ANTH final review ch. 1-2

anthropology broad definition

The study of humanity

Four subfields of anthropology

cultural, biological, archaeology, linguistic

culture

a set of beliefs and practices and symbols that are learned and shared. For an all-encompassing, integrated whole that binds people together and shapes their worldview and lifestyles.

enculturation

process by which individuals learn the cultural values, norms, and practices in their society.

ethnocentrism

the tendency to view one's own culture as most important/correct/the stick by which to measure other cultures.

Herbert Spencer and Lewis Henry Morgan

early anthropologists who viewed societies as things that progress from savagery, barbarism, to civilization. *very ethnocentric

Bronislaw Malinowski

British anthropologist (born in Poland) who introduced the technique of the participant observation when working in Trobriand Islanders. Off the veranda approach, wrote The Argonauts of the Western Pacific.

participant observation

the method of immersive, long-term research that cultural anthropologists use today

Franz Boas

Father of American Anthropology, developed cultural relativism. Went to Baffin Island studying the Inuit people. Found that their cultural traditions were well-suited for the environment they were in.

cultural relativism

the idea that we should seek to understand another person's beliefs and behaviors from the perspective of their own culture and not our own.

holism

an anthropological perspective: seeks to understand how different aspects of human life influence one another.

comparison

study of what we have in common, how we differ, and how we change.

field work

conduct research with the subjects they study. It is inductive: a type of reasoning that uses specific information to draw general conclusions. *not really trying to prove a hypothesis.

cultural anthropology

the study of people's communities, behaviors, beliefs, and institutions, including how people make meaning as they live, work, and play together.

biological anthropology

study of human origins, evolution, and variation.

archaeology

study of the material past, using excavation

linguistic anthropology

The study of human language in the past and present.

applied anthropology

the application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess, and solve practical problems.

The Other

a term used to describe people whose customs, beliefs, or behaviors are "different" from one's own.

armchair anthropology

an early and discredited method of anthropological research that did not involve direct contact with the people studied

cultural evolutionism

a discredited theory popular in nineteenth century anthropology suggesting that societies evolved through stages from simple to advanced.

Sir James Frazier

Armchair anthropologist: wrote The Golden Bough which was based off of second-hand accounts.

Sir E.B. Tylor

Armchair anthropologist: believed in cultural evolutionism, taking it from Darwin's ideas of the evolution of species.

Going native

Becoming fully integrated into a cultural group through acts such as taking leadership, assuming roles, marriage, or other behaviors that incorporate an anthropologist into the society he is studying. Ex. Malinowski with the Trobriand Islanders. Brings up ethical challenges as the line between relationships is blurred.

Anthropology in Europe

functionalism: emphasized the way that parts of a society work together to support the functioning whole. It views cultures as stable and orderly and cannot explain why particular social institutions develop (cons). *Malinowski.

Culture is a response to human needs.

structural functionalism

A.R. Radcliffe Brown: social structures (especially family, marriage,) contribute to social order and maintain stability.

Anthropology in US

cultural relativism. *Franz Boas redirects American anthropologists from cultural evolutionism to cultural relativism. He later trained Margaret Mead and Alfred Koeber. Emphasize enculturation.

Margaret Mead

Wrote Coming of Age in Samoa: said that cultural roles are more important than biology and that personality comes from culture.

enculturation

the process of learning culture

cultural determinism

the idea that behavioral differences are a result of cultural, not racial or genetic causes.