IB Anthropology Key Concepts

(Acronym: BCC SIMPSS)

Belief and knowledge

Set of views/values seen as “the truth” within a particular social group. Based around & supported by cultural experience.

Change

Modification of cultural and social elements in a society. Could be due to internal affairs, or contact with another culture, or globalization.

Culture

System of symbols, ideas, beliefs, and material production that humans create and change. Includes customs that organizes the physical world and social structure of a society.

Modern views: culture is ever-changing

Meaning is disagreed upon

Identity

Individual’s personal view of self

Social group’s view of an individual

Group identity (ex: religious, ethnic, or national identity)

Materiality

Objects, resources, and belongings that have cultural meaning

Can attempt to view human experience through study of material objects

More modern: materiality of the body?

Power

1(+) people’s capacity to influence and control others/resources

Inequalities between members of a social group

Social relations

A relationship between 2(+) individuals in a network of relationships

Consists of individual agency & group expectations

Form foundation of social structure

Society

How humans organize themselves into groups/networks. Sustained through relationships and institutions

Can be any coherent group of people; art society

Symbolism

Significance that people attach to objects, actions, processes. Creates network of symbols that represent a culture.

Different from materiality in that it does not only apply to physical objects. There’s probably other differences but :\]