Sociocultural Anthropology

Key concepts, definitions, names and impact, readings

What is cultural anthropology?

Cultural anthropology is the study on things that humans do, believe, experience, and create, ie, “culture". Cultural anthropologists aim to make sense of the complicated ways people make meaning in their lives

What is culture?

All the beliefs, practices, symbols, and rules of groups of people. Can be written, passed along verbally, spread through practice, or never even mentioned (but followed nonetheless)

enculturation

the lifelong process by which an individual learns, acquires, and internalizes the values, beliefs, language, and moral norms of their surrounding culture

cultural relativism

understanding of cultural features from that cultures own viewpoint

ethnocentrism

tendency to view ones own cultures as better than others but also as more normal or natural. when culture is learned from a distance the anthropologist tends to measure that culture from their own vantage point and draws comparisons that place the anthropologists’ culture as superior

cultural evolutionism

cultural change constitutes an evolutionary process that shares fundamental similarities with – but also differs in key ways from – genetic evolution. Humans and other cultural species are the joint product of both our genetic and cultural inheritances

armchair anthropology

relied on others accounts and opinions of others and created facts and stories on the nature of peoples without direct contact

"Off the veranda"

a phrase, attributed to anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski, who stressed the need for fieldwork enabling the researcher to experience the everyday life of his subjects along with them

emic vs. etic

emic, the insider’s view, focuses on how members of a culture understand their own world, beliefs, and practices while etic, the outsider’s view, focuses on an external observer's analysis using universal concepts, theories, and frameworks

participant - observation ethnography

a core ethnographic research method where a researcher immerses themselves in a community to observe and take part in daily life

status and role

status is a socially defined position in a society, while a role is the active behavior and set of expectations attached to that position. At it’s core, it’s power, “who gets what, when, and how” - Harold Lasswell

Kinship diagram and ego

traingle is male ego, circle is woman ego, an is marriage. Ego is the central reference person from whose point of view all family relationships are mapped

matrilineal patriarchy

a social structure where lineage and property are traced through the mother’s line, but political and social authority remain held by men

Holism

approach and understand culture holistically - grasp the multiple connected forces of power, identity, history, geography, belief, social relations

ethnography (enthnographic) fieldwork

a research method where a researcher lives or spends extended time with a group of people to study their culture and daily life. used to describe both a practice and material product. in field, anthropologists engage ethnographic research or doing ethnography

interlocutors

what anthropologists often call the people they are engaging in

cultural determinism

the belief that the culture you are raised in shapes and determines your behavior, thoughts, values, and identity rather than your biology or genetics

contested identity

a social label, cultural role, or group definition that people argue over, challenge, or try to redefine instead of accepting as fixed

functionalist approach

a macro-level framework that views society as a complex system whose interconnected parts work together to promote solidarity, stability, and social order

salvage ethnography

the recording of the cultural practices, languages, and folklore of communities that are threatened with extinction, modernization, or forced assimilation

kinship (consanguineal/affinal)

the two primary ways human societies organize family relationships based on blood and marriage. Affinal is marriage and and consanguineal is blood.

religion

the scientific and cross-cultural study of religious beliefs, practices, and institutions in relation to human culture and social order. explores how people use the sacred, the divine, and the supernatural to make sense of the world

magic

the beliefs and practices used to directly manipulate supernatural forces to achieve specific, practical outcomes

witchcraft

a cultural belief system used to explain misfortune, manage social tensions, and enforce community norms rather than as literal supernatural harm

rituals

a repeated, structured sequence of stylized actions and behaviors that are set apart from everyday routines to create social, psychological, or cultural change

rites of passage

a ritual or ceremony that marks a person's transition from one social or religious status to another

liminality

the ambiguous, transitional middle stage of a rite of passage where a person is "betwixt and between" established social roles and identities

reciprocity

the non-market exchange of goods, services, and labor that builds social ties and mutual obligations rather than purely maximizing financial profit

potlatch

involves giving away or destroying wealth or valuable items in order to demonstrate a leader's wealth and power

economic anthropology

a subfield of anthropology that studies how people produce, distribute, consume, and exchange goods and services across diverse cultures and historical periods

political anthropology

a subfield of social and cultural anthropology that uses comparative, fieldwork-based methods to study power, authority, and governance across diverse human societies

gender and sex

sex refers to biological differences like chromosomes and anatomy, while gender refers to the culturally constructed roles, behaviors, and expectations attached to those differences

ascribed status

a social position assigned to a person involuntarily at birth or based on inherited traits outside of their control

achieved status

a social position that an individual earns, chooses, or accomplishes through personal effort, skills, and merit rather than being assigned at birth

profit motive

a culturally specific economic incentive tied to market capitalism

gift building

a fundamental social practice used to build, maintain, and reinforce human relationships rather than act as a simple financial transaction

Minangkapau

worlds largest continuing matrilineal society

Hawaiian system

brothers and sisters and all 1st cousins refer to each other as brother and sister. Biological father and his brothers are all called father. Same for mothers. Brothers and sisters and 1st cousins all called ‘child’ by the adults, parents, aunts and uncles

Inuit (Eskimo) system

system Americans follow