IB Anthro Key Concepts

Belief and Knowledge

Set of convictions, values, and viewpoints regarded as “the truth” and shared by members of a social group; underpinned and supported by known cultural experience

Change

Refers to the alteration of modification of cultural or social elements in society → may be de to internal dynamics within a society, or the result of contact with another culture, or a consequence of globalization

Culture

Organized systems of symbols, ideas, explanations, beliefs and material production that humans create and manipulate in the course of their daily lives; includes customs by which humans organize their physical world and maintain their social structure

Identity

Either the individual’s private and personal view of “the self” or to how an individual is viewed from the perspective of social groups; may take the form of religious, ethnic, or national groups, for example

Materiality

Objects, resources and belongings have cultural meaning; often embedded in social relations and practices; some anthropologists seek to understand the human experience through the study of objects (especially the body)

Power

An essential feature of social relations; can be considered as a person’s or group’s capacity to influence, manipulate, or control others and resources → involves inequality in a social group or concepts of social structure

Social Relations

Any relationship between two or more individuals in a network of relationships; involves an element of individual agency as well as group expectations, forms the basis of social organization and structure

Society

The way in which humans organize themselves in groups/networks → is created/sustained by social relationships and institutions

Symbolism

Study of significance that people attach to objects, actions, and processes → one way culture is constructed