ANTHRO 3 MIDTERM

anthropology

the study of the shared and diverse ways we are and become human

Margaret Mead

Is there an essential male or female nature?
One of the first anthropologists questioning the assumed biologically basis of gender roles
Immensely influenced public debate and encouraged 1960s' sexual revolution

Immanuel Kant

German Philosopher known for asking questions about life and humans. The field of philosophy: What can I know, what ought I to do, what may I hope, what is the human being? 

Alfred Krober

Anthropology is the most humanistic of the sciences and the most scientific of the humanities

Wilhelm Dilthey

Founded a branch of philosophy called hermeneutics (study of texts)

Martin Heidegger

Present at hand ontology

Developed “being-in-the-world” — humans are always immersed in shared context.

Phenomenology (Edmund Husserl)

Study of conscious experience; objects seen from different perspectives; intersubjective constitution.

Ethnography

“Writing a people.” Study of people through immersion and observation.

Natural Attitude

Belief that our way of life is “natural”; varies across cultures.

Second Nature

Socialized habits and assumptions that feel natural but are learned.

Bronislaw Malinowski

Father of ethnographic fieldwork; participant observation; “Reduction of the exotic to the familiar.”

Marshall Sahlins

Developed “Structure of Conjuncture” — how two cultures transform when they interact.

Estrangement

When taken-for-granted assumptions are disrupted.

Technology of Self (Michel Foucault)

Practices through which individuals examine and transform themselves.

Clifford Geertz

Introduced “Thick Description” and “Deep Hanging Out” — detailed cultural understanding through immersion.

Participant Observation

Living among and observing a community’s daily life to understand meaning and behavior.

Participant-Observer Paradox

The more you participate, the harder it is to observe; the more you observe, the harder it is to participate.

Emic Perspective (Kenneth Pike)

Insider’s view; local meanings.

Etic Perspective

Outsider’s analytical view.

Franz Boas

Father of American Anthropology; introduced cultural relativism and fieldwork-based research.

Enculturation

Process of learning a culture’s norms, values, and practices.

Ethnocentrism

Belief that one’s culture is superior to others.

Cultural Relativism

Understanding beliefs and practices in their own cultural context.

High Culture

Elitist idea of culture (educated, refined).

Social Darwinism

False belief that social or racial differences are biologically based.

Eugenics

Controlled breeding to “improve” populations; racist ideology.

Unilineal evolution

Over time humans started to develop different ways of thinking, which resulted in less/more complex cultures

Pierre Bourdieu

“Realm of doxa”: the space of unquestioned beliefs and taken-for-granted assumptions within a society

Race

A cultural category that stems from the belief that affiliation with a particular ethnic group has a biological basis

Ian Hacking

Dynamic nominalism

Microaggressions

 subtle, often unintentional, daily comments or actions that communicate bias toward marginalized groups

Ethnicity

Identification with a group sharing certain beliefs, values, habits, communicative practices, customs, and norms due to common background

David Schneider

How people come to understand the world through meanings and symbols as well as Kinship

Society

System of social relations

Max Weber

Social relations organized by cultural ideas & values

Descent System

Process of becoming a member of a social group through affiliation with a “mother,” “father” or both

Unilineal Descent

A descent system that relies upon one line only, either the male or female line

Patrilineal Descent

Unilineal descent as traced through father

Patriarchy

A political system ruled by men in which women have inferior social and political status, including basic human rights

Matrilineal descent

Unilineal descent as traced through mother

Matriarchy

Political system ruled by women in which men have an inferior social and political status, including basic human rights

Matrifocal Society

A society in which women, especially mothers, occupy a central position of respect and power

Ascribed Status

A property of unilineal descent systems

Apical Ancestor:

Person or entity that stands at the apex (top) of a common genealogy

Lineage

A descent group that utilizes demonstrated descent from an apical ancestor

Clan

A descent group that utilizes stipulated descent from an apical ancestor

Totem

Animal or entity from which members of a clan believe themselves descended

Ambilineal Descent:

Descent as traced through father and/or mother

Achieved Status:

Status/affiliation is granted by means of effort and choice (although seldom Ego’s choice!)

Bilateral Kinship

Perceiving kin links through males and females as being similar or equivalent

Incest Taboo (Universally recognized)

Prohibition of sexual contact between certain categories of close relatives

Monogamy

 marriage in which both partners have only one spouse (mono;one)

Polygamy

marriage in which one individual has multiple spouses (poly;many)

Polygyny

a variety of polygamy in which a man has more than one wife

Polyandry

a variety of polygamy in which a woman has more than one husband

Lewis Henry Morgan

One of the developers of genealogy as a method for anthropology

Kin Terms

Words used for different relatives in a particular language (e.g. “uncle” & “aunt”) Emic category

Genealogical Kin Type

Words used to designate “actual” genealogical relation (e.g. “father’s brother”) Etic category

Consanguinity

A family relationship through parentage or descent (“blood” relationship)

Affinal Relation

Relation by marriage (“in-law”)

Ciitamag

All male relatives who are part of a child’s father’s matrilineal clean. Same or younger generations as the father.

Cittinag

A child’s mother. All females who are part of the father’s matrilineal clan. Same or younger generation as the mother.

Wolag

All male and female relatives (of the mother’s generation or younger) who are part of the child’s mother’s matrilineal clean (excluding that child’s mother)