Chapter 7 Flashcards
Biogenetic law – ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny:
The individual prior to birth and during growth and maturation resembles the development of the species.
Historical particularism:
Closely associated with Franz Boas and the Boasian approach to anthropology, historical particularism rejected the cultural evolutionary model that had dominated anthropology until Boas. It argued that each society is a collective representation of its unique historical past (context)
FROM SLIDES
-Boas insisted that anthropology must rely on ethnographic evidencegathered by trained observers in the field.
Diffusion(ism):
the notion that cultural similarities result form a borrowing of traits by one group from another.
Cultural relativism (as devised by Boas):
is the idea that a person’s beliefs and activities should be understood based on that person’s own culture, rather than judged against the criteria of another
Culture as sui generis:
“A thing in itself” that cannot be “reduced to” (explained in terms of) other factors of life, be they economics or the physical environment.
Salvage anthropology:
-is related to salvage ethnography, but often refers specifically to the collection of cultural artifacts and human remains, rather than the general collection of data and images.
Franz Boas:
(1858-1942) addressed what he saw as the logical and empirical shortcomings of the unilinear evolution. He argued that unilinear evolutionary ranking was arbitrary. He stated that is was impossible to abstract single traits from contemporary cultures and order them in a verifiable sequence. He noted that entirely different ranking would be achieved if different traits were selected as criteria for ranking. Furthermore, he stated that similar practices in different places do not demonstrate the principle of psychic unity. Finally he argued that if the same trait exists in different cultures and fulfills the same function, that does not prove independent invention as the evolutionists argue.
FROM SLIDES
-Anti-evolutionist
-Unilineal Evolution–savagery to barbarism to civilization
-Methodology—FieldworkFound accounts of missionaries, traders, and travelers unsystematicand unreliable
-Championed for women in academics
Alfred Kroeber:
The first of Boas’ students to receive a doctorate in anthropology. He argued that individuals were entirely subordinate to their culture, which he contended had a “superorganic” existence. That is, culture essentially existed apart from the people who participated in it.
Why was racism so prevalent in the late 1800s?
The use of imperialism as a force to “help” native people politically and socially mature so that, at some indefinite point in the future they might be able to govern themselves. The ultimate concern was less with the welfare of the colonized that the constitutional health of the United States. Also, parliament abolished slavery throughout the British Empire in 1834. However, former slaves had to continue to work for free for their masters for another 4 years as a period of adjustment to freed come, termed Apprenticeship.
Describe Relatvisim
By insisting that cultures could only be understood in terms of their own particular historical development, he stepped outside of taxonomies that “ranked” societies by their relative distance from the “civilized” ideal. In other words, he thought that the ethnocentric assumptions of earlier theorists distorted the study of culture.
-Boas
Describe Radical Equality
Boas and his students argued against innate moral or developmental differences among “the races.” In fact, they argued that “race” as a category was meaningless even as a biological category. Human variation does not break down into discrete “races” and there is much variation within perceived “races.” In today’s terms, he argues that physical phenotypes are not correlated to moral, social, cognitive, or psychological features.
- Eugenics was still in fashion supported white as the superior race
- Fittest family contests
Describe Participant observation
Is the most common data gathering methodology in cultural anthropology. (The other fields have their own methodological issues which we will not explore in this course.)
-Participant observation means “moving in” with the population under study and living as they live. It means being a “newborn” in their society and letting them teach you how to be culturally competent in that society. It means being confused often, making mistakes, learning the ropes through observation and participation.
How did four field anthropology develop?
The prevailing wisdom during the early part of the 20th century was that the remaining Native Americans would soon be assimilated into mainstream American culture. Academics thought they were in a race against time to record vanishing cultures and languages. Their holistic interest in the present, past, language, and physiology lead to the development of four field anthropology.
What did the 13th amendment do?
Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
What are the four fields of anthropology?
- Linguistics
- Cultural
- Archaeology
- Physcial (biological)
