Cultural Anthropology Lecture Notes

Flashcards of key vocabulary terms from Cultural Anthropology Lecture Notes

Foraging

A subsistence strategy that relies primarily on "wild" plant and animal food resources already available in the environment rather than on domesticated species that have been altered by human intervention.

• egalitarian social structure.

• these societies tend to move their camps frequently to exploit various resources

Broad Spectrum Diet

A diet based on a wide range of resources, common in foraging societies.

Horticulture

The small-scale cultivation of crops intended primarily for subsistence, where crops are consumed by those who grow them or shared within the community rather than sold for profit.

• move their farm fields periodically to use locations with the best growing conditions.

• use limited mechanical technologies to farm, relying on physical labor from people and animals

• differs from other kinds of farming in its scale and purpose.

Shifting Cultivation

The practice of horticulturalists moving their farm fields periodically to use locations with the best growing conditions.

Pastoralism

A subsistence system in which people raise herds of domesticated livestock and may follow a nomadic lifestyle.

• rely on animal husbandry for food, clothing not slaughter and shelter, and often migrate to find better grazing conditions for their herds.

• communities, measure wealth and social status according to the number of animals a person owns.

Agriculture

A subsistence system involving the cultivation of domesticated plants and animals using technologies that allow for intensive use of the land.

• agricultural communities had an incentive to have larger families so that children could help with farm labor

  the development of a division of labor, a system in which individuals in a society begin to specialize in certain roles or tasks.

• create wealth difference

Staple Crops

Foods that form the backbone of the subsistence system in agricultural societies.

Division of Labor

A system in which individuals in a society begin to specialize in certain roles or tasks, made possible by higher yields from agriculture.

Neolithic

The "new stone age," characterized by technologies geared toward agricultural tasks, leading to dramatically improved yields and larger communities.

Vertical Economy

Several different ecological zones close together.

Natufians

Lived in vertical economy as foragers in the middle east (12,500 – 10,500 bp); broad spectrum foragers & first settled in mid-altitude areas (Hilly Flanks), in centers of areas rich in wild cereals of wheat & barley.

• Within 3-week ripening of wheat a family could harvest over 2000 lbs of grain, enough for whole year

• Developed sedentary village life So, in Middle East, settled life came before farming and herding

Teosinte

Wild ancestor of maize (lowlands of southwest mexico).

Industrialized Agriculture

A farming method focused on producing maximum yields of crops and animals within limited land areas, relying heavily on chemical inputs, mechanization, and large-scale production.

• While it has led to increased food production, it also raises concerns about environmental degradation, health risks, and animal welfareand sustainability issues associated with its practices.

Sedentism

The practice of living in a single place or area for an extended period, typically year-round, rather than migrating or moving seasonally.

Surplus

Any amount of a resource, such as food or money, that goes beyond the basic needs for survival.

Specialization

The division of labor and expertise that arises with surplus.

• small fishing village vs a large agricultural society

Social Stratification

Differential access by social classes or strata.

• Max Weber

• three related dimensions of social stratification

  – Economic status or wealth

  – Political status based upon power

  – Social status based upon prestige

Egalitarianism

The study of social and political organizations that emphasize equality among all individuals, regardless of factors like gender, age, or social status.

• all people are equal and deserve equal rights and opportunities

Band

A small, mobile social group, typically no more than 30-50 individuals, that relies on foraging (hunting and gathering) for subsistence.

Tribe

Usually horticultural or pastoral economy that lack socioeconomic stratification and formal government.

Chiefdoms

Kin-based society with inequality and permanent political structure.

social status in chiefdoms

Based on seniority of descent

All people in chiefdom believed to have descended from group of common ancestors

• Closer the chief is related to founding ancestors, the greater his prestige

• In chiefdoms (ranked societies), “stratification” tied to kinship/descent

States

Autonomous political unit encompassing many communities; centralized government and permanent offices that outlast individuals.

• Only in blank do elites get to keep their differential wealth

Social Cohesion

The degree of unity, solidarity, and connectedness among individuals and groups within a society.

Principles of Exchange

Describe how goods, services, and labor are distributed within a society.

• The three principles of exchange Can co-exist, but govern different kinds of Transactions. And Dominant principle in a society allocates means of production

Marcel Mauss’ theory of gift exchange

Obligation to Give

Obligation to Receive

Obligation to Reciprocate

Reciprocity

Exchange between social equals, normally related by kinship, marriage, or close personal ties.

• Dominant in more egalitarian societies, but present in all societies

Generalized Reciprocity

Giving with no specific expectation of exchange.

• giver and receiver don’t keep close track and assume it will all balance out eventually

Balanced Reciprocity

Exchanges between people who are more distantly related than are members of the same band or household; expectation of timely return of something of equal value.

Negative Reciprocity

Dealing with people outside or on the fringes of their social systems; filled with distrust; trying to "get something for nothing".

Redistribution

Flow of goods into center, then back out; characteristic of chiefdoms (often horticulturalism, pastoralism as subsistence strategies).

Market Principle

Buying, selling and valuation based on supply and demand – this is dominant in industrialized state societies!

Political Economy

Explores the intersection of power, politics, and economic systems, particularly how economic forces shape culture and social structures.

• It examines how material goods, production, and distribution of wealth are intertwined with social, political, and cultural aspects of society

Structural Violence

The harms caused by the social, economic, and political structures of a society, rather than individual actions.

• It's the systematic ways in which structures can perpetuate inequality and suffering, often rooted in historical inequalities and marginalization. This concept helps explain how seemingly impersonal systems can inflict harm on individuals and communities

Social Structure

The patterned and organized way individuals within a society relate to one another, shaping their roles, interactions, and behaviors.

• It encompasses the rules, norms, and social arrangements that govern how people interact, forming a framework for understanding social life and how it influences human behavior

Agency

Capacity of individuals, and sometimes even non-human entities, to act and make choices, influencing their own lives and the social world around them.

Social Justice

A field that uses anthropological principles and methods to understand and address issues of inequality, injustice, and social change.

Social Control

Ways to maintain power (and behavioral norms) and curb resistance (and to regulate conflict) include positive reinforcements and negative reinforcements via: Gossip, laws, and ideologies/ hegemony.

Hegemony

People comply with the interests of the powerful, by internalizing rulers’ values and accepting their own and others’ domination as “natural”.

Colonialism

Practice of political, social, economic, and cultural domination of a territory and its people by a foreign power for an extended period of time.

Imperialism

Policy of extending rule of a nation or empire over other nations.

Intervention Philosophy

Ideological justification for outsiders to “guide” local peoples in specific directions.

World System Theory

The idea that a social system, based on wealth and power differentials, extends beyond individual countries

• the world system and relations among the countries within it are shaped by a capitalist global economy

Core

Dominant position; nations with advanced system of production.

Semi-Periphery

Industrialized but fill intermediate position between core and periphery.

Periphery

World’s least privileged and least powerful nations.

Economic development plans

belief that industrialization, modernization, westernization, and individualism are desirable evolutionary advances that will bring long-term benefits uniformlyto all societies, driving progress and prosperity.

Religion

Belief and ritual practices concerned with supernatural beings, powers, and forces.

• – Is considered a cultural universal

• Wallace

Animism

Souls/doubles or spiritual beings.

Polytheism

Multiple gods.

Monotheism

Single, all-powerful deity.

Communitas

Intense community spirit; bond of solidarity enhanced feelings of social solidarity and minimized distinctions.

Rites of Passage

Rites marking transitions between stages of life including separation, liminality/liminal phase, reintegration/reincorporation.

Separation

• they are removed from their childhood. This often involves a dramatic removal from the mother and is accompanied by symbols of death, representing that the child is “dying,” to be reborn as something new. The initiate is then placed in a secluded place with other initiates

• College in the western world

Liminality/liminal phase

• a stage marked by ambiguity and disorientation. Initiates are meant to feel as if they have lost their place in society and now stand apart, not knowing who they are or how they should act.

• Liminality part of every rite of passage and involves temporary suspension and even reversal of everyday social distinctions

Reintegration/reincorporation

the initiates are revealed to the society and announced as full adults. There are often images of rebirth

Embodiment

The understanding of the human body as the lived experience of being-in-the-world, where our bodies are not just objects but also the source of our perception, thinking, and feelings.

• It explores how culture shapes our bodies, and how our bodies in turn shape our cultural experiences and perceptions

Sex

Biological attributes or “biologically differentiated" but biology is also shaped by culture.

Gender

Qualities that are culturally constructed, defined, elaborated, and performed; many socio-cultural groups

Gender Stratification

Unequal distribution of rewards between different genders, reflecting their different positions in a social hierarchy.

• Less pronounced among foragers

Patriarchy

Political system ruled by men in which women have inferior social and political status.

Feminist Theory

Critique of male- and Euro-centric bias-Critique of inequality, marginalization, subordination by gender, sex, sexuality- Seeks to understand how power works in gender, sex, and sexuality– How differential power is constituted – Gender diversity/difference – Gender practices.

Kinship

The network of social relationships based on blood, marriage, and adoption, which shapes social structures and interactions in all societies.

• Kinship is all about… 1. Ways in which people are related to one another 2. What it means to be related in these ways

Plural Marriage

More than two spouses simultaneously (polygamy).

Polygyny

Man has more than one wife; more common.

Polyandry

Woman has more than one husband; a bit more rare.

Nuclear Family

Consists of a couple and their children, normally living together in same household.

Extended Family

Consists of three or more generations.

Family of Orientation

Family in which one is born and grows up.

Family of Procreation

Is formed when one marries and has children.

Unilineal Descent

Descent rule only uses one line (ascribed status).

Bilateral Descent

Both sides are regarded equally.

Matrilineage Descent

People join mother’s group at birth.

Patrilineage Descent

People automatically have lifetime membership in father’s group.

Matrilocal

Couple lives in wife’s community.

Patrilocal

Couple lives in husband’s community.

Language

Allows humans to conjure up elaborate images, discuss the past and future, share experiences with others, benefit from their experiences, express group identity.

Linguistic Relativity

All dialects are equally effective as systems of communication.

Universal Grammar

Chomsky argues that the human brain contains a limited set of rules for organizing language, so all languages have common structural basis.

Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis

Different languages produce different patterns of thought.

Sociolinguistics

Investigates relationships between social and linguistic variation, or the actual use (“performance”) of language in social context.

– Focus on features that vary systematically with social position and situation

– Captures historical processes in the present

1. the study of language in relation to social factors, including differences of regional, class, and occupational dialect, gender differences, and bilingualism.

Kinesics

Study of communication through body movements, stances, gestures, and facial expressions.

Focal Vocabulary

Specialized sets of terms and distinctions that are particularly important to certain groups.

• (Sapir- Whorf)

Ethnosemantics

Study of how speakers of particular languages use sets of terms to organize, or categorize, their experiences and perceptions.

Ethnosemantic domain

terminology for kinship, colors, ethnomedicine, ethnobotany, etc.

Vocabulary

area of language that changes most rapidly

Linguistic diversity

the variety of languages spoken in a particular area or globally, encompassing differences in language structure, vocabulary, and cultural contexts. It highlights the richness of human expression and the relationship between language, culture, and identity

Extralinguistic factors

• elements outside of language itself that can influence communication and language use

• factors outside the bounds of language that affect our language

social, political, and economic factors that form the context for which we use and evaluate speech

Cultural Transmission

Transmitted through learning as part of enculturation and acculturation (learning new languages)

Attributes of language:

Symbolic: based on [arbitrary] associations of sounds with meanings

Displacement: Describing things and events that are not present; basic to language

Productivity: Creating new expressions that are comprehensible to other speakers (infinite meaningful combinations!)