ANTH1023H Exam 2

Kinship, Class and Inequality, The Global Economy, Religion, Ritual, and Rites of Passage

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 groups

kinship group in which primary relationships are traced through certain consanguineal (“blood”) relatives

lineage

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

clan

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

patrilineal descent groups

traced through the male line only

affinal relationship

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

marriage

a 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

polygyny

marriage between one man and two or more women

polyandry

marriage between one woman and two or more men

monogamy

a 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

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

dowry

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

matrilineal descent group

traced through the female line only

ambilineal

kinship can be traced through either side of the family, depending upon the context or location

bilaterail

kinship is traced equally on both sides of the family

consanguineal relationships

individuals considered to be related by blood/biology within that culture (children, siblings, mother and/or father, grandparents, etc.)

fictive relationships

included in the family but not related by law or blood (godparents, blood brothers, some adoptions, family friends referred to as relatives)

importance of tracking kinship

• avoiding inbreeding

• establishing and maintaining rules of marriage

• marital exchange of resources

• determining location of residence of married couples

• determining who receives inheritance

• establishing social roles and behavior, such as speaking and naming taboos

essentially used to track the cultural norms and values surrounding marriage, children, and family life

class

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

stratification

the uneven distribution of resources and privileges among members of a group or culture

egalitarian society

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

reciprocity

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

ranked society

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

redistribution

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

potlatch

elaborate redistribution ceremony practiced among the Kwakiutl of the Pacific Northwest

bourgeoisie

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

means of production

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

capital

any asset employed or capable of being deployed to produce wealth

proletariat

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

prestige

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

life chances

an individual’s opportunities to improve their quality of life and realize life goals

social mobility

the movement of one’s class position upward or downward in stratified societies

social reproduction

the phenomenon whereby social and class relations of prestige or lack of prestige are passed from one generation to the next

habitus

Bourdieu’s term to describe the self-perceptions, sensibilities, and tastes developed in response to external influences over a lifetime that shape one’s conceptions of the world and where one fits in it

cultural capital

the knowledge, habits, and tastes learned from parents and family that individuals can use to gain access to scarce and valuable resources in society

intersectionality

an 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 from work plus dividends and interest on investments along with earnings from rents and royalties

wealth

the total value of what someone owns, minus any debt

caste

a system of stratification most prominently found in South Asia in which status is determined by birth

ascribed status

a status ASSIGNED, usually at birth

achieved status

a status ACQUIRED during one’s lifetime

Paul Farmer and “An Anthropology of Structural Violence”

Farmer explores how social, economic, and political structures perpetuate violence and inequalities in healthcare access and outcomes. He argues that these structural forces, such as poverty, racism, and unequal distribution of resources, create conditions where certain groups are disproportionately affected by illness and death

Karl Marx

a key theorist of class, capitalism, and history

wrote during Industrial Revolution, as poor rural people in Western Europe migrated to cities to seek factory jobs in response to government policies that restricted their use of common village lands

identified labor as a key source of value and profit in the marketplace

believed the proletariat would have difficulty forming class consciousness on their own because arts, religion, politics were used to distract people from recognizing economics at the root of the inequality

highly critical of the role of religion in society, likening it to a narcotic that dulled people’s pain, preventing them from realizing how serious societal problems were and taking action

argued that cultural institutions, including religion, reflected economic realities, called “the base”

Max Weber

wrote against the backdrop of the expansion of capitalism during the Industrial Revolution

added considerations of power and prestige to Marx’s ideas about economic stratification of wealth income

according to him, the state has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force

Pierre Bourdieu

studied the French educational system to understand relationships among class, culture, power, and taste

found that the education system reproduced existing systems of stratification rather than offered an equal opportunity for social mobility

habitus

how is Flint, MI an example of inequality

the water crisis, lasting over a year and causing irreversible damage to the people in the community, is an example of class and inequality because it demonstrates

• racial segregation (a predominantly black community)

• economic disinvestment

• government neglect and mismanagement

• health inequalities

how is the Kwakiutl an example of inequality

their culture was stripped from them by Canadian officials because they wanted them to advance as a society. the children were forced into English-only boarding schools, their sacred ritual potlatch was taken away because it was seen as “primitive,” they lost their land and their resources, and were frequently faced with legal inequalities from the Canadian government

2 roots of poverty

economics and politics

economy

a cultural adaptation to the environment that enables a group of humans to use the available land, resources, and labor to satisfy their needs and to thrive

food foragers

humans who subsist by hunting, fishing, and gathering plants to eat

pastoralism

a strategy for food production involving the domestication and herding of animals

horticulture

the cultivation of plants for subsistence through nonintensive use of land and labor

agriculture

an intensive farming strategy for food production involving permanently cultivated land to create a surplus

industrial agriculture

intensive farming practices involving mechanization and mass production of foodstuffs

colonialism

the practice by which states extend political, economic, and military power beyond their own borders over an extended period of time to secure access to raw materials, cheap labor, and markets in other countries or regions

triangle trade

the extensive exchange of enslaved people, sugar, cotton, and furs between Europe, Africa, and the Americas that transformed economic, political, and social life on both sides of the Atlantic

Industrial Revolution

the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century shift from agriculture and artisanal skill craft to machine-based manufacturing

neocolonialism

a continued pattern of unequal economic relations between former colonial states and former colonies despite the formal end of colonial political and military control

underdevelopment

the term used to suggest that poor countries are poor as a result of their relationship to an unbalanced global economic system

flexible accumulation

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

neoliberalism

an economic and political worldview that sees the free market as the main mechanism for ensuring economic growth, with a severely restricted role for government

commodities

a good that can be bought, sold, or exchanged in a market

commodity chains

the hands an item passes through between producer and consumer

the principle of gifting

while gifts seem voluntary and spontaneous, they are often a requirement and ensure a response

giving of the gift creates a tie with the person who receives it, who is then obliged to reciprocate

how the gift is given and received will also impact the relationship

Trobiand Islanders and the kula ring

objects are exchanged constantly

men form lifelong kula partners both nearby and afar, with expected social obligations and duties

more kula partners is a sign of prestige and social capital (chiefs have hundreds of kula partners, while most men have a few comprised of in-laws, friends, and local chiefs)

there were also secondary economic, ceremonial, and magical activities, and large amounts of tertiary trade and socializing

not spontaneous or disorganized

Moka exchange

Reciprocal exchange, gift economy

Pigs as social capital, trough which status/prestige is accrued

The bigger the gift given, the more prestige is gained

Big Man vs. Rubbish Man

Competition through generosity

Re-engages a reciprocal relationship through debt creation and expands social network

Based on persuasion and cultivation of social network, rather than obligation based on authority, heredity, or position

religion

a set of beliefs and rituals based on a vision of how the world ought to be and how life ought to be lived, often, though not always, focused on a supernatural power and lived out in community

martyr

a person who sacrifices their life for the sake of their religion

saint

an individual considered exceptionally close to God who is exalted after death

sacred

anhything considered holy

profane

anything considered unholy

ritual

an act or series of acts regularly repeated over years or generations that embodies the beliefs of a group of people and creates a sense of continuity and belonging

rite of passage

a category of ritual that enacts a change of status from one life stage to another, either for an individual or for a group

liminality

one stage in a rite of passage during which a ritual participant experiences a period of outsiderhood, set apart from normal society, that is key to achieving a new perspective on the past, present, and future community

communitas

a sense of camaraderie, a common vision of what constitutes the good life, and a commitment to take social action toward achieving this vision that is shaped by the common experience of rites of passage

pilgrimage

a religious journey to a sacred place as a sign of devotion and in search of transformation and enlightenment

cultural materialism

a theory that argues material conditions, including technology and the environment, determine patterns of social organization, such as religious principles

secular

without religious or spiritual basis

shamans

local religious practitioners with abilities to connect individuals with supernatural powers or beings to provide special knowledge and power for healing, guidance, and wisdom

magic

the use of spells, incantations, words, and actions in an attempt to compel supernatural forces to act in certain ways, whether for good or for evil

symbol

anything that represents something else

authorizing process

the complex historical and social developments through which symbols are given power and meaning

anomie

a type of alienation

Emile Durkheim

focused on the social aspects of religion, not private or individual experiences

argued that religion acts as a social process that plays a crucial role in combatting anomie by creating solidarity, cohesion, and stability

Arnold van Gennep

introduced the notion of a rite of passage

noticed the 3 stages of a rite of passage in his cross-cultural analysis

best known for his “Rites of Passage”

Victor Turner

further developed the concept of liminality after Gennep

focuses on identity formation, emotional connections, and social role construction during the liminal stage

Hajj rite of passage

a significant pilgrimage in Islam that millions of Muslims undertake annually. It represents one of the Five Pillars of Islam, making it an essential religious duty for Muslims who are physically and financially capable of undertaking the journey

Awa (New Guinea) rite of passage

Society is highly stratified by gender with the sexes living in separate parts of the village

Ritual focuses on strengthening males and removing pollution caused by contact with females

Takes place over several years

Stage 1: boys 12-14 move away from their mother’s homes and live with the men

Stage 2: a year later (13-15) are taken to a secluded site in the forest to begin the process of purifying themselves. 19-20 they learn things only known to male adults

Stage 3: they experience one last purification and are then returned to society as bachelors

🏹🏹🏹🏹🩸🩸🩸🩸

Mescalero Apache

the women undergo a rite of passage that tests their endurance which will make them a “woman” under the society

the main part of the ritual includes the girls dancing in a teepee overnight, lasting around 10 hours

they wear traditional clothing, their faces are constantly painted with pollen or clay, and they cannot show emotions on their face for the entire ritual

religious taboos and foodways

Islamic halal and Jewish kashrut (kosher) prohibits certain types of preparations of food

Prohibitions against eating beef in sects of Hinduism

Buddhists and Jains are vegetarians due to ethics founded in ahimsa (nonviolence)

Fasting events occur in most religions at regular times, such as Lent or Advent in Catholicism, Ramadan in Islam, or Yom Kippur in Judaism

Clifford Geertz’s definition of religion

1. a system of symbols which acts to 2. establish powerful, positive, and long-lasting moods and motivations in people by 3. formulating conceptions of a general order of existence and 4. clothing these conceptions which such an aura of factuality that 5. the moods and motivations seems uniquely realistic

Talal Asad

objects to Geertz’s definition of religion, arguing that no definitions of religion are universal and warns against attempts to apply Western European ideas of religion to all spiritual practices in the world

argues that the meanings behind religious symbols are produced through a complex historical process through which meanings are created, contested, and contained