ANTH211 Midterm 1 Study Guide

Key Figures:

Franz Boas

- Father of Anthro
-created 4-field anthro
-criticizes scientific racism (using science to justify social & racial inequality)
-critiques 1) Evolutionary theory, idea that social theory --> bio theory --> social theory
-critiques 2) Social theorists Spencer & Tylor
-critiques 3) Degenerationism --> belief we are descended from angels
-says evolution is not a hierarchy, it's a tree (branches off many diff. ways)

Bronislaw Malinowski

- critiques "armchair" anthro
-says the "native" was not savage nor noble, but just like "us"
-designed more scientific cultural anthro (part. observation, fieldwork, reflexivity)
-Wrote "Myth is a Lived Reality"
-myth is to savage as the Bible is to Christians
-myth: expresses, enhances, & codifies (arranges, as in rules/laws) belief; safeguards & enforces morality
-b/c myths shape moral/social code, they play an integral part in a society's culture (or primitive culture)

Paul Farmer and Jim Kim

- the two doctors that helped with solving the problem of multi-infection TBA by sneaking medicine into Peru.
-causes: poverty, location, proximity, lack of gov support; Determined causes of MDRTB
-Smuggled medication in
-Directly Observed Treatment Short Term: People would go to clinics to take antibiotics in front of the staff.
-Send people to homes of people with MDRTB to ensure patients take medications
-The people that were sent home weren't wearing masks so that people would not feel isolated
Patent was expired to make medication cheaper
-It was too expensive to treat the people so they just let them die

George Gmelch

 - Author of Baseball Magic:
-Things people did before baseball games like rituals taboo's before the games so that their teams won the game

Juliet McMullin

 - wrote "The Healthy Ancestors"
-did ethnography in Hawaii studying Native Hawaiian culture & specifically health 
-idea of a "healthy Hawaiian"
-diff. b/w on-islander vs. off-islander
-how colonization effected Native Hawaiian lifestyle & health

Laura Bohannon

-went to African bush
-tried to translate Shakespeare's Hamlet to see if Shakespeare is universal 
-proved difficult due to varying languages, cultures, morals, values, acceptable behaviors
-differences in how villagers thought about family, power, chiefdom, etc.

Films:

Darmok

the star trek episode helped with the idea that there is Incommensurability(barrier between two cultures) of Language, the aliens were speaking English but the human crew could not understand them because they spoke purely in metaphor only familiar to their culture, the captain and crew only began to understand the Darmok when they started to comprehend the meaning behind their metaphors.

-Reflexivity
-You can become friend through tragedy
-Common experience helped understand translation

Rx for Survival: Rise of the Superbugs

a documentary account of the social issues that contributed to the rise of a drug-resistant strain of tuberculosis in Peru. It features Drs. Kim and Farmer who implemented new strategies of care to treat patients.

-Some patients don't want to continue to receive treatments because they were in too much pain
-Dangerous side effects of the meds: intense stomachache, depression
-It was impossible to isolate due to work
-Depend on family members for care
-Familiar strains

Then There Were None

-colonization of the mind
-Colonization of the land
-blood quantum: have to have 50% hawaiian blood in order to get enlisted for land--native hawaiians never asked for this
-most of them never received by land, rejected by buyers
-By the time they could receive lands, they wouldn't qualify for the land
-1778: 1,000,000
-1878: 48,000
-1993: 8,773
-2044: estimated none pureblood native Hawaiians

Taboo: Sexuality (Hijras and Albanian Sworn Virgins)

-3rd sex in India (neither male nor female)
-come from Hindu origin stories
-begins w/men who are impotent & therefore are not men
-become emasculated to be full hijra
-renounce sexual desire & family life, though some say they have desires for men
-wear women's clothes, long hair, adopt women behavior, but may engage in male work
-prostitution source of income (for some)

-in Albania (at least in the film)
-basically renounce being a woman-- getting married, having kids
-may dress more like man
-take on responsibilities of a man, b/c they want to or b/c they need to (if there's no other man in the household)

Anthropology

-study of human cultures, past & present
-how people organize their lives & relationships to other groups of people, environment, objects, ideas
-cross-culturally, looks at how people view the world

Four-Field Anthropology

-developed by Franz Boas
-cultural anthropology
-linguistics
-archaeology
-physical anthropology

Culture

-system of meanings embodied in symbols & practices
-complex whole of knowledge, beliefs, morals
-symbols can be explicit and implicit (ex: wedding ring)

Attributes of Culture

-learned
-transmitted
-has history (has developed over time)
-changes
-is shared
-involves debate
-involves power

Culture as “Myths we live by”

-does not imply that myths are not real, rather they are the narratives we tell ourselves to make sense of our world & our experiences

Incommensurability of Language

-incommensurability: impossible to measure/compare
-think Bohannon trying to translate Shakespeare
-think Darmok, Tamerians and crew trying to understand each other
-have to understand each other's culture, have to immerse yourself
-some words, phrases, meanings just can't be translated

Enculturation

-learning a culture by growing up inside it (being born into it)

Acculturation

-how we learn another culture

Cultural Relativism vs. Ethnocentrism

-Looking at the beliefs, values, and practices of a culture from the viewpoint of that culture itself (Boas) vs. looking at other cultures according to preconceptions from within your own culture

Emic

-insider's perspective (ex: a woman's perspective on a woman)

 Etic

-outsider's perspective (ex: a man's perspective on a woman)

Reflexivity

-understanding our own cultural assumptions in order to understand others

Ethnology

-examines/analyzes results of ethnography

Ethnography
-first hand, personal study of local settings
-living in another society w/locals

Armchair Anthropology

-opposite of ethnography, fieldwork
-studying people & other cultures from comfort of university libraries

Methods

-Socio-cultural anthro (British)
-4-Field Anthro (American)
-Participant observation (ethnography)
-Fieldwork

Ethics

-Anthros have to follow set of ethics when out in the field
-can't disrupt a culture
-can't create violence, spread lies, etc.
-have to be transparent about what you are studying in another culture

Epistemology

-theory of knowledge
-investigating what justifies belief from opinion

Holism

-looking at something as a whole, not in parts
-analysis of a society as a whole

Studying Up

-form of ethnography developed by Laura Nader
-doing ethnography of people up the social/corporate ladder
-study cultures of the powerful as well as the powerless
-why? --> few ethnographies of how U.S. looks to rich, few ethnographies about military, capitalist elites, etc.

Polymorphous Engagement

-interacting w/informants across several dispersed sites (as many as possible), not just in local communities

Participant observation

-taking part in the events one is observing, describing & analyzing

Unilinear Evolution & Social Evolution

-Early anthropological view that Western culture is the best/ideal culture that everyone should adapt to
-Anthros Spencer & Tylor held this view
-Boas critiqued this idea

-the misconception that all humans followed one path from savagery toward civilization which created a hierarchy where tribal people were seen as less evolved than people who lived in the Western ideal of "civilizations."

Degenerationism

 -My Notes: Belief that we descended from angels
-Another Quizlet:
-theory to explain human diversity

-the belief that humans are descended from angels. God>angels>Adam and Eve>humans>others

-Biblically-based account of decline after destruction of the tower of Babel

- (vs. theory of progressivism)

Cultural Determinism

belief that our emotional and behavioral reactions are structured by our cultural backgrounds

Biological Determinism

set of beliefs that suggest that biology determines, or ultimately causes our social world

Magic, Religion, and Science

-Malinowski
-Some anthros believe our earliest religion was magic, and over time, we developed into religions we have today, ending ultimately with science:
magic->animism-> polytheism-> monotheism-> science
-anthros today critique these evolutionary ideas of religion

Ritual

prescribed behaviors in which there is no empirical (based on experience/observation connection b/w the means & the desired ends, routine

Fetish

material object believed to have supernatural power that aid/protect the owner, lucky charm

Taboo

-opposite of ritual
-avoiding something for fear of bad luck

Race:

Race as Biological Construct

using biological concepts to explain inequality:
-privilege, ideology, social construction of race??

-there is no biological evidence to support there being a fundamental difference in people thus making race an entirely social construct, racial markers are instead external features and cultural practices

Race as Social Reality

shaping those experiences, shaping institutions through education, healthcare, science, race matters because racism is real, race shapes your experiences and how others view you

Race as Lived Experience

Racism and racialization are real. They are social and institution phenomenon that shape the possibility of your life.

Color Blind Policies

-these policies ignore differential access of resources that students have & the ways race & racism operate on an everyday basis
-reflects an ideal society where skin color is insignificant
-idea is to stop discriminating on the basis of race, which is what affirm. action does
-opponents say white privilege is still present in society, so there should be a way to balance it out

Affirmative Action

policy favoring those who tend to suffer from discrimination, especially in relation to employment & education

Racism and Racialization

social and institutional phenomena that shape the possibilities of your life

Scientific Racism

use of science and scientific evidence to justify social and racial inequality

Race as a “contingent fact of history”

ex) Mexican racial system--> depended on your possible percentage: European vs. Indigenous vs. Mixed

Race as Folk Heredity

Race is inherited, but in a different fashion from biological heredity. Race is inherited according to no scientific laws, but rather by a commonsense or folk cultural system.??

Race Norming

the practice of adjusting test scores to account for the race or ethnicity of the test-taker.

BiDil

drug specifically for heart disease for African Americans (even though no tests actually proved this b/c they used only African Americans in their trials!!)

Causation

-the social arrangements that actually cause the disease to spread (prisons, poverty, uncleanliness)
-of tuberculosis, cause is social arrangement: poverty, drug wars, lack of funding for research??

Co-production: "World in the lab, lab in the world"

-scientists are participants in their culture--> knowledge they create impacts society (ex: BiDil, training doctors)
-the idea that scientists are just as much a part of society as everyone else, and therefore have their own set of biases that they project onto their should-be-objective data

Agent

-the entity that causes the disease itself (bacterium, viruses)
-ex) tubercule bacterium

Sociobiology

-study of biological determinants of social behavior
-saying that social behavior is passed through genetics
-foundation is evolution by natural selection
-attempt to define humanity through genetics

Anthropological veto

the idea that if you do enough anthropological research, you can always find somebody or some culture that doesn't fit your description of "human nature"; what's normal in one culture, is alien in another

Social effects of science

-Think BiDil, training doctors ??
-issue of empiricism - who gets to decide what counts as "universal" or "fact"; it all depends on the culture that the judge is from

Critical Medical Anthropology

-examines ways historical inequalities effect production of health
-the analysis of how economic and political structures shape people's health status (ex: their access to health care, their health insurance, hospital availability)

Experiential Health

-feeling of having all facets of our lives in harmony--> one responsibility does not outweigh another
-social/spiritual health
-Native Hawaiians: healthy is being connected to the food, the land, in a very spiritual way

Functional Health

-reflects an emphasis on moderation, not working too much or playing too much (would lead to poor productivity
-physical health-->eating healthy foods, exercising

Genetic Determinism

allows some to ignore social/economic realities of health disparities and instead focus on the molecules, which both pushes them to naturalize health as an inherent quality of the group

Immodest claims of causality

-confounding inequality & culture:
-making claims about ppl that are wrong/misleading
-naturalizing illness & disease
-distract attention from preventable social disorders
-place the blame of HIV infection (or other hardship) onto individuals, their risky behaviors and cultural differences while ignoring political, economic and historical structures which create concentrations HIV in resource-poor areas.

Structural Violence

-the ways in which structural forces - race, class, gender, pol. violence & grinding poverty - operate together to constrain agency & limit health
-used to describe the historical & economic policies, structures & forces that limit the agency of the poor

Social Suffering

-the way suffering is experienced as a social phenomenon
-(suffering--> the culturally and personally distinctive form of affliction of the human spirit)

Stigma

a label used to devalue members of certain social groups
-"a mark of disgrace" - a negative representation of the ill

Identity:

Essentialist vs. Constructivist

viewing differences (race, gender, class, etc.) from an objective POV vs. viewing differences based on how the society labels them (how the society defines/views 'gay')

Relational Links to Identity

-social responsibility to your family--> fishing, taro gardening
-Ancestors--> honoring their knowledge, language
-Land--> Malama'aina, ocean, issues of development

Identified With vs. Identified As

-You may identify as something but other people in institutions identify you with something else.
ex: You can identify as native Hawaiian but people in institutions identify them as different things.
-ex. dead names (when a trans person doesn't wish to be called by their old name)

Identity Formation (being and becoming)

-Being born something isn't always enough. 
-Ex: Hawaiians on the mainland vs Hawaiian's off island were completely different.

Identity, Health, and Colonialism

Colonialism has led to loss of health, and in turn loss of identity; there is push-back to get back identity and health--> most healthy when following traditional diet, when connected with land & food, when speaking native language, etc.

Alienation

-In Hawaii: alienation of the land--> colonization divided land up, meant land became restricted, unavailable; Haws. value sharing in their culture & this division (mahele) was the opposite of sharing; led to loss of land & loss of pono (loss of spirit & health)

-a process by which a people are removed from their land. (ex: open field village vs. enclosed model)
-Colonization and if effects on the people on the land
- Wealthy getting wealthier and the poor getting poorer
causing a massive societal shift.
-People moved from country to city to allow industrial revolutions to happen.
-Hawaiians went from being self-efficient to being forced to work for other people.

Colonization of the Mind

-when actual colonization starts to influence your mind, thoughts, how you live your life: off-islanders see no difference b/w healthy & healthy Hawaiian
-decolonization of the mind is integral to restoration of health

Resistance

-push to protect island kahu'olawe & to gain right to malama'aina (care for land)
-young Haws. contesting textbook history & instead listening to parents/grandparents stories
-push to be healthy again
-push to resolve dramatic health & social problems (ex: no access to land/nutritious food, intro of high-fat Western food (canned food, fast food), Native American Act 1974)

The Three Bodies

-individual
-representational
-political

Mindful Body

having strong relationship b/w mind, body & social & natural environment meant that medical kahuna treated spiritual & physical aspects of illness

Land Based Health

-take care of land b/c land takes care of you (feeds you)
-access to land (deforestation happening)
-access to food--> kalo (food from land of ancestors); difficult to find now
-land--> spiritual & physical health
-transnat'l experience

Native Hawaiian Views on Health, Land, Social Relations, Ancestors, Food

-Land: need land to grow food of ancestors & for ancestral medicines
-Social Relations: sharing, being large means ppl care for you b/c ppl are sharing food w/you
-Ancestors: eat food of ancestors, practice dance (hula) of ancestors, etc.
-Food: kalo, food from land of ancestors; due to colonization, lack of fresh natural foods, only fast food available (also b/c they don't have land to grow food themselves)

Blood Quantum

if you are 53% Native Hawaiian, you get put on a list to get land in Hawaii--> super long list, lots wait their whole lives; also, by 2044 scientists say there will be no more pure Native Hawaiians

Social Organization

the way a society structures relationships between its members

Anthropology of Religion: Historical

-ANTHRO CRITIQUES THIS
-following religious text as historical fact
-critique: used as an argument against other religions--> creation stories, Genesis (creating world, ppl, Adam & Eve)

Anthropology of Religion: Evolutionary

-ANTHRO CRITIQUES THIS
-magic-animism-polytheism-monotheism-science
-critiques: problem of time, ethnocentrism, mistook magic for religion

Anthropology of Religion: Symbolic

-Mary Douglas - "Purity & Danger"
-What are the symbolic meanings behind our rites of passage & rituals?
-Are our ideas hygiene while theirs are symbolic?
-Notions of hygiene are also systems of categories (give order to the world)

Anthropology of Religion: Structural Functionalist

-myth provides a "charter for society"
-origins: gender & sex, languages, gender hierarchy, origins of diff. ppl
-charter for society: God gives the world to Adam & his heirs- basis for monarchies; model of faith-hospitality, sacrifice
-societies keep order through functional classifications, like religion (??)

Matter Out of Place

-when we make categories there are always things that are left out or don't fit
-outliers
-ambiguous things can become dangerous, can erode order, are powerful
-our system emphasizes wholeness of the body, and once wholeness is gone, it's matter out of place

Origin Stories

-Christian creation story
-evolution
-native origin stories

Syncretism

-the amalgamation (act of combining/uniting) or attempted amalgamation of different religions, cultures, or schools of thought
-when distinct aspects of different cultures blend together to make something new and unique.
-symbolic elements: new religious system incorporating catholic & indigenous beliefs

-ex. The Virgin/Lady of Guadalupe is a distinctly Indigenous-Mexican variant of the Virgin Mary that ties her to traditional fetish, her shrine originally belonged to a different goddess altogether

Kinship

-describes culturally recognized ties b/w members of a family
-includes terms. social statuses & the roles/expected behaviors of these statuses
-kinship groups can control econ. resources, who you can marry, where you live, what happens to your property after death

Kin Types:

Consanguineal relative

-blood relative

Affinal relative

-related through marriage

Fictive Kin

-has a family-like relationship to you but not really a blood relative

Descent Systems

-unilineal: one line of descent, could be matrilineal (descent followed through maternal line) or patrilineal (descent through paternal line)
-bilateral: descent through both sides