Ch 1 Anthropology in a Global Age Holistic perspective Holism anthropological commitment to look at the whole picture of human life across time and space o Culture o Biology o History o Language Anthropology the study of the full scope of human diversity past and present and the application of that knowledge to help people of different backgrounds better understand one another Ethnocentrism the belief that one s own culture or way of life is normal and natural Four field approach use of 4 interrelated disciplines to study humanity o Biological Anthropology study of humans from a biological perspective Entails evolution and adaptation to environment Primatology study of living nonhuman primates as well as primate fossils to better understand evolution and human behavior o Archaeology investigation of the human past by means of excavating and analyzing artifacts Prehistoric reconstruction of human behavior in the distant past before written records through the examination of artifacts Historic archaeology exploration of the more recent past through an examination of physical remains and artifacts as well as written or oral records o Linguistic Anthropology study of human language in the past and present o Cultural Anthropology study of people s communities behaviors beliefs and institutions including how people make meaning as they live work and play together 1 Globalization worldwide intensification of interactions and increased movement of money people goods and ideas within and across national borders o Time space compression rapid innovation of communication and transportation technologies associated with globalization that transforms the way people think about space distances and time o Flexible accumulation the flexible strategies that corporations use to accumulate profits in an era of globalization enabled by innovative communication and transportation technologies o Uneven development the unequal distribution of the benefits of globalization o Anthropocene the current historical era in which human activity is reshaping the planet in permanent ways o Climate change changes to Earth s climate including global warming produced primarily by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases created by the burning of fossil fuels Ch 1 Readings N A Chapter 2 Culture Culture a system of knowledge beliefs patterns of behavior artifacts and institutions that are created learned shared and contested by a group of people Enculturation the process of learning culture Acculturation assimilation of a different culture adapting to a new culture when exposed Culture as dynamic symbolic and material o Cultures aren t static they change over time because people can and do contest culture certain other people Norms ideas or rules about how people should behave in particular situations or toward o Collective challenging of norms can lead to cultural change 2 o Often unwritten assumptions enforced by society about what is considered normal and appropriate behavior Values fundamental beliefs about what is important what makes a good life what is true right and beautiful o Can be debated and contested o Can motivate people to take extreme actions Symbols anything that represents something else o Multivocal having multiple meanings or interpretations o Language are ideas conveyed by symbols written spoken and signed words Mental maps of reality cultural classifications o What kinds of people and things exist o The assignment of meaning to those classifications Cultural relativism understanding a group s beliefs and practices with their own cultural context without making judgements Unilineal cultural evolution theory proposed in 19th century stating that all cultures naturally evolve through the same sequence of stages from simple to complex Historical particularism the idea that cultures develop in specific ways because of their unique histories o Franz Boas attributed the idea of historical particularism Interpretivist approach conceptual framework that sees culture primarily as a symbolic system of deep meaning o Clifford Geertz defined culture as the system of inherited conceptions expressed in symbolic forms by means of which men communicate perpetuate and develop their knowledge about and attitudes toward life o Thick description research strategy that combines detailed description of cultural activity with an analysis of the layers of deep cultural meaning in which those activities are embedded Ex the Balinese Cockfight Power the ability or potential to bring about change through action or influence 3 Stratification the uneven distribution of resources and privileges among members of a group or culture Hegemony the ability of a dominant group to create consent and agreement within a population without the use or threat of force Agency the potential power of individuals and groups to contest cultural norms values mental maps of reality symbols institutions and structures of power o Every system of power has room for resistance Ch 2 Readings o Abu Lughod Lila 2002 Do Muslim Women Really Need Saving American Anthropologist 104 3 783 90 o Shift of historical colonialism into ethnocentrism o Cultural relativism o The need to accept differences o Its important to consider history and politics of a region not just its culture Chapter 3 Ethnographic Fieldwork Nancy Scheper Hughes and Death Without Weeping o Nancy researched survival strategies of mothers and children in a Brazilian shantytown northeaster Brazil o Death Without Weeping center on the women who live in a specific region of Region is extremely poor and women are forced to take works as modern day servants for the wealthy Some children are sacrificed due to the poverty Culture shock 4 Themes mortality violence poverty and overpopulations Ethnographic fieldwork research strategy that typically involves living and interacting with a community of people over an extended period to better understand their lives o Live with those they study o Participate in their activities o Observe daily lives etc Culture shock sense of disorientation caused by the overwhelmingly new and unfamiliar people and experience encountered every day Armchair anthropology research conducted by sitting at home their library and reading reports about other cultures written by travelers missionaries and explorers Franz Boas fieldwork in the Pacific Northwest o salvage ethnography fieldwork strategy developed by Franz Boas to collect cultural material linguistic and