ANTH1220 Cumulative Portion

What are the four fields of anthropology?

Biological Anthropology, Archaeology, Linguistic Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology

Biological Anthropology

The study of human evolution, biological variation, and adaptation, incorporating genetics, anatomy, and primate behavior

Archaeology

The study of the human past through the analysis of material remains, including artifacts, architecture, biofacts, and cultural landscapes

Linguistic Anthropology

The study of the relationship between language and culture. How language is used in society, and how the human brain acquires and uses language

Cultural Anthropology

The study of contemporary societies and cultures. The biggest of the four fields of anthropology

Holism

The concept that all parts of a society/anything else are interrelated

Positivism

The view that there is a reality “out there” that can be detected through the senses, and that there is a scientific method for investigating that reality

Ethnocentrism

The belief that you should evaluate and judge other cultures according to the standards of your own culture. Not good.

Cultural Relativism

The idea that every element of culture must be understood within the broader whole of that culture. Not the same as moral relativism and cultural determinism. Cultures don’t have borders and people are not brainwashed

Reflexivity/Reflexive Approach

Critically thinking about the way one thinks, reflecting on one’s own experience. It is situated, which means making it explicit exactly who you are as an anthropologist. Bronislaw Malinowski did this approach

Participant observation

A method that anthropologists use to study cultures and societies, where you participate in a culture to best observe and understand the culture as much as possible

Multi-sited Fieldwork

Type of fieldwork that allows for ethnographic research on cultural processes that are not contained by social, ethnic, religious, or nation boundaries. Often allowing for ethnographic analysis to people that were traditionally never subject to it.

Genealogical method

A research technique used to study kinship

Kinesics

The study of postures, facial expressions, motions. Some aspects are universal while others are not

What are the design features of the human language?

Openness, Displacement, Prevarication, Arbitrariness, Duality of Patterning, Semanticity

Openness

A human language design feature, allows speakers to produce and understand an infinite number of novel utterances

Displacement

A human language design feature, the capacity to communicate about things, actions or ideas that are not present in the immediate time or space

Prevarication

A human language design feature, the ability to intentionally produce meaningless, deceptive, or false messages like lying using language

Arbitrariness

A human language design feature, the principle that there is no natural, interent, or logical connection between the sound of a word and its meaning

Duality of Patterning

A human language design feature, the ability of the human language to form a vast number of meaningful words by combining a small set of meaningless sounds or signs

Semanticity

A human language design feature, it allows specific sounds, words, or signs to directly represent specific meanings, objects, ideas or actions

Phonology

The study of the sounds of a language, specifically focusing on how sounds are organized in the mind to create meaning

Morphology

The study of the smallest units of language that convey meaning, concerns morphemes

Bound Morpheme

Occur in combinations with other morphemes. For example, un in unhappy

Free Morpheme

Independent morphemes that can stand alone as words. For example, dog and happy

Transhumance

Type of nomadism where they move seasonally back and forth. Pastoralists and their grazing can help the biodiversity of native plants when done responsibly, they try not to overgraze. Pastoralists try to use every part of the animal.

Foragers

The first affluent society as said by Marshall Sahlins. They usually live in small, flexible bands. Small groups allow it to be more cooperative and adaptive. Men typically do more hunting and women typically do more gathering. Hoarding gets you nowhere in this social organization. They are egalitarian and nomadic. Some foragers have seasonal base camps. They have a diet of gathered plants and hunted foods that are highly varied. What they hunt/gather depends on where they live. Gathered foods usually provide most of the calories (80% Richard Lee) People only work 2.5 hours a day. Examples include the Hadza, Inuit, etc.

What happened/are the consequences of domestication?

The idea of property begins, the landscape changes, population grows, height of men and women decrease 5 inches due to diet, plants and people depend on each other, the environment changes, disease comes into fruition, and labour

Chiefdoms

They are ranked societies, less egalitarian, everyone has access to basic resources. Higher ranking people are more distinguished from lower ranking people based on sumptuary rules. The office of chief is permanent and governed by rules of succession. Associated with redistribution. The ranking system is based on kinship. Marriage is used to cut across kin ties and reinforce rank and secret societies create cross-cutting ties that often handle matters related to law and warfare

Tribes

They have larger populations than bands, they’re egalitarian with no formal leadership. Strategies of social integration include sodalities, gifts and feasting, marriage, segmentary lineages. There are no codified laws, they’re more interesting in resolving conflict than assigning blame. Mediators often try to negotiate settlements such as the leopard skin chief of the Nuer. Unresolved conflict can lead to war like raids and feuds

Ideology (production)

Karl Marx used the term ideology to describe the beliefs that explain and justify the relations of production

What did Karl Marx say relating to domination and hegemony?

People believe coercion is legitimate. People accept an ideology that justifies coercion and made the concept of false consciousness, being duped by an ideology

What did Antonio Gramsci say relating to domination and hegemony?

Persuasion is more stable that coercion. He also created the terms hegemony, successfully persuading people to accept the legitimacy of your authority, and counterhegemony, the challenges by subordinate groups

Political power

Formally recognized social power, split into three different types: Visible, formal apparatus of power. Hidden, behind the scenes power. Invisible, norms that make some issues invisible

Production

Turning raw materials into something that can be consumed

Distribution

Getting the resulting goods to people

Consumption

Using the goods

What are the three modes of exchange proposed by Marshall Sahlins?

Reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange

Reciprocity

A mode of exchange that is split into three different types: Generalized, balanced, and negative reciprocity. The swapping of goods

Generalized reciprocity

Reciprocity that neither the value nor the timing of the return are specified

Balanced reciprocity

Reciprocity where there are expectations of a return of equal value within a certain time limit, like getting a gift after giving a gift

Negative reciprocity

Reciprocity where exchange partners try to get the better deal. Happens when people don’t know each other very well

Redistribution

A mode of exchange that can only happen in a centralized authority/social organization. People in power receive goods from people anmd redistributes it to everyone back equally. For example, income tax and potlatch. Redistribution is associated with chiefdoms

Market exchange

A mode of exchange that is the exchange of goods according to a multipurpose standardized medium of exchange, like money. It is carried out according to supply and demand price fixing mechanisms. Markets are associated most with capitalist societies

Mode of production

The social relations through which human labour is used to transform energy from nature using tools, skills, organization, and knowledge

What are the three mode of production types that Eric Wolf identified?

Domestic (kin-ordered), tributary, and capitalist

Domestic (kin-ordered) mode

A mode of production that is organised around labour from family, kinship.

Tributary mode

A mode of production where a primary producer controls the mean of production and controls tribute of others

Capitalist mode

A mode of production that has two groups capitalists and workers. Capitalists own the means of production while workers sell their labour to capitalists