SOCSCI 1A

Four Fields of Anthropology (Chapter 7)

The scientific study of humanity and diversity; Cultural/Social, Physical/Biological, Archeology, and Linguistic.

Cultural/Social

Studies social patterns and practices across cultures, with a special interest in how people live in particular places and how they organize, govern, and create meaning.

Physical/Biological

Studies how humans adapt to diverse environments, how biological and cultural processes work together to shape growth, development, and behavior, and what causes disease and early death; interested in human biological origins, evolution, and variation.

Subspecialties in physical anthropology

Evolution (paleoanthropology/genetics), growth/development, biological plasticity (body's ability to change with environmental stressors), and primatology.

Primatology

The study of non-human primates (monkeys & apes), which has revealed that they are capable of very human-like relationships, language, and tool manufacturing.

Archaeology

Studies past peoples and cultures through the analysis of material remains, ranging from artifacts and evidence of past environments to architecture and landscapes.

Linguistic

The comparative study of ways in which language reflects and influences social life. Concerned with human variation and change, studying language’s cultural context over time.

Ethnography (Chapter 7)

The social and intellectual aspects of anthropology: writing/documenting specific societies ("culture writing") and the product of "doing" (written work, films, and photography). Not the goal of anthropology, but a means to an end; concepts include authority/representation, field notes, rapport, emic (getting "into the minds" of your subjects), and etic (explaining, interpreting behavior).

Ethnocentrism (Chapter 7)

The processes of evaluating other cultures according to our preconceptions originating in the standards/customs of our own culture. For example, Americans believe that the American way of life is the best way. Herodotus had an early understanding of the concept of ethnocentrism.

Cultural Relativism (Chapter 7)

A society or an historical era can be accurately understood of relative to its own concepts, beliefs, and values; one of three components to the anthropological perspective, in addition to comparative/cross-cultural study (examining humans in all their diversity) and holism.

Functionalism (Chapter 6)

(Durkheim) Sees society as a stable system with parts working in harmony to satisfy the basic needs of its members. Each internal part, group, or institution makes a contribution to the whole (has a function); they interact to maintain "equilibrium," and changes to one element of society will spark related changes in other elements. However, it fails to explain social conflict.

World System (Chapter 9)

Immanuel Wallerstein's theory that the social sciences settled in the early 1900s outlived their usefulness, posing as an obstacle to serious intellectual work. Explains that the social sciences needed self-reflection, in which the big three (political science, economics, and sociology) seemed to operate on the assumption that you could separate human activity into the human process of the spheres; all focused on recent events, with history largely left out.

Core/Periphery/Semi-Periphery (Chapter 8)

Regions (the analytical unit of geography) may have its "core" area (associated with a place and people) and its "periphery" (border zones).

Industrial Revolution (Chapter 4)

A catalyst for social science research, specifically in economics, theorists like Marx noticed that it brought fundamental change to human populations and saw a division between two classes and the growth of global capitalism

Positivism (Chapter 1)

The notion that science is simply a matter of gathering more and better facts (knowledge equals facts); social scientists have become more crucially aware that science is not the "pre-social search" for facts, and that the scientific method is not as distinct as believed (faded in the early 1900s).

Karl Marx Theory of Class (Chapter 4)

Capitalism operates on the surplus value of labor, where employers hire workers at wages lower than the price of the good; bourgeoisie lives off the surplus and workers earn less than their fair share. If the workers eliminated the bourgeoisie, they could make their own decisions and retain the full value of their productive activity.

Bourgeoisie (Chapters 2 and 4)

The upper class that owns the means of production (land, factories, etc.), dominating not only the class structure but the culture of society, including its beliefs and values.

Proletariat (Chapters 2 and 4)

Forced to trade their time and energy for money. Marx foresaw that when united, they would throw off the bourgeoisie and build a classless society, which would literally be the end of history.

Intersectionality (Chapter 7)

(Childe) For example, archaeologists stand in the intersection of behavioral and material anthropology; their methods are like physical anthropologists, but their questions are close to those of a social/cultural anthropologist (ex. How did people live in the past?).

Epistemology (Chapter 5)

The philosophical study of the nature/possibility of knowledge. Jean Piaget, for instance, focused on child development and learning, developing genetic epistemology (all of a child's knowledge was generated through their interaction with the environment; knowledge slowly grows).

Postmodernism

The contemporary cultural moment in time in which "truth" breaks down, "grand narratives" are no longer believed, "progress" is no longer assured; perspective/subjectivity, emotion/ irrationality, images (rather than words), and fragmented experiences dominate.

Kuhn & Scientific Revolutions (Chapter 1)

(Kuhn) Scientific process was actually a series of revolutions or changes of fundamental worldview; a scientific revolution/scientific worldview is a shift of paradigm.

Colonialism (Chapters 3 and 4)

Held great implications for modern political thought, historical thinking, and the future of economics; involved nation-states extending their political, economic, and military power beyond their own borders for political/economic gain. Trade morphed into the Europeans deciding to seize resources themselves.

Wallerstein's Critique of Social Science (Chapter 9)

Replace "society" with concept of "historical system" (contextualizes social systems as existing in certain times and spaces), get rid of "traditional versus modern" dichotomy, distinctions between economics, politics, and culture, understand that the "past" is an evolving construct of the present, rethink the attachment to "science," and embrace the "complexity" and new methodologies.

Epistemic Culture (Chapters 1 and 9)

The arrangements and mechanisms that make up how we know what we know; the people, practices, and institutions that create and warrant knowledge.

Neoliberalism (Chapter 4)

The free market (and not the state) is the main mechanism for driving economic growth (promoted by Reagan and Thatcher).

Adam Smith (Chapter 4)

Proposed a model of the economy in terms of "the self-regulating market" and individual economic/market behavior, showing how strongly economic issues are related to psychology and morality (how people reason/make choices). There is an "invisible hand" guiding the economy to produce the right goods at the right price; its "fingers" have services and individual actions in the market acting for their self-interest.

Laissez-Faire Economics (Chapter 4)

Free markets and free trade should be left alone from government intervention. It will provide the best conditions for economic growth, and things will settle themselves out.

Keynesian Economics (Chapter 4)

Capitalism works best with some government moderation. Aggregate demand was argued to be the key to regulating the economy; this meant putting more money in the hands of potential consumers, or turning the government itself into a consumer, or both (requiring the creation of jobs, raising wages, providing aid to the unemployed, and/or educating and training the workforce). The government could also buy goods and services and distribute them to citizens, or even hire those citizens itself.

Sociology of Knowledge (Chapter 1)

The study of the social processes and practices by which knowledge is created, distributed, institutionalized, disseminated, and used. One of Karl Mannheim's early topics was generation, and how one's generation profoundly affects one's knowledge because individuals who occupy the same generation share the same modes of thought, experience, feeling, and action.

Push-Pull Theory of Migration

Moved away from one’s origin by negative conditions and toward a destination by attractive opportunities, though the decision to move is heavily influenced by personal traits and intervening obstacles

Gentrification (Chapter 8)

Places can be created/forgotten as humans occupy and reconceive space. As groups arrive in/depart from areas (like upper-middle-class people entering formerly depressed urban neighborhoods), places are constructed anew; a good example is a Chinese or Indian city built from scratch or a country like Yugoslavia fragmenting into multiple independent states.

Social Reproduction (Chapter 1)

The practices in a society that "reproduce" an existing society/perpetuate its relationships, institutions, beliefs, and inequalities. In a French study, schools tended to reproduce social missions by ensuring students remained in the same social class as their parents.

Power and Practice (Chapter 1)

Techniques used to shape the knowledge and behaviors of others. Every institution is a society; schools and prisons have various forms of power and knowledge. In other words, knowledge is power. New knowledge can create new sites where power can be applied. Regarding science, one of the most important distinctions in knowledge distribution is between the "expert" and the novice.

Hegemony (Chapter 1)

The political, economic, or military dominance of one group over another (including ideological dominance); a somewhat informal, invisible form of knowledge power and how it is used to win consent; from class-based perspectives, society's economic elites, for instance, can convince those with less wealth to support policies that primarily benefit the wealthy.

Habitus (Chapter 1)

How we view ourselves, our dreams, strengths, limitations, and chances in life in response to external influences over. It is taught to us through early childhood, school, family, religion, pop culture, and what we consume. The tastes, for instance, that we acquire not only reflect our choices but also our position (gender, class, etc.) in society.

Paradigm (Chapter 1)

The context of ideas that makes a theory possible and sensible; a model of reality, shared ideas about what things exist and their qualities. At any given moment, scientists operate within a particular (blank); it carries a set of methods and practices, including tools and instruments.

Causality (Chapter 1)

The relationship between variables/events.

Agency (Chapter 1)

The capacity to participate in society or history rather than as a passive product or victim; the possession of intelligence, will, or "intentionality" (the ability to act on your own intentions). The subject matter of natural science and social science is different; experts use this term agency to express this difference, since they have "personality and meanings.”

Universal History (Chapter 2)

Placing all of human past achievements in a single narrative to focus on the group and the group's struggle; a totalizing discourse of humanity's past, while privileging the status/past of one's preferred culture (ex. Humans united into tribal hordes, creation of writing, etc). Marquis de Condorcet's approach, for instance, divided human history into 10 epochs.

Morgan & Evolutionary Anthropology (Chapter 7)

(Morgan) Applied Darwin’s ideas of natural evolution to cultures, championing the idea that human societies evolve over time in different stages (savagery, barbarism, civilization). Known as unilinear evolutionism, the idea that all societies evolved through a single path (used to justify Social Darwinism and racism).

Spencer & Social Darwinism (Chapter 6)

(Spencer) The notion that societies have levels of a social scale and that more "advanced" societies can defeat/dominate less advanced or more "primitive" ones (justifying colonial conquest and war). Originally coined the term "survival of the fittest” by Herbert Spencer; social forces are outside of our control.

Hegel & "Great Man" Theory (Chapter 2)

(Hegel) Certain states and individuals embody the spirit and state at given times. Certain people (Luther, Shakespeare, Napoleon, etc.) were pieces for larger historical accomplishments and embodied individual thought.

The Idea takes the form of space (nature) and time (spirit). Individuals reach their fullest potential in the State, which is like the body of spirit. In other words, the progress of the ideal spirit through self-consciousness is human history.

Historical Materialism (Chapter 2)

The history of all existing societies was class struggle (each person was the product of their historical period), and the bourgeoisie was growing to envelop other areas (means of communication, education); as a result, the proletariat would begin to understand their oppression and develop class consciousness (recognition of collective interests/ inequality).

Periodization (Chapter 2)

Distinct periods are specified, as chronological order or sequence is fundamental for history. Auguste Comte offers three stages: theological (primitive), metaphysical (ancient/classical), and positive (modern/scientific).

Source Criticism (Chapter 2)

The most basic problem in historical research is sources. Six questions that historians should ask about their sources: who produced it, what was the original form in which it was produced, when/where a source was produced, how it was produced, and its value/credibility as evidence.

Historiography (Chapter 2)

The study of the way history has been written, examining differences/changes in historical interpretations of the past. Historians write for specific audiences; textbooks, for instance, transmit ways of thinking to the next generation.

Historical Revisionism (Chapter 2)

A reexamination/critique of knowledge of the past. What does the future hold for historical studies? The practice of history as a discipline is an interaction between actual historical facts, sources available to us, and the sources that we choose. This is an ever-changing process, requiring the field to revisit historical knowledge and see what needs revision.

Influence of Ancient Greeks on Social Sciences

Aristotle's Six Forms of Government (Chapter 3)

(Aristotle) Monarchy (ruled by one in the interest of all), Aristocracy (ruled by a few in the interest of all), Polity (ruled by many in the interest of all), Tyranny (ruled by the interests of one), Oligarchy (ruled by the interests of a few), Democracy (ruled by the interest of the many). He believed that the end goal of politics was to make citizens "good" and disposed to perform noble actions.

Natural Law (Chapter 3)

Included certain universal entitlements people that were "inalienable" (like the right of life, of liberty, of property, and of the freedom to pursue happiness); a key to Locke's theory of past and future governments.

Just War (Chapter 3)

Christian rulers needed to develop a theory to defend war; Augustine and Aquinas argued for it using religious terms (using scripture to justify political actions), and believed that persecution was a matter of criminal justice.

Machiavelli & The Prince (Chapter 3)

(Machiavelli) Presents the case for ideal rulership in which a ruler could effectively maximize their political power; states should lean on their cultural traditions to justify power. Rulers should use people's love/fear against them; rule by fear was the best strategy.

Hobbes & Leviathan (Chapter 3)

(Hobbes) Believed that the sovereign had a considerable amount of power and saw humans as competitive/selfish; the solution was a powerful government. Developed an idea of human nature; the origins of all our knowledge are derived from how our physical beings sense/perceive the world around us.

Rousseau & Social Contract (Chapter 3)

(Rousseau) To secure their freedoms, individuals built a form of association to defend/protect the person and their goods; If the people should choose to enthrone a king, that king's powers are not absolute or God-given, but given by humans. Believed that the state held competition and conflict, and saw that society/government as the problem.

Locke’s Classical Liberalism (Chapter 3)

(Locke) Freedom is the first virtue of society and a limited government guarantees it; the individual is more important than the state and becomes a citizen through consent. State power should be limited, economic inequality is not bad, and economic freedom is more important than economic equality.

Classical Conservatism (Chapter 3)

Believed that because of the tendency toward irrational behavior, humans need guidance from traditional authorities. Traditional authorities should pass on long-standing moral teachings through the family, religious institutions, and governmental law. Compliance with traditional morality is more important than individual liberty; people should not have the freedom to violate moral precepts.

Weber & Power (Chapter 3)

(Weber) An actor in a social relationship will be in a position to carry out their will despite resistance, resting upon 3 bases: authority (traditional, rational-legal, or charismatic), persuasion, or coercion. The government has power, but power is never the property of only one individual or institution: it can be derived from pluralism or power elites.

Pluralism (Chapter 3)

Power is distributed among participants (individuals, groups, institutions, political parties), and decision-making requires negotiation and compromise. No one gets everything they want, but no one is utterly powerless.

Power Elite (Chapter 3)

People whose positions enable them to transcend ordinary environments; they are in positions to make decisions with major consequences. They run the machinery of the state, direct the military establishment, and occupy the strategic command posts of the social structure.

The State (Chapter 3)

Weber defines it as a human community that holds the monopoly of force within a given territory. Includes a political apparatus, territory, sovereignty, and national identity/shared culture. Refers to a central government, and politics are not entirely confined within a state.

Use Value (Chapter 4)

Aristotle's word for the worth of something in terms of what you can do with it (ex. A car can be used to drive to work/ to run a taxi service).

Just Price (Chapter 4)

Aristotle's word for what the good or service can be traded for (ex. How much money one can get from selling a car).

Feudalism (Chapter 4)

A social, political, and economic system where land ownership and governance were tied together; formed in Europe and aimed at self-sufficient production through the extraction of the labor of peasants attached to the land, leading to an economic/social order where growth was only possible through exploitation and taxation.

Capitalism (Chapter 4)

An economic system where private individuals or businesses own the means of production. Marx believed that the lower classes of European societies would gradually begin to understand their place and their shared common interests, and developed class consciousness to overthrow this system that caused so much burden on the working class.

Communism (Chapter 4)

A political and economic ideology advocating for a classless, stateless society where all property and resources are communally owned. Marx believed that it ideally would abolish private property, rent, and place the "means of production" in the hands of the people.

Triangle Trade (Chapter 4)

By the 1500s, Europe, Africa, and North America established the continuous exchange of goods and people (sugar, cotton, furs, and slaves). Wealth would come in, specifically through gold and silver, which created inflation; governments now had to put more thought into how they would manage these new imperial systems.

Mercantilism (Chapter 4)

Nations amass wealth through trade with other countries (especially in gold), exporting more than it imports. Promoted governments to increase state power through stimulating domestic output, limiting domestic consumption, tariff imports, and creating a balance of trade; this strengthened national governments and created competitive colonial systems, fundamentally restructuring European societies.

Physiocrats (Chapter 4)

Argued that wealth originated in productive labor, contradicting the mercantilist view that wealth equaled accumulating gold. The productive class was still agricultural laborers

Demand Curve (Chapter 4)

Created by Antoine Augustin Cournot, this depicts the relationship between supply and demand, indicating the "equilibrium point" at which supply and demand are in balance.

Bentham & Utilitarianism (Chapter 4)

(Benthman) Human behavior could be explained and guided rationally as a calculated pursuit of happiness. Decision-making could/should be based on the objective number of pleasure units that a person can achieve.

Marx Theory of Alienation (Chapter 4)

(Marx) Under the conditions of industrial capitalism, people did not control the processes/products of their activity and performed unskilled labor rather than craftsmanship. Labor becomes monotonous, and activities are driven by industrial machines. Everything in life becomes boiled down to commodities that are bought and sold, accelerating inequality and degrading humanity.

Veblen & "Idle Rich" (Chapter 4)

(Veblen) A new group of people producing little of their own and providing minimal contribution to society; they engage in conspicuous consumption (extravagant/unnecessary consumption for displaying status, not fulfilling needs), such as free time (conspicuous leisure; playing golf, taking vacations, etc).

Microeconomics (Chapter 4)

Focuses on the small scale of economic behavior (like economic behavior at an individual level in households or monopolies); usually studies taxation, corporate behavior, and the structure of markets

Macroeconomics (Chapter 4)

Examines national and international economic systems, covering employment, inflation, economic policy, money, banking, economic cycles.

Modern Economics (Chapter 4)

(Cochrane) Framed into three areas: Descriptive reports/narratives, analytical explanations of how economic systems operate and provide laws, and applied economics to solve real-world problems. Economic laws are human laws concerned with human behavior and human decision-making. Concepts include supply and demand, price elasticity of demand (how much changes in price affect buyers' behavior), consumer surplus, and producer surplus.

Laffer Curve (Chapter 4)

Depicts the relationship between tax rates and government revenues. If tax rates were too low, the government would collect little or no revenue; if tax rates were too high, it would discourage business/entrepreneurship and negatively impact revenues.

Scarcity (Chapter 4)

A central concept in modern economics; resources are (blank) while human needs and wants are virtually limitless.

Equilibrium (economics) (Chapter 4)

The condition (particularly, the price) at which supply and demand are balanced, where firms produce as much of a commodity as consumers demand.

Marginal Cost (Chapter 4)

The change in the total cost of a good/service as it is affected by the production of additional units (it is always cheaper to produce the second, third, and further units than the first, which is the premise behind mass production).

Opportunity Cost (Chapter 4)

What an individual, group, corporation, or institution must give up in order to gain something else. Also known as a trade-off.

Marginal Utility (Chapter 4)

The change in gain that results from increasing consumption, or the change in loss that results from decreasing consumption, of a good or service. This is often associated with diminishing return (each additional unit consumed provides less satisfaction than previous units consumed).

Price Elasticity (Chapter 4)

How much changes in price affect demand for a commodity; can depend on whether they are essential to life or not.

Nous (Chapter 5)

Inner thoughts/feelings of humans; Christians viewed it as a being or spirit formed as an emanation from God

Descartes & Knowledge (Chapter 5)

(Descartes) Thinking is integral to the human experience (I think, therefore I am); much traditional knowledge has proven to be false, and our senses are easily fooled, so the first step was a radical skepticism about knowledge.

Tabula Rasa (Chapter 5)

(Locke) The mind at birth is blank or empty, and is filled as experience writes on this board. There is no such thing as innate knowledge; human ideas originate from experience, sensation, or reflection.

Empiricist Perspective (Chapter 5)

(Hobbes) Our senses are the source of knowledge; by combining or compounding different perceptions, we can create complex ideas (ex. Our imagination is created out of things that are perceived through our senses and memories).

Transcendental Idealism (Chapter 5)

(Kant) Senses and human thinking/reasoning have access only to perceivable phenomena. The mind is not a passive receptor of knowledge but an active constructor, bringing its own concepts or "categories" to experience. Some things are beyond the scope of human knowledge or reasoning (ex. We can see/touch a chair from some particular angle with our specific human senses; we cannot transcend our senses to experience the chair-in-itself).

In other words, knowledge is a construction, an interaction between the world and the human mind and body. But as such, human knowledge would always bump up against the limitations of our senses and the inherited mental and physical traits.

Broca and Behavioral Disorders (Chapter 5)

(Broca) Certain behavioral disorders are associated with specific locations in the brain. For instance, people who suffered a brain injury near the front of the brain would suffer from a speech impairment.

Phrenology (Chapter 5)

Claims that you could study the shape of someone's skull to reveal their personality traits. Popular among those interested in promoting a scientific basis and genetic superiority of certain races.

Introspection (Chapter 5)

(Wundt) Psychology labs would have subjects examine and describe their own mental experiences, processes, thoughts, feelings, and motives.

Shiraev & Modern Psychology (Chapter 5)

(Shiraev) The physiological understanding of the brain and nerve functions, and the medical study/treatment of mental illness. Has three recurrent themes: the mind-body problem, the interaction of biological/social factors in human behavior, and the balance between theoretical knowledge and practical applications.

Freud & Psychoanalysis (Chapter 5)

(Freud) Patients complaining of "nervous disorders" or neurosis were treated with the "talking cure"; he began asking his patients to simply start talking about whatever they had on their minds and to share their dreams for interpretation. One of the first comprehensive attempts to pull in psychology's "4 main goals" of description, explanation, prediction, and change.

Jung & Individuation (Chapter 5)

(Jung) The lifelong psychological process of becoming a unique, integrated self. Inspired by Freud, developed "depth psychology" into religion and spirituality.

Behaviorism (Chapter 5)

Focuses on observable behavior rather than the internal, unobservable mind. If a behavior is rewarding, it is likely to be repeated and to become part of the individual's behavioral patterns; a backlash against highly speculative mentalist psychology (like Freud).

Pavlov & Conditioned Reflex (Chapter 5)

(Pavlov) Human behaviors are caused by antecedent stimulation, like how dogs can be responsive (like bells inducing a response like salivation).

Skinner & Operant Conditioning (Chapter 5)

(Skinner) The individual acts or "operates" on the world and monitors the results (ex. Rat experiment); made significant contributions to the study of "reinforcement" or the factors that strengthen or weaken the acquisition of a response. Your entire personality is developed through a learning process; we take certain actions and monitor the results of these behaviors.

Piaget's Stage-Model (Chapter 5)

(Piaget) We are not simply born understanding things; it takes years to develop and understand them through interaction with the world.

Sensorimotor (the outside world), preoperational (lacks logical thought/complex mental operations/grasp the perspective of others), concrete operational (can perform mental operations/appreciate the perspective of others), and formal operational (thinks abstractly/logically).

Milgram Experiment (Chapter 5)

Participants were instructed to administer what they believed were increasingly powerful electric shocks to another participant (who was actually an actor) whenever the learner answered a question incorrectly. The study examined obedience to authority. Shows how classic experimentation and the scientific lab are common in psychology.

Stanford Prison Experiment (Chapter 5)

(Zimbardo) A simulation to analyze behavior; it added several psychosocial factors that contribute to the perpetration of violence, such as obedience to authority, diffusion of responsibility, gradual escalation of violence, dehumanization of the enemy/victim, and anonymity/deindividuation.