Anthro Midterm

Anthropology

Four fields of anthropology

archaeology, biological/physical, linguistic, and cultural

Ethnography vs. Ethnology

Depiction of a culture vs comparative study of cultures

Ethnographer

An ethnographer studies and records human cultures. Fieldwork, observing and participating in the daily lives of the people to understnad customs, beliefs, and social interactions.

Ethnocentrism

The idea that our own customs are correct and normal, while others are strange, wrong, or disgusting.

Cultural relativity

All cultures are valid, but can only be understood through their own context (such as participant observation) We see why they live how they do, why cultural practices make sense, and feel empathy for them. 

Absolute Cultural Relativism vs Critical Cultural Relativism

NO judgement vs Critical thinking

Culture

 A set of beliefs, practices, and symbols that are learned and shared. Together, they form an all encompassing, integrated whole that binds people together and shapes their worldview and lifeways. 

The field

Location with people, culture, place with human activity

Fieldwork

Methods of research done in the field. The work is done to answer a larger research question.

Characteristics of culture

Beliefs, Practices, Traditions, Customs. 

Culture is learned, shared, and based on symbols.

Participant Observation

• “Learning new rules in a given social environment.”

• Living in/participating in the lives of another group of people

• Day to day routines

• Has two main purposes - Participation and observe and document

• Deeply hanging out (hanging out with purpose)

• Long term activities

• Documentation and field notes

Corporate Anthropology

Application of anthropology methods + theories.

A field of study that applies anthropological methods and theories to understand organizational culture, employee behaviour, and consumer interactions within businesses.

Strengths & Limitations of participant observation

Strengths - Hands on experience, observable and obvious behaviours, highly flexible, creates a lot of data, 

Limitations - Biassed, hard to document subtle behaviours/ hard to understand motivation, creates a lot of data, time consuming, surveillance affects behaviour, long term, sample size is small,

Emic perspective

• Insiders POV

• Perspective of the people in the studied culture

• Insiders perspective

• Subjective perspective (the own member of studied culture perspective)

• Specific

• EXAMPLE: Ethnography - Barkers ancestral lines description

Etic Perspective 

• Outsiders POV

• Perspective of the observer

• Anthropologists (expert’s) perspective

• Objective perspective

• Interpretation

• Comparison, universals

• Generalising

• EXAMPLE: Ethnology - Lens textbook theory

Theories

Positivism and Phenomenology

Positivism

• Social world is patterned, orderly, governed by rules and laws

• Objective, observable, social world

• Measured behaviour

• Context isn’t as important

Phenomenology

• People create their own meanings through actions

• People create own social reality

• Particular & unique

• Context and behaviour

Cultural Evolution (3 types & Economy, marriage, descent and religion)

Savagery (Hunters & stone tools, polygamy, matrilineal, animism)

Barbarism (Horticulture & steel tools, polygamy, patrilineal, polytheistic)

Civilization (Agriculture & steel, monogamy, patrilineal, monotheistic

EB Tylor

• Anthropologist

• Cultural evolutionism

• Savagery, barbarism and civilization

• (Essentially he’s just a racist white guy)

Herbert Spencer

• Philosopher, sociologist, anthropologist

• Coined the term “survival of the fittest”

• Social Darwinism aka Natural selection

• Human societies progress by weeding out the "weaker" elements

• (Essentially he’s just a classist white guy)

Franz Boaz

• "Father of American Anthropology"

• Participant observation

• Cultural Relativism

• Each culture in the world is unique and has own history and must be understood that way

• Against the some cultures are better than others thing and scientific racism

• Through methods of engagement w local peoples

• (Essentially… actually he’s pretty chill)

5 economic systems

• Foraging

• Horticulture

• Pastoralism

• Agriculture

• Industrial capitalism

Foraging

• Food gathering/ collecting

• Fishing, trapping

• ex: the Tahltan peoples

• A lot of land, not always used

• Balanced for sustainability

•  impacted by others and other economic systems

• Is sustainable

  
  

Horticulture

• Economic system based on the production of food

• Cultivation of domesticated plant foods in gardens 

• ex: the Maisin peoples

• Sub saharan africa, South and SE asia, central and south america

• Trade offs - more food, social differences

• Tree crops - bananas figs

• Seed crops - wheat barley rice corn 

• Root crops - yams potatoes taro

• Fibre - flax, hemp, cotton

• Melons - watermelon, cucumbers, squashes

• Tools - digging sticks 

• Extensive made of economy ---> no irrigation, no fertilizer, light tools

• Sustainable expect when it isnt

 Pastoralism 

• Economic system based on the production of meat and milk

• Common in europe, central northern africa, american southwest

• Unpredictable or low rain fall

• Herd animals → milk

• Extensive economic activity (must move your animals)

• Domesticated herd animals 

• Trade 

• Property - own animals, don't own land

• Sustainable except when it isnt

Transhumanic pastoralism vs Nomadic pastoralism

men and boys move animals, women and children in a village

vs

everyone moves with the animals

 Intensive Agriculture 

• Production of food

• Use of domesticated plants grown in fields 

• Intensive large scale production

• Land ownership

• Draft animals, plow

• Large permanent settlement

• Labour: not everyone farms, so many people can do other things

• Sustaniblitiy depends on the kind of farm

  Family Farms vs plantations vs Industrial ag.

  
  

Industrialism 

• Machines take over food production

• Capitalism 

• Produce for profit

• Concentrated ownership of land and means of production

• Labour is a specialisation

• Ownership of private property

Family Farms Agriculture

• Produce for self 

• Labour is family bread

• Family ownership

• High sustainability

Plantation agriculture

• Profit

• Hired labour

• Connected land ownership

• Sustainability

Industrial Agriculture 

• Profit

• Machines

• Capital

• Corporate ownership

• Sustainability ?

Three Types of Exchange Theory

1. Reciprocity

2. Redistribution

3. Market exchange

Reciprocity & three sub categories

Found in all societies, foragers, horticulturists, pastoral

1. Generalised Reciprocity

• No concern for actual value of what's exchanged

• No fixed time for return on exchange

• Between people who know and trust each other

• Creates a debt

2. Balanced reciprocity

• Concern for equal value

• May or may not know each other

• Immediate or delay in return of the exchange

• Less personal

3. Negative/unbalanced reciprocity

• Someone in the exchange gets more than the other

• Theft

• Gift giving, charitable donation 

• “True gift” 

Gift Exchange for the Maisins

A visitor came with food, barker went to get some to give in return and she was upset, she hadnt come to “sell” the food, it was a gift and offered friendship.

By offering her a gift in exchange he was treating her like a stranger and rejecting her friendship

Altruism & Cooperation

Selfless concern for others/ doing something for other that may not be in your best interest

&

Working together to achieve a goal

• Reciprocity - sensible!

Spite & Exploitation

hurting others AND yourself

&

hurting others to get ahead

• Sensible?

Redistribution

Found in horticulture societies and some foragers, some pastoral

• An individual, family brings together a lot of stuff

• Gives it away

• Obligation is created (of return)

• Showing wealth

• Surplus are needed

• ex: Potlach (a gift-giving feast) and Moka (reciprocal gifts of pigs through which social status is achieved, “big man system”

Market exchange

• Goods and services for sale

• Agricultural industry

Kinship

1. Relations between family members through blood, marriage, adoption

2. Kinship is also insider knowledge (emic) about how to recognize your relatives and behave around them. 

Inuit (Eskimo) Kinship System

• Egocentric chart

• Our family system

• Generation, gender and distance from you matter

  Chart info:

  Filed in square -> ego

  Square -> gender unknown

  Circle -> women

  Triangle -> man

  Connected by bar -> siblings

  Older are above, younger below

  Equal = -> marriage or parental tie

  
  

Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) System

• Also egocentric chart

• Generation, gender and shared matrilineage and patrilineage

• Can differentiate which siblings are older based on if they are on left or right

• Cross Cousins and Parallel cousins (aka siblings and parents)

• Often marrying a cross-cousin is not taboo and even encouraged

Patrilineal Descent

• Unilineal Descent System

• Patri = father, lineal = line

• Membership in the group is traced back through your fathers line

• Children belong to their fathers clan/line/side

• children are always part of their fathers line, which means a women remains part of her fathers lineage

• System tends to show men having authority in the household 

• Patriarchy

• Most common descent system globally

• It encourages patrilocal (father, residence) residence after marriage

• Pastoral economics, agriculture economics

Matrilineal descent

• Unilineal Descent System

• Matri = mother, lineal = line

Bilateral

• Non-Unilineal Descent Systems

• Bi=Two, Lateral=Side

• (two sides)

• Membership is through affiliation with relatives on both mother and fathers side

• ⅓ of the world's cultures

• Creates strong/tight nuclear families

• As you move away from family, bonds start to weaken

• After marriage → bilocal residence (choice)

• (neolocal) (new location)

• Find it in foraging societies (industrial)

• System creates flexibility

• Tends to encourage small, mobile groups of people 

• High degree of commitment to a small group of people

Double Descent

• Non-Unilineal Descent Systems

• Some things are passed through your father, others through your mothers side.
  

Ambilineal Descent

(ambi meaning either)

Choice of affiliation/ Self defined affiliation

Sustainability

 a balance between resources taken from the environment + the time needed for their regeneration