anthropology

5 Cultural anthropology theories

Cultural relativism
Functional theory
Cultural Materialism
Feminist
Postmodernism

Cultural relativism

Franz Boas
cannot compare 2 cultures because each culture has its own internal roles that must be accepted
avoiding judgement in response to cultural evolution
in response to ethnocentric views
cultures evolve from savage → barbarian → civilized

Functional Theory

bronislaw malinowski - pioneered participant observation in 1915 to study trobriand islands
Every belief, action, or relationship in culture functions to meet the needs of individuals
when needs are met, culture is successful

Cultural materialism

marvin harris
materials/conditions within the environment - climate, food supply, geography, influence how a culture develops
trial and error basis
therefore social institutions such as govt and religion must be beneficial to society or it will no longer exist
Influence → structure → super structure

feminist anthropology

ernestine friedl
include female voices - make sure they were heard in research
compare culture to see how many are dominated by men/women
forage societies - womens freedom directly tied to the contribution to the food supply

postmodernism

what we know is constructed by society
questions objectivity because of self reflection
what society believes to be true
we cant be objective

what is anthropology

scientific study of the origin, behavior, and the physical, social, and cultural developments of humans
aka what makes humans humans

Types of anthropology

social and cultural: study of culture and societies
ethnography/ethnology: participant observation
archaeology: human societies through what they left behind as material
physical or biological: human evolution and biology
paleoanthropology: human and primate evolution through fossilized remains
primatology: primates
forensic: human remains by applying anthropological expertise. remains might be of a very old specimen used for legal cases or war crimes, excavation of graves of victims
linguistic: human language specialized methods to read and analyze languages in everyday life

Physical anthropology

evolution and biology
where do humans come from
how the human body changed / evolved over the ages
what makes humans unique

3 major fields in physical anthro

Paleontology: bones and stones of ancient ancestors millions of years ago
primatology: study primates, humans, apes, monkeys, lemurs

human variation: physical differences and similarities of existing human populations

what traits are specific to humans

complex language
larger skull and brain capacity
develop long term partnership
straight, upright posture
technological achievements
long childhood

Pioneers of primatology

Jane goodall - chimps in gombe 1960, assistant at 23 for Louis Leakey, PhD cambridge, chimps eat meat, create and use tools, capable of cooperation and feel emotions, co founded Gombe stream research centre

Dian Fossey, meets louis leakey, mountain gorillas in rwanda, occupation therapy, PhD, imitated gorillas to get close to them, identified gorillas, karisoke research centre, gorilas - dignified, social, strong family bonds.
Birute Goldikes - studied anthro, human evolution and great apes, louis leakey, studied organutans and indonesian borneo

Human variation

refers to the study of physical differences and similarities of existing humans

Natural selection’s 3 principles

Variation: every species has a lot of variation within it
heritability: individuals pass on traits to their offspring
environmental fitness: individuals who are better adapted to their environment will produce more offspring and pass on their traits to the next generation

Hominin

a human or human ancestor

fossil

preserved remains of biological matter

bipedalism

the trait of habitually walking on 2 legs

donald Johnson

Discovered a skeleton in ethiopia that was 40% complete named lucy in 1947
significant because it was part of a species of hominin that walked the earth 3.2 million years ago

Charles Darwin

naturalist, scientist, and author who established the concept of natural selection to explain how animals and plants evolved

Louis and Mary leakey

found proof of african origin in 1959 when they found an well preserved hominin skull that was 1.75million years old

culture

set of meanings, beliefs, values, and rules for living shared by groups and societies as the source of their identity

Ethnology

study of origins, cultures of different races and people, marriage and kinship practicies, political and economic systems, tech, music and ecosystems through participant observation

Linguistic

structural linguists: structure of language
historical linguists: history of language
sociolinguists language interacting with society, how its used

Margaret Mead

study of adolescent girls, examining whether stresses during adolescence were caused by adolescence or society

Ruth benedict

researched japan in ww2 to help america understand japan and defeat them