Cultural Anthropology Exam 2

Foraging

hunting and gathering; wild plants and animals; egalitarian

Pastoralism

herds of domesticated livestock

Horticulture

gardens supply majority of food; not grown to be sold

Industrial Agriculture

pesticides, fossil fuels, large scale agriculture

Agriculture

the cultivation of domesticated plants and animals

Broad-Spectrum Diet

a diet based on a wide range of food resources

Built environment

spaces that are human-made, including cultivated land and buildings

Carrying Capacity

a measurement of the number of calories that can be extracted from a particular unit of land in forder to support a human population

Commodity Chain

the series of steps a food takes from location where it is sold to consumers

Delayed REturn System

techniques for obtaining food that require an investment of work over a period of time before the food becomes available for consumption

Domestic Economy

the work associated with obtaining food for a family or household

Foodways

the cultural norms and attitudes surrounding food and eating

Historical Ecology

the study of how human cultures have developed over time as a result of interactions with the environment

Mono-Cropping

the reliance on a single plant species as a food source

Neolithic Revolution

a period of rapid innovation in subsistence technologies (stone tools) 10,000 years ago that led to the emergence of agriculture

Staple Crops

foods that form the backbone of the subsistence system by providing the majority of calories a society consumes

World System

a complex economic system through which goods circulate around the globe; separation of the producers of goods from the consumers

Balanced Reciprocity

the exchange of something with the expectation that something of equal value will be returned within a specific time

Consumption

the process of buying, eating, or using a resource, food, commodity, or service

Generalized Reciprocity

giving without expecting a specific thing in return

General Purpose Money

medium of exchange that can be used in all economic transactions

Homo economicus

a person who would make rational decisions in ways predicted by economic theories

Means of Production

the resources used to produce goods in a society such as land for farming or factories

Mode of Production

the social relations through which human labor is sued to transform energy from nature using tools, skills, organization, and knowledge

Negative Reciprocity

an attempt to get something for nothing; exchange in which both parties try to take advantage of the other

Political Economy

approach that investigates the historical evolution of economic relationships as well as the contemporary political processes and social structures that contribute to differences in income and wealth

Redistribution

the accumulation of goods or labor by a particular person or institution for the purpose of dispersal at a later date

Structural Violence

social structure of institution harms people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs

Subsistence Farmers

people who raise plants and animals for their own consumption, but not for sale to others

Acculturation 

loss of a minority group’s cultural distinctiveness in relation to the dominant culture

Amalgamation

interactions between members of distinct ethnic and cultural groups that reduce barriers between the groups over time

Assimilation

pressure placed on minority groups to adopt the customs and traditions of the dominant culture

Cline

differences in the traits that occur in populations across a geographical area

Ethnic group

people in a society who claim a distinct identity for themselves based on shared cultural characteristics and ancestry

Ethnicity

degree to which a person identifies with and feels an attachment to a particular ethnic group

Ethnogenesis

gradual emergence of new ethnicities in response to changing social circumstances

Hypodescent

racial classification system that assigns a person with mixed racial heritage to the racial category that is considered least privileged

Jim Crow 

laws passed by state and local governments in the United States during the early twentieth century to enforce racial segregation of public and private places

Multiculturalism

maintenance of multiple cultural traditions in a single society

Nonconcordant

genetic traits that are inherited independently rather than as a package

One-drop Rule

the practice of excluding a person with any non-white ancestry from the white racial category

Pigmentocracy

society characterized by strong correlation between a person’s skin color and his or her social class

Race

an attempt to categorize humans based on observed physical differences

Racial Formation

the process of defining and redefining racial categories in a society

Reified

the process by which an inaccurate concept or idea is accepted as “truth”

Socially Constructed

a concept developed by society that is maintained over time through social interactions that make the idea seem “real”

Symbolic Ethnicity

limited or occasional displays of ethnic pride and identity that are primarily for public display

Taxonomy

a system of classification

Affinal

family relationships created through marriage

Age Grades

groups of men who are close in age and share similar duties or responsibilities

Age Sets

named categories to which men of a certain age are assigned at birth

Band

the smallest unit of political organization, only a few families and no formal leadership positions

Big Man

a form of temporary or situational leadership; influences results from acquiring followers

Bilateral Cross-Cousin Marriage

a man marries a woman who is both his mother’s brother’s daughter and his father’s sister’s daughter

Bilateral Descent

kinship systems that recognize both the mother’s and the father’s sides of the family

Clan

group of people with general notion of common descent that is not attached to a specific biological ancestor

Descent Groups

relationships that provide members with a sense of identity and social support based on ties of shared ancestry

Domestic Group

group who live together even if they don’t consider themselves family

Extended Family

family of at least three generations sharing a household