Economic anthropology

Reading a landscape is far more complicated than just observing landmarks. There are many different approaches to learning more about a culture through their landscape and Peirce Lewis provides multiple axioms to facilitate this learning. One of Peirce Lewis’s axioms is the axiom of landscape obscurity. This axiom states that most objects in a landscape convey a message, just not in an obvious manner. In order to better understand the landscape it is necessary to create the simple habit of…

“Language is power, life and the instrument of culture, the instrument of domination and liberation.” Language is the intersection between human interaction and distinct cultures. Our species rely (depend) on language to communicate one’s thoughts to one another. For decades, language has carried one culture to the next. Before the world had anything else like technology or material gain, the modes of communication confided in face-to-face interaction. It has been a life-long debate whether the…

An individual’s interaction with others and the world around can influence, alter, one’s behaviour, actions and beliefs. However, various external factors influence an individual such as, positive and accepting environments an individual’s sense of belonging can enrich and expand, while negative behaviours such as exclusion and rejection might limit and restrict it; this in turn moulds one’s sense of acceptance and value of being. This idea is explored in the picture book, The Island by Armin…

2.5 Theoretical and conceptual framework Social Exchange Theory is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. Social exchange theory derives from several distinct lines of theoretical work in the social sciences, including social behaviorism, utilitarianism, and functionalism (Turner 1986). Exchange theory uses the concepts of rewards and costs. This refers to the benefits that a person can receive through interpersonal exchange in their social relationships. Rewards are defined as…

There exist various theories and beliefs that attempt to explain and elaborate various phenomena in the society. There are numerous things that influence and affect an individual lifestyle, behaviors, and relationship with other people and the environment. Sociology is one of the common fields that have been used by scholars to provide an insight of human social relationship and institutions. Sociology has enabled individually to have a better understanding of a various aspect of human social…

First thing first, culture means the beliefs, arts and customs of a particular group of people living in the same territory forming a society, it's a way of thinking, functioning and behaving on the same place or organization (the consumer factor, 2016). So, by understanding a particular person culture we might identify his society's' culture. All the way through its life, the individual will be influenced by his family, his friends, his cultural environment or society that are going to…

Cultural Hybridity in Jhumpa Lahiri’s Interpreter of Maladies The ancient people formed many groups according to the evironmental situation and lived different places that groups are distinguished from one another. Each particular group of people produced some norms and values according to their own geographical places, habits, customs and duties. These norms are shared by one generation to another generations people, which is a system of shared and learned behaviour acquired and followed by…

How we present ourselves to the world is an essential norm in our contemporary society. It determines people’s perspectives and interactions at social places. Individuals need to put on different facades depending on the current social stages. Social stages define the roles to be taken depending on which team member is being impressed. Impressions management is carefully controlled to ensure that one fits in the social place or achieve personal goals. According to Goffman’s dramaturgy theory, he…

For me, cultural capital in the form of the objectified state has played a large role in shaping my life and personality. In the reading, Bourdieu defines objectified cultural capital as that of which physically or symbolically connotes one’s tastes and/or status. Examples of physical/material cultural capital would include paintings, instruments, writings, etc. Examples of symbolic cultural capital would include musical tastes, experiences obtained, knowledge gained, etc. Cultural capital…

Throughout history, traditions or cultural practices play a huge role into any race because these traditions define who we are and where our roots come from. Some of these practices can come from anywhere like a far away region like China or somewhere close like Mexico. Although, these traditions come from different places, but were originated is from different era's of time, which can lead up to a race's background. Even though it leads back to a certain race, it only a fraction of an entire…