Balls

Anthropology

The study of humans, their societies, cultures, and physical characteristics.

Linguistic Anthropology

Study of language in its cultural context.

Socio-cultural Anthropology

Study of societies, cultures, and human behaviors.

Physical Anthropology

Study of human biological diversity.

Archaeology

Study of past human societies through material remains.

Cultural Anthropology

The study of human cultures and how they develop, function, and change over time.

Culture

A set of learned behaviors and ideas shared by members of a society.

Enculturation

The process by which individuals learn their culture.

Ethnocentrism

The tendency to judge another culture based on the values of one’s own culture.

Cultural Relativism

Understanding cultural norms and values on their own terms without judgment.

Moral Relativism

The belief that no culture’s norms or values are more moral than another’s.

Etic

The outsider’s perspective.

Emic

The insider's (local) perspective.

Participant-Observation

Research method where the anthropologist both observes and actively participates in the community.

Malinowski

Pioneered participant observation and the ethnographic method.

Franz Boas

Founder of American Anthropology, emphasized historical particularism.

Race

A social construct often linked to biological differences but not supported by science.

Ethnicity

Shared cultural characteristics such as language, religion, and customs.

Social Construction of Race

Race has no biological basis but is a social category that affects people's lives.

Bilateral Descent

Kinship relations are traced through both maternal and paternal lines.

Unilineal Descent

Kinship relations are traced through either the mother’s or the father’s line.

Polygamy

One person having multiple spouses.

Polygyny

One man with multiple wives.

Polyandry

One woman with multiple husbands.

Endogamy

Marrying within one’s community/group.

Exogamy

Marrying outside one’s community/group.

Patrilocal

Couple lives with husband’s family.

Matrilocal

Couple lives with wife’s family.

Neolocal

Couple establishes their own residence.

New Kinship Studies

Explores diverse kinship forms in modern societies, challenging traditional ideas.

Religion

A worldview that provides meaning and unity to a society; divides the sacred and profane.

Ritual

A sequence of symbolic actions often tied to myths; can be secular or sacred.

Rites of Passage

A ritual marking an individual's transition from one social status to another.

Collective Effervescence

A shared emotional state in group rituals where participants feel a sense of unity.

Witchcraft

Belief in supernatural forces causing harm or misfortune.

Spirit Possession

The phenomenon where a spirit gains control over a human body.

Disease

A biological condition.

Illness

A social or cultural understanding of disease.

Medicalization

The process of framing an issue as a medical condition.

Structural Violence

Suffering and injustice that are part of ordinary societal practices.

Ethnography

A written or visual account of an anthropologist's research findings.

Interlocutors

People in the community who share their culture and way of life with the anthropologist.

Reflexivity

The process of considering how a researcher’s personal background influences their research.

Multiculturalism

Celebrates and preserves cultural diversity.

Assimilationism

The idea that immigrants must abandon their cultural practices for the dominant culture.

Cultural Evolutionism

The idea that all societies evolve in a fixed sequence from primitive to advanced.

Social Darwinism

Applying the concept of 'survival of the fittest' to justify social hierarchies.

Boas

Argued that cultural differences were due to historical contexts rather than biology.