Chapter 2 Flashcards
What is culture?
elemnts of culture defining culture in this book
if culture is emergent an dynamic why does it feel so stable?
~symbols ~values ~norms ~traditions
how is culture expressed through social institutions?
~culture and social institutions ~American culture expressed through breakfast cereals and sexuality
enculturation
the process of learning the social rules and cultural logic of a society.
symbol
something-an object, idea, image, figure, or character-that represents something else
interpretive theory of culture
a theory that culture is embodied and transmitted through symbols
cross-cultural perspective
analyzing human social phenomenon by comparing that phenomenon in different cultures
cultural construction
the meanings, concepts, and practices that people build out of their shared and collective experiences
cultural determinism
the idea that all human actions are the product of culture, which denies the influence of other factors like physical environment and human biology on human behavior
culture consists of the collective processes that make the ____________
artificial seem natural
how can an understanding of the complexities of culture help us make sense of the day-to-day world in which we live? give an example from your life to illustrate your answer
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values
symbolic expressions of intrinsically desirable principles or qualities
norms
typical patterns of actual behavior as well as the rules about how things should be done
social sanction
a reaction or measure intended to enforce norms and punish their violation
customs
long-established norms that have a codified and law-like aspect
tradition
practices and customs that have become most ritualized and enduring
most students think it is easy to identify the symbols, values, norms, and traditions that support other people’s practices. But they find it more difficult to thing ab out their own daily practices in the same terms. use any of you won daily practices to illustrate how these four features of culture reinforce your own behavior
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social institutions
organized sets of social relationships that link individuals to each other in a structured way in a particular society.
functionalism
period: 1920’s-1960’s
major figures: bronislaw malinsowski
definition: cultural practices, beliefs, and institurions fulfill psychological and social needs
holistic perspective
a perspective that aims to identify and understand the whole-that is, the systematic connections between individual cultural beliefs and practices-rather that the individual parts.
anthropologists feel that holism is one of the key aspects of culture because it links together lots of things that people in other disciplines do not routinely think about. use an example of an object in daily life to show how ample, an item you use in your classes-such as a book, a pencil and paper, or a iPad to show how this object is liked to or breaks from our past but is connected to many other things in our lives.
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cultural appreciation
the unilateral decision of one social group to take control over the symbols, practices, or objects of another
discuss whether people from one culture could “own” a dance-like the samba from Brazil-that originated with people from another ethnic group. Could anyone own a style of pop music?
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what is culture?
culture is a central component of what it means to be human. Culture involves the processes through which people comprehend, shape, and act in the world around them although most definitions of culture emphasize common themes, anthropologists have never agreed one a single definition of culture
if culture is emergent and dynamic, why does it feel so stable?
cultural processes are emergent, fluid, and marked by creativity, uncertainty, differing individual meaning, and social conflict. Yet culture is also remarkably stable anthropologists continue to debate which is more important-dynamism or stability-in explaining how culture works in people’s lives
how is culture expressed through social institutions?
a holistic perspective enables anthropologists to understand how different social institutions and domains of a society are interrelated anthropologists continue to debate how and why social institutions in any society change
can anybody own culture?
the phenomenon of cultural appropriation illustrates the tensions between cultural change and stability, and raises important ethical and political questions abut anthropological knowledge itself anthropologists continue to debate over which research and collaborative strategies are most effective to respond to the ethical and political issues raised by the creation of anthropological knowledge about culture
social evolutionism
period: 1870’s-1910’s
major figures: E.B Tylor, Herbert Spencer, L.H Morgan
definition: all societies pass through stages, from primitive state to complex civilization. Cultural differences are the result of different evolutionary stages.
historical particularism
period: 1910’s-1930’s
major figures: Franz Boas, Alfred Kroeber, Edward Sapir
definition: individual societies develop particular cultural traits and undergo unique processes of change. culture traits diffuse from one culture to another
structural-functionalism
period: 1920’s-1960’s
major figures: A.R. Radcliffe-Brown
definition: culture is systematic, its pieces working together in a balanced fashion to keep the whole society functioning smoothly
neo-evolutionism
period: 1940’s-1970’s
major figures: Leslie White, Julian Steward
definition: cultures evolve from simple to complex by harnessing nature’s evergy through technology and the influence of particular culture-specific processes.
cultural materialism
period: 1960’s-1970’s
major figures: Marvin Harris
definition: the material world, especially economic and ecological conditions, shape people’s customs and beliefs
cognitive anthropology
period: 1950’s-1970’s
major figures: Ward Goodenough, Roy D’Andrade
definition: culture operates through mental models and logical systems
structuralism
period: 1960’s-1970’s
major figures: Claude Levi-Strauss
definition: people make sense of their worlds through binary oppositions like hot-cold, culture-nature, male-female, and raw-cooked. Thesse binaries are expressed in social institutions and cultural practies like kinship, myth, and language
interpretive anthropology
period: 1970’s-present
major figures:Clifford Geertz, Victor Turner, Mary Douglas
definition: culture is a shared system of meaning. People make sense of their worlds through the use of symbols and sybolic activities like myth and ritual.
post-struturalism
period: 1980’s-present
major figures: Renato Rosaldo, George Marcus
definition: not a single school of thought, but a set of theoretical positions that rejects the idea that there are underlying structures that explain culture, Embraces the idea that cultural processes are dynamic, and that the observerof cultural processes can never see culture completely objectively.
cultural appropriation
the uilateral decision of one social group to take control over the symbols, practices, or objects of another
