Anthro

Culture of poverty

The idea that the cultures of some ethnic groups were pathological due to family structures not aligning with those of the American Dream.

Doctrine of Manifest Destiny

The concept that the territorial expansion of the U.S. westward was inevitable and reflected a divine right, elevating racism and nativism.

Settler Colonialism

A system of oppression based on genocide and colonialism aimed at displacing indigenous populations and replacing them with settlers.

Orientalism

A critique by Edward Said of the portrayals of the Middle East in art and media, significant for postcolonial studies.

Postcolonialism

The study of colonialism's effects, critiquing its ideologies and belief systems.

Harrison's critique on crime commentaries

An anthropological perspective arguing that Jamaican crime commentaries overlook larger social forces impacting crime.

Imponderabilia of actual life

A term by Bronislaw Malinowski referring to the observation and recording of everyday life and routine.

Participant Observation

A research methodology where the researcher engages in the daily activities of the people being studied.

Imperialism

The policy by which a country economically and socially influences other countries.

Functionalist Anthropology

The view of society as a system similar to a human body, where each institution serves a purpose to maintain functionality.

Relativism

The understanding that ethics and beliefs must be viewed in the cultural context they originate from.

Historical Diffusion

The process of cultural exchange and variation based on historical interactions between groups.

Age of equipoise

A period characterized by temporary social balance and tranquility in British society.

Political meaning behind the Crystal Palace

The display reflecting ideas of British sociocultural evolutionism categorizing cultures as inferior or superior.

Ethnography

The written analysis by anthropologists of their fieldwork observations.

Fieldwork

The practice of anthropologists living among the people they study for extended periods.

Thick description

Clifford Geertz's approach for anthropologists to provide detailed context beyond just surface appearances.

Utilitarianism

The belief that individuals are rational actors pursuing universal wants.

Great Chain of Being

A hierarchical worldview from the 17th/18th centuries categorizing all existence in a structured order.

Social Darwinism

The principle that societal progress is determined by 'survival of the fittest', justifying eugenics and genocide.

Why kinship has never been stable

The idea that kinship is culturally constructed rather than a natural state.

David Schneider claim about blood and kinship

The argument that everyday kinship relations may differ from those implied by blood connections.

Underlying assumption of Lewis Henry Morgan's kinship theory

The belief that kinship terms reflect biological reproduction facts.

Nurturance

The idea that kinship is governed more by emotional relationships than by legal obligations.

Descriptive System

A kinship term where each relationship is identified with separate words in a language.

Classificatory System

A kinship term where a group of relatives is classified under a single term.

What is at stake with knowledge claims about Native American DNA

Concerns surrounding Indigenous identities, political authority, and land/resource claims.

Ethnographic Refusal

A collaborative decision between researchers and participants to withhold specific information.

DNA Profile

Comprehends molecular knowledge and social histories necessary for understanding tribal citizenship.

Boas on biological degeneracy from interracial mixing

Critique of the belief that interracial mixing leads to biological degeneracy, as observed by Boas.

Identity Politics

The emergence of new groups in U.S. history forming a collective identity driven by shared experiences.

Baker's “not-quite-white ethnics of census in 1930 and 1940 became white

Argument over the 1950 census which expanded the definition of 'white' to include Southern and Eastern Europeans.

Challenges Zora Neale Hurston faced

Issues such as allegations of plagiarism and being perceived as a mere fact collector.

Ideas 19th century British and American social theorists assumed

Belief in ranking cultures on a linear evolutionary scale.

Delaney ways to make marriage in U.S. more equal

Proposals for changes like job sharing and accessible childcare to achieve marital equality.

U.S./Western marriage rites of passage

The three traditional phases of marriage: separation, liminality, and reintegration.

Difference in couple behavior between France and U.S.

Variation in how couples express their relationship, either verbally or through physical gestures.

Expectations of compatibility U.S. and Turkey

Differences in how much couples are expected to know about each other before marriage.

STS (science and technology studies)

The examination of how cultural values impact science and technology research and vice versa.

Boas on skull size

Criticism of using skull size as an indicator of intelligence by Boas.

Differences between early American and British anthropology

Differing emphases in American anthropology on societal laws versus British focus on symbolic meanings.