Anthropology Comprehensive Review – Key Vocabulary

These vocabulary flashcards cover core concepts, categories, and illustrative examples from the lecture review on ethnicity, gender, sexuality, kinship, economic systems, and environmental anthropology. They are designed to aid exam preparation by defining each key term clearly and concisely.

Ethnicity

A group’s shared sense of historical, cultural, and sometimes ancestral connection that makes its members feel distinct from others.

Diaspora

A community dispersed from its homeland that maintains emotional, cultural, and often economic or political ties to that original place.

Nation-state

A sovereign state whose citizens share a sense of nationhood—common language, culture, and political identity (e.g., Sweden).

Origin Myth

A narrative about a group’s founding and history that reinforces a common identity.

Multiculturalism

A social policy that values the retention of distinct cultural identities within a larger national framework.

Assimilation

The process by which immigrants and their descendants adopt the dominant culture’s norms while possibly losing aspects of their original culture.

Imagined Community

Benedict Anderson’s concept describing a nation whose members’ sense of community is based on shared symbols and media rather than face-to-face interaction.

What is the core idea behind Benedict Anderson’s "Imagined Community"?

The concept that a nation is a socially constructed community, imagined by its members as connected despite never meeting most others, unified through shared symbols and narratives like those found in media.

Gender

Culturally assigned expectations of thought and behavior for males, females, and other gender categories.

Sex

The observable biological differences (reproductive anatomy, chromosomes, hormones) between males and females.

Sexual Dimorphism

Culturally recognized physical and biological differences between male and female reproductive systems.

Cisgender

A person whose gender identity aligns with the sex they were assigned at birth.

Intersex

A condition in which an individual is born with reproductive or sexual anatomy that does not fit typical definitions of male or female.

Transgender

A broad term for people whose gender identity differs from the sex assigned at birth.

Hijra

Devotees of the Hindu goddess Bahuchara Mata in India who identify as neither man nor woman; recognized third-gender category.

Two-Spirit

An Indigenous North American term for people who embody both masculine and feminine spirits in one body.

Gender Stratification

Unequal distribution of social power and resources between genders (e.g., women holding only 25 % of world parliamentary seats).

Intersectionality

An analytic framework exploring how systems of power and inequality (race, gender, class, etc.) interconnect to shape individual experience.

Consent

Mutual, informed, voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity—central to campus sexual-assault policies.

Sexuality

A cultural arena where ideas about pleasure, desire, morality, power, and access to partners are constructed and contested.

Emily Martin’s Egg-and-Sperm Analysis

Critique of scientific language that naturalizes stereotypical gender roles by portraying sperm as active and eggs as passive.

What common gender stereotype did Emily Martin’s Egg-and-Sperm Analysis critique in scientific discourse?

It critiqued the portrayal of sperm as "active" and eggs as "passive," revealing how scientific language can naturalize traditional gender roles.

Kinship

The system of meaning and power that determines who is related to whom and outlines mutual expectations, rights, and responsibilities.

Consanguinity

Kinship based on shared blood or biological descent.

Affinal Tie (Affinity)

Kinship created through marriage or alliance rather than biology.

Descent

A culturally defined relationship of heredity used to trace kinship through generations.

Bilateral Descent

Tracing kinship and inheritance through both mother and father’s lines.

Unilineal Descent

A system of tracing kinship and inheritance exclusively through either the mother's or the father's line, but not both.

Nuclear Family

A small family unit typically consisting of a married couple and their dependent children.

Extended Family

A family unit that includes parents, children, and other relatives (e.g., grandparents, aunts, uncles) living together or in close proximity.

Bridewealth

Payments or goods transferred from the groom’s family to the bride’s family, often as compensation for the loss of her labor or future offspring.

Dowry

Property or money brought by a bride to her husband and his family on their marriage.

Endogamy

Marriage within a culturally specified social or kin group.

Exogamy

Marriage outside a specified social or kin group (often reinforced by incest taboos).

Monogamy

Marriage with only one spouse at a time.

Polygamy

Marriage involving multiple spouses concurrently.

Polygyny

Form of polygamy where one man is married to multiple women.

Polyandry

Form of polygamy where one woman is married to multiple men.

Fraternal Polyandry

A woman married to several brothers, common in parts of rural Tibet to keep landholdings intact.

Serial Monogamy

Pattern of having multiple spouses in succession, each marriage ending before the next begins.

Parallel-Cousin Marriage

Marriage between the children of two brothers (or two sisters).

Cross-Cousin Marriage

Marriage between the children of a brother and a sister.

Incest Taboo

A cultural rule prohibiting sexual relations between close relatives—usually parents-children and siblings.

Patrilineal Descent

Tracing kinship and inheritance through the father’s line.

Matrilineal Descent

Tracing kinship and inheritance through the mother’s line.

Patrilocal Residence (Virilocal)

Post-marital residence pattern in which a couple lives with or near the husband’s family.

Matrilocal Residence (Uxorilocal)

Post-marital residence pattern in which a couple lives with or near the wife’s family.

Foraging

Subsistence strategy based on hunting, gathering, and fishing wild resources.

Pastoralism

Subsistence strategy centered on the care and use of domesticated herd animals (e.g., the Nuer).

Horticulture

Small-scale cultivation of crops using simple tools; exemplified by Trobriand Islanders’ yam gardens.

Agriculture

Intensive crop cultivation involving plows, irrigation, and fertilizers to support large populations.

Reciprocity

Exchange of goods and services of roughly equal value between parties.

Generalized Reciprocity

Exchange with no immediate or specific return expected (e.g., washing a roommate’s mug).

Balanced Reciprocity

Exchange where a return of equal value is expected within a specified time.

Negative Reciprocity

Attempt to get something for less than it is worth or for nothing at all (e.g., lottery ticket or exploitative trade).

Redistribution

Collection of goods by a central authority followed by reallocation (e.g., taxes, potlatch ceremonies).

Market Exchange

Buying and selling goods using money with prices set by supply and demand.

Social Reproduction

Bourdieu’s concept of how social and class relations are passed down from one generation to the next, often through schools.

How does Pierre Bourdieu's concept of "Social Reproduction" explain the perpetuation of class relations?

It describes how social and class inequalities are subtly passed down through generations, often via institutions like schools that reinforce existing power structures.

Meritocracy

The (often idealized) belief that social mobility results from individual talent and effort alone.

Infrastructure

Large-scale built systems (roads, canals) that shape social and environmental interactions; focus of Ashley Carse’s Panama Canal study.

Environmental Anthropology

Subfield examining human-environment relationships, challenging the binary between humans and nature.

Anthropocene

Proposed geological epoch marked by significant human impact on Earth’s ecosystems and geology.

Cultural Relativism

The practice of understanding a culture on its own terms without making judgments based on the standards of one’s own culture.

Ecotourism

Travel to remote natural areas designed to support local communities and conservation (e.g., Papua New Guinea tours).

Crater Mountain Wildlife Management Area (CMWMA)

Biodiversity conservation region located in Papua New Guinea.

Internally Displaced Person (IDP)

Someone forced to flee home but remaining within their country’s borders.

Asylum Seeker

Person seeking international protection who has not yet been legally recognized as a refugee.

Refugee

Individual who has crossed an international border fleeing war, persecution, or disaster and is granted legal protection.

UNHCR

United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, the UN agency responsible for refugee protection and assistance.

Climate Change

Long-term alteration of temperature and typical weather patterns, highlighted in the film discussed in class.

What did Ashley Carse’s study of the Panama Canal highlight regarding infrastructure?

It focused on how large-scale built systems like roads and canals shape social and environmental interactions, demonstrating infrastructure's crucial role beyond its physical function.

Which group is a classic example of a society practicing pastoralism?

The Nuer are a well-known group from South Sudan who traditionally rely on the care and use of domesticated herd animals, illustrating a pastoralist subsistence strategy.

What specific agricultural practice exemplifies

The Trobriand Islanders are known for their small-scale cultivation of yam gardens, using simple tools, which is a classic example of a horticultural subsistence strategy.

Twin Processes of Ethnic Identity

The internal self-identification (how you see yourself) and external categorization (how others label you) that occur simultaneously when thinking of your ethnic group.

McDonald’s as “Ethnic”

This class activity emphasized that all cultures, including dominant ones like fast food chains, are ethnic—it challenged the idea that “ethnic” only applies to minority groups.

Anthropology as Relativizing Discipline (Gender)

Anthropology avoids imposing one culture’s norms on others; it helps reveal how gender roles and identities are shaped by cultural context.

Waking Up as Another Gender Exercise

Used in class to explore how gender affects daily experience, privilege, safety, assumptions, labor, and freedom. Inspired by Ken Guest’s work.

Margaret Mead’s Samoa Study

Challenged U.S. ideas of fixed gender roles and sexuality by showing cultural flexibility in Pacific Island societies.

Mead’s Controversy

Critics argued she didn’t spend enough time in Samoa to fully understand cultural complexity, raising questions about her conclusions.

Meaning of “Flexible Yet Elastic”

Margaret Mead’s phrase highlighting that culture can mold human behavior, but biological boundaries still influence potential.

“The Kiss” Class Discussion

Focused not on biology but on the cultural meaning of kissing and how it differs across societies (e.g., political implications in Iran).

Fraternal Polyandry Environmental Reason

Practiced in Tibet to prevent land from being subdivided across generations due to land scarcity (TED Talk by Kimber McKay).

Minangkabau Inheritance Belief

Blend matrilineal descent with Islamic patrilineal values; resolved through cultural negotiation between adat (custom) and religion.

Refugee Map Overlap

People often flee to nearby countries to stay close to home—maps show regional displacement, not long-distance migration.

Point of the College Motivation Discussion

Showed how economic decisions (like attending college) involve cultural values, social expectations, and moral judgments—not just rational calculations.

Anthropology vs. Economics in Studying Economy

Anthropologists explore the meaning behind exchanges (values, relationships), not just numbers or market behavior.

Ethnic Identity – Susceptible to Change

Ethnic identity is fluid and can shift over time based on experience, location, and political context.

Difference Between Ethnicity and Race

Ethnicity is defined by shared culture, language, and origin (often chosen), while race is a social construct based on perceived biological traits (often ascribed).

Bosnian Diaspora in CNY

The Bosnian diaspora in CNY exemplifies how such communities maintain memory and identity through ceremonies (transmitting displacement memory), picnics (preserving food traditions), and sports (sharing stories and travel plans).

“Sexuality is more than personal choice…”

(Ken Guest, p. 221) Sexuality is shaped by culture, morality, institutions, and power—not solely by individual desire or personal choice.

cross-cousin marriage

When Jim’s son Ted marries John’s daughter Jane, this is an example of a _____________ (specifically, the father’s brother’s daughter).

parallel-cousin marriage

When Sarah’s daughter Amy marries Michael’s son Anthony, this is an example of a ___________ (where the respective parents, Sarah and Michael, are siblings).

Culture

The system of meanings and values shared by a group of people, expressed through beliefs, behaviors, and material objects, shaping their way of life.

Ethnocentrism

The belief that one's own culture or way of life is normal, natural, or superior to the beliefs and practices of others, often leading to judgment of other cultures.

Participant Observation

A key anthropological research method where researchers live among the people they study, participating in their daily lives to gain deep understanding of their culture.

Hegemony

The ability of a dominant group to create consent and agreement within a population without the use or threat of force, often perpetuating existing social order (Antonio Gramsci).

Cultural Construction

The idea that human behaviors, beliefs, and identities (like gender or race) are shaped by cultural processes and social interactions rather than being purely natural or biological.

Neolocal

A post-marital residence pattern in which a married couple establishes a new household separate from both the husband's and wife's families.