question

Adaptation

answer

processes by which organisms cope with environmental forces and stresses, such as those posed by climate

question

Anthropology

answer

the study of the human species and its immediate ancestors

question

Applied Anthropology

answer

the application of anthropoligical data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identity, assess, and solve contemporary social problems

question

Archaelogical Anthropology

answer

reconstructs, describes, and interprets human behavior and cultural patterns through material remains

question

Biocultural

answer

the inclusion and combination of both bilogical and cultural perspectives and approaches to comment on or solve a particular issue or problem

question

Biological Anthropology

answer

human biological diversity in time and space

question

Cultural Anthropology

answer

the study of human society and culture, the subfield that describes, analyzes, interprets, and explains social and cultural similarities and differences

question

Cultural Resource Management

answer

decides what sites need saving, and to preserve significant information about the past when sites cannot be saved

question

Culture

answer

traditions and customs, transmitted through learning, that form and guide the beliefs and behavior of the people exposed to them

question

Ethnography

answer

provides an account of a particular community, society, or culture

question

Ethnology

answer

examines, interprets, analyzes, and compares the results of ethnography

question

Food production

answer

the cultivation of plants and domestication of animals

question

General Anthropology

answer

the academic discipline of anthropology, which includes the subfields sociocultural, archaelogical, biological, and linguistic anthropology

question

Holism

answer

refers to the study of the whole of the human condition: past, present, and future; biology, society, language, and culture

question

Linguistic Anthropology

answer

studies language in its social and cultural context, across space and over time

question

Natural Selection

answer

the process by which the forms most fit to survive and reproduce in a given environment do so in greater numbers than others in the same population do

question

Phenotype

answer

refers to an organism's evident traits

question

Racial Classification

answer

the attempt to assign humans to discrete categories based on common ancestry

question

Science

answer

a systematic field of study or body of knowledge that aims, through experiment, oberservation, and deduction, to produce reliable explanations of phenomena, with reference to the material and physical world

question

Sociolinguistics

answer

investigates relationships between social and linguistic variation

question

Tropics

answer

a belt extending about 23 degrees north and south of the equator, between the Tropic of Cancer, and the Tropic of Capricorn

question

Complex Societies

answer

large and populous societies with social stratification and central governments

question

Cultural Consultant

answer

refers to individuals the ethnographer gets to know in the field, the people who teach him or her about their culture, who provide the emic perspective

question

Emic Approach

answer

investigates how local people think

question

Etic Approach

answer

shifts the focus from local observations, categories, explanations, and interpretations to those of the anthropologist

question

Genealogical Method

answer

a well-established ethnographic technique

question

Informed Consent

answer

the agreement to take part in research, after having been so informed

question

Interview Schedule

answer

when an ethnographer talks face to face with people, asks the questions, and writes down the answers

question

Key Cultural Consultants

answer

people who, by accident, experience, talent, or training, can provide the most complete or useful information about particular aspects of life

question

Life History

answer

a recollection of a lifetime of experiences

question

Longitudinal Research

answer

the long-term study of a community, region, society, culture, or other unit, usually based on repeated visits

question

Participant Observation

answer

taking part in the events one is observing, describing, and analysing

question

Random Sample

answer

a survey type in which all members of the population have an equal statistical chance of being chosen for inclusion

question

Sample

answer

a manageable study group

question

Survey Research

answer

involves sampling, impersonal data collection, and statistical analysis

question

Variables

answer

attributes that vary among members of a sample or population

question

Acculturation

answer

the exchange of cultural features that results when groups have continuous firsthand contact

question

Core Values

answer

key, basic, central values

question

Cultural Relativism

answer

the viewpoint that behavior in one culture should not be judged by the standards of another culture

question

Cultural Rights

answer

include a group's ability to preserve its culture, to raise its children in the ways of its forebears, to continue its language, and not to be deprived of its economic base by the nation in which it's located

question

Diffusion

answer

borrowing of traits between cultures

question

Enculturation

answer

the process by which a child learns his or her culture

question

Ethnocentrism

answer

the tendancy to view one's own culture as superior and to apply one's own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures

question

Generalities

answer

features that are common to sevaral but not all human groups

question

Globalization

answer

encompasses a series of processes, including diffusion, migration, and acculturation, working to promote change in a world in which nations and people are increasingly and mutuall dependent

question

Human Rights

answer

include the right to speak freely, to hold religious beliefs without persecution, and not to be murdered, injured , or enslaved or imprisoned without charge

question

Independent Invention

answer

the process by which humans innovate, creatively finding solutions to problems

question

Intellectual Property Rights

answer

concept that says that a particular group may determine how indigenous knowledge and its products may be used and distributed and the level of compensation required

question

International Culture

answer

a level of culture that extends beyond and across national boundaries

question

National Culture

answer

a level of culture that embodies those beliefs, learned behavior patterns, values, and institutions that are shared by citizens of the same nation

question

Particularities

answer

features that are unique to certain cultural traditions

question

Subcultures

answer

different symbol-based patterns and traditions associated with particular groups in the same complex society

question

Symbols

answer

signs that have no necessary or natural connection to the things they stand for, or signify

question

Universal

answer

features that are found in every culture

question

Black English Vernacular

answer

the relatively uniform dialect spoken by the majority of black youth in most parts of the US today

question

Call Systems

answer

the natural communication systems of other primates

question

Daughter Languages

answer

languages that descend from the same parent language and that have been changing separately for hundreds or thousands of years

question

Descriptive Linguistics

answer

scientific study of a spoken language

question

Diglossia

answer

applies to high and low variants of the same language

question

Displacement

answer

the ability to talk about things that are not present

question

Focal Vocabulary

answer

specialized sets of terms and distinctions that are particularly important to certain groups

question

Historical Linguistics

answer

the longer-term change of contemporary variation in speech

question

Kinesics

answer

the study of communication through body movements, stances, gestures, and facial expressions

question

Lexicon

answer

a dictionary containing all its morphemes and their meanings

question

Morphology

answer

studies the forms in which sounds combine to form morphemes - words and their meaningful parts

question

Phoneme

answer

a sound contrast that makes a difference

question

Phonemics

answer

studies the significant sound contrasts of a given language

question

Phonetics

answer

the study of speech sounds in general

question

Phonology

answer

the study of speech sounds

question

Linguistic Productivity

answer

to use the rules of a language to produce entirely new expressions that are comprehensible to other native speakers

question

Protolanguage

answer

the original language from which a daughter language diverges

question

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

answer

states that different languages produce different ways of thinking

question

Semantics

answer

a language's meaning system

question

Sociolinguistics

answer

investigates relationships between social and linguistic variation

question

Style Shifts

answer

when speech is varied in different contexts

question

Subgroups

answer

Languages within a taxonomy of related languages that are most closely related

question

Syntax

answer

the arrangement and order of words in phrases in sentences

question

Domestic-Public Dichotomy

answer

a strong differentation between the home and the outside world

question

Extradomestic

answer

outside the home; within or pertaining to the public domain

question

Gender Roles

answer

the tasks and activities a culture assigns to the sexes

question

Gender Stereotypes

answer

oversimplified but strongly held ideas about the characteristics of males and females

question

Gender Stratification

answer

describes an unequal distribution of rewards between men and women, reflecting their different positions in a social hierarchy

question

Patriarchy

answer

a political system rules by men in which women have inferior social and political status, including basic human rights

question

Patrilineal-Patrilocal Complex

answer

consisting of patrilineality, patrilocality, warfare, and male supremacy

question

Sexual Dimorphism

answer

refers to differences in male and female biology besides the contrasts in breasts and genitals

question

Sexual Orientation

answer

refers to a person's habitual sexual attraction to, and sexual activities with, persons of the opposite sex (heterosexuality), the same sex (homosexuality), or a lack of attraction to either sex (asexuality)

question

Assimilation

answer

describes the process of change that a minority ethnic group may experience when it moves to a country where another culture dominates

question

Cultural Colonialism

answer

refers to internal domination by one group and its culture or ideology over others

question

Descent

answer

to assign social identity on the basis of ancestry

question

Discrimination

answer

refers to policies and practices that harm a group and its members

question

Ethnic Group

answer

a group that shares certain beliefs, values, habits, customs, and norms because of their common background

question

Ethnicity

answer

identification with, and feeling part of, an ethnic group and exclusion from certain other's groups because of this affliation

question

Ethnocide

answer

when a dominant group tries to destroy the cultures of certain ethnic groups

question

Genocide

answer

the deliberate elimination of a group through mass murder

question

Hypodescent

answer

automatically placing the children of a union between members of different groups in the minority group

question

Majority Groups

answer

superordinate, dominant, or controlling group

question

Minority Groups

answer

subordinate with inferior power and less secure access to resources

question

Multiculturalism

answer

the view of cultural diversity in a country as something good and desirable

question

Nation

answer

an independent, centrally organized political unit, or a government

question

Nation-State

answer

refers to an autonomous political entity, a country

question

Nationalities

answer

ethnic groups that one had, or wish to have or regain, autonomous political status

question

Phenotype

answer

an organism's evident traits - it's physiology and anatomy, including skin color, hair form, facial features, and eye color

question

Plural Society

answer

a society combining ethnic contrasts, ecological specialization, and the economic interdependence of these groups

question

Prejudice

answer

devaluing a group because of its assumed behavior, values, capabilities, or attributes

question

Race

answer

an ethnic group that is assumed to have a biological basis

question

Racism

answer

discrimination against a race

question

Refugees

answer

people who have been forced or who have chosen to flee a country, to escape persecution or war

question

Social Races

answer

groups assumed to have a biological basis but actually defined in a culturally arbitrary, rather than a scientific, manner

question

Stereotypes

answer

fixed ideas about what the members of a group are like

question

Agriculture

answer

nonindustrial system of plant cultivication characterization by continuous and intensive use of land and labour

question

Balanced Reciprocity

answer

applies to exchanges between people who are more distantly related than are members of the same band or household

question

Band

answer

basic unit of social organization among foragers that includes fewer than one hundred people

question

Correlation

answer

an association between two or more variables such that when one changes, the other also changes

question

Economy

answer

a population's system of production, distribution, and consumption of resources

question

Generalized Reciprocity

answer

principle that characterizes exchanges between closely related individuals

question

Horticulture

answer

nonindustrial system of plant cultivation in which plots lie fallo for varying lengths of time

question

Market Principle

answer

profit-oriented principle of exchange that dominates in states, particularly industrial states

question

Means of Production

answer

land, labor, technology and capital - major productive resources

question

Mode of Production

answer

way of organizing production - a set of social relations through which labor is deployed to wrest energy from nature by means of tools, skills, and knowledge

question

Nomadism, Pastoral

answer

movement throughtout the year by the whole pastoral group with their animals

question

Pastoralists

answer

people who use a food-producing strategy of adaptation based on care of herds of domesticated animals

question

Peasant

answer

small-scale agriculturalist living in a state, with rent fund obligations

question

Potlatch

answer

competitive feast among Indians on the North Pacific Coast of North America

question

Reciprocity

answer

one of the three principles of exchange that governs exchange between social equals

question

Redistribution

answer

major exchange mode of chiefdoms, many archaic states, and some states with managed economies

question

Transhumance

answer

one of two variants of pastoralism; part of the population moves seasonally with the herds while the other part remains in home villages

question

Achieved Status

answer

social status that comes thrrough talents, actions, efforts, activities, and accomplishments, rather than ascription

question

Age Set

answer

group uniting all men or women born during a certain time span

question

Ascribed Status

answer

social status that people have little or no choice about occupying

question

Big Man

answer

figure often found among tribal horticulturalists and pastoralists, who occupies no office but creates his reputation through entrepreneurship and generosity to others

question

Caste Systems

answer

closed, hereditary system of stratification, often dictated by religion

question

Chiefdom

answer

form of sociopolitical organization intermediate between the tribe and the state; kin-based with differential access ro resources and a permanent political structure

question

Conflict Resolution

answer

the means by which disputes are socially regulated and settled

question

Differential Access

answer

unequal access to resources

question

Fiscal

answer

pertaining to finances and taxation

question

Law

answer

a legal code, including trial and enforcement

question

Office

answer

permanent political position

question

Open-Class System

answer

stratification system that facilitates social mobility, with individual achievement and personal merit determining social rank

question

Power

answer

the ability to exercise one's will over others

question

Prestige

answer

esteem, respect, or approval for acts, deeds, or qualities considered exemplary

question

Slavery

answer

the most extreme, coercive, abusive, and unhumane form of legalized inequality

question

Sociopolitical Typology

answer

classification scheme based on the scale and complexity of social organization and the effectiveness of political regulation

question

Pantribal Sodality

answer

a non-kin based group that exists throughout a tribe, spanning several villages

question

State

answer

complex sociopolitical system that administers territory and populace with substantial contrasts in occupation, wealth, prestige, and power

question

Status

answer

any position that determines where someone fits in society

question

Stratification

answer

characteristic of a system with socioeconomic strata

question

Subordinate

answer

the lower, or underpriviledged, group in a stratified system

question

Superordinate

answer

the upper, or priviledged, group in a stratified system

question

Tribe

answer

form of sociopolitical organization usually based on horticulture or pastoralism

question

Vertical Mobility

answer

upward or downward change in a person's social status

question

Village Head

answer

leadership position in a village that has limited authority; leads by example and persuasion

question

Wealth

answer

all a person's material assets, including income, land, and other types of property

question

Bridewealth

answer

a customary gift before, at, or after marriage from the husband and his kin to the wife and her kin

question

Clan

answer

unilineal descent group based on stipulated descent

question

Descent Group

answer

a permanent social unit whose members claim common ancestry

question

Dowry

answer

a marital exchange in which the wife's group provides substantial gifts to the husband's family

question

Endogamy

answer

marriage between people of the same social group

question

Exogamy

answer

mating or marriage outside one's kin group

question

Extended Family Household

answer

extended household including three or more generations

question

Family

answer

a group of people who are considered to be related in some way

question

Family of Orientation

answer

nuclear family in which one is born and grows up

question

Family of Procreation

answer

nuclear family established when one marries and has children

question

Incest

answer

sexual relations with a close relative

question

Levirate

answer

custom by which a widow marries the brother of her deceased husband

question

Lineage

answer

unilineal descent group based on demonstrated descent

question

Matrilineal Descent

answer

unilineal descent rule in which people join the mother's group automatically at birth and stay members throughout life

question

Matrilocality

answer

Customary residence with the wife's relatives after marriage, so that children grow up in their mother's community

question

Neolocality

answer

postmarital residence pattern in which a couple establishes a new place of residence rather than living with or near either set of parents

question

Patrilineal Descent

answer

unilineal descent rule in which people join the father's group automatically at birth and stay member's throughout life

question

Patrilocality

answer

customary residence with the husband's relatives after marriage, so that children grow up in their father's community

question

Plural Marriage

answer

marriage of a man to two or more women or marriage of a woman to two or more men at the same time

question

Polyandry

answer

variety of plural marriage in which a woman has more than one husband

question

Polygyny

answer

variety of plural marriage in which a man has more than one wife

question

Progeny Price

answer

a gift from the husband and his kin to the wife and her kin before, at, or after marriage

question

Sororate

answer

custom by which a widower marries the sister of the diseased wife

question

Unilineal Descent

answer

matrilineal or patrilineal descent

question

Domestic-Public Dichotomy

answer

contrast between women's role in the home and men's role in public life, with a corresponding social devaluation of women's work and worth

question

Extradomestic

answer

outside the home; within or pertaining to the public domain

question

Gender Roles

answer

the tasks and activities that a culture assigns to each sex

question

Gender Stereotypes

answer

oversimplified but strongly held ideas about the characteristics of males and females

question

Gender Stratification

answer

unequal distribution of rewards, reflecting their different positions in a social hierarchy

question

Patriarchy

answer

political system ruled by men in which women have inferior social and political status, including basic human rights

question

Patrilineal-Patrilocal Complex

answer

an interrelated constellation of patrilineality, patrilocality, warfare, and male supremacy

question

Sexual Dimorphism

answer

marked differences in male and female biology besides the contrasts in breasts and genitals

question

Sexual Orientation

answer

a person's habitual sexual attraction to, and activities with persons of the opposite sex (heterosexuality), the same sex (homosexuality), or both sexes (bisexuality)

question

Animism

answer

belief in souls or doubles

question

Cargo Cults

answer

postcolonial, acculturative, religious movements common in Melanesia that attempt to explain European domination and wealth and to achieve similar success magically by mimicking European behavior

question

Communal Religions

answer

communal cults in which people organize community rituals such as harvest ceremonies and rites of passage

question

Communitas

answer

intense community spirit, a feeling of great social solidarity, equality, and togetherness; characterisic of people experiencing liminality together

question

Leveling Mechanism

answer

customs and social actions that operate to reduce differences in wealth and thus to bring standouts in line with community norms

question

Liminality

answer

the critically important marginal or in-between phase of a rite of passage

question

Magic

answer

use of supernatural techniques to accomplish specific aims

question

Mana

answer

sacred impersonal force in Melanesian and Polynesian religions

question

Monotheism

answer

worship of an eternal, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent supreme being

question

Olympian Religions

answer

religions that develop with state organization that have full-time religious specialists

question

Polytheism

answer

belief in several deities who control aspects of nature

question

Religion

answer

beliefs and rituals concerned with supernatural beings, powers, and forces

question

Revitalization Movements

answer

movements that occur in times of change, in which religious leaders emerge and undertake to alter or revitalize a society

question

Rites of Passage

answer

culturally defined activities associated with the transition from one place or stage of life to another

question

Ritual

answer

behavior that is formal, stylized, repetitive, and stereotyped, performed earnestly as a social act

question

Shaman

answer

a part-time religious practitioner who mediates between ordinary people and supernatural beings and forces

question

Taboo

answer

prohibition backed by supernatural sanctions

question

Bourgeoisie

answer

one of Karl Marx's opposed classes; owners of the means of production

question

Capital

answer

wealth or resources invested in business, with the intent of prodcuing a profit

question

Capitalist World Economy

answer

the single world system, which emerged in the 16th century, committed to production for sale, with the object of maximizing profits rather than supplying domestic needs

question

Colonialism

answer

the political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power for an extended time

question

communism

answer

a social system in which property is owned by the community and in which people work of the same common good

question

Communism

answer

a political movement and doctrine seeking to overthrow capitalism

question

Core

answer

dominant structural position in the world system

question

Imperialism

answer

a policy od extending the rule of a nation or empire over foreign nations and of taking and holding foreign colonies

question

Indigenous Peoples

answer

the original inhabitants of particular territories; often descendants of tribespeople who live on as culturally distinct colonized peoples, amny of whom aspire to autonomy

question

Industrial Revolution

answer

the historical transformation of traditional into modern societies through industrialization of the economy

question

Intervention Philosophy

answer

guiding principle of colonialism, conquest, missionization, or development; an ideological justification for outsiders to guide native peoples in specific directions

question

Neoliberalism

answer

revival of Adam Smith's classic economic liberalism, the idea that governments should not regulate private enterprise and that free market forces should rule

question

Periphery

answer

weakest structural position in the world system

question

Postcolonial

answer

referring to interactions between European nations and the societies they colonized

question

Semiperiphery

answer

structural position in the world system intermediate beteen core and periphery

question

Working Class (Prolerariat)

answer

those who must sell their labor to survive

question

World-System Theory

answer

argument for the historic and contemporary social, political, and economic significance of an identifiable global system, based on wealth and power differentials, that extends beyong individual countries

question

Anthropology and Education

answer

anthropological research in classrooms, homes, and neighborhoods, viewing students as total cultural creatures whose enculturation and attitudes toward education belong to a larger context that includes family, peers, and society

question

Applied Anthropology

answer

the application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems

question

Curer

answer

specialized role acquired through a culturally appropriate process of selection, training, certification, and acquisition of a professional image

question

Development Anthropology

answer

the branch of applied anthropology that focuses on social issues in, and the cultural dimension of, economic development

question

Disease

answer

an etic or scientifically identified health threat caused by a bacterium, virus, fungus, parasite, or other pathogen

question

Health Care Systems

answer

beliefs, customs, and specialists concerned with ensuring health and preventing and curing illness; a cultural universal

question

Illness

answer

an emic condition of poor health felt by individual

question

Equity, Increased

answer

a reduction in absolute poverty and a faired distribution of wealth

question

Medical Anthropology

answer

unites biological and cultural anthropologists in the study of disease, health problems, health care systems, and theories about illness in different cultures and ethnic groups

question

Overinnovation

answer

characteristic of development projects that require major changes in people's daily lives, especially ones that interfere with customary subsistence pursuits

question

Scientific Medicine

answer

a health care system based on scientific knowledge and procedures, encompassing such fields as pathology, microbiology, biochemisty, surgery, diagnostic technology, and applications

question

Underdifferentiation

answer

planning fallacy of viewing less developed countries as an undifferentiated group; ignoring cultural diversity and adopting a uniform approach for very different types of project beneficiaries

question

Urban Anthropology

answer

the anthropological study of life in and around world cities, including urban social problems, differences between urban and other environments, and adaptation to city life

question

Agency

answer

the active role that individuals play in interpreting, using, making and remaking culture

question

Antimodernism

answer

the rejection of the modern in favor of what is perceived as an earlier, purer, and better way of life

question

Cultural Imperialism

answer

the rapid spread or advance of one culture at the expense of others, or its imposition on other cultures, which it modifies, replaces, or destroys - usually because of differential economic or political influence

question

Diaspora

answer

the offspring of an area who have spread to many lands

question

Essentialism

answer

the process of viewing an identity as established, real, and frozen, so as to hide the historical processes and politics within which that identity developed

question

Hegemonic Reading

answer

the meaning of a text as defined by its creators or other elites

question

Hegemony

answer

a stratified social order in which subordinates comply with domination by internalizing its values and accepting its naturalness

question

Hidden Transcript

answer

the critique of power by the oppressed that goes on offstage in private where the power holders can't see it

question

Indigenized

answer

modified to fit the local culture

question

Postmodern

answer

describes the blurring and breakdown of established canons, categories, distinctions, and boundaries

question

Postmodernism

answer

a style and movement in architecture that succeeded modernism

question

Postmodernity

answer

condition of a world in flux, with people on the move, in which established groups, boundaries, identities, contrast, and standards are reaching out and breaking down

question

Public Transcript

answer

the open, public interactions between dominators and oppressed - the outer shell of power relations

question

Text

answer

something that is creatively read, interpreted, and assigned meaning by each person who receives it

question

Westernization

answer

the acculturative influence of Western expansion on other cultures

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