Cultural Anthropology Ch 1-

Front 1

Participant observation

Back 1

the field work techniques that involves gathering cultural data by observing people's behavior and participating in their lives.

-Boas's style of field work
-the hallmark of American anthropology

Front 2

Ethnocentrism

Back 2

judging other cultures from the perspective of one's own culture

-the notion that one's own culture is more beautiful, rational, and nearer to perfection than any other

Front 3

Racism

Back 3

the belief that some human populations are superior to others because of inherited, genetically transmitted characteristics

Front 4

Cultural Relativism

Back 4

the notion that cultures should be analyzed with reference to their own histories and values rather than according to the values of another culture

Front 5

Ethnography

Back 5

-the major research tool of cultural anthropology

-includes both the fieldwork among people in a society and the written results of such fieldwork

Front 6

Informant

Back 6

-A person from whom anthropologists gather data
- aka a consultant or an interlocutor

Front 7

Respondant

Back 7

-A person from whom an anthropologist collects data
- aka a consultant or an interlocutor

Front 8

How do you work with a consultant?

Back 8

- it's often informal
- use a system of formal tools
- depending on the anthropologists theoretical interests
-much of anthropology is done by interviews
-using techniques from ethnoscience and designed to help identify the objects and ideas their consultants think are important
-also inventories and questionnaires
- more commonly - design a series of open ended questions

Front 9

Ethnology

Back 9

The attempts to find general principles or laws that govern cultural phenomena.

Front 10

Herbert spencer developed what system?

Back 10

He developed a systematic way of organizing, tabulating and correlating information on a large number of societies
- this project was called "descriptive sociology"

Front 11

Human Relations Area Files

Back 11

An ethnographic database that includes cultural descriptions of more than 300 cultures
-HRAF is an attempt to facilitate cross-cultural analysis
-some critics believe that its cultural data is taken out of context - unreliable
- although the work based on HRAF is interesting and insightful

Front 12

Postmodernism

Back 12

A theoretical position in anthropology that focuses on issues of power and voice.
- postmodernism suggests that anthropological accounts are partial truths reflecting the backgrounds, training, and social positions of their
authors.
-

Front 13

What do postmodernists believe?

Back 13

-all knowledge is influenced by the observer's culture and social position
-they claim that fieldworkers cannot discover and describe an objective reality
- because it doesn't exist or does but humans cannot understand it
-they think that there are many partial truths or cultural constructions
- depend on frame of reference, power, and history

Front 14

Collaborative ethnography

Back 14

Ethnography that gives priority to cultural consultants on the topic, methodology, and written results of fieldwork
-anthropologists consult with their subjects about shaping their studies and writing their reports
- it's an attempt to displace the abthropologist as the sole author representing the a group
- turning research into a joint process

Front 15

Marriage

Back 15

The customs, rules, and obligations that establish a socially endorsed relationship between adults and children, and between the kin groups of the married partner.

Front 16

Incest taboo

Back 16

A prohibition on sexual relations between relatives
- prohibit marriage and mating among certain kin

Front 17

What is the most widespread taboo?

Back 17

Taboos on mating between mother and son, father and daughter, and sister and brother.

Front 18

How did incest taboos arise?

Back 18

Contemporary population genetics showed that mating between close kin is genetically harmful to humans
- however, such data was not available to many cultures

Front 19

Malinowski's theory

Back 19

As children grow into adolescence, their natural attempts to satisfy their developing sexual urges within their families would increase the potential for family conflict and the disruption of role relationships
--as mothers, daughter, fathers etc completed for sexual partners
- this is why the incest taboo exists

Front 20

What alliances does the incest taboo promote?

Back 20

- the alliance theory: stresses the adaptive value of cooperation among groups larger than the nuclear family
-It forced people within an immediate family to marry outside its members
--leads families to join others in a larger social community
--- an adaptive pattern
- promotes genetic variability, family harmony, and community cooperation

Front 21

Exogamy

Back 21

A rule specifying that a person must marry outside a particular group

Front 22

Endogamy

Back 22

A rule prescribing that a person must marry within a particular group

Front 23

Cross- cultured marriage

Back 23

Marriage between the children of parent's siblings of the opposite sex (mother's brothers, and father's sister).

Front 24

Parallel- cousin marriage

Back 24

Marriage between the children of a parent's same- sex siblings ( mother's sisters, father's brothers).

Front 25

What does parallel-cousin marriage reinforce?

Back 25

The Unity between brothers, but by socially isolating groups of brothers from one another, it adds to factional disputes and disunity within larger social systems

Front 26

Levirate

Back 26

The custom whereby a man marries the widow of a deceased brother

Front 27

Sororate

Back 27

The custom whereby, when a man's wife dies, her sister is given to him as a wife

Front 28

Polygyny

Back 28

A rule permitting a man to have more than one wife at a time

Front 29

Polyandry

Back 29

A rule permitting a woman to have more than one husband at a time