MIDTERM 1

Sociocultural Anthropology

Sociocultural Anthropology

how culture shapes how societies act and interact in the present

Linguistic Anthropology

how culture shapes language and vise versa

Archeological Anthropology

how culture has changed our relationships to the environment and physical objects over time

Biological Anthropology

how culture shapes our bodies

Cross-cultural (comparative)

comparing multiple cultures

Emperical study

direct observation and experimentation

culture

a set of traditions or customs transmitted through learning that is shared by a group of people over time

cultural learning

• learned from or taught by other members of a group

• culture is not innate, biological, or genetic

culture is almost uniquely human

culture turns biological impulses into something distinctive of a particular group

enculturation

the process by which an individual acquires cultural behaviors

• may be explicitly taught

• may happen unconsciously

different scales of culture

-culturs of nation-states

-cultures that cross boarders

-ethnic cultures

-sub-cultures

cultural relativism

the idea that behaviors of one culture should not be judged by the standards of another culture

ethnocentrism

assuming that one’s culture is superior and that it may be used to judge the behaviors of another culture

Methedological relativism

attempting to understand another culture before adapting a response

symbols

something that stands for/ signify something else

symbols are

arbitrary: they have no inherent connection to what they stand for

Ethnography

the intensive study of a particular culture or writing about a people

ethnographies

lengthy, in-depth, book-length publications about many aspects of a groups culture

ethnography methods

• interviewing research subjects

• observing their behaviors and material culture

Nuclear family

a parental unit and their pre-adult children

extended family

includes multiple generations and degrees of relatedness

kinship

a broader term to include a group of related people

• the most important kind of identity for most societies

kinship is created by

• birth/blood/descent

• marriage

• rituals

• sharing food

• sharing a home

affinal

marriage

consanguineal

birth/blood/decent

• can’t really base family off genetics, chimps share 98% with us

Patrilineal descent

descent is detained through the father

matrilineal descent

descent is determined through the mother

parallel cousins

brother to fathers kids, sister to mothers kids

cross-cousins

sister to fathers kids, brother to mothers kids

consubstantiality

people become kin by sharing substances

house societies

“house” members determined not just by lineage or kinship but by co-residence in a large, shared household

marriage forms

permanent social relationships between individuals and kin groups

marriage entails:

• shared property and resources

• gendered household tasks

• shared child rearing

• exclusive sexual rights to partner

• shared social status

monogamy

marriage between two partners

polygamy

marriage between multiple partners

polygyny

one man, multiple wives

• common in patriarchal, patrilocal societies

• usually only a few men (higher status) have multiple wives

• wives hare household labor, may be sisters to reduce friction, may be widows- social support system

procreative marriage

1 man + 1 women to make a family/have kids

polyandry

marriage between one woman and multiple husbands

• husbands are sets of brothers to consolidate family wealth

• societies where men frequently travel away from home

patrilocal

house of father and fathers relatives

matrilocal

house of mother and mother relatives

neolocal

live in a new house

patriarchal

older male in charge of household

matriarchal

older female in charge of household

gendered division of labor

different tasks are preformed by women and men

gender stratification

the unequal distribution of power between different genders

mobility

driving, leaving house without permission, obtaining passports

bodily autonomy

reproductive rights, medical decisions

sexuality

marriage decisions, female/male genital mutilation

labor force

equal pay, equal opportunity

legal rights

voting, property ownership, inheritance, education

sex

designation as female or male based on one’s genetic or physical characteristics

• biologically given

gender

ones identity as a woman, man, or other gender based on how they present themselves or are perceived by others

• socially constructed

• roles learned through enculturation

cisgender

a person whose sex assigned at birth matches their gender identity

transgender

a person whose sex assigned at birth does not match their gender identity

intersex

ones physical characteristics at birth are not clearly male or female

third genders

gender identities that are neither man nor women

rituals

activities that are stylized, repetitive, standardized, and take place at specific times and places

• have to be done the right was in order for them to work

• are based in tradition and history; can’t be improved on or innovated

rituals usually involve…

the use of symbols and involve material culture

Collective effervescence

the feeling of spiritual ecstasy that accompanies large, transformative gatherings of people

rites of passage

enable an individual to make a transition from one life stage to another

stages of rites of passage

1) separation from ordinary social roles

2) liminality: an in-between period when normal social rules don’t apply

3) reintegration: return to normal society with a new social role

pilgrimages

a journey undertaken individually or collectively to a sacred site

totem

sacred emblems symbolizing the shared identity of a group

secular rituals

rituals not associated with a. specific religion