ANT3212 People of the World Exam 1 Study Guide Anthropology the study of the human species and its immediate ancestors with a special focus on cultural diversity o Uniquely comparative and holistic encompassing past present and future looks at biology society language and culture o Cultures traditions and customs transmitted through learning that form and guide the beliefs and behavior of the people exposed to them o Cultural Anthropology The study of human society and culture describes analyzes interprets and explains the diversity of practices beliefs and logical systems of cultures Adaptation the process by which organisms cope with environmental forces and stresses o Humans adapt using biological and cultural means Rate of change accelerated during past 10 000 years o Foraging was the sole basis of human subsistence for millions of years o It took only a few thousand years to develop food production cultivation of plants and domestication stockbreeding of animals 4 Fields of Anthropology o Archaeology The study of human behavior and cultural patterns and processes through the cultures material remains Often seen as the history of great discoveries The study of language in its social and cultural context across space and time Cultural Anthropology focuses on diverse individual cultures but also on making cross cultural comparisons It seeks to understand both individual groups and humanity as a whole Human Behavior what society s rules tell you to about how to behave actual behavior of the people what they really do This may or may not be the same as Ideal Real ideal behavior Cultural universals a behavior belief that can be found in every culture in the world that is interpreted the same way There are none that exist although symbols of name brands and global organizations are growing in universality Emic the natives point of view why they think they do something the outsider s anthropologist s point of view why s he thinks the native does what s he an insider s perspective o Meaning and World View o Issues for Cultural Anthropologists FRANZ BOAS father of American anthropology Cultural Relativism the concept that Boas created It is the idea that people s behavior can be explained through their own history only and not in terms of other people s ideals Cultural comparisons should not be conducted and one should not judge other cultures based on their own beliefs and expectations Ethnocentrism the belief that one s culture is superior to another s culture that you do things better than others do them and that you can use your own standards to judge others The extremes of cultural relativism and ethnocentrism are both negative one cannot accept all behaviors as much as one cannot avoid judging some behaviors o Biological o Linguistic o Sociocultural o Types Etic does Balance and tolerance is what is desired in anthropology and the realization of when you are being ethnocentric or too relativistic Culture shock the experience of feeling anxiety and panic in a foreign situation and many anthropologists feel this at the beginning of their fieldwork If something is so foreign and different from your own practices you may experience this as well however not everyone does when encountering new situations or peoples o Four Aspects of the cultural system Social organization how people group themselves Ex family and kinship age genders friendships Economic organization how a society meets its basic needs of food and shelter Ex hunting gathering agriculture market exchange tools materials Political organization how people define their leadership and advisor roles defend themselves and settle conflict Ex internal and external conflicts justice system and people that control each of these Ideology the religious beliefs and philosophy of the people and the cultural practices and materials associates with it Ex practitioners rituals folklore history Ethnography Techniques Ethnographic Research o Direct firsthand observation participant observation o Conversation o Detailed work with key consultants o In depth interviewing Long term o Problem oriented o Longitudinal o Holistic quality climate physical geography diet and land use o Increasingly Multi Scalar Most ethnographers enter the field with a specific problem to investigate Researchers also gather information on factors such as population density environmental Culture affected by many factors some outside individual community Setting People o The Apache Mescalero o Location New Mexico Very dry mountainous terrain o The Reservation What does it do Help preserve the culture Mixed feelings All family on reservation Put there by government Identity Among the Mescalero o Bi cultural Identity dual identity nDe the people What they call themselves Indian vs American o The Anthropologist o Def of Identity Identifies as Mescalero bc she s been there so long and knows most of their traditions Sees them as family but also has to be professional The reflective self conception or self image that we each derive from our family gender cultural ethnic and individual socialization process Ting Toomey o 3 levels of identity Hall Personal what makes us unique our relationships with others Relational Cultural communal or social religious or political affiliation large scale communities such as nationality ethnicity gender Selected Social Identities o Racial Identity a socially constructed idea that still persists in the United States Ethnic Identity derived from a sense of shared heritage history traditions values area of origin and sometimes language Gender Identity different than sexual identity how a particular culture differentiates masculine and feminine social roles National Identity the nation country one was born into or a sense of place The dark side of identity o Stereotypes categorization that mentally organizes your experience with and guides your behavior toward a particular group of people Can apply to ANY group Prejudices are deeply held negative feelings associates with a particular group anger fear aversion anxiety Racism an extension of stereotyping and prejudice The belief that one race is inherently superior to another genetic endowment Ethnocentrism one s own culture is superior to any other Every culture is a little bit Time Mescalero o Mythic present The idea that everything is happening right now When I tell you a fable it s happening right now What it does TEACH Those legendary figures are real and happening right now They don t