UCSB ANTH 2 Midterm (Walsh)

Anthropology

study of the full scope of human diversity, past and present, and the application of that knowledge to help people of different backgrounds better understand one another

Ethnocentrism

belief that one's own culture or way of life is normal and natural; using one's own culture to evaluate and judge the practices and ideals of others

Ethnographic Fieldwork

primary research strategy in cultural anthropology involving living with a community of people over an extended period to better understand their lives

Four-Field Approach

use of four interrelated disciplines to study humanity: physical anthropology, archaeology, linguistic anthropology, and cultural anthropology

Holism

anthropological commitment to consider the full scope of human life, including culture, biology, history, and language across space and time

Physical Anthropology

study of humans from a biological perspective, particularly focused on human evolution

Paleoanthropology

study of the history of human evolution through the fossil record

Primatology

study of living nonhuman primates as well as primate fossils to bette understand human evolution and early human behavior

Archaeology

investigation of the human past by means of excavating and analyzing artifacts

Prehistoric Archaeology

reconstruction of human behavior in the distant past (before written records) through the examination of artifacts

Historic Archaeology

exploration of the more recent past through an examination of physical remains and artifacts as well as written or oral records

Linguistic Anthropology

study of human language in the past and present

Descriptive Linguists

Those who analyze languages and their component parts

Historic Linguistics

those who study how language changes over time within a culture and how languages travel across cultures

Sociolinguists

those who study language in its social and cultural contexts

Cultural Anthropology

study of people's communities, behaviors, beliefs, and institutions, including how people make meaning as they live, work, and play together

Participant Observation

key anthropological research strategy involving both participation in and observation of the daily life of the people being studied

Ethnology

analysis and comparison of ethnographic data across cultures

Globalization

worldwide intensification of interactions and increased movement o money, people, goods, and ideas within and across national borders

Time-Space Compression

rapid innovation of communication and transportation technologies associated with globalization that transforms the way people think about space and time

Flexible Accumulation

increasingly flexible strategies that corporations use to accumulate profits in an era of globalization, enabled by innovative communication and transportation technologies

Increasing Migration

accelerated movement of people within and between countries

Uneven Development

unequal distribution of the benefits of globalization

Rapid Change

dramatic transformations of economics, politics, and culture characteristic of contemporary globalization

Climate Change

changes to Earth's climate, including global warming produced primarily by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases created by human activity such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation

Culture

system of knowledge, beliefs, patterns of behavior, artifacts, and institutions that are created, learned, and shared by a group of people

Enculturation

process of learning culture

Norms

ideas or rules about how people should behave in particular situations or toward certain other people

Values

fundamental beliefs about what is important, true, or beautiful, and what makes a good life

Symbol

anything that signifies something else

Mental Maps of Reality

cultural classifications of what kinds of people and things exist, and the assignment of meaning to those classifications

Culture Relativism

understanding a group's beliefs and practices within their own cultural context, without making judgments

Unilineal Cultural Evolution

theory proposed by nineteenth-century anthropologists (Tylor, Frazer, Morgan) that all cultures naturally evolve through the same sequence of stages from simple to complex

Multilineal Cultural Evolution

-no necessary destination that a culture must reach in a certain order or at all

-social evolution introduces cultural, group dynamics

Historical Particularism

idea, attributed to Franz Boas, that cultures develop in specific ways because of their unique histories

Structural Functionalism

conceptual framework positing that each element of society serves a particular function to keep the entire system in equilibrium

Interpretivist Approach

conceptual framework that sees culture primarily as a symbolic system of deep meaning

Power

ability or potential to bring about change through action or influence

Stratification

eleven distribution of resources and privileges among participants in a group or culture

Hegemony

ability of a dominant group to create consent and agreement within a population without the use or threat of force

Agency

potential power of individuals and groups to contest cultural norms, values, symbols, mental maps of reality, institutions, and structures of power

Cosmopolitanism

global outlook emerging in response to increasing globalization

Ethnographic Fieldwork

primary research strategy in cultural anthropology involving living with a community of people over an extended period to better understand their lives

Reflexivity

critical self-examination of the role the anthropologist plays and an awareness that one's identity affects one's fieldwork and theoretical analyses

Literature Review

process of reading all the available published material about a research site and/or research issues, usually done before fieldwork begins

Anthropologist's Toolkit

tools needed to conduct fieldwork, including a notebook, pen, camera, voice, recorder, and dictionary

Quantitative Data

statistical information about a community that can be measured and compared

Qualitative Data

descriptive data drawn from non statistical sources, including participant observation, personal stories, interviews and life histories

Rapport

relationships of trust and familiarity developed with members of the community being studied

Key Informant

Also called cultural consultant, a community member who advises the anthropologist on community issues, provides feedback, and warns against cultural miscues

Interview

research strategy of gathering data through formal or informal conversation with informants

Life History

form of interview that traces the biography of a person over time, examining changes and illuminating the interlocking network of relationships in the community

Survey

information-gathering took for quantitative data analysis

Kinship Analysis

traditional strategy of examining genealogies to uncover the relationships built upon structures such as marriage and family ties

Social Network Analysis

method for examining relationships in a community, often conducted by identifying who people turn to in times of need

Field Notes

anthropologist's written observations and reflections on places, practices, events, and interviews

Mapping

analysis of the physical and/or geographic space where fieldwork is being conducted

Built Environment

intentionally designed features of human settlement, including buildings, transportation and public service infrastructure, and public spaces

Zeros

elements of a story or a picture that are not told or seen and yet offer key insights into issues that might be too sensitive to discuss or display publicly

Mutual Transformation

potential for both the anthropologist and the members of the community being studies to be transformed by the interactions of fieldwork

Emic

approach to gathering data that investigates how local people think and how they understand the world

Etic

description of local behavior and beliefs from the anthropologist's perspective in ways that can be compared across cultures

Polyvocality

practice of using many different voices in ethnographic writing and research question development, calling the reader to hear more directly from the people in the study

Informed Consent

A key strategy for protecting those being studied by ensuring that they are fully informed of the goals of the project and have clearly indicated their consent to participate

Anonymity

Protecting the identities of the people involved in a study by changing or omitting their names or other identifying characteristics

Kinship

system of meaning and power that cultures create to determine who is related to whom and to define their mutual expectations, rights, and responsibilities

Nuclear Family

kinship unit of mother, father, and children

Descent Group

kinship group in which primary relationships are traced through consanguine ("blood") relatives

Lineage

type of descent group that traces genealogical connection through generations to a founding ancestor

Clan

type of descent group based on a claim to a founding ancestor but lacking genealogical documentation

Final Relationship

kinship relationship established through marriage and/or alliance, not through biology or common descent

Marriage

socially recognized relationship that may involve physical and emotional intimacy as well as legal rights to property and inheritance

Arranged Marriage

marriage orchestrated by the families of the involved parties

Companionate Marriage

marriage built on love, intimacy, and personal choice rather than social obligation

Polygamy

marriage between one man and two or more women

Polyandry

marriage between one woman and two or more men

Monogamy

relationship between only two partners

Incest Taboo

cultural rules that forbid sexual relations with certain close relatives

Exogamy

marriage to someone outside the kinship group

Endogamy

marriage to someone within the kinship group

Bridewealth

gift of goods or money from the groom's family to the bride's family as part of the marriage process

Dowry

gift of goods or money from the bride's family to the groom's family as part of the marriage process

Family of Orientation

family group in which one is born, grows up, and develops life skills

Family of Procreation

family group created when one reproduces and within which one rears children

Class

system of power based on wealth, income, and status that creates an unequal distribution of a society's resources

Egalitarian Society

group based on the sharing of resources to ensure success with a relative absence of hierarchy and violence

Reciprocity

exchange of resources, goods, and services among people of relatively equal status, meant to create and reinforce social ties

Ranked Society

group in which wealth is not stratified but prestige and status are

Redistribution

form of exchange in which accumulated wealth is collected from the members of the group and reallocated in a different pattern

Potlach

elaborate redistribution ceremony practiced among the Kwakiutl of the Pacific Northwest

Bourgeoisie

Marxist term for the capitalist class that owns the means of production

Mean of Production

factories, machines, tools, raw materials, land, and financial capital needed to make things

Proletariat

Marxist term for the class of laborers who own only their labor

Prestige

reputation, influence, and deference bestowed on certain people because of their membership in certain groups

Life Chances

individual's opportunities to improve quality of life and achieve life goals

Social Mobility

movement of one's class position, upward or downward, in stratified societies

Intersectionality

analytic framework for assessing how factors such as race, gender, and class interact to shape individual life chances and societal patterns of stratification

Income

what people earn form work, plus dividends and interest on investments, along with rents and royalties

Wealth

total value of what someone owns, minus any debt

Caste

closed system of stratification in a society