Comprehensive Exam Notes

  • Language and Communication

  • Definition of language:

    • An open-ended system.
    • Set of rules allowing infinite meanings.

  • Linguistic Relativity:

    • Important to anthropologists.
    • Examines language variation across cultures.

  • Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis:

    • Language influences thought and reality perception.

  • Vernacular Language:

    • Associated with specific social groups based on ethnicity, age, or gender.

  • Language Endangerment:

    • Approximately 40% of global languages at risk of extinction in the next century.

  • Economic Processes and Subsistence

  • Universalist Economic Approach:

    • Assumes economic processes are consistent worldwide.

  • Modes of Subsistence:

    • Describes interactions with environments for sustenance.

  • Hunter-Gatherer Mode:

    • Predominantly practiced through human evolution.

  • Bands:

    • Small seminomadic collectives of gatherer-hunters.

  • Animal Domestication:

    • Raising animals for labor, companionship, or by-products.

  • Pastoralism:

    • Use and care of domesticated herd animals.

  • Development of Agriculture:

    • Initial step: Hunter-gatherers cultivating plants nearby.
    • Intensive agriculture characterized by
    • Irrigation systems.
    • Use of plough.
    • Continuous cultivation of same plots.

  • Generalized Reciprocity:

    • Sharing without consideration of value or compensation.

  • Globalization:

    • Industrial Age and local factories NOT associated with it.

  • Modernity:

    • Complex of characteristics related to industrialization.

  • Political Anthropology

  • Political Anthropology Focus:

    • History and dynamic cultural relationships examination.

  • Persuasive Power:

    • Ability to convince others and build group consensus.

  • Political Economy:

    • Study of interaction between political and economic systems over time.

  • Fragile State:

    • One that fails to perform state functions adequately.

  • Social Movements:

    • Organized group actions outside government for social change.

  • Foucault's Parrhesia:

    • Risky public speech to reveal truths about power.

  • Government Policy Bias:

    • Findings by Martin Gilens: policies favor wealthy.

  • Social Hierarchy:

    • Organization where some hold more power than others.

  • Power and Agency:

    • Control and influence combined with action capability.

  • Meritocracy:

    • Concept of success based solely on effort and ability.

  • Neoliberalism:

    • Economic model prioritizing the privatization of public services.

  • Misogyny:

    • Socialized prejudice against women and feminism.

  • Neocolonialism:

    • Modern capitalist pressure on poor nations through multiple means.

  • Caste System:

    • System of inequality based on birth; no social mobility.

  • Immigration:

    • Defined as permanent movement from one country to another.

  • Pre-Clovis Culture Evidence:

    • Archaeological findings suggest first American settlers arrived 20,000-15,000 years ago.

  • Cultural Hybridity:

    • Exchange of ideas and artifacts due to migration/globalization.

  • Diaspora:

    • Mass movement caused by war or search for better opportunities.

  • Employment Areas of Immigrants:

    • Agriculture and meatpacking are the major sectors in the U.S.

  • Essay Questions (points for reference)

  • Transhumance Benefits:

    • Allows pastoralists to balance aspects of farming and herding; benefits for children/elders.

  • Challenges in Early Human Arrival in Americas:

    • Coastlines changed; artifacts difficult to date due to seasonal submergence.

  • Unilineal Cultural Evolution and Colonialism:

    • Theories justified colonialism by asserting cultural superiority.

  • Characteristics of Increasing Social Stratification:

    • Defined by population growth, specialized labor, and formal leadership roles.

  • Elman Service's Social Organizations:

    • Identified four types: band, tribe, chiefdom, and state, each with specific political patterns.

  • Natufian Culture Innovations:

    • Notable for early agriculture response to environmental changes; adaptation details to be noted.