Anthro Chapters 1-3 Vocab

IB Anthropology Guest Textbook Vocab Chapters 1-3

ethnocentrism

the belief that one’s own culture or way of life is normal and natural; using one’s own culture to evaluate and judge the practices and ideals of others

ethnographic fieldwork

primary research strategy in cultural anthropology typically involving living and interacting with a community of people over an extended period to better understand their lives

four-field approach

the use of four interrelated disciplines to study humanity: archeology, physical anthropology, linguistic anthropology, and cultural anthropology

holism

the anthropological commitment to look at the whole picture of human life-culture, biology, history, and language- across space and time

physical anthropology

the study of humans from a biological perspective, particularly how they have evolved over time and adapted to their environments

primatology

study of living nonhuman primates as well as primate fossils to better understand human evolution and early human behavior

archeology

the investigation of the human past by means of excavating and analyzing artifacts

linguistic anthropology

study of human language in the past and the present

descriptive linguists

those who analyze languages and their component parts

historic linguists

those who study how language changes over time within a culture and how languages travel across cultures

sociolinguists

those who study language in its social and cultural contexts

cultural anthropology

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

participant observation

a key anthropological research strategy involving both participation in and observation of the daily life of the people being studied

ethnology

the analysis and comparison of ethnographic data across cultures

globalization

the worldwide intensification of interactions and increased movement of money, people, goods, and ideas within and across national borders

time-space compression

the rapid innovation of communication and transportation technologies associated with globalization that transforms the way people think about space (distances) and times

flexible accumulation

the increasingly flexible strategies that corporations use to accumulate profits in an era of globalization, enabled by innovative communication and transportation technologies

increasing migration

the accelerated movement of people within and between countries

uneven development

the unequal distribution of the benefits of globalization

culture

A system of knowledge, beliefs, patterns of behavior, artifacts, and institutions that are created, learned, shared, and contested by a group of people

enculturation

the process of learning culture

norms

ideas or rules about how people should behave in particular situations or toward certain other people

values

fundamental beliefs about what is important, what makes a good life, and what is true, rights, and beautiful

symbol

anything that represents something else

mental maps of reality

cultural classifications of what kinds of people and things exist, and the assignment of meaning to those classifications

unilineal cultural evolution

theory proposed by 19th century anthropologists that all cultures naturally evolve through the same sequence of stages from simple to complex

historical particularism

the idea, attributed to Franz Boas, that cultures develop in specific ways because of their unique histories

diffusion

borrowing of cultural traits and patterns from other cultures

society

focus of early British anthropological research whose structure and function could be isolated and studied scientifically

structural functionalism

conceptual framework positing that each element of society serves a particular function to keep the entire system in equilibrium

interpretivist approach

a conceptual framework that sees culture primarily as a symbolic system of deep meaning

thick description

a research strategy that combines detailed description of cultural activity with an analysis of the layers of deep cultural meaning in which those activities are embedded

power

the ability or potential to bring about change through action or influence

stratification

uneven distribution of resources and privileges among participants in a group or culture

hegemony

the ability of a dominant group to create consent and agreement within a population without the use or threat of force

agency

the potential power of individuals and groups to contest cultural norms, values, mental maps of reality, symbols, institutions, and structures of power

salvage ethnography

Fieldwork strategy developed by Franz Boas to collect cultural, material, linguistic, and biological information about native American populations being devastated by the westward expansion of European settlers

cultural relativism

Understanding a group’s beliefs and practices within their own cultural context, without making judgements

participant observation

Key anthropological research strategy involving both participation in and observation of the daily life of the people being studied

reflexivity

A critical self-examination of the role the anthropologist plays and the awareness that one’s identity affects one’s fieldwork and theoretical analyses

quantitative data

statistical information about a community that can be measured and compared

qualitative data

descriptive data drawn from non statistical sources, including personal stories, interviews, life histories, and participant observation

rapport

Relationships of trust and familiarity with members of the community we study

Zeroes

Elements of a story of a picture that are not told or seen and yet offer key insight into issues that might be too sensitive to discuss or display publicly

Emic

An approach to gathering data that investigates how local people think and how they understand the world

Etic

Description of local behavior and beliefs from the anthropologist’s perspective in ways that can be compared across cultures

Polyvocality

Practice of using many different voices in ethnographic writing and research question development, allowing the reader to hear more directly from the people in the study