Sociocultural Anth Exam 1

Savage Slot

Western societies positioned themselves as “civilized” by contrasting themselves with supposedly “primitive” societies.

colonial education

Anthropology knowledge helped colonial officials govern colonized populations.

culture and personality

emphasizes that your culture shapes your personality

Dual use

Anthropology having a civilian use and a military use

asymmetrical relationships

a social or cultural dynamic characterized by a significant imbalance of power, authority, resources, or rights between two parties

making worlds

Actively shaping your environment, relationships and conditions around you that allow life to continue. Showing that worlds are not naturally produced but shaped by both humans and animals (and fungi!)

assemblage

a shifting, open-ended gathering of human and nonhuman lifeways whose interactions produce new possibilities and forms of life

Armchair anthropology

research method where scholars studied, analyzed, and theorized about foreign cultures without conducting firsthand fieldwork or direct observation

Ethnographic present

writing convention that describes a culture in the present tense as if it exists in a static, timeless state, ignoring recent historical changes, Westernization, or the immediate impact of the researcher's presence

Participant observation

long-term immersion in a community to observe, document, and experience daily life firsthand

Barefoot anthropology

prioritizes deep, empathetic community engagement over dispassionate, detached academic observation