Anthropology Lecture 1 Flashcards
society
large system of social interaction
culture
language, symbols, and collective knowledge of a society
technology
tools, techniques, and associated social organizations and group processes
Raymond Williams’ three uses of culture
noun describing intellectual, spiritual, and aesthetic development since 1800s; noun indicating a particular way of life (favored by anthropologists); noun describing works and practices of intellectual and artistic creativity
Raymond Williams’ definition of culture
shared code of meaning acted out publicly in daily life, combining the material and the symbolic
Sir Edward B. Tylor and 18th century views of culture
as synonym for civilization, distinguishing between Europeans and colonies
father of anthropology
Sir Edward B. Tylor
believed culture was a body of information which different human groups had more or less of
Sir Edward B. Tylor
introduced the concept of culture as an explanation for the differences among societies
Sir Edward B. Tylor
18th and 19th century notions of culture reflected
inequality in Europe and between Europe and colonies
in the 18th and 19th century, culture was ____ contrasted with ____.
civilization/nature
18th and 19th century indigenous peoples were first portrayed as ____ and later as ____.
primitive/noble savages
saw shared meaning through symbols and practices in societies as evidence of culture (and in this century)
Emile Durkheim (20th century)
20th century sociologists saw culture as
symbols and practices tying societies together
influential contributors to 20th century view of culture as being influenced by people rather than environments
Julian Steward and Leslie White
coined “cultural ecology”
Julian Steward
Franz Boas’ view of cultures
historical particularism, cultures result from specific histories
19th and early 20th century view of dominant force in shaping cultures
environmental determinism
view held by social scientists by 1920s
people, not environments, create culture, and culture is how people adapt to environments
study of relationship between a society and its environment
cultural ecology
when other disciplines began using culture
1970s
cultural system, a part of functionalism
societies have four elements: biology and behavior which ADAPTS to the environment, personalities of GOAL-SEEKING people, groups’ varying INTEGRATION, and LATENT PATTERNS
wrote about cultural system (and when)
Talcott Parsons (1970s)
what current sociologists dislike about some old theories
leave out role of culture and human agency
