Anthropology Chapter 4

Front 1

theory

Back 1

systematically organized knowledge applicable in a relatively wide variety of circumstances rather than in a single instance or case

Front 2

typology

Back 2

a classification system based on forms of human society

Front 3

unilineal cultural evolutionism. stages?

Back 3

- society goes through a series of stages in order to reach civilization
- each stage has progressive sophistication and complexity

stages: savagery, barbarism, civilization

Front 4

criticism of unlineal evolutionism

Back 4

- it does not explain the process of WHY things change
- it does not explain the differences within stages- people within the stages have different lives, institutions, etc.

Front 5

neo-evolutionary theory. simple v. complex

Back 5

- change is based on efficiency of technology
- development occurs when technology is invented that harnesses energy while not spending a lot of money
- presumes progressive change

- simple= low efficiency= primitive
- complex= higher efficiency= advanced
- a materialist theory- concerned with materialist things

Front 6

cultural ecology. technology is impacted by?

Back 6

- the relationship between a society and the environment it lives in
- environment shapes technology- technology is a functionality of an adaptation to different environments. it means different things to different societies because of the environment that they live in.
- focuses on adaptations not progress- typologies of adaptation
- no longer interested in classification of stages of change

Front 7

cultural ecology theory

Back 7

- social groups that live in similar environments develop similar but not identical cultural ecologies

Front 8

band. foragers?

Back 8

- foragers: a small group of usually under 50 people
- labor divided according to age and sex
- social relations= highly egalitarian
- form of social organization

Front 9

tribe

Back 9

- larger than a band
- farm or herd for a living
- social relations= relatively egalitarian
- form of social organization

Front 10

chiefdom

Back 10

- chief is the leader
- chief and chiefs close relatives are set apart from the rest of society and are allowed privileged access to wealth, power, and prestige
- form of social organization

Front 11

state

Back 11

- possesses a territory that is defended from outside enemies with an army and from internal disorder with police
- separate set of governmental institutions designed to enforce laws and collect taxes and tribute
- run by an elite that possesses a monopoly on the use of force
- form of social organization

Front 12

structural-functional theory

Back 12

- explains how different social forms function from day to day in order to produce the traditional structure of society.
APPRECIATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF HOW EVERYTHING FUNCTIONS
- focuses on stability and order: explains how societies reproduce themselves, maintain order, and stabilize change.

- says a society/culture is structured like an organism. social institutions are like organ systems that function together to keep the organism alive.

- understanding the relationship between social institutions for producing social stability and structure rather than change
- no matter how different these institutions might be, we can understand their structural function in the same theoretical way.
ex) bands, tribes, cheif, state

Front 13

structuralism

Back 13

- forms of social organization are structured in terms of binary (2-part) opposition
ex) kinship, religion

- appreciate and understand the purpose of how everything functions!

Front 14

interpretive theory

Back 14

- no concern with structure of function
- focuses on cultural meaning rather than order or patterns of culture
- context provides on the framework for understanding cultural meaning

Front 15

culture traits and culture area theory. historical particularism

Back 15

- CT: features of a cultural tradition (dance, ritual, etc)
- CA: limits of borrowing, or the diffusion, of cultural TRAITS, material culture allows us to differentiate between regions
- theory: analyzes culture change in a historical context
--understand how items of material culture got from one part of the world to another part of the world through DIFFUSION or INDEPENDENT INVENTION
-- trade networks and shared cultural traits define a culture
- historical particularism: accounts for differences without referencing stages of development, progress, or adaptation

Front 16

cline

Back 16

- the gradual intergradations of genetic variation from population to population

Front 17

colonialism

Back 17

- cultural domination with enforced social change

Front 18

neocolonialism

Back 18

- persistence of profound social and economic entanglements linking former colonial territories to their former colonial rulers despite political sovereignty

Front 19

capitalism

Back 19

- economic system by supply and demand

Front 20

political economy

Back 20

- holistic term that emphasizes the centrality of material interest (economy) and the use of power (politics) to protect and enhance that interest