Anthropology 101 exam 3

Kinship

A network of socially defined relationships based on blood or marriage that involve specific mutual rights and obligations

Consanguineal kinship

kinship by blood

affinal kinship

Kinship based on marriage

fictive kinship

Condition in which people who are not biologically related behave as if they are relatives of a certain type

Conjungal Family

A family formed on the basis of marital ties

Consanguinial family

A family with related women, brothers, and the women's children

nuclear family

a family with one or two parents and dependent children

extended family

Family with three or more generations in a single household

patrilineal lineage system

a kinship system where only the lineage of the male line is traced

Matrilineal lineage system

a kinship system where the lineage is traced through the female line

bilateral lineage system

Kinship system where the lineage is traced through both male and female lines

Why are there so many unilateral lineage systems?

because most societies are either matrilineal or patrilineal.

Advantages of unilateral descent

1: Unambiguous membership
2: Facilitates formation of corporate descent groups

Advantages of Bilateral descent

1: many more related individuals
2: Extended networks of familial support

Kiship diagramming

Using symbols to identify male and female family members and subsequently drawing lines to illustrate the relationships and bonds each family member has.

Principles for Classifying kin

1. Generation
2. Relative Age
3. lineality Vs. collaterality
4. gender
5. consanguinial vs affinal kin
6. Gender of linking relative
7. side of the family

Age Grades

a series of categories which individuals pass over the course of their lives

Age Sets

formally established groups of people born within a certain time span that move through age grade categories together

marriage

the approved social pattern whereby to or more persons establish a family

Characteristics of marriage

1. provides a basis for enculturation of children
2. provides for approved sexual activity
3. provides for permanent relationships between individuals and groups of individuals
4. is publicly known and approved, socially sanctioned
5. is marked by a ceremony
6. is a form of exchange unit, each partner contributing labor and products of labor

endogamy

marriage within a specific cultural or social group

exogamy

marriage outside of a specific cultural or social group

hypergamy

marriage into a social class or cultural group that is higher than the one born into

Levirate/sororate

marriage to deceased spouse's sibling

"ghost" marriage

marriage to deceased husband's brother, but with progeny attributed to the deceasedhusband

monogamy

one spouse at any one time

polygamy

more than one spouse at the same time

polygyny

one husband, more than one wife

Polyandry

one wife, several husbands, usually brothers

bridewealth

price paid by the groom or his family to the bride's family

dowry

property or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage

neolocal residence

Most common in industrialized societies. Married couple established new household,independent of all family members

patrilocal residence

Most common in pastoralist and farming societies. Married couple lives with the husband's father's family. This allows all the men (the father, brothers, and sons) to continue to work together with herds or on the land

matrilocal residence

Most common in matrilineal horticultural societies. Married couple lives where the wife grew up

avunculocal residence

Also common in matrilineal societies. Married couple lives with the husband's mother's brother

Sex

biological differences in humans

gender

cultural and social construction of male and female characteristics

gender roles

the tasks and activities that a culture assigns to the sexes

gender stereotypes

oversimplified but strongly held ideas of the characteristics of men andwomen

gender stratification

unequal distribution of rewards (socially valued resources, power,prestige, and personal freedom) between men and women, reflecting their different positions in social hierarchy

Gender roles in foraging societies

the rights and activities overlap between the two genders in this kind of society

gender roles in horticultural societies

these societies tend to be female-led and dominated, with women doing most of the work

Third genders

situation found in many societies that acknowledge three or more categories of gender/sex, primary examples being "Two-Soul" people from native american tribes and the "Hijra" people found in south asia.

Sexual Orientation

pattern of sexual and emotional attraction based on the gender of one's partner

Azande warriors

African warriors who took up the practice of taking apprentices, usually younger boys and men, with whom they would also perform sexual acts, usually until the warrior was married and even after.

emperical knowledge

developed body of knowledge and beliefs about the physical world,

spiritual knowledge

eveloped body of knowledge and beliefs about the supernatural world

empirical vs spiritual in societies

in traditional societies empirical and spiritual knowledge tend to overlap, while in western and modern societies, they are generally found to be separate from each other

magic

individual manipulation of the supernatural for immediate effect or personal gain

religion

Collective, public, organized set of beliefs that supernatural agencies are responsible for reality and quality of life

concepts shared by magic and religion

1: the notion of supernaturals who
influence quality of life
2: ritual
3: basis in faith
4: similar functions:
a. explanatory
b. anxiety-reducing
c. behavior-controlling

Characteristics unique to magic

1: individualistic
2: immediate results
3: anytime, anywhere
4: anyone can practice it
5: for good or ill

characteristics unique to religion

1: communal
2: delayed results
3: fixed dates, places
4: requires specialists
5: for good only

types of magic

sympathetic(imitative)
contagious, including exuvial
coincident causality

magical thinking

things associated with other things, whether through actual contact or similarity, have causal relationships even over space and time.

Malinowski's Hypothesis

The more uncertain and important the outcome, the more magical thinking and behavior associated with it

ritual

formal, repetitive, stylized, stereotyped behavior performed in specific locations and times

rites of passage

ritual ceremonies marking the transition from one phase of life to another

Liminality

intermediate and ambiguous phase in rites of passage

Animism

Belief that all objects are inhabited by spirits. or that all things in nature may be thought of as having the same spirit

animatism

The belief that nature is enlivened or energized by an impersonal spiritual force or supernatural energy, which may make itself manifest in any special place, thing, or living creature.

monotheism

religion that houses belief in one supreme deity as opposed to multiple

Polytheism

religion that has multiple gods, with each usually being associated with different aspects of the world

Hatian Vodou

A hybrid polytheist/monotheist religion, depening on how one chooses to define the spirits or loa

Incan religion

polytheistic religion present within and without the bounds of the ancient Incan empire.

shaman

indigenous healer who deliberately alters consciousness in order to obtain knowledge and power from the supernatural in order to affect other group members

Shamanic healing techniques

1. Medicinal plants
2. Psychology
3. Sleight of hand (trickery)

Anthropological definition of political systems

The management of relations among groups and their representatives, including:
- decision making
- social control
- and conflict management.

achieved status

based on qualities internal to the individual, such as wisdom, hard work, contributions to the community, etc.

ascribed status

based on qualities external to the individual, such as gender, age, heredity, wealth, education, etc

band

a society with no true authority, rather everything is done in group decisions, and there is only an informal recognition of prowess and power.

tribe

a social organization of villages and clans all under a central authorty, whether it be a chief or "Big man"

chiefs

permanent, ascribed leaders who hold positions, usually based on descent, that must be filled and so are permanent across generations and individuals.

big man

Figure often found among tribal horticulturalists and pastoralists. The big man occupies no office but creates his reputation through entrepreneurship and generosity to others. Neither his wealth nor his position passes to his heirs.

stratified societies

centralized political authority that is concentrated in a single individual(chiefdoms) or a body of individuals (the state)

chiefdom

linked villages, headed by a single chief, and lesser chiefs in each village.

states

exhibit a continuum of centralized achieved and ascribed power, from royal(inherited) rule to power in office, which is achieved- but wealth, education, and kinship, can all be important in making someone "eligible" for "achieved" office

legal systems

Third party intervention in two-party disputes, exhibiting a consistent relationship between rules and penalties for their violation, as well as a means of enforcement of punishment.

substantive law

set of laws that governs how members of a society are to behave

procedural law

set of procedures for making, administering, and enforcing substantive law

cross-cultural

Dealing with or offering comparison between two or more different cultures or cultural areas.

expressive culture

behaviors and beliefs related to art, leisure, and play

Anthropological characteristics of art

1. an artifact of human creation
2. created through the exercise of exceptional (non-ordinary) skill
3. produced in a public medium
4. intended to affect the senses
5. sharing stylistic conventions with other works

Questions anthropologists ask about music

1. what is viewed as music (and what isn't?)
2. musical talent- what is it and how do you get it?
3. who becomes a musician and how? And as a result, how is he/she viewed in society?
4. where does music come from? (emically)
5. are there universal aspects to musical expression and communication?
6. what are the social uses and functions of music?
7. what's the relationship between music and technology?

folklore

creative, stylized, expressive behavior in small groups and/or unmediated contexts

popular culture

creative, stylized, expressive behavior in mass-mediated contexts

globalization

reshaping of local conditions by global forces

Glocalization

simultaneous occurrence of both universalizing and particularizing tendencies in contemporary social,political, and economic systems

Deterritorialization

a weakening of ties between culture and place. So aspects of culture transcend specific territorial boundaries.

ethnoscapes

the migration of people across cultures and borders

technoscapes

cultural interactions due to the promotion of technology

Financescapes

the flux of capital across borders

mediascapes

use of media that shapes the way we understand our imagined world

Ideoscapes

the global flow of ideologies

Applied Anthropology

he use of anthropological method and theory to help people solve problems.

applied medical anthropology

the use of anthropological method and theory to address specific health anddisease problems, primarily in clinical (hospital) and public health settings

example of applied medical anthropology

Carroll Behrhorst's investigation into recuring illness in Guatemalan Mayan villages

applied environmental anthropology

the use of anthropological method and theory to address specificenvironmental problems from both a Western scientific standpoint and from regional, local, andtraditional/indigenous perspectives

example of applied environmental anthropology

Gerrard Murray and his investigation into deforestation in Maui

applied business anthropology

the use of anthropological method and theories to address specific problems related to marketing, consumer behavior, organizational culture, human resources, international/intercultural communication), and related areas.