Anthro Test 2 - 10/29/26

Situational Negotiation of Identity

People may have different identities depending on the contexts (ex. in Brazil, people may have identified as white before, but then idenify as white to apply for a job that is looking for diversity hires)

Ethnic group

Members share beliefs, values, habits, customs, norms bc of their common background

Ethnicity

Identification with/feeling part of an ethnic group + exclusion from other groups.

Social organization of cultural difference

contructed and contested

Status and Identity

cultural differences - ethnicity, class, region, religion, etc

Status: position an individual occupies in a society, can shift based on context

Ascribed Status

social status based on limited choice

few statuses are absolutely ascribed bc ppl modify how their gender/race is perceived

Achieved Status

Social status attained thru choices/actions/efforts/talents/accomplishments

ex. doctor, student, criminal

Stratification

minorities occupy subordinate positions within social hierarchy & therefore have less power/wealth

Seen in unemploymnt rates, poverty is racialized/ethnicized

Racial Classification

assigning humans into categories based on common ancestry

Study of human bio variation 2 approaches: racial classification (not used anymore?) & explanatory approach (understanding specific biological diffs)

Asssumption that an ethnic group has a biological basis which = race

Race

Ethnic group assumed to have a biological basis

Supposed to reflect shared genetic material/ancestry—> but early scholars instead used phenotypes/skin color (problematic & inconsistent)

Socially constructed, NOT biologically distinct, —> but real consequences, cultural (not bio) differences, racism embedded in institutions, causes inequality

Race ≠ ethnicity: arbitrary in the US, eg. hispanics (ethnicity) can be any race

Brazil: more flexibility of racial identity, more of an achieved status, less emphasis on ancestry, more abt skin tone

Racism

discrimination against an ethnic group assumed to have a biological basis

Phenotype

expressed physical characteristics of an organism

Genotype

my genes are blue <3

Hypodescent

automatically places children on mixed marriages into the group of the minority (one drop rule)

rule of descent: assigns social identity at birth based on ancestry

gov can play a decisive role in defining, assigning legal racial/ethnic identities

Hafu

Japanese descriptions for biracial Japanese

not whole, incomplete, less than

Adaptive Strategy

A society’s main system of economic production

Accelerated human population growth —> formation of larger more powerful social and political systems

Ex. Food production: plant cultivation and animal domestication

Yehudi Cohen’s Typology

foraging, horticulture, agriculture, pastoralism, and industrialism

Foraging

Hunting/gathering/fishing

small social groups, band-organized societies, sharing resources, immediate food consumption, egalitarianism, decision making by mutual consent, no fear of scarcity, assumptions of abundance,

Band

basic social unit among foragers, <100 ppl, may split up seasonally, flexability & mobility, dont inherit $ or status, no leadership, few status disinctions (maybe age, gender, personal achievements if anything and its small)

foraging bands lacked formal law but had methods of social control

Horticulture

Baby agriculture: simple tools, non intensive, fallowing, not permanent, slash and burn/shifting farm plots while village stays in place, can support large permanent villages,

Agriculture

Continuous & intensive cultivation using land and labor, domesticated animals, irrigation/terracing sometimes, greater long term yield and more dependable, densly populated areas, cultivation continuum,

Cultivation Continuum

Continuum of land and labor use that ranges from horticulture to agriculture

Intensification

intense cultivators typically sedentary and specialized focusing on few caloric staples, reduced ecological diversity, reduced risk w a stable/long-term crop, but a failed stable crop = famine. Meanwhile horticulturalists reduce risk by having diversity and not putting all their eggs in one basket

Pastoralism

Herding focused on domesticated animals (cattle, sheep, goats, camels, yaks) to protect them and ensure reproduction —> herders get food & other products

Pastoral nomadism: annual movement of an entire pastoral group w herds

Tanshumance: part of the group moves w the herd, most stay at home

Modes of Production

way of organizing production

Economy

system of the production, distribution, and consumption of resources

Economics

study of resources

Means of Production

land, labor, tech, and capital:

Alienation

Industrial econs: worker manufactures a product —> perceives the product as belonging to someone else

NOT in Nonindustrial societies: relations of productions, distribution, etc are social relations with economic aspects

Economizing

rational allocation of scare means/resources to alternative ends

bc wants are infinite and means are limited, we must utilize available resources efficiently

maximize profit

Alternative Ends

we put a portion of our scarce resources toward building funds

subsistence fund: working for sustenance

replacement fund: maintaining tech and items essential to production

social fund: helping friends, relatives, neighbors,

ceremonial fund: covering expenditures on ceremonies

rent fund: rendering resources to an entity poltiically/economically superior

Karl Polanyi’s 3 Principles that Guide Exchange

market principle / redistribution / reciprocity

all can be present in a society but 1 usually dominates

Market Principle

buying, selling, valuation based on supply and demand, capitalism, governs distribution of the means of production, bargaining to maximize profits, short and quick offers/counteroffers

Redistribution

chiefdoms, flow of goods from local level, into a center, and back out thru redistribution, tithing in many religions

Reciprocity

trading btw social equals, often egalitarian societies

3 kinds

Generalized Reciprocity

exchange btw closely related ppl - parents buy u a present

most widespread

Balanced Reciprocity

exchange btw more distant partners, if other party doesnt reciprocate than the relationship may be strained - u buy dinner for the group but friends never offer to pay

Negative Reciprocity

potential hostile exchanges among strangers, try to maximize profit, immediate

Coexistence of Exchange Principles

US is market exchnage, but we also have redistribution thru taxes and gov, reciprocity thru various forms, etc

Potlatch

Gift giving ceremony, create alliances, promote altruism, show off, distribute wealth, prestige to whoever organized the potlatch, its a cultural adaptation to alternating periods of local abundance and shortage/poverty, used as a substitute for war, bring ppl together

Kula

Practiced by Trobriand

Items exchanged, they risk everything to go (possible ship wrecks, being eaten,), only important men go, maintain chain of relationships that spreads far to make a complex network, value of shells for history as they’re passed from person to person to give prestigious ppl more prestige, have to give it on so that they’re name can be spread on to the history of the shelll and passed on

Trobriand Islands

practice kula

Hegemony

subordinates comply by internalizing rulers’ values and accpeting naturalness of domination

“The Political”

“individuals or groups that manage the affairs of public policy

auhtority as the formal, socially approved use of power

Sociopolitical Organization

preferred in discussing the exercise of power and regulation of relations among groups and their reps

Tribe

food-producing society with a rudimentary political structure

Chiefdom

differential access to resources and permanent pollitical structure (between a tribe and a state)

State

formal gov structure w socioeconomic stratification

Ju/’hoansi or San people

San linguistic group

sedentism increased recently, links btw foraging economies and other aspects of bands

foraging group, few rules, if you were hungry you could eat, used to wo what they wanted and travel if they wanted to travel, but after white ppl took over, they’re forced to stay in one spot and there’s disease and not enough food and they only eat one thing,

The Inuit

everyone had access to resources needed to survive, no notion of private ownership, primarily hunting/fishing, some men had 2-3 wives (prestige) and fought over women, song battles

Tribal Cultivators

typically horticultural/pastoral econ, organized into villages/descent groups, lack stratification and formal gov, village heads/big men/pantribal leaders,

Yanomami

village fissioning/members leaving happens from time to time, village head, prone to outside attacks, outsiders are vectors of disease

The Head Man / Village Head

has limited authority (only to influence and persuade), lead by example, act as a mediator is disputes, must be more generous than his tribe, members can leave if they’re dissatisfied, leadership is a burden and great responsibility

“The Big Man”

similar to village head, but authority is regional (1+ village), common to south pacific

Kapauku Papuans

Big man (tonowi) as a key political figure w status achieved thru hard work, amassed wealth (pigs and native riches), distinguished thru generosity, eloquence, bravery, fitness, supernatural powers,

Kawelka

community w big men, uses persuasion,

Moka

competitive gift exchnage where status comes from giving wealth away, “I have won. I have knoecked you down by giving so much",” money (from selling coffee) and pigs, pau shells, big men compete and if they fail, ppl will shame him, leading is not for money or pride, but an obligation forcing big man to lead and give a lot

Pantribal Sodalities

age sets move thru age grades: group of boys born during a 4 year period thruout their life

in some areas, they are secret societies made exclusively for men or women,

relationships across communities so when travel they can seek out members of their age set

Maasai

linguistic group, pastoralists, polygyny (2+ women share a husband), bride price, patrilineal clans, socially organized by age sets

warrior age grade is most important, in some areas,

Qashqai and Basseri

Chiefdoms organization

A permanent political structure (permanent office that endures across generations), hereditary leader, social ranking (based on access to resources), but lacking class divisions,

Chiefdoms/states are ideal types: they’re examples that accentuate social contrasts that are easier to study

chiefs: important role in production, distribution, consumption of resources etc, recieves first fruits and then redistributes it by hosting feasts

Early (or Archaic) States

drew a firmer line btw elites and masses, marriage within one’s social group

State Systems

Autonomous politcal unit encompassing many communities within its territory, having a centralized gov w power to collect taxes, draft men for work or war, decree and enforce laws

typically large and populous

population control: citizenship categories, census, borders, administrative subdivisions,

judiciary, enforcement, fiscal support

Status Systems

Chiefdoms: social status based on seniority of descent, intricately calculated, (eldest of an eldest of an eldest of an eldest)

Early Archaic states: firmer lines btw elites and masses, marriage witin social grouo

Social Stratification

key feature of a state

three dimensions: econ status/wealth, political status/power, social status/prestige, respect, approval

emergence of this: early states had contrasts on wealth, power, prestige, btw superordinate (upper elites w privileged access to valued resources) and subordinate (lower underprivileged limited by privileged group) groups

Social Control

beliefs, practices, institutions involved in maintenance of any norms and regulation of any conflict to we can have appropriate and inapproriate behaviors, includes informal/social/subtle aspects and formal'/gov/public aspects

Resistance

To curb resistance: hegemony, fear, stigma, shame, gossip, make subordiantes feel that they’ll eventually gain power, separate or isolate ppl & supervise closely, geographic/lingustic/ethnic separation,

resistance most likely when ppl can assemble

Weapons of the Weak

Public transcript: open public interactions btw oppressed and oppressor “ok prof, I’ll learn these key words”

Hidden transcript: critique of oppressor out of sight of oppressor in small every day acts "this prof is crazy and these keywords are unreasonable” —> can be expressed at certain times

Shame and Gossip

Igbo Women’s war: women resisted British men by censoring and shaming then with song and dance

Structural Violence

Social institution/structure causes real harm to ppl by not meeting their needs

ex. minorities’ lives are sometimes shorter bc they’re disadvantaged, dont get proper medical care, dont get paid enough to live healthily

easy to naturalize

Prevention through Deterrence

leads migrants into lethal terrain

Bands, tribes, chiefdom, state

Holmes v De Leon in border crossing

Religion

Anthony fc wallace: belief and ritual concerned w supernatural beings, powers, forces

Emile Durkheim highlighted religious effervescence - collective emotioal intensity generated by worship

Sire Edward Burnett Tylor: religion evolved so ppl could explain things, and will decline as science better explains them

Religion is a cultural universal

Religion + social control

religion affects actions, can instill hatred or fear, offeres rewards and punishments for behaviors, codes of ethics/morality

religions of stratified state societies vs religions in less marked social contracts

all societies shave religious figures

Polytheism vs monotheism

belief in multiple gods who control aspects of nature vs belief in a single all powerful God

Shaman

Rituals

formal, sylized, repetitive, sterotyped, behavior based on liturgical order, convey info about participants and culture, social acts

Rites of Passage

associated with transitions

3 phases - separation(withdraw from society), liminality (in between), incorporation (reentry w new status)

Liminality

in between phase of a rite of passage

humility, poverty, equality, obedience, sexual abstinence, silence

incomplete/interrupted rite could cause u to be labeled as dangerous

lion king v hunger games

Communitas

Social aspect of collective liminality, an intense feeling of social solidarity

Descola’s model of religion and nature

These things as “relational ontologies” or ways of being in the world

Interiority: is it like a human soul on the inside?

Physicality: has a body/substance like mine?

Animism

Belief in spiritual beings

Achuar

Totemism

Arrente

Analogism

Mexica

Naturalism