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125 Cards in this Set

  • Front
  • Back
Political anthropology
explores how relations of power manifest themselves in human societies
Economic anthropology
explores how economic systems vary across time across cultures
Worldviews
totalizing pictures of reality created by members of society
- Can be influenced by state and economy
Cultural evolution
changes over time in learned beliefs and behaviors that shape human development and social life
What kind of theories of evolution did cultural anthropologists critique and why?
Much of cultural anthropology critiqued unilinear theories of evolution through broad stages
Societies do no progress from families to bands then tribes and finally states
Instead, social organization can go back and forth between these types over times
Multilinear evolution
(Steward) different societies have core cultures that experience certain repeating patterns of social organization - related to the ecology
How does the environment affect social organization?
• Marginal regions with low resource abundance typically had hunter-gatherer societies with family or band social organization
• More productive areas with stable rainfall, high soil fertility could support agriculture and state-level social organization
The Shoshoni
At the time of Euro-American settlement, the Shoshoni were one of the most "primitive" tribes of the Southwest
Steward pointed out that they were not "primitive" but uniquely adapted to their ecological context
Among the Shoshoni Indians of the Great Basin Desert, resources are patchy and uncertain
As an adaptation, Shoshoni were organized into small nomadic family groups who would flexibly exploit this kind of environment
Eric Wolf
Wolf was a student of Steward's at Columbia
Agreed that linear cultural evolution was problematic but also pointed out that Steward's multilinear evolution did not take history into account
Wolf showed how remote ethnic groups do have a history that is inter-connected with the great civilizations of Europe, Asia, etc.
They do not represent "tribal" fossils of the past but are a product of their own social history in connection with other groups and global processes
"Europe and the People Without History"
(1982) pointed out that anthropologists tended to assume that Europe and its peoples had history
Power
(giddens) the transformative capacity or ability to transform a given situation
What modifies power?
- Power is modified by institutions – complex, variable, and enduring forms of cultural practices that organize social life
Institutions
complex, variable, and enduring forms of cultural practices that organize social life
Gramsci
• Gramsci was an Italian philosopher/political scientist and communist
• He pointed out that coercive rule is expensive and unstable
What did Gramsci believe is a better way for rulers to work?
• Rulers do much better if they use persuasion as opposed to brute force to dominate their subjects
• They can use symbols and institutions such as schools to disseminate their ideology and justify their rule
• Gramsci showed how the state used hegemony - the persuasion of subordinates to accept the ideology of a dominant group through mutual accommodations that preserve power
Coercive power
(domination) is the use of force or threat of force to control others
- Coercion also occurs in stateless societies where other groups are dominated by lineages or religious leaders
Persuasive power
(hegemony) is the use of ideology, propaganda, or more subtle tools to control others
James Scott
• Scott is an anthropologist/political scientist at Yale University
• Scott's Weapons of the Weak (1985) explored the "everyday forms of peasant resistance" that subordinate people use to resist State power in Malaysia
Weapons of the Weak
• Scott showed how people drag their feet, pilfer supplies, desert, and fake compliance
• None of this actually changes their status as a subordinate group or threatens the hegemony of the dominant group
• But, it does allow people to express agency in the face of power and at least undercut the state in indirect but important ways
Marshall Sahlins
Pre-eminent economic anthropologist at the university of Chicago
Student of Julian Steward at Columbia university and became interested in subsistence systems of hunter-gatherers/horticulturalists
One of his famous works is "Stone Age Economics" (1972)
Stone Age Economics
- Sahlins tested whether hunter-gatherer societies were primitive and that their subsistence life ways were marginal and "at the brink of starvation"
subsistence Economy
one in which people produce for their own household consumption as opposed to a market
- • Scholars theorized that subsistence economies were necessarily "harder" and demanded more work and less leisure than modern industrialized ones
Affluence
(Sahlins) having more than enough of whatever you need for basic consumption needs (i.e. food, clothes, tools, etc)
What are the two ways to create affluence?
Produce much - produce a lot of material in excess of your needs (western, capitalist system)
Desire little - want only a limited amount of material goods or food so that anything in excess is "affluence" (i.e. Ju/'Hoansi foragers)
Yup'ik subsistence economies
-Indigenous peoples of Alaska pursue a mixed cash-subsistence economy
- People do not distinguish between "work" and "leisure"
Cultural Relativism
Ultimately, "wealth," "affluence," "work," or "leisure" are culturally relative - i.e., depend on specific cultural, historical, and environmental contexts
Economic motivations are not always about obtaining surplus beyond needs or "self-interest"
Economic exchange is also geared around status and prestige
Neoclassical Economic Theory
a formal attempt to explain the capitalist system, especially through distribution
Capitalism
an economic system dominated by a supply-demand-price mechanism called the "market"
- Capitalism can also refer to the way of life that developed through market relations
Feudal Systems
elites extracted surplus form subordinate serfs/peasants and there was not market" for goods or labor. Based on status.
Status
a particular social position within a group (i.e. elites and subordinates)
Redistribution
a mode of exchange that requires some sort of centralized social organization to receive goods from some members and then redistribute them for all members
Potlach
a type of economic redistribution of goods by Northwest Coast indigenous groups
• Among these highly stratified societies, elites tried to outdo one another by giving away vast quantities of gifts during a ceremony
• The elite noble hosting the potlatch accumulated goods and then redistributed them to other nobles from other villages
• These nobles in turn returned to their villages and redistributed those goods
Reciprocity
• Reciprocity is the oldest mode of exchange. It is the exchange of goods or services of equal value
• Reciprocity is characteristic of egalitarian societies, NOT stratified ones
Generalized reciprocity
parties do not specify an immediate return or value of the retuned
Balanced reciprocity
exchange in which the return is expected to be of equal value in a specified amount of time
Negative Reciprocity
exchange in which one party tries to gain advantage over the other
Kinship
a system by which people reckon social relatedness based on mating, birth, and nurturance
descent
culturally recognized parent-child connections
marriage
culturally recognized mating bonds, generally between men and women
Kinship is based on _____________ but cannot be reduced to ________ alone
Kinship is based on biological relationships but cannot be reduced to biology alone
Sex
within anthropology refers to the observable physical characteristics athat distinguish males and females
Gender
within anthropology refers to the cultural construction of beliefs and behaviors associated with each sex
Unilineal descent
assumes that relatedness is based on just one's father or mother's line
Bilateral descent
assumes that relatedness is based on both the father and mother's line (cognatic descent)
Consanguineal relationships
descent ties based on "blood" or biological descent (consanguines)
Affinal relationships
ties based on marriage (affines)
Patrilineal Descent System
In patrilineal descent, males and females belong to their father's lineage but not their mother's
For ego, only their father's brother and father's sister are kin
Their mother's kin do not "count"
Matrilineal descent system
In matrilineal descent, males and females belong to their mother's lineage
For ego, only their mother's brother and mother's sister are kin
Their father's kin do not "count"
Matrilineal Societies
Navajo, hopi, and Ashanti are classic matrilineal societies
Among the Ashanti of Ghana, a king passes his title to his sister's son. His son is not a part of the lineage based on matrilineal descent
Among the Navajo, women inherit wealth, sheep and land through their mothers
Emory Sekaquaptewa
(1928 - 2008)
Emory Sekaquaptewa was a research anthropologist and law professor at the university of Arizona and helped write the Hopi dictionary
Cognatic descent
bilateral where both mother and father's lineages are reckoned
Bilineal descent
cognatic descent where only the mother's maternal and father's paternal lineage contributes to the child's bilateral lineage
Bilateral Descent
Bilateral descent is euro-American where both a father and mother's lineage contribute to ego
All the red relations are considered "relatives" whereby the others are "in-laws"
Consanguineal relations are considered "closer" than affines
Few societies worldwide practive bilateral descent but many people do
Ju/'hoansi Naming, joking, and Avoidance
• Ju/'Hoansi kinship is dense and affects naming, joking, and avoiding
• Joking relations are those with whom an ego is encouraged to tease and/or flirt
Euro-American kinship classification
based on bilateral descent, all consanguines and affines are recognized as relatives
Eskimo kinship Classification
• Euro-American kinship naming is typical of Eskimo Kinship classification
• Only the nuclear famil is classifies as mother (2) father (1) brother(5) and sister (6)
• MoBr, FaBr are BOTH Uncles (4) and all offspring of the same generation as ego are cousins
• Ego cannot marry his/her cousins
Hawiian Kinship classification
• The least Complex naming system is the Hawaiian
In this case, MoBr is father (1), FaBr is also Father (1). MoSi and FaSi are also Mother (2)
All children of the same generation are actually brother (3) and sister (4)
Ego cannot marry cousins
Sudanese system
• A very complex naming system is the Sudanese system of kinship terminology
• Most kinsmen are not lumped under the same kinship term
• Each category of relative is given a distinct term based on genealogical distance from ego and on the side of the family - i.e., MoBr and FaBr have different terms
• There are 8 different cousin terms, all of which are distinguished form ego's brother and sister
• Ego cannot marry his/her cousins
Parallel cousins
the children f ego's parents' same gender siblings (Ego's FaBr's children or MoSi's children)
Cross Cousins
the Children of Ego' parents' opposite - gender siblings (Ego's FaSi's children or MoBr's children)
Some societies encourage marriage of males of ______ cousins but NOT _______ cousins
• Some societies encourage marriage of males of cross-cousins but NOT parallel cousins
Explain bilateral cross-cousin marriage
• In African groups, cross cousin marriage maintains alliances and balances reciprocity between lineages
○ Marriages in initial generation
§ Man from lineage A marries woman from Lineage B and Woman from lineage A marries Woman from Lineage B (Two Men marry eachother's sisters)
○ Marriages in second generation
§ Boy from lineage B marries cross cousin (father's sisters daughter)
□ Also mother's brother's daughter
○ This marital exchange continues in subsequent generations
• This is common in Yanomamo marriage in Amazonia
• The disadvantages of this system is a limitation of the gene pool and increasing prevalence of recessive traits.
Marriage
a complex social institution that defines sexual partners, perpetuates social patterns through the birth of offspring, creates relationships between the kin of partners, and is symbolically marked
Endogamy
marriage within a defined social group
Religion, class, etc.
Generally expected to marry opposite sex
Race, ethnicity sometimes an issue
Exogamy
marriage outside a defined social group
Can't marry family members (consanguines)
Patrilocal
post marital residence pattern in which a couple lives with the husband's father
Matrilocal
post marital residence pattern in which a couple lives with the wife's mother
Neolocal
post marital residence pattern in which a couple sets up their own independent household of their choosing
Avunculocal
post marital residence pattern in which a married couple lives with the husband's mother's brother - i.e. "of uncle"
Bridewealth
common in patrilineal societies and entails the exchange of symbolically important goods from the family of the groom to the family of the bride
• Bridewealth represents a form of compensation to the wife's lineage for the loss of her labor and/or child-bearing capacities
Dowry
the wealth transferred, usually from parents to their daughter, at the time of marriage
Social inequality
refers to the pattern that certain social groups have more access to material goods and social services than others
- revolves around gender, class, caste, ethnicity and nationalism
where is social inequality particularly evident?
Social inequality is particularly evident in complex state-level societies - especially in contemporary contexts
• Social inequality is less evident in the fossil record of early hominids
• Social inequality is less pronounced in small-scale hunter-gatherer societies
○ We call them "egalitarian"
Structural violence
violence resulting from the ways in which political and economic structure risk and create suffering within a population
• Paul farmer (a medical anthropologist) coined this term while working in Haiti
Paul Farmer
• Wrote AIDS and Accusation: Haiti and the Geography of Blame, and Pathologies of Power: Health, Human rights and the New War on the Poor
• Helped found Partners in Health (PIH) - an international health organization that sees health care as a human right
• Combines advocacy, applies anthropology, academia and medicine
• Health Care is a right, We must have universal health care
○ Stupid deaths are deaths that could easily be prevented
Contemporary Structural Violence in the U.S.
Numerous groups in the U.S. face structural violence - especially people of color in urban areas
Geography contributes to structural violence in the U.S.
"class consciousness"
workers fail to recognize their commonalities and develop solidarity
- Karl Marx
Proletarians
(Workers) do not own the means of production or private property
○ Have to sell labor and work for someone else
Marxian theory
• Class is a function of unequal productive relations whereby the capitalist bourgeoisie own the means of production and exploit the proletariat - even thought they vastly outnumber them
Clientage
a social institution which links individuals from upper are lower levels in a stratifies society
• The superior person is the "patron" and the subordinate person is the "client"
how does clientage perpetuate inequality?
• Patron-client relationships entail reciprocity between each party in order to maintain stability, which perpetuates inequality
• Patrons depend on clients for political power while clients depend on patrons for protection or access to land
Compadrazgo Systems
Patron-client systems are common in Latin America are compadrazgo relationships
Compadrazgo refers to ritual co-parenting relationships between lower class peoples and elites
Lower class people seek out compadres or "god parents" for their children and cement this in baptisms
Patrons give their godchild or family gifts or money when they need support and the family provides the elites with votes
Caste
a ranked group within a hierarchically stratifies society that is closed, prohibiting individuals from moving from one caste to another
What is Caste in kinship terms?
endogamous meaning you are born into and marry within your class
Ain't never getting out!
What two ideas are perpetuated in the indian caste system?
-Involves Varna which is a Hindi division of society into priests, warriors, farmers, and merchants
-It also involves jati, which are local, named, endogamous descent groups
race
distinctions based on skin color or biology
The social category of race is a relatively _____ concept
The social category of race - distinctions based on skin color or biology is relatively recent and racial prejudice can be dated to the sixteenth century
Racism
the systematic oppression of one race by another based on supposed biological differences and inferiorities
How did race and racism develop in the U.S.?
• Race and racism in the U.S. is a result of history and political economy
• North and South America were colonized by "white" Europeans and their plantation economies (cotton, tobacco, sisal, etc.) needed large amounts of labor
• Slaves were imported from Africa and to other parts of the world to provide this labor
• Race and racism are cultural products of history and economic relations of inequality
Colorism
a system of social identity based on a gradient of skin color between white and black
Ethnicity
a principle of social classification used to create groups based on certain cultural features including national origin, religion, dress, language, etc.
What are some details about ethnicity? how does it emerge and how is it ascribed?
• Ethnicity emerges from historical processes that incorporate distinct social groups into a single political structure under conditions of inequality
• Ethnicity is marked in part by self-ascription - i.e. insiders' efforts to define their own identity from within
Ethnicity is also marked by other-ascription - i.e., outsider's efforts to define the identities of other groups from without
How were native american tribes affected by other-ascription?
Native American tribes were "created" by groups of people creating boundaries between themselves and others based on language and kinship
Ethnicity is generally...
fluid, malleable and flexible. It can be embraced or ignored depending on circumstances
Ethnicity and Ethnic Groups in Africa
• African peoples have several different identities based on nationality, region, tribe, linguistic group, etc.
• In Cameroon, French, German, and British colonial powers used these ethnic identities to "invent" ethnic groups in order to control territories and people
• Colonists preferred Muslims and they became a distinct "ethnic group" viz. the pagans
○ People could become "Fulbe" by converting to Islam and achieve greater social status
How old are states?
• States are not a new phenomenon and we see them in the archeological record as the Inca, Maya, Aztec, etc.
how old are nation-states?
• Nation-States, however, are a recent invention
What was the system of government prior to french revolution?
• Prior to the French Revolution, European states were rules by kings, queens, and emperors whose right to rule was "ordained by God"
What was significant about the french revolution?
• The French Revolution of 1789 undermines the divine right of kings and rulers needed a new basis on which to assert their authority
Nations
groups of people believed to share the same history, culture and language associated with a particular territory
• That territory may also coincide geographically with a given state - or political body
The nation-state
became the ideal political unit in which national identity and political territory coincide
Nationality
an identity based on belonging to a nation-state
nationalism and inequality
• In the post-colonial world after WWII, many former colonies became modern nation-states and attempted to forge national identities among ethnic groups
• This led to some groups becoming privileged over others
○ As in the Rwandan genocide, certain privileged groups of Tutsis by Hutus
○ Hutu and Tutsi identities are a historical product of colonial policies
Globalization
the reshaping of the local conditions by powerful global forces on an ever-intensifying scale
Coca-Cola and Globalization
Coca-Cola was invented in the U.S. and is based in Georgia
"coca" come sfrom the coca plant or "cocaine" which grows in the Andes
"cola" comes from the kola nuts which are native to Africa
Ironically, coca-cola is actually a product of globalization
Globalization, Conservation and Indigenous peoples
Globalization is powered largely by capitalism and the needs of Euro-American nation states
On the one hand, it has exacerbated inequalities between rich and poor, north and south
This is particularly true for the world's indigenous people who tend to be poor, have less power and tend to be located in areas of rich natural resources
What kind of theory did the cold war perpetuate?
• The cold war perpetuated a theory of modernization that First World development was based on
• Modernization held that the nation-states progressed in a set series of stages of economic growth from "underdeveloped" to "developed" countries like the U.S. and U.K.
Neoliberalism and global institutions
Global institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) funded projects like large hydroelectric dams to promote modernization
This neo-liberal view assumed that markets and external institutions linked to capitalism would make countries develop
What was a basic assumption of modernism? How is it challenged?
Modernization assumed that boundaries between cultures and nations were clear-cut and distinct
-Anthropologists point out that these boundaries are fluid, porous, and malleable
Inda and Rosaldo call it the "the intensification of global interconnectedness, suggesting a world full of movement and mixture, contacts and linkages, and persistent cultural interaction and exchange."
what prompts people to travel?
Due to globalization, people migrate all over the world for work, tourism, or to flee oppression
What is the effect of global travel on culture groups?
undermined their early notions
culture groups
groups of people sharing similar cultural symbols like language and custom - inhabiting a specific geographic place
do nation-states coincide with cultural groups?
Now more than ever, cultural boundaries are NOT delimited by a definite nation-state
In some ways, the global flow of people, ideas, and commodities are undermining the authority of nation-states
The speed and extent of the interconnectedness has increased tremendously since...
the end of WWII and especially with the fall of the Soviet Union
diaspora
a migrant population with a shared identity who live in a variety of different locales around the world
If a diaspora begins to support nationalist struggles in their homeland, they become...
long-distance nationalists
Elián Gonzalez and Cuban Nationalists
At the age of 6, Elián Gonzalez was found in an inner tube off Florida fleeing from Cuba
Eventually he was repatriated to Cuba despite court battles by Cuban-Americans
Now he is decidedly "Cuban"
citizenship
a unique institution where personal identity and the identity of a nation-state intersect
- Can change with time
Legal citizenship
a legal identification of a person with a nation-state, it can be very difficult for an immigrant to obtain
Substantive citizenship
defined by actions people take, regardless of their legal citizenship status, to assert their membership in a state
Inequality, Ethnicity, and Citizenship - the Lost Boys of Sudan
• The Lost Boys of Sudan are Sudanian boys who fled their country during the civil war and walked for 3 months to Ethiopia
• Sudan is a modern nation-state composed of Muslim Arabs in the north who dominate black Christians/animists in the South
• These ethnic tensions have their roots in the British colonial past (and deeper history)
The Lost Boys of Sudan Diaspora
Some of the Lost Boys of Sudan attained refugee status and were relocated to 39 cities in the U.S.
Thus, they became part of a Lost Boy diaspora - with and identity tied to a nation, Sudan, and also ethnic groups
But, they focus mostly on assisting kin left in the Sudan rather than overthrowing the Khartoum government
human rights
the powers, privileges, or material resources to which people everywhere, by virtue of being human, are entitled
In human rights debates, between what two ideas does conflict arise?
rights and culture
- Become heightened in multicultural contexts
Multiculturalism
means living permanently in settings where people have different cultural backgrounds where people struggle to define their identities vis-á-vis other groups