Cultural Anthropology Exam 1

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anthropology

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a holistic study with the goal to learn about as many human ways of life as possible and can be described as the study of human nature, human society, and human past

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main branches of american anthropology

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biological, cultural, linguistic, applied, archeology, and growing medical anthropology

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culture

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sets of learned behaviors and ideas that humans acquire as members of society

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ethnocentrism

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the opinion that one's own way of life is natural or correct, and indeed, the only true way of being fully human

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cultural relativism

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an attempt to understand the cultural underpinnings of behavior

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determinism

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the philosophical view that one simple forces determine complex events

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bio cultural organisms

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features of humans are determined both by biological and cultural factors

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holism

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perspective on the human condition that assumes that mind and body, individuals and society, and individuals and the environment interpenetrate and even define one another

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comparison

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finding similarities and differences between culture

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evolution

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observations about humans are placed on a timeline and shows change over time

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material culture

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objects created or shaped by humans and given meaning by culture

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biological anthropology

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looks at humans as biological creatures and tries to find similarities and differences to other organisms

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races

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social groupings that allegedly reflect biological differences

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racism

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oppression of one race by other due to the belief of superiority

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primatology

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study of non-human primates

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paleoanthropology

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search for fossilized remains of humanity's earliest ancestors

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sex

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male or female

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gender

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cultural beliefs and behaviors considered appropriate for a sex

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ethnography

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written or filmed description of a culture

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ethnology

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comparative study of two or more cultures

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cultural anthropology

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shows how variation in the beliefs and behaviors of members of different human groups is shaped by learned behavior and ideas as a member of society

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linguistic anthropology

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the study of human language

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archeology

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analysis of material remains left behind by earlier societies

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applied anthropology

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uses information gathered to solve practical cross-cultural problems

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medical anthropology

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human health, the factors that contribute to disease or illness and the way that human populations deal with disease or illness

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symbol

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something that stands for something else

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socialization

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the process by which humans living together cope with the behavioral rules established by their perspective societies

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enculturation

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the process by which humans living together learn to come to terms with the ways of thinking and feeling that are considered appropriate in their cultures

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institutions

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complex variable and enduring forms of cultural practice that organize social life

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human agency

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exercise of the belief of some control of your own life

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coevolution

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relationship between biological and symbolic cultural processes that make up an important part of the environment to which people must adapt

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essence

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an unchanging core of features that is unique to a culture and makes them what they are

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fieldwork

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an extended period of close involvement with people being studied, in which information is gathered

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can fieldwork be objective in the positivist sense

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yes, but looks at human beings more as lab experiments than actual human beings

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relation between anthropologists and their informants

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they have a bridge of communication in which the informants acts as a teacher to the anthropologists in a sense the anthropologist is a student to the culture

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is anthropological knowledge based only on field experience

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not only based on field experience, it is made and remade in the field when fieldworkers reexamine field notes and reflect on their field experience and when fieldworkers write about their experiences or discuss them with others

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multisited fieldwork

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ethnographic research on cultural processes that are not contained by social, ethnic, religious, or national boundaries in which the ethnographer follows the process from site to site often doing fieldwork at sites and with persons who traditionally were never subjected to ethnographic analysis

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dialectic fieldwork

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the process of building a bridge of communication between anthropologists and informants so that each can begin to understand each other

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informants

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individuals in a culture that provide insight

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participant observation

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living in a culture that is not your own while also keeping a detailed record of your observations and interviews

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positivism

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view that there is a reality that can be known through the senses in order to find objective knowledge; which is knowledge that is absolute and true

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intersubjective meanings

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shared, public systems of a culture

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interpretation

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one's own view (NO SINGLE INTERPRETATION OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE IS FINAL)

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reflexivity

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critical thinking about the way one thinks; reflecting on one's own experience

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culture shock

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the feeling of panic that develops in people living in an unfamiliar environment when they cannot understand what is going on

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fact

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widely accepted observations common knowledge facts don't speak for themselves only when interpreted and placed in context

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the factors that made the colonial expansion possible

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economic (markets, resources, labor), political and religious

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main effects of colonialism

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transformed its non-European subjects in a modern direction, it is a process in which old ways of life and desire are destroyed in order to create new ones. The emergence of a world capitalist economy which transforms local economies. The formation of nation-states, government through law and order

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what does it mean to claim that colonialism is a revolution from above

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colonialism works through asymmetrical power relations to establish new rules of government and production, it monopolizes the ability to create and impose new rules of the game

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three main aspects of the colonial state in terms of the ways in which power is exercised

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practices to enumerate, define and control the people within the boundaries of the sate; emphasis on homogeneity and equality; emphasis on police and security

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typical colonial policies

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alliances with large landowners who were given special privileges- tax exemptions, attention to tribal, ethnic sectarian divisions divide and rule; fiscal regime without a central bank, fiscal management from the metropole

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capitalism

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an economic system dominated by the supply demand market

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colonialism

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cultural domination with enforced social change

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political economy

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holistic term that emphasizes the centrality of material interest and the use of power to protect and enhance that interest

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neocolonialism

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

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typology

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classification systems based on forms of human society

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deficiencies

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lack of state, sophisticated technology, organized religion: etc. (lack of order and structure)

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unilineal cultural evolution

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19th century theory that stated a series of stages through which all societies must go through in order to reach civilization

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social structure

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aspects of the social forms in a society including its political and kinship systems

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band

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small group, labor is divided according to age sex and social relations. has three subtypes- composite, patrilocal, family

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tribes

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larger than bands, members usually farm or herd for a living, social relations are equal even though there may be a chief. five subtypes- big man, village councils, ritually stratified, associational, segmentary lineages

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chiefdom

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leader and chiefs close relatives are held at a higher social view

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state

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society that possesses a territory that is defended from outside enemies with an army and from internal disorder with police

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cultural traits

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features or parts of a cultural tradition such as a dance ritual or style of poetry

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culture area

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limits of borrowing or the diffusion of a particular culture trait or set of traits

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species

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reproductive community that occupies a specific niche

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phenotype

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physical characteristics

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cline

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gradual integration of genetic variation from population to population

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globalization

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reshaping of local conditions by powerful global forces

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science studies

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research that explores the interconnections among the sociocultural, political, economic, and historic conditions that make scientific research possible and successful

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what is the meaning of the statement that language is bio-cultural?

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language is able to be created due to human's vocal anatomy and structure which allows them to make the sounds and put them together in order to create language; however, language is a result of culture

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arbitrary

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there is no intrinsic, natural link between sounds and meaning

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ordered

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there are rules, it can be analyzed and learned

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open system

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it evolves with the changing experiences of the speakers

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duality of patterning

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human language is patterned on two levels, sounds and meanings

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displacement

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the human ability to talk about objects that are absent and about past or future events

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prevarication

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linguistically correct messages can be meaningless or false

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semanticity

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the association of linguistic signals with aspects of the cultural, social and physical world of a speech community

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learnability

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a speaker of one language can learn another language

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how is language linked to experience?

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different groups develop different vocabularies to express their experiences forming a speech community; therefore, language is learned through personal experience

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language

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system of arbitrary vocal symbols used to encode ones experience of the world and others

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linguistics

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scientific study of language

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linguistic competence

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the mastery of adult rules for socially and culturally appropriate speech

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grammar

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set of rules that aim to describe fully patterns of linguistic usage observed by members of a particular speech community

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grammar

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set of rules that aim to describe fully patterns of linguistic usage observed by members of a particular speech community

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phonology

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the study of the sounds of language

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morphology

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the study of how words are put together

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syntax

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study of sentence structure

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semantics

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study of meaning

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semanticity

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the way speakers use words in the real world

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pragmatics

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study of language in the context of use

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pidgin

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language with no native speakers that develops in a single generation between members of communities that possess distinct native languages

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discourse

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stretch of speech longer than a sentence united by a common theme

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heteroglossia

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the presence of two or more voices or expressed viewpoints in a text or other artistic work

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design features

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characteristics of language that when taken together differentiate it from other known animal communication

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linguistic relativity principle

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belief that language has the ability to shape the way we see the world

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ethno pragmatics

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study of language use that relies on ethnography to illuminate the ways in which speech is both constituted by and constitutive of social interaction

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language ideology

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marker of struggles between social groups with different interest revealed in what people say and how they say it

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language relativization

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attempts by linguistics and activists to preserve or revive languages with few native speakers that appear to be on the verge of extinction