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88 Cards in this Set
- Front
- Back
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Four main subdisciplines of anthropology
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1. Physical/Biological - human evolution
2. Archaeology - study of past societies by uncovering and investigating remains they left behind 3. (Socio)Cultural - holistic study of human societies 4. Medical - how people diagnose and treat diseases in different societies |
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Ethnology
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examines, analyzes, and compares the results of ethnographies - the data gathered in different societies
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What makes anthropology distinct from other social sciences?
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small scale unit of analysis
focuses on community level manageable with holistic approach |
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Social sciences vs. humanities debate
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social sciences: concerned with structure of society, quantitative data, more interpretative
humanities: concerned with human thought and relations, empathic understanding, personal accounts |
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degenerationism
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we were all once civilized, but after dispersing some degenerated while others remained civilized
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Four main subdisciplines of anthropology
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1. Physical/Biological
2. Archaeology 3. (Socio)Cultural 4. Medical |
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holistic discipline
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focuses on all aspects of a culture, ex: economy, religion and ideology, politics, social organization
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Ethnology
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examines, analyzes, and compares the results of ethnographies - the data gathered in different societies
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progressivism
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human history is characterized by advances from primitive to civilized
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What makes anthropology distinct from other social sciences?
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small scale unit of analysis
focuses on community level manageable with holistic approach |
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diffusion
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cultural traits originate in one area then spread to other areas
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Social sciences vs. humanities debate
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social sciences: concerned with structure of society, quantitative data, more interpretative
humanities: concerned with human thought and relations, empathic understanding, personal accounts |
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degenerationism
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we were all once civilized, but after dispersing some degenerated while others remained civilized
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social darwinism
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some societies are more fit than others - colonial justification for European powers to dominate other societies
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ethnography
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a descriptive account of a particular community, society, or culture
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holistic discipline
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focuses on all aspects of a culture, ex: economy, religion and ideology, politics, social organization
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progressivism
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human history is characterized by advances from primitive to civilized
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diffusion
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cultural traits originate in one area then spread to other areas
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social darwinism
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some societies are more fit than others - colonial justification for European powers to dominate other societies
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ethnography
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a descriptive account of a particular community, society, or culture
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Franz Boas
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Critiqued grand theories on race, evolution, and cultural determinism
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1908 rejection of scientific racism
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determined that cranial morphology is no an immutable marker of "race"; it can vary through time and according to environment
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historical particularism
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cultures can only be understood with reference to their particular historical development
no general theories can explain processes of cultural change |
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adaptation
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the process by which organisms cope with environmental stresses
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Misconception: anthropologists only work in remote areas among people who have little contact with outsiders
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Reality: can study people in any society (rural, urban) in any country
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Misconception: are only interested in studying "primitive" (unchanged and unchanging) societies
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Reality: are very interested in change, often study trans-national processes
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Misconception: strive to unobtrusively observe rather than actively participate
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Reality: become integrated in the communities they study (rapport is important for good data), yet must remain somewhat detached in order to retain objectivity ("going native" not an option)
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Misconception: only collect anecdotal data that is of little use for social scientific purposes
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Reality: many (but not all) are social scientists that use a range of methods to systematically collect data
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Misconception: only work alone, never in teams of researchers
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Reality: can be a team project, yet can be very lonely
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Bronislaw Malinowski
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advocated for participant observation as key method - major contribution to economic anthro
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Kula Ring (Malinowski)
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exchange of shells and necklaces
items continually passed along item ties people into enduring trade relationships facilitating future trade possessing items enhances individual's status demonstrated function of what appeared to outsiders as irrational exchange of "worthless items" |
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Fieldwork in the Colonial Era (Evans-Pritchard)
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Studying political instiutions of the Nuotic people
British conquest of Sudan with a goal to reveal Nuer system of governance so they can be better controlled by the colonialists Nuer were reluctant, treated British with suspicion |
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Genealogical method
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ancestral chart/family tree
discovered segmentary lineage political organization based on kinship kinship determined ally choice |
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Studying the Yanomamo (Chagnon)
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initially bullied and intimidated, but built up rapport and gained respect in a culturally appropriate manner (canoe incident)
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Notes on a Balinese Cockfight (Geertz)
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Geertz - more humanistic, major proponent of symbolic and interpretive antho
main objective was to provide reader with an "empathic understanding" of another society -anthropologist ran away from the cockfight like the people did, gained respect -self reflexive style of ethnographic writing was uncommon at the time, became standard account |
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empathic understanding
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the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experiences of another
born through first hand field work, however can't truly understand what it's like since you aren't actually one of them |
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rapport
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relation, especially one that is harmonious of sympathetic
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"Going Native?" (Klausner)
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"fool's paradise"- own cultural baggage will prevent you from being integrated 100%
sacrificing detachment of objectivity when going native, and this is what makes a good analyst |
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participant observation
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living in the community under study; learning local vernacular and how to behave in an appropriate manner
-not used as sole method, but is used for gaining a basic understanding of the society being studied so that the researcher knows what ?s to ask |
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triangulation
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combining different data sources to see if they all come to the same conclusion (ex: participant observation, textual data, economic data)
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how do an anthropologists' personal characteristics affect their field work?
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some are invariable (gender), some change during fieldwork (linguistic skills), some change over career (age)
-influence acceptance/rejection, formation of social relationships with "informants" -depends on the social role they adopt in the community |
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Jeffrey Johnson's study
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study of migratory commercial fisherman. bunkhouses fostered social isolation
-found that most favored as an observer was high social movement with diverse access to info, high neutral status is most favored point: strategic choices regarding social roles facilitate rapport, access to data, reliability etc |
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stigmatize
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to characterize or mark as disgraceful - subjects dont want this
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Fieldwork on Prostitution (Sterk)
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-stance of cultural relativism: does not judge the actions of the women
-tries to understand their lives through their eyes, expresses genuine interest' -discovered a cultural typology of prostitutes coined by the prostitutes themselves -reciprocity: provided helpful services, information, and goods |
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An Anthropologist on the Team (Gmelch)
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why are players so superstitious?
-adopted role of a researcher/reporter: facilitated access to a variety of people |
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Messages from the Field (Simpson)
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how do modern communicative technologies alter the nature of fieldwork?
-seldom in the past, now is a daily reality -making us less perspective fieldworkers -yet fieldwork no longer has a discrete starting and ending point |
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advantages of long term field work
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-get to know broader range of people
-increasing rapport results in more reliable data -seasonal perspective (can observe differences/patterns between seasons) -longitudinal perspective: can quantify changes over time |
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surveys
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same question asked of everyone, answers can be quantified
-cross sectional vs longitudinal data (at one point in time vs. multiple) -reveals more about what is happening than about why it is happening |
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in depth interviews - "key informants"
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somebody with especially good knowledge about a particular aspect of life
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semi structured interviewing
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everyone asked the same questions, but getting narrative data, not quantified.
-guided yet flexible, tangents are sometimes important |
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person centered interviewing
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treat subject as:
-informant: conveys info about generally held ideals/beliefs/practices -respondent: conveys info on what they actually do in certain circumstances |
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cultural domain
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a set of items that are generally accepted as being of the same type - perceptions, not preferences (ex: animals that are edible)
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cultural domain analysis
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combo of survey and in depth interviewing
goal is to determine what items constitute a cultural domain, what attributes and relations structure the domain, how items are positioned relative to each other -ex: why do people still get water from sources that are known to be contaminated? |
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establishing reliability in fieldwork
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-correlation between intimate data and length in residence
-write in first person -language proficiency is key to good data -good data contingent on good rapport |
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reciprocity
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careers built on studying peoples who are often poor and marginalized. ethical obligation to give back
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values orientation theory
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cross-cultural understanding and communication can be facilitated by analyzing a given culture's orientation
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society vs. culture
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society: group of people who interact more with each other than with others
culture: distinctive ways of life of such a group of people |
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culture
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traditions and customs that
1. are transmitted through learning 2. influence behaviors and beliefs always changing -can be adaptive or maladaptive -is shared between groups -shapes how we interpret experiences and events (including stories) |
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enculturation
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the social process by which culture is learned and transmitted
-direct transmission -observation |
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symbols
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the same symbol can have different meanings within or across societies
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culture is integrated
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integrated, patterned systems
if one part of the system changes, other parts change as well |
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agency
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the actions that individuals take, both alone and in groups, in forming and transforming cultural identities
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practice theory
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individuals within every society have different: motives/intentions, degrees of power and influence (agency)
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mechanisms of culture change
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agency and practice: incremental change over time due to the cumulative actions of individuals
difusion: borrowing between cultures either directly or through intermediaries acculturation: the exchange of cultural features that results when groups come into cts firsthand contact, however groups remain distinct independent invention: the process by which humans innovate, creatively finding solutions to problems |
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functions of culture
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provides people with orientations toward deeper problems
perpetuates group solidarity regulates our lives - constant pressure to follow certain behaviors satisfies biological needs |
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levels of culture
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international: culture that transcends national boundaries
national: purpose is to forge a common identity as citizens of a nation subcultures: commonly associated with religious, ethnic, and linguistic differences between groups within a nation |
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Ethnography and Culture (Spradley)
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Step 1 - reject naive realism: the notion that all people throughout the world define the world of objects, events, and concepts the same way
Step 2 - understand the 2 fundamental aspects of human experience (what people do, what people know, things people make and use) |
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explicit cultural knowledge
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cultural knowledge that people can talk about with ease
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tacit cultural knowledge
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cultural knowledge that people lack words for or that lies outside our explicit awareness
ex: you tacitly know how close to stand to another person when talking |
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ethnocentrism
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the tendency to view one's own culture as superior and apply one's own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures
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cultural relativism
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behavior in one culture should not be judged by the standards of another culture
dilemma: are there universal morals then? |
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Where Does Life Begin? (Morgan)
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personhood is a cultural construction (varies cross culturally)
social birth gives moral status (personhood) M: in US society, personhood is conferred at birth, social status (person) ascribed following biological event (birth). |
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Body Rituals of the Nacirema (Miner)
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purpose: document unusual magical beliefs and practices of poorly understood group
point: show how cultural conceptions of the body shape everyday lives -AMERICAN |
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You Are How You Eat (Cooper)
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how you eat conveys messages about your gender, age, social status
explicit cultural knowledge transmitted through direct transmission and observation |
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kinesics
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study of communication through body movements, stances, gestures, and expressions
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language in shaping the way we view the world
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politics and ads strategically choose words that advocate for the war
-congressional acts -pre owned vs. used |
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focal vocabulary
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specialized sets of terms and distinctions that are particularly important to certain groups
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sociolinguistics
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relationships between social variations (ethnicity, status, gender, etc.) and linguistic variations (dialect, slang, tone, etc)
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style shifts
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choice of words, intonation, body language all influenced by relative statuses of speaker and listener
-discordance and social disruption: failure to follow the expected norms can cause problems |
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Symbolic Capital (Bourdieu)
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skillful use of linguistic practices can be converted into social and economic benefits
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speech and social stratification
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people associate speech patterns with social, political, and economic status
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Rapport Talk and Report Talk (Tannen)
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women talk more at home while men talk more in public because women like to build rapport while men make reports to establish themselves in a hierarchy
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Email My Heart (Gershon)
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People use new technologies to sever intimate relationships
-media is mutually constructive: old media shapes how we use and think about the new media, new media changes peoples' ideologies and uses of old media |
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transformative-speech acts
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an effect is carried out via an utterance ("i now pronounce you husband and wife"; oath of office)
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semantics
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a language meaning system; the branch of semiotics (study of signs and symbols) that studies the relationship between signifiers and what they stand for
-ex: people judged according to communication skills -meanings can vary cross culturally |
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Code switching
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the use of more than one language concurrently in a conversation
-becomes a marker of race |
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Language, Race, and White Public Space (Hill)
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mock Spanish is racist discourse, elevation of whiteness by directly indexing congeniality of speaker and indirectly indexing negative stereotypes
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mode of production
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way of organizing production
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