Comprehensive ANTH 260 Exam 1: Ethnography, Culture & Globalization (Week 5 + Extra)

What does environmental anthropology study?

How different societies understand, interact with, and make changes to nature.

What is a cultural landscape?

Beliefs, stories, laws, and metaphors about the environment that shape the physical landscape.

What is the 'Mother Nature' metaphor associated with?

Nurturing and procreative aspects of nature.

What does the boiling frog metaphor illustrate?

The tendency to not react to incremental change until a crisis occurs.

What is traditional ecological knowledge (TEK)?

Indigenous ecological knowledge linked to resource management, situated and context-dependent.

What are modes of subsistence?

Different ways societies obtain food, such as foraging, pastoralism, horticulture, and agriculture.

What is the Green Revolution?

Agricultural research and technology that pushed rural communities toward industrial agriculture.

Define food security.

Access to enough nutritious food.

What does environmental justice link?

Racial discrimination, social equity, and environmental quality.

What is political ecology?

Examines how economic power, government policy, and social hierarchies affect access to natural resources.

What significant legal recognition was given to the Whanganui River?

It was granted legal personhood, recognized as an indivisible and living whole.

What is the definition of sustainability?

Meeting present needs without compromising future generations.

What is the Anthropocene?

A term describing the current geological epoch viewed as the result of human activity.

What does 'green capitalism' refer to?

Market-driven solutions to environmental issues that can lead to dispossession.

What does the term 'slumness' refer to?

Lacking access to potable water, sanitation, secure land tenure, living space, or durable shelter.

What is the significance of the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?

They are a set of 17 goals aimed at addressing global challenges including poverty and inequality.

What are push-pull factors in migration?

Conditions that drive people away from their home country (push) or attract them to a new country (pull).

What does 'hybridization' refer to in globalization?

The blending of different cultures and identities resulting from global interactions.

What is the role of ethnoscience?

Studying the conceptual models and classification systems of other cultures.

What is the ecological footprint?

The land and water area required for a population's consumption and waste.

What does the term 'diaspora' mean?

A scattered population whose origin lies in a separate geographic locale.

What is the impact of the nutrition transition?

A shift toward industrial foods and sedentary lifestyles, leading to rising obesity rates.

What is the significance of 'multi-sited ethnography'?

A research method that studies social phenomena across multiple locations.

What is the main argument of the technical fix to a non-technical problem?

It treats climate and housing as issues for experts rather than addressing ethical and political dimensions.

What are the four key questions proposed for analyzing environmental issues?

1. Who wins and who loses? 2. How does environmental change shape social marginalization? 3. How do political-economic forces drive environmental change? 4. Whose narratives of the environment and sustainability count?

Who is Dr. Rosalind Fredericks?

A geographer who uses ethnographic methods and has conducted around 20 years of research in Senegal, focusing on political ecology.

What is the setting of 'The Waste Commons' film?

A large open-air, unplanned dump where the government plans to transition it into a park.

What happens to waste pickers during the government's transition plan?

They would be displaced and their projected jobs would drop from about 2,000 to 500.

How do waste pickers create their livelihoods?

They are not paid by the state, but create their own jobs by reselling what they find in the dump.

What are the health impacts faced by waste pickers?

They experience serious health issues due to biogas and polluted water in the dump.

What is the conflict between the state and waste pickers?

The state wants to formalize and control the waste pickers, while the workers seek support and independence.

What is the role of food waste in the conflict between the state and waste pickers?

The state wants food waste for compost, but workers use it for feeding animals.

What is the concept of 'just transition' in sustainability?

It refers to ensuring that transitions to sustainable practices consider the needs and rights of those affected.

What is the difference between ethnocentrism and cultural relativism?

Ethnocentrism judges other cultures as inferior, while cultural relativism understands practices within their own context.

What does critical relativism entail?

It involves understanding cultural practices but also judging harmful actions, such as genocide.

What is the salvage paradigm in anthropology?

The view that cultures are disappearing and must be recorded before they are lost.

What is multi-sited ethnography?

A research method that follows a subject across multiple locations.

What does the term 'political ecology' refer to?

The study of how political and economic factors influence environmental issues and resource access.

What is the concept of 'cultural landscape'?

It examines how beliefs, laws, and metaphors shape the environment.

What is engaged anthropology?

Collaborative research that involves working alongside communities, often to promote social change.

What is the difference between primary and secondary materials in research?

Primary materials include firsthand data, while secondary materials consist of media, reports, and other analyses.

What are push and pull factors in migration?

Push factors drive people away from their homes (e.g., conflict), while pull factors attract them to new locations (e.g., economic opportunities).

What is the 'ethnographic present'?

The concept that ethnographic texts reflect the context and time in which they were created.

What is the difference between development anthropology and anthropology of development?

Development anthropology works within projects, while anthropology of development critiques these projects.

What does the term 'friction' refer to in globalization studies?

It describes the messy, uneven connections and interactions that occur in globalization.

What is the role of reflexivity in ethnographic research?

Reflexivity involves reflecting on how the researcher's identity and presence affect the research process.

What is the definition of culture in anthropology?

Culture is shared, learned, symbolic, and dynamic, not innate.

What is the significance of the term 'othering'?

It refers to the process of ranking and subordinating others based on perceived differences.

What does the term 'green capitalism' refer to?

It describes the market-driven approach to environmental sustainability that often prioritizes profit over social equity.

What is the concept of 'hybridization' in cultural studies?

It refers to the mixing and remaking of cultural elements in local contexts.