Anthro 205 1st Edition Exam 1 Study Guide Lectures 1 11 Key Terms Anthropology and Inequality 1 Anthropology Anthropology is the study of human beings in the past present and future It is a very holistic subject It leads to very broad approaches Holistic There are many components to the whole which might seem distant but the components cannot exist or be understood without the idea of the whole It has an integrated approach to human beings because it is holistic Cultural Material archeology Language 2 4 Subfields of Anthropology Biological Primatology Paleo Anthropology Biological Human Diversity In the past this subfield worked to organize humans into categories races Today anthropologists of this subfield tend to do exactly the opposite of what they did in the past They seek to uncategorized humans Archeological Anthropology Human behavior through the excavation and analysis of material remains Garbology Linguistic Language in its social and cultural context Studies the idea we have about language Language in its everyday use Cultural Diversity of Human social life Culture A learned shared and negotiated system of meaning Note Anthropologists consider that the requirements for culture language use tool making and conscious regulation of sex are essential features that distinguish humans from other animals 3 Ethnography A systematic research process based on first hand long term participatory field work It also refers to the end result of this research a written description of the people or topic studied Descriptive study of a particular human society or the process of making such a study Contemporary ethnography is based almost entirely on fieldwork and requires the complete immersion of the anthropologist in the culture and everyday life of the people who are the subject of his study The Editors 4 Participant Observation A type of research method most commonly used in cultural anthropology Researchers using this method try to establish intimate familiarity with the group being analyzed and participate in the activities done by the group in their cultural environment This research method is usually performed through an extended period of time 5 Interviews Research method used in many areas Researcher asks very specific questions to particular people in the group being analyzed with the purpose of understanding specific aspects of behaviors of the group 6 Social Cultural Relations 7 Ethnocentrism Relies on the individual s culture as the norm when analyzing other cultures Ethnos Culture Centrism The Center 8 Culture The sum of attitudes customs and beliefs that distinguishes one group of people from another Culture is transmitted through language material objects ritual institutions and art from one generation to the next Definition used by the teacher A learned shared and negotiated system of meaning Note Anthropologists consider that the requirements for culture language use tool making and conscious regulation of sex are essential features that distinguish humans from other animals Note Culture also refers to refined music art and literature one who is well versed in these subjects is considered cultured Culture Controversial subject It is always changing and doesn t have clear boundaries We all wear cultural lenses through which we see the world 9 Cultural Relativism The opposite of Ethnocentrism There is no center Culture is relative and subjective 10 Jamal s World In No Shame in My Game a study of Harlem fast food workers Newman champions poor workers and seeks to reorient the poverty debate She wants to de emphasize self defeating behaviors like teen age pregnancy and to stress what she sees as the larger issues the injustice of low wages and the apathy of more prosperous citizens These low income workers are not people whose values need re engineering she writes They work hard at jobs the rest of us would not want because they believe in the dignity of work Deparle Of all the workers she meets Jamal steals her heart She is impressed by the doting love he has for his young wife Kathy and finds him something of a hero for boarding a bus to a minimum wage job each morning at 5 But as Newman goes on to explain Kathy is not his young wife she is his girlfriend She ran away from home to join him at 16 and soon they had a child The infant was put in foster care after Jamal apparently struck her His temper has its explosive side and he has had problems with cocaine Newman sees Jamal as a striving worker blocked at every turn He has a less romantic view describing himself as going from here to here to here and doing this and that It is little wonder that he is adrift and depressed his mother is a longtime crack addict and he has never known his father Deparle 11 Poverty 12 Inequality A condition that is very closely related to power social status and the capitalist economic system 13 Studying Up A concept introduced by readings Laura Nader author Usually anthropologists analyze people and groups that are considered minorities When studying up we analyze those who are in power instead of those who are powerless Power 14 Idea Ideology An ideology is made by a group of ideas that leads to an individual s action 15 Symbolic Power Something that exists alongside economic power Just as important and as powerful as economic power How they investment bankers in this case justify social order Makes it more difficult to understand morality Justifies inequality Symbolic power vs economic power 16 Wolf s 4 Modalities of Power What is power Always part of human behavior not something outside of us What causes inequality Relational Cannot be abstracted from human behavior 1 Individual Power Ambition Achievement Most we are familiar and comfortable with As teachers said Pulling ourselves by the bootstraps 2 Interpersonal The use of power between individuals Between 2 people Usually don t pay attention to the context We are also very familiar and comfortable with but it is a familiarity limited to the relationship 3 Tactical and Organizational Show potentiality Far reaching power Controls limits or broadens contexts of people s lives 4 Structural Defines and organizes Power to control labor Affects people s material power The Economy of Inequality 17 Foraging and Gathering and Hunting Foraging are small groups hunter gatherer Is the closest thing to human nature the most common social model in history of humans Even though throughout time people thought foragers had very difficult live studies