of violence and coercion toward political ends c) the importance of personal connections d) the ways in which power is transmitted to others

the importance of personal connections

A good illustration of the naturalization of race is a) people from a particular racial group projecting their ideas of scenic beauty onto a landscape b) the natural occurrence of differences in skin color between populations c) the processes involved in approving BiDil for use among African Americans d) all of the above

the processes involved in approving BiDil for use among African Americans

In a study on the Olympics a hybridization theorist would likely focus on a) how national conflicts play out through athletic competitions b) the unexpected social patterns that emerge from intermingling between athletes, fans, and officials c) the shared values of amateurism and internationalism d) how the principles of capitalist efficiency have reshaped the games

the unexpected social patterns that emerge from intermingling between athletes, fans, and officials

True or false - A key feature of political anthropologist Maxwell Owusu's perspective on democracy in Ghana is that the state will work better if village chiefs play a role in decision-making.

true

True or false - Genetically speaking, humans are a remarkably homogeneous species: there is far greater variation within human groups than there is between them.

true

True or false - Gift exchanges are important because people everywhere invest symbolic meaning in the things they give, receive, and consume

true

True or false - In some hunter-gatherer groups relations are egalitarian and women can become leaders of a band.

true

True or false - Localization is the flip side of globalization

true

True or false - Patterns of social inequality and racial discrimination have important biological consequences for certain groups, such as African Americans.

true

True or false - The process of capital accumulation and the expansion of European colonialism disrupted many societies

true

A good example of disguised discrimination is a) when the police do racial profiling b) when a teacher divides her or his class into brown eye and blue eye groups c) when formal laws prevent certain social groups from being full citizens d) when shopkeepers or security guards follow black customers through stores

when shopkeepers or security guards follow black customers through stores