its final

What is anthropology?

the comparative study of common sense

what is common sense

set of unstated assumptions we share with others in our community that we can most rely on in making sense of the world around us

what are cultural misunderstandings

economic, political, and environmental processes bring into contact people who operate according to different common senses

Intercultural relations

the flows of symbols across the global landscape, facilitated by transnational migration, new information technologies, and global markets, which can lead to creativity and innovation but also to misunderstanding and conflict.

What is culture?

this learned system of meanings through which people orient themselves in the world so that they can act in it.

can be symbolic, shared, learned, and adaptive.

symbol

something that stands for something else to someone in some respect

symbolic culture

culture is expressive

shared culture

knowledge of history and also the whole realm of convention and belief we call tradition

generation of similarity

involves those institutions and processes that teach and reinforce common beliefs, values, orientations, and models for action among members of a community.

organization of difference

include most political and social organizations with the power to regulate behavior and reward or punish behaviors from schools and police to tribal institutions

learned culture

we learn our culture as we live, work, and grow

enculturation

The processes by which members of a society pass on culture to new generations

formal learning

the acquisition of cultural knowledge that takes place within institutions specifically designed for this purpose

informal learning

the learning we engage in simply by watching, listening, and participating in everyday activities

embodiment

Our deepest cultural learning often shapes our bodies and unconscious behaviors: how we speak, how we move, how we eat, how close we are comfortable standing next to people.

adaptative culture

culture is not only capable of changing, it is always in a process of change.

levels of culture

(1) a level of everyday practices

(2) an underlying level of reasons and logical explanations for those practices

(3) a level of underlying assumptions about how the world works that are usually taken for granted

Cultural practices

refers to the everyday actions through which people in a particular community get through their day

Cultural logics

the underlying mechanisms that generate meaningful human action, including routine cultural practices like those described above.

worldview

The most encompassing level of cultural integration

diffusion of ideas

occurs through direct contact, such as migration or conquest, as well as through indirect contact, such as trade and mass media.

culture shock

the unpleasant, even traumatic, feeling people get when the rules and understandings by which they have organized their lives no longer apply.

anthropological comparative perspective

comparison of cultural systems that shakes up this sense of normalcy, showing that what we assumed was natural and essential is actually cultural and historically contingent.

anthropological holistic perspective

the capacity to understand human societies as complex systems with many interwoven element

anthropological empirical perspective

data is derived from direct observation and data collection by anthropologists living with the people they study

fieldwork

wide variety of methods, including interviewing, mapping, taking censuses, charting genealogies, and collecting stories and media produced by the people they are studying

participant observation

to long-term engagements with a host community in which the anthropologist enters into the everyday life of the community, insofar as the hosts in that community permit.

anthropological evolutionary perspective

all cultures continuously evolve by adapting to change

anthropological Relativistic Perspective

anthropologists assume that all human societies offer data of the same type. This means that anthropologists cannot make advance judgments about the practices of the peoples they are studying.

Methodological relativism

anthropologists must treat all social practices as data of the same type, that is, as institutions that serve particular social functions in specific times and places and that are embedded in complex webs of meanings.

Theoretical relativism

is an assumption, much tested and held by most anthropologists, that all human actions make rational sense when understood in their own contexts.

philosophical relativism

a position that claims, in essence, that whatever people do is right for them. Few, if any, anthropologists would claim to adhere wholeheartedly to this philosophy.

Great Economic Crisis

a sharp downturn in the world economy that began in the United States in 2008, the crisis had devastating and worldwide ramifications with millions losing their life savings and homes owing to a housing market crisis.

Economics

the social science that studies, describes, models, and makes projections about the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

liberal economic theory

wealth as produced by a nation through the efficient division of labor and use of resources

demand

unlimited wants

supply

As the price of a good increases, sellers are motivated to increase the supply of that good

scarcity

unlimited wants and limited resources

oppurtunity cost

The value of demands not met

economic nationalism

The notion that state interventions are inherently bad sets liberal economics apart from those approaches

mercantilism

a theory of political economy that holds that the economic well-being of a nation is directly related to its control over the global volume of capital

protectionist policies

enhances a positive balance of trade

tariffs

Taxes on imported goods

subsidies

a sum of money granted by the government or a public body to assist an industry or business so that the price of a commodity or service may remain low or competitive.

import quotas

to prevent other nations from dumping cheap products on national market

marxism

a range of systems of economic analysis based on the notion that the value of goods and services stems not from supply and demand in a market but from the human labor, both physical and mental, required to produce it

historical materialism

argued that the driving force of historical change was the relationship between people who worked to transform natural resources into goods and those who profited from this labor without contributing to it.

political economy

the interaction between states and markets

means of production

the tools, factories, land, and investment capital used to produce wealth

relations of production

social relations that are formed by the way societies produce and reproduce their material lives

Marxism-Leninism

variation of communism based on the ideas of Karl Marx and Vladimir Lenin

Social democracy

a variety of egalitarian states that generally embrace industrial production and market systems but include governmental and social controls intended to mitigate the tendencies of market systems to exacerbate social inequalities, including partial or full state ownership of businesses or industries

Microeconomics

studying specific market systems on a small scale, such as the economic behavior of individuals, firms, and industries, to understand the relative prices of goods and services and the alternative uses to which resources can be put in a particular market system

Macroeconomics

is concerned with the study of the combined performance of all markets in a defined market system.

gross domestic product (GDP)

defined as the total value of all goods and services produced in a country in a year

Developmentalist perspectives

study economic growth in less-developed countries.

W.W. Rostow's theory

nations pass through five consecutive stages before reaching the "stage of high mass consumption" characteristic of the United States

Wallerstein and Frank's theory (dependency theory)

both capitalist and Marxist economic theories were inappropriate for modeling economic development in the Third World because they were derived from Western European historical experiences

globalization

the expansion of global communication and market connections, growing social and political interdependencies on a global scale, and the development of a planetary rather than national awareness among many of the world's people

Neoliberalism

A strategy for economic development that calls for free markets, balanced budgets, privatization, free trade, and minimal government intervention in the economy.

Neocolonialsim

An indirect form of imperialism in which powerful countries overly influence the economies of less-developed countries

banking liquidity

the ability to pay debts when they come due without incurring unacceptable losses

recession

any period of reduced economic activity

sovereign debt crisis

an inability of a country to pay back its debt

Summit of the Americas

is a set of meetings held every two years between leaders of countries in North America, South America, Central America, and the Caribbean to discuss economic issues

Washington Consensus

a set of policies aimed at instituting free markets for the entire Western Hemisphere

"Beijing Consensus."

not interested in democracy, only in resources

Sustainability

the capacity of a political economic system to meet the needs of present communities without reducing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

carrying capacity

the consequences of human systems of economic growth in the context of limited and finite global resources

ecological economics

economists sought to include a reasonable method of explicating the value of such things as clean water, vibrant environmental systems, and future resource needs.

Group of Twenty (G20)

intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union. It works to address major issues related to the global economy, such as international financial stability, climate change mitigation, and sustainable development

what are the major fields of political science

Political Economy, Political Geography, Political Anthropology, and Political Psychology

constitutional monarchies

the non-elected members of the royal family shared power with elected officials, usually operating within the parameters of a constitution.

theocracy

the divine right associated with a royal family was expanded to the idea that religious leaders themselves should rule the country

military rule

a single or at least a small number of military leaders take control of the government and largely exclude civilians from any decision making.

one-party states

a system in which a single political party is able to monopolize political power, even if it must occasionally hold and win elections to do so.

presidential system

the executive is elected separately from any legislative electoral outcome, and once in office holds powers that are only somewhat circumscribed by other branches of government, including the legislature

Parliamentary System

A system of government in which the legislature selects the prime minister or president.

democracy

A political system in which the supreme power lies in a body of citizens who can elect people to represent them

Democratization

the process of creating a government elected by the people

social democrats

argue that democracy requires a degree of relative economic and social inequality in society as the outcome of political processes

Democratic Socialism

A socialist form of government that guarantees civil liberties such as freedom of speech and religion. Citizens determine the extent of government activity through free elections and competitive political parties.

\*\*\*\*no capitalism

Populism

the political doctrine that supports the rights and powers of the common people in their struggle with the privileged elite

nation

a given population that identifies together based on some characteristics that might include a common history, language, culture, or even set of beliefs

state

the central political authority over a given territory and people who live within that physical space

nation-state

the sovereign state includes only members of a single nation

nations without a state

Kurds, Palestinians, or the Rohingya

realism

something different than how the word is commonly used to describe pragmatism rather than naïve optimism about likely outcomes.

-most important actor is the nation-state

-all states are in continuous competition to secure most power

Liberalism (idealism)

does not see anarchy in the global system as inevitable, but rather imagines that rules, laws, and cooperation among sovereign states could produce an international community that works together toward collective interests

-promote nationalism-related ideas and behavior that lead to war

anarchy

absence of government

hegemons

States with less military or economic power will seek alliances with major power

constructivism

argues for the importance of identities, which vary from state to state, and the norms which are associated with the different state identities.

Marxism

A branch of socialism that emphasizes exploitation and class struggle and includes both communism and other approaches.

feminism

feminists work to make the field more inclusive and sensitive to power relations at the individual and group levels.