ANTH 341 Midterm Study Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards to help with key terms and theorists for the ANTH 341 midterm.

Sir Edward B. Tylor

Wanted to reconstruct the history of human culture based on uniformitarianism and the concept of survivals. First Anthropology professor in 1896.

Lewis Henry Morgan

Analyzed kinship's role in social evolution, proposing that key institutions developed from primary germs of thought in early human history.

Historical materialism

The belief that economic structure determines the social, political, and intellectual structure of society.

Max Weber

Argued social stratification cannot be explained by class alone but also status and party, emphasizing verstehen.

Emile Durkheim

Emphasized the pervasive nature of social facts, inspiring structuralism’s focus on binary oppositions and social cohesion.

Franz Boas

Known for Historical Particularism, believed culture must be understood in historical context.

Double Consciousness

A term by W.E.B. DuBois describing the sensation of viewing oneself through the eyes of a society that devalues one's identity.

Cultural relativism

The principle of understanding beliefs and behaviors in the context of their own culture.

Social facts

Durkheim's term for societal constructs like currency and legal codes that shape public beliefs and behaviors.

Cultural ecology

The idea that human cultures are closely linked to environmental conditions.

Cultural materialism

A theoretical framework that emphasizes material conditions like technology and economy in shaping society.

Dialectical materialism

The idea that economic institutions drive the characteristics of society.

Polygenism vs. monogenism

Polygenism suggests races evolved separately; monogenism suggests all human beings originate from a single couple.

Base

In Marxist theory, the economic foundation of society that determines its social and cultural institutions.

Superstructure

The ideology and political arrangements that arise from a society's economic base.

Collective conscience

A shared system of beliefs and values that guide behavior within a society.

Diffusionism

The theory that cultural practices spread through interactions.

Etic

A perspective that views a culture from an external, objective standpoint.

Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

A hypothesis asserting that language structure influences native speakers' perceptions and categorization of experience.

Mechanical vs. organic solidarity

Mechanical solidarity arises from similarities within a society; organic solidarity comes from interdependence.

Total social phenomenon

A concept that describes events like marriage ceremonies that involve all dimensions of society.

Potlatch

A competitive gift-giving ceremony in Tlingit culture that marks life events and validates social status.