Cultural ANTHR

Cultural Relativism

The principle that a culture's beliefs, values, and practices should be understood based on that culture's own standards rather than judged through the standards of another culture.

Ethnocentrism

Evaluating and judging other cultures according to the preconceptions, standards, and values of one's own culture.

Cultural Materialism

An anthropological framework arguing that physical and economic conditions (technology, environment, resources) primary shape social structures and cultural beliefs.

Applied Anthropology

The practical application of anthropological theories, methods, and data to solve real-world problems in areas like healthcare, business, and policy.

Armchair Anthropology

The early anthropological practice of drawing conclusions about other cultures through secondhand reports and travel logs rather than direct fieldwork.

Single Story

Reducing a person, group, or place to a single simplistic narrative or stereotype, ignoring its complex, multi-dimensional reality.

Participant Observation

A primary fieldwork method where anthropologists live within a community for an extended period, actively participating in daily life while observing behavior and customs.

Participant-Observer Paradox

The dilemma where an observer's presence alters the natural behavior of the people being studied.

Fieldwork Ethics - Do No Harm

Prioritizing the physical, psychological, and social safety and well-being of research subjects above all else.

Fieldwork Ethics - Informed Consent

Obtaining explicit, voluntary permission from participants after fully explaining the nature and goals of the research.

Fieldwork Ethics - Anonymity

Protecting participants' identities by hiding real names and identifying features in published research.

AAA Code of Ethics Context

Formalized following incidents like the Vietnam War and Project Camelot where anthropology was misused for military and espionage purposes.

Mapping

The systematic analysis and spatial mapping of the physical space where fieldwork is being conducted.

Social Network Analysis

Examines relationships and connections within a community, often by identifying whom people turn to in times of need.

Life History Method

A form of interview that traces a person's biography over time, examining changes in their life and illuminating relationships in the community.

Kinship Analysis

Explores interlocking relationships of power built on family and marriage, such as parent/children or elder dynamics.

Polyvocality

The use of many different voices in ethnographic writing, allowing readers to hear directly from community members.

Culture Shock

Feelings of disorientation, confusion, and anxiety when immersed in an unfamiliar cultural environment.

Rapport

Building mutual trust, respect, and acceptance with a host community to gather honest and reliable insights.

Deductive Research

A top-down research strategy that begins with a theoretical hypothesis and tests it through field observations.

Inductive Research

A bottom-up research strategy that gathers observational data first and builds theories from identified patterns.

Qualitative Data

Non-statistical data such as personal stories, open-ended interviews, and participant observation notes.

Quantitative Data

Statistical and numerical information analyzed through structured tools like surveys.

Activist Anthropology

An approach where anthropologists actively collaborate with marginalized groups to address social inequalities and advocate for change.

Visual and Multimodal Anthropology

The use of visual media like photography, film, and digital platforms to research and share anthropological knowledge.

PhotoVoice

A participatory method where community members take photos documenting their own lives and challenges to spark social change.

Economic Anthropology

The study of how human beings make a living, adapt culturally to their environment, and organize production, consumption, and exchange.

Modes of Production

The social, technological, and environmental systems used to produce the material means of life.

Property Rights vs Use Rights

Property rights involve legal ownership and control over resources/land, whereas use rights involve culturally granted privileges to access resources without ownership.

Foraging

A subsistence strategy based on hunting wild animals and gathering wild plants.

Horticulture

Small-scale, non-industrial cultivation of crops using simple hand tools.

Pastoralism

A subsistence strategy centered on herding, breeding, and domesticating animals.

Small-Scale Agriculture

Cultivation focused on local farming needs and community subsistence.

Large-Scale Industrial Farming

Fast, high-density crop and food production using modern technology and machinery.

Minimalism

An economic orientation focused on meeting basic survival needs with limited material consumption.

Consumerism

An economic system and mindset driven by the continuous acquisition and expansion of material goods.

Balanced Exchange

An exchange where goods or services of equal value are given and received (e.g., trade).

Unbalanced Exchange

An exchange market system built on supply and demand where one party receives less value than they give.

Reciprocal Exchange

The informal exchange of goods and services built on social relationships and mutual obligation.

Redistribution

Gathering resources into a central location (like taxes) and reallocating them throughout the community.

Colonialism

A nation-state extending political, economic, and military power beyond its borders to access raw materials, cheap labor, and markets.

Triangle Trade

Historical transatlantic trade network exchanging enslaved humans, raw materials, and manufactured goods between Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

Primitive Accumulation

The historical privatization of land (such as the Enclosure Movement) that consolidated resources among elites and created a landless peasantry.

Dependency Theory

The theory that global wealth distribution keeps former colonies impoverished to supply cheap resources to rich nations.

Core Nations

Industrialized former colonial powers serving as global hubs of finance, capital, and economic control.

Periphery Nations

Least industrialized and least powerful nations exploited by core states for raw materials and cheap labor.

Semi-Periphery Nations

Nations positioned in the middle that display both core and peripheral economic characteristics.

Neoliberalism

An economic philosophy favoring free markets, deregulation, and privatization as the best path for economic growth.

Fordism

Mass assembly-line production paired with living wages for industrial workers.

Flexible Accumulation

Modern corporate strategies relying on offshoring, outsourcing, and flexible labor to lower production costs.

Global Cities

Major urban centers that function as central command hubs for global finance and international trade.

Commodity Chain

The full global network of activities involved in extracting, manufacturing, and selling a product.

Descriptive Linguistics

The study of the formal structural units (sounds, grammar, syntax) of a specific language.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

The concept that the structure of a language shapes how its speakers perceive and think about the world.

Language Stratification

Ranking language dialects hierarchically, elevating elite dialects while marginalizing non-standard forms.

African American Vernacular English (AAVE)

A rule-governed, linguistically complex dialect of English spoken by African American communities.

Code-Switching

Alternating between different language varieties or dialects depending on the social context.

Historical Linguistics

The study of how languages change and evolve over time.

Language Continuum

A geographic range where neighboring dialects remain mutually intelligible, but distant ends are distinct languages.

Language Revitalization

Efforts to document, teach, and preserve endangered languages to keep them from going extinct.

Digital Divide

The gap in access to modern digital communications technology and its impact on language evolution.

Ritual

Prescribed, formal behaviors performed routinely in fixed settings to influence luck or manage uncertainty.

Superstition

Unrationalized beliefs that specific actions, objects, or words bring good or bad outcomes.

Taboo

Strongly forbidden social behaviors or actions believed to cause bad luck or harm if broken.