Studied by 4 people
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
Reciprocity
Redistribution
Market exchange
Reciprocity & three sub categories
Found in all societies, foragers, horticulturists, pastoral
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
Balanced reciprocity
Concern for equal value
May or may not know each other
Immediate or delay in return of the exchange
Less personal
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
Relations between family members through blood, marriage, adoption
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
Note
Flashcard