Anthc 101 Exam 2

Why is race not a biologically valid concept?

Human variation is continuous, traits don’t cluster into races, most variation is within continents, and genetic differences don’t map onto racial categories

What does “non-concordance of traits” mean?

Physical traits do not predict each other and do not appear in fixed racial packages

If race isn’t genetic, how do DNA ancestry tests work?

They compare shared genetic markers to regional databases; markers reflect geographic adaptation, not racial categories

What explains human physical/physiological differences if not race?

Physical/physiological traits come from natural selection and phenotypic plasticity based on environment

Define racialization

the process of assigning racial meaning to a group based on phenotype, class, culture, or religion

Define racial formation

The social, economic, and political process through which racial categories are created or transformed

what is the relationship between racialization and racism

Racism uses racialization to justify inequality through stereotypes and moral judgments

How does race differ from ethnicity?

Race shapes social treatment based on appearance; ethnicity is cultural belonging through shared ancestry and traditions

Define ethnogenesis

The process through which a group becomes an ethnic group over generations through shared history

Purpose of U.S. Census racial/ethnic categories

To track inequality and enforce civil rights laws but may reinforce social divisions

How did Jews become “white” in the U.S. according to Sacks?

Through structural and social changes: economic opportunity, education, GI Bill benefits, suburbanization, assimilation

What question does Sacks explore about Jews and whiteness?

Did Jews become middle-class because they became white, or did becoming white enable middle-class access?

what is kinship?

Culturally recognized ties through blood, marriage, or chosen relationships

What is a family?

A social group united by kinship ties such as parents, children, and extended relatives

What is marriage in anthropological terms?

A cultural institution linking families and enabling reproduction; it means changes across societies and time

Why do anthropologists study kinship?

It organizes social life, obligations, authority, and relationships that reflect cultures patterns

define patrilineal descent

Descent traced through the father’s line

define matrilineal descent

Descent traced through the mother’s line

why is descent ≠ patriarchy/matriarchy?

Descent is about lineage and authority, not who holds cultural or gendered power

define monogamy

Marriage with only one spouse

Define polygyny

One man married to multiple women

Define polyandry

One woman married to multiple men

Define Patrilocality

Married couple lives with the husband’s family

Define Matrilocality

Married couple lives with the wife’s family

Define Neolocality

Married couple establishes an independent household

define Exogamy

Marrying outside one’s group

Define Endogamy

Marrying strictly within one’s group

What is the Incest taboo (Levi-Strauss)?

A universal cultural rule prohibiting sexual relations among close kin; marks the shift from nature to culture.

What is the Westermarck effect

People raised together develop non-erotic feelings toward each other

What is Livelihood?

The skills, resources, assets, and activities needed to secure basic necessities and well-being

Sustainable livelihood

A livelihood that can recover from stress without exhausting resources

Why are many foragers nomadic?

Mobility ensures access to resources and prevents depletion of local environments

Why did agriculture lead to sedentarism?

Farming required staying in one place to manage crops and domesticated animals

What is Sahlins’ argument in “The Original Affluent Society”?

Hunter-gatherers are affluent because their wants are easily satisfied with minimal labor

What assumption about scarcity does Sahlins challenge?

That scarcity is natural; he argues it is created by unlimited wants, not limited resources

Why foragers do not accumulate wealth

Possessions hinder mobility, making accumulation a burden

Why are modern societies dissatisfied, according to Sahlins?

Unlimited wants + limited means cause perpetual scarcity and dissatisfaction

What are the two sacrifices required for forager “freedom”?

Minimal possessions and abandoning the sick or elderly due to mobility constraints

How can racialization occur even toward religious groups (e.g., Jews, Muslims) that do not share a single phenotype?

Groups like Jews or Muslims can be racialized based on cultural stereotypes and social perceptions rather than physical traits

Explain how ethnicity can be both chosen and imposed

Individuals may identify with an ethnicity culturally, but outsiders may assign them an identity based on appearance or stereotype

How does phenotypic plasticity help explain human variation without invoking race?

Physical traits change in response to environment; this explains human variation without racial categories

Scarcity in foragers vs. modern society

Foragers limit wants; modern societies expand wants, creating artificial scarcity