Anthropology Exam Review

Set of Q&A flashcards covering key concepts for the anthropology exam, including politics, religion, medical anthropology, visual culture, and martial arts.

What type of small, kin-based foraging group constantly breaks up and reforms to resolve conflicts?

A band

In participant-observation fieldwork, why do anthropologists argue that religion can be studied successfully?

Because religion is lived out in community life and can be observed in everyday practice.

Which century saw the emergence of the modern Western state?

The sixteenth century.

Elman Service’s political stage between tribe and state is called a .

Chiefdom

Karl Marx famously called “the opium of the people.”

Religion

Clifford Geertz argued that religion is a system of ideas surrounded by powerful .

Symbols

What Brazilian martial art combines dance-like movements with kicks and strikes?

Capoeira

What is a practitioner of Capoeira called?

Capoeirista

What Japanese martial art includes kihon, kata, and kumite?

Karate

What is a practitioner of Karate called?

Karateka

According to Victor Turner, the feeling of intense social solidarity produced by shared rites of passage is called .

Communitas

Turner’s term for the in-between stage of a rite of passage is .

Liminality

Max Weber said the modern state is defined by what fundamental characteristic?

A monopoly on the legitimate use of force within a territory.

Frans de Waal’s primate studies challenge what common assumption about primate nature?

That violent impulses are inherently ingrained; he shows evidence of empathy and cooperation.

What three kinds of capital were identified as sources of power?

Cultural, Social, and Material capital

Define ‘authority’ in anthropological terms.

The socially recognized and sanctioned right to exercise power.

What are the three disease theories in medical anthropology?

Personalistic, Naturalistic, Emotionalistic

How does the World Health Organization define health beyond the absence of disease?

As complete physical, mental, and social well-being.

Which visual anthropology subfield studies the power of visual representation to shape culture?

Visual anthropology

Arjun Appadurai’s term for global flows of media and images is .

Global mediascape

Who is Paul Farmer?

A medical anthropologist and physician known for work in Haiti and co-founding Partners in Health.

The film Exit Zero illustrates what two global forces?

Globalization and deindustrialization

Dwight Conquergood’s engagement with Hmong shamanism exemplifies what anthropological stance?

Cultural relativism

In Bali, why did the World Bank’s Green Revolution program collapse according to anthropologists?

It ignored local practical and spiritual knowledge embedded in Balinese farming systems.

Nordstrom’s Mozambique ethnography showed that people resisted violence by .

Focusing on day-to-day community care and rebuilding social life.

What is the Muslim pilgrimage ritual involving circumambulation of the Kaaba called?

The Hajj

Which country has the world’s largest Muslim population?

Indonesia

Émile Durkheim viewed religion primarily as a way to create .

Social solidarity

Max Weber argued that religious ideas can shape a society’s .

Sociopolitical and economic trajectories

Jared Diamond suggested religion serves what four main functions?

Explanation of origins, political obedience, moral precepts, and war justification

What five aspects of religion were listed in class?

Sacred stories, Symbols, Concepts of beings/powers/places, Ritual practices, and Expert practitioners

Define ‘essentialism’ in cultural analysis.

The belief that traits are inherent, natural, and unchanging.

Define ‘constructivism’ in cultural analysis.

The view that traits are culturally and historically constructed.

In the Azande film, witchcraft functions as a locally upheld of causality.

Theory

What lesson about anthropological method is illustrated by the map showing worldwide witchcraft beliefs?

Such beliefs are widespread, so analysis requires cultural relativism rather than ethnocentrism.

Medical pluralism refers to .

The coexistence and simultaneous use of multiple healing systems in a society.

The personal, lived experience of symptoms is called , while the biological condition is .

Illness; Disease

What practice with pin-stuck figurines in Louisiana Voodoo would anthropologists label as ?

Magic

Why does the author say viewing the state as fixed and coherent is an illusion?

States are continually reshaped by leaders, laws, communities, and interactions with other states.

Political anthropology emerged primarily after which historic event?

World War II

What modern political concept refers to the ability to bring about change through action or influence?

Power

What are the key factors to assess when analyzing violence, as discussed in class?

Force, Intention, Legitimacy, Perspective, and Personhood

Why can an anthropologist study politics inside a classroom?

Because power relations, decision making, and social regulation occur in everyday settings.

Graduation as a ritual process ultimately fosters what, according to Turner?

Communitas among participants, preparing them for new social roles.

Why did medical anthropology grow rapidly after the 1980s?

Because intensive ethnographic fieldwork proved effective for addressing public-health problems.

Which U.S. public-health crisis began the textbook chapter to show the link between culture and health?

The epidemic of gun violence.

Which scholar called religion a ‘glue’ that reaffirms collective belonging?

Émile Durkheim

What is the anthropological definition of a tribe?

A culturally distinct, horticultural or pastoral group descended from a common ancestor with decentralized leadership.

In Japan, Coming of Age Day is best classified anthropologically as a .

Rite of passage

What is ‘visual anthropology’ concerned with?

Production, circulation, and interpretation of visual images and their cultural impact.

What film about Hmong shamanism in the U.S. is frequently shown in medical-anthro classes?

Between Two Worlds: Hmong Shaman in America

How does the Lia Lee case illustrate medical anthropology’s concerns?

It shows cultural misunderstandings between biomedicine and Hmong ethnomedicine in treating epilepsy.

Which theory of religion explains Aztec human sacrifice as a response to protein scarcity?

Cultural materialism

In Geertz’s view, why are symbols central to religion?

They make abstract ideas tangible and powerfully shape believers’ worldviews.

How would an anthropologist describe martial arts as a research topic?

A cultural system involving ritual, identity, embodiment, and social meaning.

What criticism did the instructor level at anthropology regarding martial arts?

It often ignores embodied knowledge and physical disciplines as sites of cultural meaning.

Which martial art term means ‘basic techniques’ in Japanese practice?

Kihon

Describe Michael Phelps’s ‘cupping’ marks example used in class.

They illustrate the incorporation of alternative ethnomedical practices into Western sports medicine.

What global cultural flows term did Appadurai coin for media imagery?

Mediascapes

What is the anthropological meaning of ‘band, tribe, chiefdom, state’ typology?

An evolutionary framework outlining increasing political complexity.

What was one appreciation and one critique of Frans de Waal’s TED talk noted in class?

Appreciation: It rethinks violence and empathy in primates. Critique: It overemphasizes biological factors, underplaying culture.