Cultural Anthropology Exam 2

Morton Fried’s three types of societies

Egalitarian, ranked, stratified

Egalitarian

Everyone has equal access to resources, wealth, and prestige; reciprocity

Ranked

Some members have more access to prestige, but all have equal access to resources; redistribution

Stratified

Institutionalized inequality, unequal access to resources based on class; market economy

Reciprocity

Exchange of goods and services among relatively equal status to create and reinforce social ties

Primary subsistence strategies

Food collectors and food producers

Foraging (hunter-gatherers)

Food gathering strategy involving gathering resources for subsistence; egalitarian; reciprocity; nomadic

Pastoralism

Domestication and herding of large animals; semi-nomadic

Horticulturalists

Subsistence strategy involving non-intensive cultivation of plants with simple tools; ranked; more sedentary

Swidden agriculture

Clearing forest, burning and cultivating land; cyclical and semi-nomadic

Agriculture

Subsistence strategy involving cultivation of plants and permanently cleared land; sedentary

Health consequences of agriculture

Cavities, anemia, diseases

Sex

The observable physical differences between male and female, especially biological differences related to reproduction

Gender

The expectations of thought and behavior that each culture assigns to people of different sexes

Non-binary people from other cultures

Hijra in India, two-spirit

Heteronormativity

The belief that people fall into two distinct and complementary genders (man/women) with ‘natural’ roles in life. Assumes sex and marriage between men and women is ‘normal’ and other sex is ‘deviant,’ or violating sexual rules

Kinship

A system of meaning and power that cultures create to determine who is related to whom and to define their mutual expectations, rights, and responsibilities

Forming kinship ties

Blood ties, ancestry, social relationships

Clan vs lineage

Lineage has recorded genealogy

Reasons for nuclear family

Detachability, family of procreation, success through new family unit

Marriage

A socially recognized relationship that may involve physical and emotional intimacy as well as legal rights to property and inheritance

Reasons for marriage

Societal regulation of relationships, legitimize children, strengthen kin group ties, security and stability

Monogamy

Marriage between only two partners

Polygyny

One husband, multiple wives; Kapauka in New Guinea

Polyandry

One wife, multiple husbands; Tibetan highlands

Dowry

The gift of goods/money from the bride’s family to the groom’s family

Bride-wealth

The gift of goods or money from the groom’s family to the bride’s family as part of the marriage process