Cultural Anthropology midterm Hunter College ANTHC 100 – Flashcards
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acculturation
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the exchange of cultural features that results when groups come into continuous firsthand contact, the original cultural patterns of either or both groups may be altered, but the groups remain distinct
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anthropology
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The study of the human species and its immediate ancestors
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archaeological anthropology
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The branch of anthropology that reconstructs, describes, and interprets human behavior and cultural patterns through material remains; best known for the study of prehistory. Also known as "archaeology."
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assimilation
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the process of change that a minority group may experience when it moves to a country where another culture dominates; the minority is incorporated into the dominant culture to the point that it no longer exists as a seperate cultural unit.
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cultural anthropology
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The study of human society and culture, the subfield that describes, analyzes, interprets, and explains social and cultural similarities and differences
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cultural relativism
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understanding culture within the context of itself -counteracts ethnocentrism -understand meaning by understanding greater context
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culture
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traditions and customs that govern behavior and beliefs; distinctly human; transmitted through learning
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diffusion
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borrowing between culutes either directly or through intermediaries
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enculturation
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the process of learning culture -shared experience of cultural learning is changing, contested, and negotiated
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ethnocentrism
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the tendency to view ones own culture as best and to judge the behavior and beliefs of culturally different people by ones onw standards
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globalization
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worldwide intensification of interactions and increased flows of people, ideas,money, goods, diseases,etc. within and across national borders
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agency
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giving people you study a voice and power to control their actions
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settler colonialsm
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form of colonialism where settlers move into a region, often displacing indigenous inhabitants and taking over their land -settler population viewed as racially superior to natives
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manifest destiny
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19th century popular belief that westward expansion of the US was inevitable and justified -expand Protestantism, democracy, and capitalism -Monroe Doctrine:efforts of European nations to control independent nations in Latin America would be viewed as a hostile act toward US
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Indian Removal Act
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EXAMPLE OF SETTLER COLONIALISM Signed into law in 1830 by President Andrew Jackson, the Indian Removal Act provided for the general resettlement of Native Americans from east of the Mississippi River to lands west (Indian Territory).
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cultural particularism
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studies of culture emphasized the integrated and distinctive way of life of a given people.
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13th amendment
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abolishment of slavery
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14th amendment
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protection of property
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syncretism
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fusing of multiple cultural of religious traditions and practices into a new one -slaves incorporated English hymns and folk religious practices with African spiritual beliefs that suited their needs in a new environment
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hegemony
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totalizing power that a nation state and/or a dominant class within the state holds over civil society
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noble savage
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a representative of primitive humankind as idealized in Romantic literature, symbolizing the innate goodness of humanity when free from the corrupting influence of civilization.
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Maroons
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escaped slaves who hid out in the countryside, often for generations, sometimes intermarrying with native americans (seminoles)
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plantation slavery
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expansion of scale and scope of slave economy in 1700s -consolidation of smaller plantations and opening of new western lands -invention of cotton gin speeds production>>industrialization increases demand
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ethnography
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main method of research used by cultural anthropologists -participant observation of a group & their lives and culture
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shaman
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charismatic healers who used rituals and traditional medicine to heal -often central figures in community -specialized knowledge passed down thru apprenticeship -use objects with symbolic meaning (amulets, dried animal parts)
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structural functionalism
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holistic concept of culture involving kinship, ritual, and mysticism -symbolic actions reflect construction of society -cultural roles determine how a person acts
