Anthropology Lecture Notes

Flashcards on Macro & Local Levels of Social Analysis, Imperialism, Colonialism, Profit and the Colonies, Slave Trade, Conscription, Colonial Strategies of Accessing Labor, Local Impacts of Colonialism, Disease, Depopulation, and Imperialism, American Indians and Disease, Herero Revolt, Genocide, The Frontier, Reserves, Indian Removal Act of 1830, Land Tenure, Privatization of Land vs. Corporate Land, Commodification, Alienable and Inalienable, The Mahele, Rubber Production in the Belgian Congo, Phosphate Mining on Nauru, Anthropological Theory & Colonialism, Scientific Racism, Unilinear Social Evolutionism, Social Darwinism, Power and Representations, Imperialism & the Postcolonial World, Development, Intervention Philosophies, Power & Representations, Capitalist World System, Globality, Capitalism Totalizing, Routinization of Production & Taylorism, Multi-National Corporations, Free Trade Zones (FTZs), Proletarianization, Capitalist Discipline, Anthropological Perspectives on the Political, Power, Docile Bodies, Malaysia, 2020 Plan, Kampung (Village), Adat, Islam, Rural Malay Gender Constructions, Gender & Authority in Village Homes, Female Threats to Male Spiritual Purity, Dangerous Places, Spirits (Hantu), Stages of Woman’s Life, Janda, Time in the Kampung vs the Factory, Tyranny of the Clock, Fractured Day, Education, Work — Sons vs. Daughters, Changes in Authority in the Village, Micro-Chip Factories in the FTZ, Discipline in the Factory vs. the Kampung, Worker Responses to Stress, Spirit Possessions on the Shop Floor, Bio-Politics (Bio-Power), Constructions of Female Bodies, Biological Determinism, Public Perceptions of Female Factory Workers, Bebas, Spirit Possession as Resistance, Hegemony, Public Transcript & Hidden Transcript, Discourse, Applied Anthropology, Cultural Imperialism, Indigenizing Popular Culture, Diaspora, Postmodernism in Anthropology.

Macro-level (Social Analysis)

Focuses on large-scale social structures (e.g. states, empires, global capitalism) and their effects on people.

Local-level (Social Analysis)

Examines everyday life, beliefs, and practices within specific communities or cultural settings.

Imperialism

The policy or ideology of extending a nation’s power by dominating other countries politically, economically, and militarily—often without formal settlement.

Colonialism

The practice of acquiring and maintaining control over another country, settling it, and exploiting its resources and people.

Profit and the Colonies

Colonies were structured to extract wealth (e.g. through plantations, mines, taxes), benefiting colonial powers, often at the cost of local economies and laborers.

Slave Trade

The forced transportation and enslavement of millions of Africans, especially through the transatlantic slave trade, to supply labor to colonial plantations and industries.

Conscription

The forced enlistment of colonized people into military service, often to fight in imperial wars (e.g. World War I and II).

Colonial Strategies of Accessing Labor

Included slavery, forced labor, conscription, taxation (to force people into wage labor), and land dispossession that left locals dependent on colonial wages.

Local Impacts of Colonialism

Changes in land use, labor, gender roles, belief systems, language, and health—often leading to disempowerment and cultural disruption.

Disease, Depopulation, and Imperialism

Colonization brought foreign diseases (like smallpox) to Indigenous populations, causing mass death and facilitating imperial domination.

American Indians and Disease

Native populations in the Americas suffered catastrophic population loss (up to 90%) due to European-introduced diseases, weakening resistance to colonization.

Herero Revolt

An anti-colonial uprising (1904–1908) in German Southwest Africa (now Namibia). Germany responded with genocide, killing tens of thousands of Herero and Nama people.

Genocide

The intentional destruction of a racial, ethnic, or cultural group. Often used in colonial contexts to describe massacres and cultural erasure.

The “Frontier”

A colonial concept that framed non-European land as empty or wild, justifying settler expansion and Indigenous displacement.

Reserves

Land set aside for Indigenous peoples after their original land was taken—often marginal, poor-quality land that restricted mobility and autonomy.

Indian Removal Act of 1830

U.S. law that authorized the forced removal of Native Americans from their lands to “Indian Territory,” leading to events like the Trail of Tears.

Land Tenure

The system of land ownership and access. Under colonialism, traditional systems were often replaced with private ownership to benefit settlers and the state.

Privatization of Land

Land becomes individually owned, often sold or used for profit.

Corporate land (in Indigenous terms)

Land held collectively by a group, clan, or community—often with spiritual or ancestral significance.

Commodification

The process of turning people, land, labor, or cultural items into commodities—things that can be bought, sold, or traded.

Alienable

Can be bought, sold, or transferred (e.g., private property).

Inalienable

Cannot be separated from its source (e.g., sacred land or kinship ties); often central to Indigenous worldviews.

The Mahele

A major land division law in Hawai‘i (1848) that privatized communal land, allowing foreigners to acquire land and displacing many Native Hawaiians.

Rubber Production in the Belgian Congo

Under King Leopold II, Congolese people were forced to harvest rubber under brutal conditions—resulting in mass deaths, mutilation, and a major human rights scandal.

Phosphate Mining on Nauru

The tiny Pacific island of Nauru was stripped of its phosphate by colonial powers (Britain, Australia, New Zealand), leaving behind ecological devastation and long-term economic hardship.

Scientific Racism

Pseudo-scientific theories that ranked races and claimed Europeans were biologically superior—used to justify slavery, colonization, and racism.

Unilinear Social Evolutionism

The idea that all societies evolve along a single path from “primitive” to “civilized,” with European societies at the top.

Social Darwinism

The application of Darwin’s survival-of-the-fittest to human societies—used to justify colonialism, racial inequality, and imperial conquest.

Power and Representations

Refers to how colonial powers defined and depicted colonized peoples through texts, images, and research—often in distorted or dehumanizing ways that reinforced dominance

Imperialism & the Postcolonial World

How former imperial powers continue to shape economic, political, and cultural systems in ex-colonies through neocolonialism, globalization, and development projects.

“Development”

A Western-led project aimed at improving “underdeveloped” nations, often reflecting colonial assumptions about progress and civilization; includes economic aid, education, infrastructure, and policy reform.

Intervention Philosophies

Justifying external involvement (by states, NGOs, or corporations) in a society’s affairs—framed as benevolent (e.g., development, civilizing missions), but often disempowering and paternalistic.

Power & Representations

Power is exercised not just materially, but by how people and cultures are depicted (e.g., in media, scholarship, politics), often reproducing colonial hierarchies.

Capitalist World System

A global economic system structured around capitalist exchange.

Core

Wealthy, industrialized countries with political power within the Capitalist World System.

Semiperiphery

Middle-tier nations that exploit the periphery but are exploited by the core.

Periphery

Poorer regions that provide raw materials and cheap labor.

Globality

The state of being globally interconnected.

Forms of Interlinkage

The cultural, economic, and political ties formed through trade, migration, media, etc.

Nation-State & Governmentality

Modern governance includes disciplining populations through institutions, data, and social norms—not just violence.

Identity

Globalization transforms local identities , creating tensions between tradition and modernity.

Capitalism

An economic system where goods and labor are commodified for profit, and production is privately controlled. Shaped social life, gender roles, and labor systems globally.

Totalizing

A tendency of systems like capitalism or colonialism to try to control or explain everything, often overshadowing local complexity.

Capitalism on the Periphery

In the global periphery, capitalism enters through cheap labor, resource extraction, or export processing, often under exploitative conditions.

Taylorism

A method of organizing work into strictly timed, efficient, repetitive tasks; de-skills workers and increases productivity under capitalist discipline.

Multi-National Corporations

Global companies that operate across countries, often exploit local labor and benefit from lax regulations in developing regions.

Free Trade Zones (FTZs)

Designated zones where taxes and regulations are relaxed to attract foreign businesses—often sites of cheap labor and labor rights abuses.

Proletarianization

The transformation of people into wage laborers, often after land loss or traditional livelihood disruption.

Capitalist Discipline

The enforcement of productivity, obedience, and punctuality, especially in industrial workforces, using rules, surveillance, and incentives.

Anthropological Perspectives on “the Political”

Politics isn’t just about governments—it includes power relations in daily life, kinship, religion, labor, and culture.

Power

Not just top-down control, but diffuse and embedded in relationships, norms, institutions, and representations (Foucault).

Docile Bodies

A term from Foucault: bodies trained to conform, produce, and obey through institutions (e.g., school, factory, military).

Malaysia

Country studied by Aihwa Ong, where globalization and Islam intersect with gender, labor, and identity politics.

2020 Plan

Malaysia’s state-led goal to become a fully developed nation, promoting modernity while managing Islamic values and gender roles.

Kampung (Village)

Rural Malay communities with traditional gender roles, Islamic values, and social hierarchies distinct from factory life.

Adat

Customary law and tradition in Malay society, influencing gender behavior, property, and authority.

Islam

Major religion in Malaysia; shapes gender norms, morality, and village authority, especially for women.

Rural Malay Gender Constructions

Men have public authority and spiritual strength. Women have domestic roles and are seen as spiritually unstable (esp. unmarried or divorced).

Gender & Authority in Village Homes

Male dominance reinforced through religion, age, and social roles; women expected to be obedient and modest.

Female Threats to Male Spiritual Purity

Female sexuality or independence is seen as dangerous to male moral control and religious order.

Dangerous Places

Spaces like factories where women may break traditional roles, become “free” (bebas), or spiritually “unsafe.

Spirits (Hantu)

Supernatural beings believed to possess women in times of stress or disruption; tied to anxieties around gender, modernity, and labor discipline.

Stages of Woman’s Life

Transition from daughter → wife → mother → widow (janda); each stage has social and moral expectations.

Janda

A widowed or divorced woman—often seen as socially ambiguous and morally suspect, especially if independent.

Time in the Kampung vs the Factory

Village: flexible, social time. Factory: clock time, strict, segmented, production-oriented.

Tyranny of the Clock

Industrial discipline that forces people to live by rigid schedules, limiting autonomy.

Fractured Day

Workers’ lives are divided between factory routines and village expectations, causing social and emotional strain.

Education, Work — Sons vs. Daughters

Sons are educated for status and leadership. Daughters are pushed into factory work to support the family, but with risks to morality and reputation.

Changes in Authority in the Village

Women’s factory wages give them new power, challenging male authority but also causing social tension.

Micro-Chip Factories in the FTZ - Attracting Young Female Workforce

Young female workforce is seen as cheaper, more obedient , and better suited to repetitive work.

Reproduction of Patriarchy

Factory management often mirrors village gender hierarchies.

Unlimited Production Demands

Pressure for speed, precision, and overtime creates stress and burnout .

Discipline in the Factory vs. the Kampung

Factory: surveillance, timed breaks, supervisors. Kampung: elders, religious leaders, gender expectations.

Worker Responses to Stress

Ranging from submission, resistance, to spirit possession as a symbolic protest or emotional release.

Spirit Possessions on the Shop Floor

Interpreted as a form of resistance or stress response, especially when women feel oppressed or disrespected.

Bio-Politics (Bio-Power)

Power over life and bodies through institutions like health, labor, and education—shaping how people live and behave.

Constructions of Female Bodies

Seen as productive yet dangerous , needing control both socially and spiritually.

Biological Determinism

The false belief that biology alone explains social roles, especially regarding gender (e.g., women are “naturally” emotional or weak).

Public Perceptions of Female Factory Workers

Often labeled as morally suspect, too independent, or “loose” (bebas), despite contributing to family income.

Bebas

Means “free”—used to describe uncontrolled, independent women, often with negative connotations.

Spirit Possession as Resistance

A cultural form of protest against exploitation, gendered expectations, and capitalist discipline, often unconsciously expressed.

Hegemony

Dominance through consent rather than force—people accept systems of power as normal or natural (Gramsci).

Public Transcript & Hidden Transcript

Public transcript: What oppressed groups say/do in front of power. Hidden transcript: What they really think, often expressed privately or through coded resistance (like spirit possession).

Discourse

Systems of language, knowledge, and meaning that shape how we understand the world and organize power.

Applied Anthropology

The use of anthropological knowledge to solve real-world problems, such as in health, education, or development.

Cultural Imperialism

The spread of one culture’s values, norms, and practices over others—often through media, education, or development, reinforcing Western dominance.

Indigenizing Popular Culture

When global media or trends are adapted to fit local meanings, blending tradition and modernity (e.g., Islamic pop music in Malaysia).

Diaspora

A scattered population with a shared origin who maintain cultural ties to their homeland while living abroad (e.g., African, South Asian diasporas).

Postmodernism in Anthropology

A shift toward self-reflection, skepticism of grand theories, and attention to multiple perspectives, subjectivity, and power in writing and research.