Ant 200 Exam Three Vocabulary

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power

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the capacity to take action in the face of resistance, through force if necessary

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authority

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the ability to take action based on a person's achieved or ascribed status or moral reputation.

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influence

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the ability to achieve a desired end by exerting social or moral pressure on someone or some group.

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political organization

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the existence of groups for purposes of public decision making and leadership, maintaining social cohesion and order, protecting group rights, and ensuring safety from external threats.

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band

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the political organization of foraging groups, with minimal leadership and flexible membership.

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tribe

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a political group that comprises several bands or lineage groups, each with similar language and lifestyle and occupying a distinct territory.

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segmentary model

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type of political organization in which smaller units unite in the face of external threats and then disunite when the external threat is absent.

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big-man (or big-woman) system

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a form of political organization midway between tribe and chiefdom involving reliance on the leadership of key individuals who develop a political following through personal ties and redistributive feasts.

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moka

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a strategy for developing political leadership in highland Papua New Guinea that involves exchanging gifts and favors with individuals and sponsoring large feasts where further gift giving occurs.

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chiefdom

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a political unit of permanently allied tribes and villages under one recognized leader.

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matriarchy

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a society in which women are dominant in terms of economics, politics, and ideology.

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in-kind taxation

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a system of mandatory noncash contributions to the state.

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faction

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a politically oriented group with strong lateral ties to a leader.

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nation

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a group of people who share a language, culture, territorial base, political organization, and history.

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critical legal anthropology

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an approach within legal anthropology that examines how law and judicial systems serve to maintain and expand dominant power interests rather than protecting marginal and less powerful people.

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social control

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processes that maintain orderly social life, including informal and formal mechanisms.

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norm

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a generally agreed-upon standard for how people should behave, usually unwritten and learned unconsciously.

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law

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a binding rule created through enactment or custom that defines right and reasonable behavior and is enforceable by threat of punishment.

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policing

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the exercise of social control through processes of surveillance and the threat of punishment related to maintaining social order.

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trial by ordeal

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a way of determining innocence or guilt in which the accused person is put to a test that may be painful, stressful, or fatal.

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legal pluralism

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a situation in which more than one way exists of defining acceptable and unacceptable behavior and ways to deal with the latter.

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banditry

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a form of aggressive conflict that involves socially patterned theft, usually practiced by a person or group of persons who are socially marginal and who may gain mythic status.

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feuding

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long-term, retributive violence that may be lethal between families, groups of families, or tribes.

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revolution

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a political crisis prompted by illegal and often violent actions of subordinate groups that seek to change the political institutions or social structure of a society.

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war

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organized and purposeful group action directed against another group and involving lethal force.

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critical military anthropology

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the study of the military as a power structure in terms of its roles and internal social dynamics.

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religion

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beliefs and behavior related to supernatural beings and forces.

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magic

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the attempt to compel supernatural forces and beings to act in certain ways.

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animism

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the belief in souls or "doubles."

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myth

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a narrative with a plot that involves the supernaturals.

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doctrine

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direct and formalized statements about religious beliefs.

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animatism

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a belief system in which the supernatural is conceived of as an impersonal power.

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ritual

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a patterned behavior that has to do with the supernatural realm.

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life-cycle ritual

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a ritual that marks a change in status from one life stage to another; also called rite of passage.

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pilgrimage

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round-trip travel to a sacred place or places for purposes of religious devotion of ritual.

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ritual of inversion

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a ritual in which normal social roles and order are temporarily reversed.

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sacrifice

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a ritual in which something is offered to the supernaturals.

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priest/priestess

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male or female full-time religious specialist whose position is based mainly on abilities gained through formal training.

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world religion

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a term coined in the nineteenth century to refer to a religion that is text-based, has many followers, is regionally widespread, and is concerned with salvation.

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religious pluralism

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when one or more religions coexist as either complementary to each other or as competitive systems.

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religious syncretism

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the blending of features of two or more cultures, especially used in discussion of religious change.

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revitalization movement

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a socioreligious movement, usually organized by a prophetic leader, that seeks to construct a more satisfying situation by reviving all or parts of a religion that has been threatened by outside forces or by adopting new practices and beliefs.

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cargo cult

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a form of revitalization movement that emerged in Melanesia and New Zealand following World War II in response to Western and Japanese influences.

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expressive culture

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behavior and beliefs related to art, leisure, and play.

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art

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the application of imagination, skill, and style to matter, movement, and sound that goes beyond what is purely practical.

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ethno-esthetics

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culturally specific definitions of what art is.

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ethnomusicology

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the cross-cultural study of music.

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theater

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a form of enactment, related to other forms such as dance, music, parades, competitive games and sports, and verbal art, that seeks to entertain through acting, movement, and sound.

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heterotopia

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a new situation formed from elements drawn from multiple and diverse contexts.

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museum

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an institution that collects, preserves, interprets, and displays objects on a regular basis.

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repatriation

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returning art or other objects from museums to the people with whom they originated.

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wa

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Japanese word meaning discipline and self-sacrifice for the good of the group.

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blood sport

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a form of competition that explicitly seeks to bring about a flow of blood, or even death, of human-human contestants, human-animal contestants, or animal-animal contestants.

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material cultural heritage

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sites, monuments, buildings, and movable objects considered to have outstanding value and humanity. Also called cultural heritage.

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intangible cultural heritage

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UNESCO's view of culture as manifested in oral traditions, languages, performing arts, rituals and festive events, knowledge and practices about nature and the universe, and craftmaking. Also called living heritage.