Anthropology Mid-Term – Flashcards

the study of humankind, in particular.

anthropology that deals with human culture especially with respect to social structure, language, law, politics, religion, magic, art, and technology

Cultural relativism is that notion that allows to see the different habits, traits and values of an individual in the relevance of his or her cultural values. Ethnocentrism on the other hand is the extreme opposite of cultural relativism.

race is socially constructed and it isn't genetic or scientifically based at all

Artifacts are objects that have been made or modified by humans. Archaeology is the study of artifacts.

Language, Values, and Symbols

personal question

Culture is learned. Culture is shared. Culture is based on symbols. Culture is integrated. Culture is dynamic.

In a monochronic culture, people tend to place a high value on timeliness and schedules. They focus on the value of time, and therefore tend to have a very rigid interpretation of how to organize their schedules.

1. Societies have a basic need to meet the physiological requirements of its people. 2. All societies need to make provision for orderly mating and child-rearing that give rise to patterned systems of marriage and family. 3. Universal societal need for cultural transmission. 4. Universal need to avoid chaos and anarchy. 5. Universal need to explain the unexplained. 6. Universal need to communicate and develop language.

Humans rely on cultural adaption far more so than biological adaptation. In other words we invent things to help us cope with our surroundings. Our use of chemicals, farming, etc would be examples of adaptive culture. (look at pg. 42)

Culture changes through developments in technology, political beliefs and religious ideas. External encounters with diverse societies and environmental factors also change cultural beliefs. Cultural change sometimes causes a backlash from those with more traditional social views.

Acculturation explains the process of cultural change and psychological change that results following meeting between cultures. Enculturation is the gradual acquisition of the characteristics and norms of a culture or group by a person, another culture, etc.

Individualism,Work Ethic,Privacy, Directness, Time, Informality, Equality,Politeness, Taboos, Talking,Friendships One of the most pervasive values in American culture is individualism, and understanding its effects can help illuminate many aspects of the culture. Because of the emphasis on the individual, Americans can be quite competitive. The right to privacy is a notion that runs deep in American culture. Both respected and defended, privacy is considered fundamental to a free society. Americans value their privacy, but they are also taught to be open and direct. If they think you aren't being open and honest with them, then they may believe you are hiding something. Efficiency is a virtue in the U.S. Americans are apt to become impatient with slow-moving lines in supermarkets and banks, especially if the teller or checkout person is slowing down the line by chatting with the customers. Americans can be quite informal in their general behaviors and relationships with others. America is known as the ?land of opportunity,? and this has helped perpetuate the idea, as stated in the Declaration of Independence that ?all men are created equal. Even though Americans can be quite informal, visitors usually find them quite polite. Social protocols are quite relaxed in the U.S., so there are very few taboos. Americans can be very exuberant, warm people. They often speak fairly loudly compared to speakers from other cultures, because they believe it is important to be assertive. To Americans, a friend can be an acquaintance—or someone they have known for a long time.

Applied anthropology, also known as "practicing anthropology," is defined as the practical application of anthropological method and theory to the needs of society. It is, quite simply, anthropology put to good use. Practicing Anthropology is a career-oriented publication of the Society for Applied Anthropology.

Participant observation is one type of data collection method typically done in the qualitative research paradigm. It is a widely used methodology in many disciplines, particularly cultural anthropology. Its aim is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals (such as a religious, occupational, sub cultural group, or a particular community) and their practices through an intensive involvement with people in their cultural environment, usually over an extended period of time.

the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods. Anthropology of religion is the study of religion in relation to other social institutions, and the comparison of religious beliefs and practices across cultures.

they both have a spiritual component. and they are both ways of believing in supernatural ways

Religion is submission to a deity. Magic is subjugating the deity. In religion the devotee does the will of the deity. In magic the deity is commanded to do the desires of the devotee. Religion is an organized system based around forming a connection to the metaphysical. Magic is utilizing supernatural forces to effect a desired result.

1. Religion as an Integrative Force: Durkheim believed that the primary function of religion was to preserve and solidify society. It functions to reinforce the collective unity or social solidarity of a group. Sharing the same religion or religious interpretation of the meaning of life unites people in a cohesive and building moral order. 2. Creating a Moral Community: Religion provides a system of beliefs around which people may gather to belong to something greater than themselves in order to have their personal beliefs reinforced by the group and its rituals. Those who share a common ideology develop a collective identity and a sense of fellowship. 3. Religion as Social Control: Frank E. Manuel (1959) had said that 'religion was a mechanism which inspired terror, but terror for the preservation of society'. While conservatives have valued religion for its protective function, radicals have also often recognized that religion can be a support of the established order, and have, consequently, been critical of religion. 4. Provides Rites of Passage: Religion helps us in performing ceremonies and rituals related to rites of passage (birth, marriage, death and other momentous events) which give meaning and a social significance to our life. 5. Religion as Emotional Support: Religion is a sense of comfort and solace to the individuals during times of personal and social crises such as death of loved ones, serious injury, etc. This is especially true when something 'senseless' happens. It gives them emotional support and provides consolation, reconciliation and moral strength during trials and defeats, personal losses and unjust treatments. 6. Religion Serves a Means to Provide Answers to Ultimate Questions: Why are we here on earth? Is there a supreme being? What happens after death? All religions have certain notions and beliefs that provide answers to the above questions. These beliefs are based on the faith that life has a purpose, and there is someone or something that controls the universe. It defines the spiritual world and gives meaning to the divine. Because of its beliefs concerning people's relationships to a beyond, religion provides an explanation for events that seem difficult to understand. 7. Religion as a Source of Identity: Religion gives individuals a sense of identity—a profound and positive self-identity. It enables them to cope effectively with the many doubts and indignation of everyday life. Religion may suggest people that they are not worthless or meaningless creatures and thus helps them alleviating the frustrating experiences of life which sometimes force a person to commit suicide. According to Thomas Luckman (1983), 'The prime function of religion is to give personal meaning to life'.

10. Religion Acts as Psychotherapy: In modern world, religion has also become a supporting psychology—a form of psychotherapy. Now, God is conceived of as a humane and considerate God. Such a hopeful perception helps the sufferer in alleviating his/her personal and social crisis. 9. Psychologizing Religion: The notion of 'positive thinking' serves as an example of psychologizing religion. It provides peace of mind, promises prosperity and success in life, as well as effective and happy human relations. It is thus a source of security and confidence, and also of happiness and success in this world. But at times religion can be debilitating and personally destructive. Persons convinced of their own essential wickedness can suffer extreme personal difficulties. As Kingsley Davis (1949) noted, 'Like other medicines, it (religion) can sometimes make worse the very thing it seeks to remedy. Innumerable are the psychoses and neuroses that have religious content'. But, in this role, religion is not always harmful. Many times, it serves as a liberating and integrating force for individuals. For instance, it helps in bringing change (sobriety) to seemingly hopeless alcoholics.

Individualistic, Shamanistic, Communal, Ecclesiastical

Vision quest, Shamans, set of beliefs and rituals

an in-depth account of a people's culture studied by the anthropologist who conducted the onsite fieldwork

observing and learning in the field while participating in an activity

The notion that a person's language shapes his or her perceptions and views of the world.

It tells us how language affects people and explains the link between language and culture.

In a closed system, each sound is mutually exclusive and usually nonhuman. In this system, you cannot create new words or sounds. In an open system, you can send messages that have never been sent before.

Conversations that family and friends ay once have held in private, details of the unmentionable or the routine of everyday life, sad events, and joyous moments are now out their for anyone to view and comment, if one "linked" as a friend. Facebook has enabled the communication of what was once private to become public and interactive, even among total strangers. It has given new eating to the concepts of "friend" and "community". It allows people who to stay in touch with people who might otherwise drift away. It is a new way to interact and voice opinions.

Personal Question

We should care because language goes hand in hand with culture. If we lose languages, we also lose culture.

An anthropologist might be interested in how language functions because language is how we pass on cultural heritage. Culture is expressed through language.

Phonemes are the smallest units of sound that signal a difference in meaning. Morphemes are two or more phonemes combined. They are the smallest linguistic forms (usually words) that convey meaning. Grammar is the systematic rules by which sounds are combined in a language to enable users to send and receive meaningful utterances. Morphology is the study of the rules that govern how morphemes are formed into words. Syntax is the linguistic rules, found in all languages, that determine how phrases and sentences are contracted.

The practice of adapting one's language depending on the situation.

Spanglish (Spanish and English), Denglish (Danish and English)

Medical terminology, legal terminology

Nonverbal communication helps us interpret linguistic messages and often carries messages of its own.

Posture, eye contact, gestures

The pattern for obtaining one's food is known as a subsistence strategy. p. 139

By focusing on the relationships among people, environment, and culture, Steward was the first and leading proponent of the study cultural anthropology. p.90 An approach to anthropology that assumes that people who reside in similar environment are likely to develop similar technologies, social structures, and political institutions. p(334)

(also known as food collecting or foraging) - as compared to food producing-involves the search for wild plants and animals that exist in the natural environment. People have been hunting, gathering, and fishing for the majority of the time they have been on earth. (p. 144)

horticulturalists produce low yields, which are consumed directly by the household, not much of a surplus is generated. Some horticulutralists raise domesticated animals, such as pigs or chickens, for both food and prestige. Horticultural societies, such as the Yanomamo, who live in the Amazon Basin of Venezuela and Brazil, are known to supplement their diet with occasional hunting and gathering animals. Still other horticultural groups, such as the Samoans, supplement their crops with protein derived from fishing, while the Miskitos, indigenous people of the coastal Nicaragua, fish and raise small domesticated livestock along with their horticultural practices. In Central America, Mayan horticulturalists augment their crops(corn, beans, squash,pumpkins, and chili peppers) with fruit-bearing trees such as papaya, avocado, and cacao.

Pastoralism first appeared in the neolithic period. This subsistence pattern, sometimes referred to as animal husbandry, involves herding, breeding, and using domesticated animals such as camels, cattle,goats, horses, llamas, reindeer, sheep, and yaks. Pastorialism is most practiced in areas of the world where the terrain, soil, or rainfall is inadequate for agriculture but provides sufficient vegetation for livestock to graze. Pastoralism is generally associated with geographic mobility because herds must be moved periodically to exploit seasonal pastures and water sources. Anthropologists differentiate between two types of patterns among pastoralists: transhumance and nomadism. A third form of pastoralism found in industrial societies is known as sedentary ranching and dairy farming. p. (157)

Intensive agriculture (intensive cultivation) is today's most prevalent subsistence pattern.. It relies on large scale production practices that result in much more food being produced per acre than with other subsistence patterns, and it supports larger populations. Intensive farming methods began about five thousand years ago as the human population grew beyond the environment's carrying capacity using horticulture and pastoralism. Intensive agriculture is characterized by the use of the plow, draft animals, or machinery to plow, fertilize, and irrigate.The system is designed to produce a surplus,and as a consequence of increased productivity, there is an increase in the human carrying capacity. Cultivators who invested their time and energy in a piece of land developed

make a direct marketing approach that will help local fishermen increase seafood sales. You can do this by creating a direct marketing program that will educate residents and visitors to seek out and purchase local seafood and expand niche marketing opportunities. In this way, consumers will be able to recognize and purchase local seafood.

To protect the water that holds the fish. To make sure that the water is litter free. Otherwise, the fish can become contaminated and can make people sick and fish businesses can go down if customers feel that eat fish i not safe. Have solutions to making the water safe that benefit the people and the environment of fish and other living sea creatures.

Outsiders should consider the traditional social structures and how they change under pressure of disasters such as epidemics.

Consanguineal relatives - Blood relatives/Birth relatives Affinal relatives - Relatives through marriage

A term used to describe relations that are determined neither by blood nor marriage.

Patrilineal descent is where people trace their ancestry through the father's line. Matrilineal descent is traced through the Mother's line.

Exogamy - requirement to marry outside of a certain group Endogamy - requirement to marry inside of a certain group

Children of siblings of the opposite sex (one's mother's brother's children and one's father's sister's children)

Children of siblings of the same sex

Custom whereby a widow is expected to marry the brother.

practice which comes into play when a wife dies and demands that the widower marry the sister(closest female relative) of his deceased wife.

Practice of having only one spouse.

Practice of a man marrying more than one woman.

Practice of a woman marrying more than one man.

Bridewealth is the compensation given upon marriage by the family of the groom to the family of the bride.

Practice of men giving their labor to the bride's family instead of material wealth.

goods or money transferred in the opposite direction. From bride's family to groom's family or vice versa.

Divorce arrangements vary widely according to the reasons for the divorce and how easy or difficult it is to get a divorce.

The nuclear family is formed around the marital union and the children whereas extended family refers to two or more nuclear families that are linked by blood ties.

p. 192

They are a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexico, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles.

Posture, gestures, facial expressions, and walk

Doctors are the holy men in America.

This article is important because it reminds students to not impose their cultural values on others. It also helps students understand that it is important not to be ethnocentric.

The body ritual is basically all the different things that happen in the bathroom, especially brushing ones' teeth.

The author told the people that they shouldn't eat the dolphin they had killed. The author thought it was bad for them to eat dolphins so he told the native people not to.

Nonverbal communications signal to members of your own group what kind of person you are, how you feel about others, how you'll fit into and work in a group, whether you're assured or anxious, the degree to which you feel comfortable, with the standard of your own culture, as well as deeply significant feeling sabot the self including the state of your own psyche.

You can tell if someone is listening if they nod their head, or say "hmm". If someone wants to end a conversation, he may stat shifting his body position, stretching his legs, crossing or uncrossing them, bobbing his foot, or diverting his gaze from the speaker.

Advantages: You don't have to worry about finding a spouse. Very low divorce rate. When one marries, they gain a job, a house, and a social circle. Couples have a lifetime to get to know their spouse. Disadvantages: You don't get to pick your own spouse. Not based on love. A woman's in-laws might kill her so they can get another dowry.

They look for a family's reputation. They look at social class. Looks and skin color are important. A girls looks are important, but her character is even more important. But the most important quality is her ability to get along harmoniously with her prospective family.

If a family has many daughters, they won't be able to afford to give their daughter an elaborate wedding.

They don't grieve outwardly because for them death is more of a normality. The life expectancy is low which has made it so that mothers do not build deep relationship with there children right away. In a way this helps the mourning to be less painful.

In many ways if the culture and life expectancy changed I believe that changes would be made to the social structure and how mothers deal with the death of their children.

Egalitarian: everyone is equal. The Washo Indians were most egalitarian.

Both man and woman worked together in bring in food. They both worked together to capture rabbit, and were not segregated. Women could be leaders of the group.

Women spend most of their money on their domestic homes. Also, they don't have high Authority jobs.

Get high authority jobs. Don't spend their time as homeworkers and go out and get jobs that manage high demand goods.

No, women had the right to speak and stand for themselves. Men do not stand for women or bargain each other for them.

Men negotiate for and over women, and women do not have rights.