Anthro most common glossary terms

age

age

social category or cooperative group that are of a similar age, meaning they pas through age related statuses together giving them a more common identity

agency

capacity of people to meaningfully affect their lives/ the lives of others- often constrained by structures, race, class, gender, religion

community

group of people that share interest/ecology/ common social system/ structure- studied through ethnographic fieldwork

comparative

comparing the different ways that people make sense of the world which gives anthropologists a better understanding of people, societies, and culture

cultural relativism

using context to understand a culture and not judging one culture by the standards of another

ethnicity

A social group connected by a shared understanding of cultural identity

ethnocentrism

tendency to view world only through the lens of one's own cultural identity and inability to understand cultures that are different from one's own

gender

culturally constructed distinction between male and female (or other genders)

other

a person or thing considered to be outside of the "in group" -someone seen as an outsider

personhood

cultural constructed idea of an individual being, the self

role

they dynamic part of status- the way one acts within their

self

self is produced by social interactions and norms that shape a person, arguably to a greater extent than biological preconditions

sexuality

very individual part of being human- has to do with sexual thoughts, feelings, behaviors, preferences, attractions- western sexual repression pre 20th century has been written a lot about

status

individual's position within a social hierarchy- can be ascribed (given) or achieved (earned)- status comes with rights, expectations, and obligations

structure

abstract idea that comes from social relations/ institutions- resilient/regulating parts of society that constrain social actors