ANTH 101 World Cultures: Introduction to Social Anthropology Final Test Study Guide

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the administrative structure, grading policies, logistics, and student requirements for the ANTH 101 Final Test in Spring 2025.

Value Chain

The journey a product takes from being a raw ingredient (like a cocoa bean) to a finished item (a chocolate bar). It shows who does the work and who gets the most money.

Economy

Not just money, but the way a group of people organizes how they make, share, and use things to survive and thrive.

Capitalism

An economic system where trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the government.

Neoliberalism

The idea that the 'free market' (buying and selling without government rules) is the best way to make a country grow.

Neocolonialism

When powerful countries use their money and business influence to control poorer countries, even after those countries are no longer 'colonies'.

Cocoa

A real-world example of the Value Chain. Farmers in Africa do most of the hard work but get very little of the money compared to big chocolate companies in rich countries.

Health

More than just 'not being sick'; it’s a state of feeling good physically, mentally, and socially.

Disease

A specific problem with the body that a doctor can name (like the flu or a broken bone).

Illness

The personal experience of being sick—how it feels to you, your family, and your life.

Sickness

How society looks at you when you are ill (like being allowed to stay home from school).

Ethnomedicine

The local health beliefs and 'home remedies' of a specific culture.

Biomedicine

The 'Western' style of medicine that uses science, biology, and technology to fix the body.

Medical pluralism

When people use both 'Western' doctors and 'Traditional' healers at the same time.

Bioscience

The study of living things using biology.

Biosocial event

Something biological (like a birth or a disease) that is also a big social event for the community.

Technocratic birth

A way of giving birth that focuses mostly on machines and doctors, sometimes forgetting the mother’s feelings.

Consent

Giving clear permission for something to happen (very important in medicine and research!).

Sex

The physical differences people are born with (like 'male' or 'female').

Gender

The 'rules' or expectations a culture has for how boys and girls should act.

Gender identity

How you feel inside (whether you feel like a boy, a girl, or something else).

Gender expression

How you show your gender to the world (through clothes, hair, or behavior).

Gender performance

The idea that we 'act out' our gender every day by following cultural rules.

Masculinity

The traits a culture usually links to men (like being 'tough').

Cultural construct

An idea that feels 'natural' but was actually made up by people in a society (like 'pink is for girls').

Intersex

People born with bodies that don't fit into the 'standard' male or female categories.

Sexuality

A person’s romantic or physical attraction to others.

Heterosexuality

Being attracted to the opposite gender.

Homosexuality

Being attracted to the same gender.

Mati work

A specific example from Suriname where women have spiritual and romantic relationships with other women.

Kinship

The system of who counts as 'family' in a culture.

Marriage

A socially recognized relationship between people that usually starts a new family.

Monogamy

Being married to only one person at a time.

Polygamy

Being married to more than one person at the same time.

Nuclear family

A small family group (usually just parents and their children).

Lineage

A group of people who can trace their family tree back to one specific person.

Descent group

A group of people who are related because they share a common ancestor.

Affinal relationship

People you are related to by marriage (like your 'in-laws').

Companionate marriage

A marriage based on love and friendship rather than money or power.

Reproductive policies

Laws made by the government about having children (like rules about birth control or fertility).

Artificial reproductive technologies

Scientific tools (like IVF) used to help people have babies.

Religion

A set of beliefs about how the world should be, usually involving rituals and community.

Symbol

Anything (a cross, a flag, a word) that stands for a bigger idea or meaning.