Chapter One: What is Anthropology

Belief and knowledge

A set of convictions, values and viewpoints regarded as "the truth" and shared by members of a social group. These are underpinned and supported by known cultural experience.

Change

The alteration or modification of cultural or social elements in a society. Change may be due to internal dynamics within a society, or the result of contact with another culture, or a consequence of globalization.

Culture

Culture refers to organized systems of symbols, ideas, explanations, beliefs and material production that humans create and manipulate in the course of their daily lives. Culture includes the customs by which humans organize their physical world and maintain their social structure. More recent approaches to culture recognize that cultures are not static, homogenous or bounded but dynamic and fluid. Culture refers to the shared social construction of meanings, but simultaneously culture is often also a site of contested meanings. These recent formulations of the concept recognize that culture may be the subject of disagreement and conflict within and among societies, and this disagreement may include the definition of culture itself.

Identity

Identity can refer either to the individual's private and personal view of the self—this is sometimes referred to as the "moi"—or the view of an individual in the eyes of the social group. Identity also refers to group identity, which may take the form of religious identity, ethnic identity, or national identity for example.

Social relations

Any relationship between two or more individuals in a network of relationships. Social relations involve an element of individual agency as well as group expectations and form the basis of social organization and social structure. They pervade every aspect of human life and are extensive, complex, and diverse.

Society

Society refers to the way in which humans organize themselves in groups and networks. Society is created and sustained by social relationships among persons and groups. The term "society" can also be used to refer to a human group that exhibits some internal coherence and distinguishes itself from other such groups.

Symbolism

Symbolism is the study of the significance that people attach to objects, actions, and processes creating networks of symbols through which they construct a culture's web of meaning.

Socialization

the process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society

agency

the ability of humans to make choices and use free will

Modernity

becoming modernized with the culture you live among by taking something from that culture and adapting it to fit your culture

Religion

the practice followed by your culture

Rite of passage

ritual ceremonies intended to mark the transition from one phase of life to another

Anthropology

Study of the origins and development of people and their societies

Ethnography

the method by which researchers attempt to understand a group or culture by observing it from the inside, without imposing any preconceived notions they might have

Holism

The anthropological commitment to consider the full scope of human life, including culture, biology, history, and language, across space and time.

Ethnocentrism

the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture

cultural relativism

the idea that a person's beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another

emic approach

Seeks to describe another culture in terms of the categories, concepts, and perceptions of the people being studied.

etic approach

Anthropologists use their own categories and concepts to describe the culture under analysis.

Applied Anthropology

The use of anthropological knowledge and methods to solve practical problems, often for a specific client.

Belief and knowledge

A set of convictions, values and viewpoints regarded as "the truth" and shared by members of a social group. These are underpinned and supported by known cultural experience.

Change

The alteration or modification of cultural or social elements in a society. Change may be due to internal dynamics within a society, or the result of contact with another culture, or a consequence of globalization.

Culture

Culture refers to organized systems of symbols, ideas, explanations, beliefs and material production that humans create and manipulate in the course of their daily lives. Culture includes the customs by which humans organize their physical world and maintain their social structure. More recent approaches to culture recognize that cultures are not static, homogenous or bounded but dynamic and fluid. Culture refers to the shared social construction of meanings, but simultaneously culture is often also a site of contested meanings. These recent formulations of the concept recognize that culture may be the subject of disagreement and conflict within and among societies, and this disagreement may include the definition of culture itself.

Identity

Identity can refer either to the individual's private and personal view of the self—this is sometimes referred to as the "moi"—or the view of an individual in the eyes of the social group. Identity also refers to group identity, which may take the form of religious identity, ethnic identity, or national identity for example.

Social relations

Any relationship between two or more individuals in a network of relationships. Social relations involve an element of individual agency as well as group expectations and form the basis of social organization and social structure. They pervade every aspect of human life and are extensive, complex, and diverse.

Society

Society refers to the way in which humans organize themselves in groups and networks. Society is created and sustained by social relationships among persons and groups. The term "society" can also be used to refer to a human group that exhibits some internal coherence and distinguishes itself from other such groups.

Symbolism

Symbolism is the study of the significance that people attach to objects, actions, and processes creating networks of symbols through which they construct a culture's web of meaning.

Socialization

the process of learning to behave in a way that is acceptable to society

agency

the ability of humans to make choices and use free will

Modernity

becoming modernized with the culture you live among by taking something from that culture and adapting it to fit your culture

Religion

the practice followed by your culture

Rite of passage

ritual ceremonies intended to mark the transition from one phase of life to another

Anthropology

Study of the origins and development of people and their societies

Ethnography

the method by which researchers attempt to understand a group or culture by observing it from the inside, without imposing any preconceived notions they might have

Holism

The anthropological commitment to consider the full scope of human life, including culture, biology, history, and language, across space and time.

Ethnocentrism

the practice of judging another culture by the standards of one's own culture

cultural relativism

the idea that a person's beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture, rather than be judged against the criteria of another

emic approach

Seeks to describe another culture in terms of the categories, concepts, and perceptions of the people being studied.

etic approach

Anthropologists use their own categories and concepts to describe the culture under analysis.

Applied Anthropology

The use of anthropological knowledge and methods to solve practical problems, often for a specific client.