IB Social Anthropology 9 Key Concepts

Belief and knowledge

A set of convictions, values and viewpoints regarded as "the truth" and shared by members of a social group. These are underpinned and supported by known cultural experience.

Change

The alteration or modification of cultural or social elements in a society. It may be due to internal dynamics within a society, or the result of contact with another culture, or a consequence of globalization.

Culture

Refers to organized systems of symbols, ideas, explanations, beliefs and material production that humans create and manipulate in the course of their daily lives. It includes the customs by which humans organize their physical world and maintain their social structure.

Identity

Can refer either to the individual's private and personal view of the self—this is sometimes referred to as the "moi"—or the view of an individual in the eyes of the social group. It also refers to group identity, which may take the form of religious identity, ethnic identity, or national identity for example.

Materiality

Objects, resources and belongings have cultural meaning, described by Arjun Appadurai as "the social life of things", and are embedded with all kinds of social relations and practices. Some anthropologists think that human experience can be understood through the study of material objects. For example, contemporary approaches focus on the materiality of the body.

Power

An essential part of social relations and can be considered as a person's or group's capacity to influence, manipulate or control others and resources. In its broadest sense, power can be understood as involving distinctions and inequalities between members of a social group. Some approaches to power focus on structural power or the capacity of power to produce subjectivities.

Social relations

Any relationship between two or more individuals in a network of relationships. Social relations involve an element of individual agency as well as group expectations and form the basis of social organization and social structure. They pervade every aspect of human life and are extensive, complex, and diverse.

Society

Refers to the way in which humans organize themselves in groups and networks. Society is created and sustained by social relationships among persons and groups. The term "society" can also be used to refer to a human group that exhibits some internal coherence and distinguishes itself from other such groups.

Symbolism

The study of the significance that people attach to objects, actions, and processes creating networks of symbols through which they construct a culture's web of meaning.