FINAL EXAM REVIEW GUIDE ANT3212 PEOPLES OF THE WORLD DR AMY C KOWAL THE DISCIPLINE OF ANTHROPOLOGY Anthropology the study of human kind culture behavior evolution societies over time and across cultures Four subfields o Physical Biological evolutionary time scale OLDER Millions of years ago skeletal systems o Cultural contemporary peoples Go to people live with them and take notes o Archaeology people s material remains OLD Past present Since modern human o Linguistics study of languages Evolutionary development origins Speech apparatus Reconstruct pre historic languages Modern language socio linguistics socially Ethnography a qualitative research design aimed at exploring cultural phenomena The resulting field study or a case report reflects the knowledge and the system of meanings in the lives of a cultural group An ethnography is a means to represent graphically and in writing the culture of a people Essentials of fieldwork Objectives Study how people live on a daily basis what do they use to accomplish tasks Ultimate question What is the meaning of their lives actions Meaning behind people s behavior 3 things anthropologists study Values things you abide by Rules customs what s important Conveyance behavior actions body language expression dress Symbols something that represents something else language etc Research design o Formulation hypothesis background research permissions money grant proposal o Data Collection field work observing and participation pictures notes and recordings o Analysis and interpretation comparative method to other societies o Conclusions and reformation why the people behaved as they did new questions o Presentation to colleagues grant writers the public and the people written about Publish book journal article academic conferences instant feedback Culture shared and learned understandings of a group of people and their behavior Taught learned not acquired genetically Behavior language morals ideals etc There are no cultural universals Culture shared and learned understandings of a group of people and their behavior Taught learned not acquired genetically Behavior language morals ideals etc Cultural relativism you cannot judge another culture based on your own cultural standings No one is superior or inferior to another You should evaluate and describe a culture s behavior according to its own history Extreme idea that cultures should not be compared to each other Not now believed We now compare cultures but recognize when over stepping bounds We want to know largely about human kind in general Evolution Societies don t have to evolve through all four levels There is no need to change or adapt when existing bands tribes and chiefdoms are currently surviving as they are However they can change if they choose the luxuries of state societies Societies at lower levels aren t inferior or more primitive than those at upper levels Not all societies fit into this classification scheme these are generalizations Not all members adhere to the definitions There is no primitive or inferior in anthropology Hadza hunter gatherers are the best adapted for what they do We could not survive or thrive in their environment They don t have complex systems like us but they are not lesser than us Participant observation a research strategy in which the researcher goes to the field lives with the people for some time and participates in their activities in order to know and feel their culture Informants a person who supplies information a consultant a witness Adaptation the social technical and ideological means by which people adjust to the world that impinges on them both seen and unseen 1 Institution a structure and mechanism of social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a set of individuals within a given human collectivity Assimilation when one ethnic group absorbs another so that the cultural traits of the assimilated group become indistinguishable Real behavior what is really going on Anthropologists are interested in this and ideal behavior Ideal behavior what we think we should be doing and what we want others to believe we are doing Emic Relating to or denoting an approach to the study or description of a particular language or culture in terms of its internal elements and their functioning rather than in terms of any existing external scheme Of or pertaining to the analysis of a cultural system or its features from the perspective of a participant in that culture Etic Relating to or denoting an approach to the study or description of a particular language or culture that is general nonstructural and objective in its perspective Of or pertaining to analysis of a culture from the perspective on one who is not a participant in that culture Culture shock negative reaction when someone experiences introduction into a culture vastly different from their own Could cause mental breakdown severe case Ethnocentrism belief in the superiority of one s own ethnic group Harming others genocide etc Not accepting of other cultures Cultural system the interaction of different elements of culture Anthropologists classify cultures in 4 parts Social political economic ideology Subsistence the action and means of maintaining or supporting oneself Denoting or relating to production at a level sufficient only for one s own use or consumption without any surplus for trade World view the framework of ideas and beliefs through which an individual group or culture interprets the world and interacts with it Social organization the people in a society considered as a system organized by a characteristic pattern of relationships Family kinship group age gender job specialization etc How do people group themselves Economic organization Basic needs food shelter and clothing Yanomamo hunt horticulture gathering How does one meet their subsistence Ideology The ideas and manner of thinking characteristic of a group social class or individual A set of ideas that constitutes one s goals expectations and actions An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision as a way of looking at things compare worldview Religious behaviors beliefs laws customs etc What as their religious organization like Political organization means of organizing the interactions within a society and between one society and others Civil laws justice system defense system laws etc Who are their leaders Kinship Basis of society s social organization Method of organizing people Defining who can marry cannot