Anthropology
Class Outlines
(in chronological order)
Introduction to Anthropology
Liberal Arts>
Social Science>
Anthropology-Sociology-Psychology-Political Science-Economics-History
Anthropology
(and its Subfields)
Archeology
Prehistoric &
Historical
Physical
Anatomy & Physiology, Genetics, and Primates
Linguistics
Diffusion & Geography, Culture & Language
Cultural
Politics, Religion, Economics, Kinship, Family, Arts, Group Dynamics &
Organization, Inequality, and Socialization
- it's all about SOCIAL structure; Interaction; Patterns; Change (adapt)
Foundation Terms for Cultural Anthropology
· Holism
· Cultural Evolution
· Comparative Perspectives
· Ethnocentrism
o Xenophobia
· Cultural Relativism
It’s all about “CULTURE”
v Defining “culture” through social science
v Culture organizes – gives us purpose –
productivity –consistency/continuity
v Culture is functional & integrated
v World View
(superstructure)
o The symbolism of culture
v Cultural Diversity & Pluralism
o The staying “power” of Culture
v Culture Universals
v Culture Shock!
v Core Values
v Norms & Mores (social structure)
v Cultural Humor!
v Durkheim’s Solidarities (basis for a sense
of unity and identity)
o Mechanical & Organic Solidarity
o Durkheim & Weber’s Warning about
Organic societies “Anomie” and “Disenchantment”
v Society
v Ethnic Group
v Subculture
Terms relating to Culture/Culture Groups
Mechanical Solidarity – social order and cohesion based on common agreement and uniform thinking and behavior.
Organic Solidarity – social order and cohesion based on interdependence and cooperation among members performing a wide range of specialized tasks.
Anomie – less social structure and strict guidelines in societies can lead to a breakdown in morality and increase lawlessness. More individualism = less community solidarity = anonymity (anonymous)
Disenchantment – a crisis of meaning in society; a spiritual void; lacking a deeper feeling of commitment; apathy.
Society – a group of people who have come together under a set of common interests and values working within interdependent structures and relationships.
Ethnic Group – a group sharing a common cultural heritage and homeland, hanging on to important cultural identifiers like Language, Religion, History-Ancestry-Homeland, and some remaining Customs and Traditions.
Subculture – groups with cultural variations on the dominant theme of societies, regarding some behavior, customs, language
and outward symbols/appearance.
Methods of
Investigation for Cultural Anthropology
Ethnology & Ethnography
What is Ethnology? (field work; case study; participant observation)
Defining Ethnography and its value
Causation & Correlation
Ethnology: broad sweeping theories & more focused studies
Ethnography: Contemporary or Historical (ethnohistorical)
>
Diachronic &
Synchronic studies
Tools and Methods of Ethnohistorical
analysis
Ethnology/Ethnography struggles with objectivity, bias, and ethics
-- Are we Culture Bound?; Problems with informants (ideal vs. real
culture); Participant observation?; Pre-investigation?; Too
much focus?; Loss in the translation?; how should we use the information?
Language & Culture
– Value of Language for Humans
– Identity - Enculturation - Mental Development - Displacement
– Productivity (expansion) of Language
– Phonemes (they combine to make lots of Morphemes [words])
– Syntax
– General Creativity and consistent Rules (English: -ing; -ly; -ed)
– Connotations (as opposed to denotations)
– Paralanguage (including Voice Qualities)
– Nonverbal Communication
– Languages do change and develop with culture *
– Dialect
– Pidgin
– High & Low Context Communication
– Sapir / Whorf Hypothesis - each language uniquely shapes perception, and to some extent reality, for its speakers. (each language provides a unique vocabulary with unique definitions along with a unique grammar structure)
– Ethnolinguistics – is what we can learn about a culture from their language alone.
* How does a language
change? Languages will evolve over
time within linguistic groups by changing sounds (phonemes), or groupings of
sounds, within the group’s list of possible sounds, usually to find shortcuts
to speech or communication. Totally new
words can be invented as well as those borrowed from other linguistic
groups. Only rarely might a linguistic
group accept changes in syntax (grammatical structure).
Aspects of Enculturation
· Enculturation = process of learning & teaching culture;
passing on culture from one generation to the next (life-long process
punctuated by initiation, ritual and ceremony)
- Who’s enculturating who?
- Nature and Nurture in all its aspects
- Can Nurture affect Nature?
- Rites of Passage
- Naming &Titles
-all giving reminders, respect and meaning to the structure
and organization of culture
Cross-Cultural variations on enculturation
· Modal Personality
· Core Values
· Collective Memory
· Ethnic Psychoses
· Dependence & Independence Training
Terms related to Enculturation
Modal Personality - frequently found personality traits within a culture
Core Values - values,
ideals or goals especially promoted with the culture at large
Collective Memory - part of the solidarity of a culture/society is simply
sharing the same memories of a common history or experiences
Ethnic Psychosis - mental disorders specific to particular ethnic groups
Physical Adaptation, Race and Prejudice
(Physical
Anthropology)
– Human Evolution is all about adaptation to local environments
(Convergence & Divergence)
– Regional Physical Variations - noses; eye color; body shape & size; and
Skin Color = regulating quantities of
sunlight (ultraviolet light) and Vitamin D
– just how different are we? Old Science & new Genetics
– the stereotypes, stigmas, and scapegoats of Racism
– Reality check on Genetics and Group Behavior
– significant human differences are explained through __ __ __ __ __ __ __!
Family, Marriage and Kinship
. . . an old fundamental organizing institution for cultures
· Functions of Formal Family and Kinship (5)
· value of Marriage (a formal contract/ceremony)
· value and definition of “Family” on a global scale
· Nuclear & Extended families &
Extended Households
o Consanguine (blood kin); Affinal (by marriage)
· Residence Patterns (matri- ; patri- ; neo- ; ambi- local)
· Romantic Love vs.
Arranged Marriage
o Exogamy & Endogamy
o other reasons for arranged marriages
· Monogamy; Polygamy; Polygyny
o Bride Price/Wealth/Service & Dowry
o Polyandry
o Divorce
o Serial Monogamy
Descent Systems
o Unilineal Descent (Patrilineal, Matrilineal)
o Double Descent
o Ambilineal Descent
· Bilateral Descent
· Kindred
Functions of Family & formal
Kinship
1. Keeping
relations and biology in order (includes marriage & sex taboos)
2. Enculturation
> survival & emotional security
3. Providing
material security by way of networking money, labor and passing down wealth and
assets
4. Delegation
of rights, responsibilities and obligations
5. For
the benefits of Exogamy
Earliest Human History & Evolution
-- It’s all about Physical & Cultural Adaptations
Australopithecines (beginning of the Homonines) (4.4 ? mya – 1 mya)
-- Pressures toward Bipedalism (Ardipithecus Ramidus)
-- Anamensis / Africanus / Afarensis (“Lucy”- her physical characteristics)
-- A changing environment; arm length; skull size (500 c.c.s); teeth;
pelvis – advantages of bipedalism
-- Scavengers
-- Other australopithecines
Homo Hablis (beginning of Homo species) (lower Paleolithic) (2.5-1.6 mya)
-- Working/Manufacturing Tools (chipping and flaking stones)
-- More protein (meat) – still scavenging
-- Shifts in teeth (smaller); skull shape/size (700 c.c.s)
-- Division of labor? Still apparent sexual dimorphism.
Food sharing between males & females? Closing of the birth canal (pelvic region).
-- Spreading into southern Eurasia
-- Overlapping evolution (Robustus, Boisei, H. Erectus)
Homo Erectus (1.8 mya – 250,000 ya)
· Big leaps toward modern anatomy, specialized technology, formal hunting
& gathering, less sexual dimorphism, sophisticated language, and culture?
· Body & Skull size (1,000 c.c.s); Teeth (smaller back, larger front teeth)
· Diversified tool kit; out compete H. hablis/ergaster & Australopithecines in savannas
· Expansion into much of southern/central Eurasia
· Later (700,000 ya-250,000 ya) – Fire & Cooking (its advantages); clothing;
complex language & cooperative hunting; formal campsites (includes
caves)
Archaic Homo Sapiens (300,000 ya – 30,000 ya)
· Fluctuating glaciation/interglaciation
cycles (cooling/warming periods)
· Anatomy (little taller/leaner, more chin/less brow-ridge [except Neandertal],
avg. brain size 1,250 c.c.s)
· Tools – longer blades/points; more core flaking, now with bone & antler
· Neandertal (Homo Sapien Neandertalis?) (90,000-30,000 ya)
– different anatomy (avg. 1,500 c.c.s); stocky
(conserve heat), muscular, big boned, hairier,
longer bigger nose; big game hunters; sexual dimorphism;
human or beast?
Modern Homo Sapien (Homo Sapien Sapien) (30,000 ya – 10,000 ya)
· End of the Paleolithic (old rock/stone age); last bastion of total hunting
and gathering; population of the Americas
· warming period (Holocene) > glacial retreat > new lakes and rivers form
in mid-latitudes + a continental shelf (fish & birds)
· less of the specialized big game hunting, more smaller diversified game >
smaller/finer stone points + nets, hooks, traps, snares, bone & antler
tools, bow & arrow, atlatl, boomerang
· Religion & Art (cave painting/petroglyphs,
bone carvings, figurines)
History - “a funny thing happened on the way
to Becoming a State”
(a logical series of events leading us out of simple horticulture; pastoralism or hunting/gathering to our current state-level
situation today) --Early States (developing agricultural/ranching based
societies with some cultural diversity; large population; organized labor;
formal leadership to organize engineering projects & markets >
eventually leads to bureaucracy; a warrior class; specialization;
defining territories)
Economics & Culture
-- A Powerful cultural institution
-- Traditional & Tribal Economics in general
-- Integration of economics with other cultural institutions (social,
family, politics, religion, etc); social ties & religious
connections; not necessarily on a ridged schedule/clock; save and then
big giveaways; bride wealth & dowry; passing down wealth-kinship;
well defined economic roles & division of labor; culture group
specialization
-- Generalized Reciprocity
-- Balanced Reciprocity
-- Redistribution
-- Leveling Mechanisms
-- Negative Reciprocity (buyers beware, or, sellers be conscious?)
-- Market Exchange (practiced
by most of the world, though it varies greatly)
o Industrialization & Alienation
Terms:
Reciprocity – a sharing or exchange of goods
& services
Generalized Reciprocity – reciprocity whereby return of goods & services are
not expected, at least in specific form, value or timeframe.
Balanced Reciprocity – expectations of the return of goods & services of
roughly equal value, often within a specified time period.
Redistribution – redistribution of goods/services resulting from
accumulated surplus. Can be in the more
“generalized” form, or accumulated through expected or forced tribute.
Leveling Mechanisms – cultural mechanisms or values that attempt to strike
balances in economic & social equality.
Negative Reciprocity – Trying to get the most in the exchange while giving the
least.
Market Exchange – buying and selling of goods and services with prices set
by the dynamics of supply and demand.
Alienation (Marx) – alienated from control over the “means of production”
(controlling assets); pay, quality of work; product knowledge (just do your
specialization and collect your paycheck);
2) alienated from home, family & neighborhood; 3) alienated from nature (origin of
resources)
Culture Groups by Economic Types
Subsistence
Economies
Hunter / Gatherers (Foragers) - hunting (including fishing) and
gathering of wild
foods; long human history; different strategies for different environments
(whole variety of adaptations); low-tech and low impact on environment; almost
all egalitarian; little to no collection of wealth; mobile small groups
(bands) (20-50); traditionally animistic/shamanistic religions;
sharing-cooperation ethics; sexual division of labor; they try not to
exceed the carrying capacity of the
land; also concerned with the density of
social relations .
-- They have a whole variety of hunting/gathering tools & techniques
depending on the different Eco-Systems.
-- Still representing the foundations to basic human cultural strategies (90%
of human history is in H & G)
-- "Carry Capacity" - number of people supported by a certain
amount of available resources (don't contaminate or overexploit)
-- "Density of Social Relations" - right number of people in a
group that maximizes social support while minimizing social stress/strain. They generally have to maintain a low impact
on the environment for their own survival.
Other typical Hunter/Gatherer cultural traits:
-- Flexibility in social and kinship relationships compared to other tribal
groups
-- Kindred; Bi-Lateral Kinship; Average group size 20-50
-- Egalitarian - social/political equality within the group
-- Religion: Animism; Ancestor spirits; Shamanism
Horticulturalists (tribal) - low-tech gardeners with a some
hunting/gathering on the side; shifting cultivation (land rotation) and
slash & burn cultivation; low-tech agriculture (machete,digging
stick,fire); getting fertility out of the Tropics
(not easy); Arborculture; pigs & chickens;
some collection of wealth; sedentary (non-mobile); traditionally animatism beliefs; Big Men,chiefs,kinship
elders are political leaders; ceremonies centered around planting, harvest,
rains, tribal war, big givaways; they are found in
the tropical forest regions of the world.
Pastoralists - animal herders (cows,camels,goats,horses,etc)
- making use of low productive areas; mobile or semi-mobile (nomadic or
semi-nomadic-transhumant); goods consumed/sold are meats, animal fibers (ex.wools), dairy products, animal skins, utility crafts and
maybe some gardening on the side; low-tech; some collection of wealth;
rigid sexual divisions in culture as a whole > patriarchal; rugged,
proud, adaptive, sometimes warlike; stories of war and heros;
religion was traditionally animatistic, but now
mostly Muslim. Not equivalent in culture with Ranchers.
-- Not much in common with "Ranchers" other than a focus on, and
understanding of, domesticated animal breeding; ranchers tend to blend in more
with neighboring or dominant groups around them losing much of their
independence and core to their unique culture.
-- typically found in savannahs, grasslands, semi-arid
to arid landscapes; their animals eat the wild grasses/bushes and they eat the
animals and their dairy products.
-- Nomadic Pastoralists (roaming more mobile herders, usually in leaner
environs and smaller populations)
-- Semi-Nomadic Pastoralists (seasonal and/or regional herders; usually
larger groups in more fertile areas doing some agriculture on the side)
-- Other Typical Cultural Characteristics: (fiercely independent as a culture
group; pride in bravery and warfare; strongly male dominant, women with low
status; strict patrilineal kinship; Chiefly rule via
kinship; religion – originally animatistic, but more
commonly today Muslim.
Surplus
Economies
The rest of the world’s cultures are labeled as :
Intensive/Commercial Agriculture (large scale, technology based, surplus
oriented) = rural village based cultures in a state-level setting.
Industrial (primarily involved in manufacturing (mass production) of products
often with a smaller service sector; includes industrial based
agricultural/ranching (more machinery & technology employed); Post-Industrial (high-tech, modern, primarily
service/information based jobs)
These surplus groups are practically worldwide, representing the vast majority
of economies around the world.
State-Level Societies &
radical changes for Tribal cultures
– introduction of intensive Agriculture & Ranching; circumscription of
territory = sense of ownership of land
– development & expansion of the State; population starts to grow rapidly
– new layers of Political hierarchy emerge (formal leadership; later impersonal
and dictatorial/autocratic kings who keep the military
and religious leadership on a tight leash – in
close control);
increased reliance on Externalized
Sanctions (formal laws/punishment/judges) and state
coercion (vs. Internalized Sanctions =
deviance is deterred via beliefs, religion, taboo, cultural understanding of
norms/mores)
– smaller culture groups or nations losing political control over their cultural
ways of life
--formal kinship descent systems develop to include control of land &
assets
– many social, work and family activities make their adjustments: work for
strangers, not family; specialization
becomes diversified; state supported
jobs or requirements come into play; distant and impersonal economic/social
relationships take root
– much generalized & balanced reciprocity replaced by negative reciprocity
– women, the environment, and personalized religion are negatively impacted
– settling disputes is formalized = less social healing & judicial
flexibility (more bureaucracy)
– Anomie, Disenchantment & Alienation are introduced in early states (especially
fall under industrial/post-industrial economies)
Political Systems
& Culture
n Traditional-Affectional & Instrumental forms of Rationalization
n General categories of Political Organization
o Band – Tribe – Chiefdom – State
n States – both necessary and socially dysfunctional (see “before & after states” at bottom of p. 11 in Anthropak)
Systems of
Stratification / Inequality
– Is Stratification a method of “organizing” people into useful subgroups,
or,
a system of perpetuating “inequality” ?
– Categories, or types, of stratification: Inequality based in : . . . . . .
-- Kudznet's Curve
– Caste
&
Class Systems
(ascribed) vs. (achieved) status
(systematic) vs. (meritocracy)
-- Or, a blending of the two!
– Supporting Ideologies of Inequality, and the ruling elite’s “Facades of
Legitimacy” (Marx)
– Minority Groups
-- reflecting back on the origins of inequality & tribal groups attempts
at
equality (egalitarianism)
– Absolute & Relative poverty
Gender Inequality
-- Patriarchy and Women as a Minority
-- Prehistoric Gender Roles (just before city/states - egalitarian)
-- Long and subtle enculturation (socialization) process
-- Evidence contrary to
Nature’s gender prescription
-- cross-cultural comparisons
-- evidence of patriarchy – blatant subjugation; sexual/physical harassment;
as
men’s beautiful possessions; “we want a boy”;
education; women’s health;
education; pay; enfranchisement (vote)
-- Sexism
-- Where are you more likely to find equality between the sexes?
-- the changing role/status of women
Where are you more likely to find more equality for women?
1. Some industrial, but mostly Post-Industrial economies
2. Higher Education is offered/encouraged to all
3. economies where Children become an economic burden,
not an asset
4. Planned parenthood is offered
5. Fundamentalist religions are weaker or non-existent
6. Human Rights are taken seriously in general
A Brief on Colonialism & Neocolonialism
-- Summation of the History of Colonialism
-- Who’s the major players?
-- A quest for new lands, luxury items, agricultural
products, and Cheeeeap Labor
-- Set up Colonial or Puppet Governments and build the infrastructure
-- (economic structure) for an export cash cropping/cash mineral economy
-- moving from local supply/demand/price & products to
one set by foreign colonialist > beginnings of economic dependency
-- Resulting transitions in culture for many tribal & traditional people
(new languages; new politics; formal borders
dividing cultures or throwing them together;
cultural loss and cultural lag)
-- Neocolonialism – political
continued economic dependency
-- Global Inequality today
Religion & Culture
· Answering the Unknown (Organizing us;
giving us social control; giving us purpose & meaning)
-- Rites of Passage – accentuating
the transitions of life
-- The Sacred and the Ritual
-- Visionaries, Myths and Interpreters (priests vs. shamans)
-- What are we after in studying Religion in Anthropology?
-- Religion as an Integral and Powerful institution
-- East vs. West religions/spiritual philosophies
-- Functions & possible Dysfunctions
of Religion for humans / human groups
-- Powerful force in culture change
– or – conservativism
-- Revitalization Movements
-- Secularism
-- Polytheism
-- Balancing of Forces (often in Dualities)
-- Animism (spirits, souls, animal allies)
-- Ancestor spirits
-- Animatism (magic,
sorcery, witchcraft, divination, prayermakers)
-- Shamanism (multifaceted practice) (healing;
trance)
Population, Environment & Poverty
– 6.5 Billion Folks - Is that sustainable? exceeding the Carrying Capacity?
– Factors of side-effects associated with overpopulation
– plus, rapid Urbanization (infrastructure; social issues)
– Where is population a more
serious problem?
– Demographic Transition Theory (explains pop. explosion in recent centuries)
– Age/Sex population graphs (what do they reveal?)
– Why do traditional cultures keep having so many babies?
-- Serious Environmental Issues
-- Developing & Developed
countries different by connected problems
-- Who’s consuming
all the resources?
--
Tribal folks caught in the middle
--
Our ability to handle long-term problems
--
Solutions
Human Cultures and the Future
– Culture Change in General
– Diffusion & Syncretism
& Acculturation
– Globalization (beginning with Colonialism)
– from Culture Groups to
Societies & Ethnicity
– Ethnic resurgence &
revitalization
– Accommodation or
Assimilation
– Pros & Cons of modern Globalization
– Cultural Loss & Cultural Lag
– small Voices or the Tribal Groups and the value of their diversity
– New Balancing Act: Modern societies and Traditional ways
Terms relating to Culture Change:
Diffusion – the sharing of material and nonmaterial culture from one
group to another. (ideas; religion; new
technologies; popular materials)
Syncretism – the blending of native and foreign traits as a result of
diffusion
forming a new cultural trait or institution (altering, or making their own
version of, foreign introduced material things, ideas, religion, sports, etc.).
Acculturation – widespread diffusion between two or more cultures that
have intense frequent contact between each other, influencing each other’s
culture.
Assimilation – process of bringing minority culture groups into a common
cultural fold, or alikeness.
Accommodation – accommodating the widest possible diversity in society
through political policies and societal ethics of tolerance.
Cultural Lag – the struggle and frustration of adapting to the changes
happening around a person or group. (individuals/groups adapting to
modern technology; science; new religious ideas) (typically
traditional cultures and older generations)
Cultural Loss - As new activities, strategies, or institutions come into
a society passively or forcibly, then some other activity, strategy, or
institutions has to be discarded, and over time possibly lost. (There’s
only so much time and energy in a day/week/year)
Cultural Revitalization - when culture
groups attempt to revitalize or reinvigorate old or dying cultural traditions
or institutions (ex. religion, language, ceremonies).
Aspects of Modernity:
Pros: more information-education and all its positive affects;
improved technology & health care; more choices and freedoms in general;
possible lowering inequality
Challenges: still big problems persist: poverty, inequality &
environment; too many choices?; too much
individualism? frequent cultural lag & increasing cultural
loss; more personal stress; less common threads/connections between
people/families; moral uncertainty; more impersonal
relations; competition over cooperation