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Culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society."
-E.B. Tylor |
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| Culture is learned ________. |
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Definition
socially.
-We learn while we're living in the particular human society that we live in.
-We are born with the capacity to acquire this culture |
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-inherited as are physical traits
-learned individually. (individuals learn by trial and error) |
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-both adaptive and mutable
-allows for knowledge to accumulate/be passed on
-allows for rapid change |
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-objects and behaviors with meanings
-words
-something that stands for something else without necessarily having obvious reason
-what means peace to us, could mean something entirely different in another culture |
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widely share culture:
-in order for it to function and be passed on
-in order to share knowledge about how to behave |
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| Without culture an individual... |
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| -will have impaired psychological and social development |
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| socialization/enculturation |
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| acquirement of culture during infancy and childhood |
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| -the cultural tradition a group of people recognizes as their own |
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| -a system of values, beliefs and customs that are significantly different from those of the larger dominant culture within a single society. |
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| -a subculture with values, norms, behaviors, beliefs that run counter to prevailing cultural norms (example: Speakeasies) |
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| What accounts for differences WITHIN a culture? |
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Definition
1. Social Identity: Who am I?
group you affiliate yourself with: (artists, republicans, democrats, soccer moms...)
2. Context/Situation: What am I doing?
your beliefs may differ in different contexts (public vs. private) with different people (friends vs. family)
3. Cultural Standards may be Ambiguous: How am I supposed to act right now?--we interpret that. |
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Definition
-standardized patterns of behavior in a given functional relationship
-rights and duties assumed by an individual in a social group
-rights/duties based on personal identity and group membership-we adhere to a group and know our place in it. |
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| -taken on by choice, based on skill or attribute, or individual effort to achieve this role (isn't forced upon you) |
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| -assigned without regard for merit, beyond personal or individual control (being the oldest sibling) |
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| -each role comes with expectations (reciprocal rights and duties): "I play my role properly, you, in return, play your role properly." |
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| Role Development: Societal Influence |
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| -structure of society forms what roles individuals are expected to play (Indian Caste System) |
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| Role Development: Genetic Predisposition |
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| -some of us are more inclined to be musicians or football players |
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| Role Development: Cultural Influence |
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| -different cultures place different values on different roles |
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| Role Development: Assume Multiple Roles |
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| -given the context, we play different roles: sometimes a teacher, other times a mother. |
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| -Mental components of culture constituted by attitudes, beliefs, ideas, rules, standards, values and perceptions. |
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| Culture does NOT function unless it's ____________. |
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-standards of appropriateness
-shared rules about how people ought to act in a given situation and or toward other people (situation-specific). |
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-beliefs about standards
-culturally defined beliefs about what is true, right and beautiful
-the way of life that is desirable for a person and their society
-sometimes our values conflict with each other and we have to choose one over the other |
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| Classifications of Reality |
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| -divisions of reality into categories (example: Chinese food, hot or cold) |
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-interpretations of events and experiences
(are we part of the world, or masters of the world?) |
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-examining society using concepts, categories and distinctions that are meaningful to members of that culture
-an insider's perspective, looks at meanings from the inside |
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-an outsider's perspective which produces analyses that members of the society being studied may not find meaningful
-examining society using concepts, categories and rules derived from science |
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| -Perceptions and understandings of time, space, matter are conditioned by the structure of language. |
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| Three reasons culture is necessary for human existence: |
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1. Culture provides the skills to adapt to surroundings
2. Culture is the basis for human social life
3. Culture affects our view of reality |
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-belief that culture dictates or determines our behavior (but if it did, then people would not, say, break the speed limit)
-not a static concept |
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| -Notion that cultural differences have a biological basis; that culture is inherited in the same way as genetic traits |
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-is found on all continents and regions of the world
-is independent of biological type
-among diverse biological populations within a society |
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| -cultural elements that exist in all known human groups (myths, legends, task assignments, incest rules, etc.) |
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| Anthropology according to Herbert Applebaum |
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| "Anthropology can be said to have been born with the first human search into the meanings of human life and the search for knowledge about the human and natural world." |
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| Emergence of Anthropology |
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Definition
-1200's Marco Polo to China (Silk Road)
-1500's large numbers of other Euros took suit
-Next 400 years many Euro countries established colonies in Africa, Asia, Americas. |
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| -The Great Chain of Being-rank order of life forms on the planet (God, angel, Heaven, Human, Beast, Plant, Flame, Stone, etc.) |
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| Copernicus suggested that the sun was actually the center of the universe |
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| Suggested we were made up of atoms |
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-Lyell
-earth is old (4.5 by), changing and there are extinct fossil forms |
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-Darwin-trained theologian
-On The Origin of Species-1859-talked about natural selection, survival of the fittest |
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Concept of cultural evolution that claims all societies pass through the same series of stages (so now some cultures are more evolved and some are less)
-outdated |
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Mechanism for change
-one or more members of society diffuse their major cultural advances to other members of society and so on to other societies. |
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3 Unilineal Stages of Culture
(Know the 3 main categories) |
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1. Savagery-foraging people dependent upon bows and arrows and fire.
2. Barbarism (domestication of plants, animals, some type of pottery, vessel industry and beginnings of metallurgy.
3. Civilization-writing, invention of phonetic alphabet
-Morgan |
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| Tylor's Stages of Religion |
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1. Animism
2. polytheism
3. monotheism |
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| American Historical Particularism (Historicism) |
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1900 to 1940
-each culture is the distinct product of it's own unique set of influences, really difficult to generate general principles that affect all cultures |
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| should not judge the behavior of other peoples using your own cultural standards |
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| Papa Franz and his 4 Contributions to History |
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Franz Boas-said to be the Father of American Anthropology
1. Discredited stages of cultural evolution
2. Advocated movement from armchair ANT to ethnographic fieldwork
3. Advocated that cultural relativism is best way to understand cultural variation
4. Cultural and biological differences are largely independent of one another |
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| From a vast array of possibilities each particular culture develops a limited number of patterns and those come to dominate the thinking of people in that culture (Ruth Benedict) |
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1920-1950
-Analysis of cultural elements in terms of their usefulness to individuals (their function), benefit to individuals or the group |
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| What functions to cultural elements serve? |
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1. biological needs-nutrition, shelter, health
2. Physiological needs-security, love
3. Social needs-government, family members |
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| individuals (british functionalism and cultural element functions) |
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| groups (british functionalism and cultural element functions) |
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| British Functionalism Emphasized...* |
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-the importance of social relationships between individuals living in groups
-the importance of fieldwork |
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| Problem with Functionalism* |
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| Doesn't account for all the variations |
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1940s-1960s
Established an objective measure of cultural evolution: Cultural evolution occurs as the amount of energy harnessed from the environment increases.
-a bit different from unilineal
-Problem: energy is limited--this can't be true. |
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| Technological Change: harness more energy, social system changes as direct result of tech improvements. |
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| Interaction with local environment cultures the way we are |
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| Scientific approach that applies evolutionary thinking to behavior: Humans are evolved animals with adapted psychological traits which suggest that behavior patterns that enhance fitness were selected (example: natural aversion to incest and fear of snakes and spiders) |
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| Human Behavioral Ecology* |
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Definition
"The aim of modern human behavioral ecology is to determine how ecological and social factors affect behavioral variability within and between population"
-Monique Borgerhoff-Mulder
-assesses how ecological and social factors influence and shape behavior and flexibility
-attempts to explain behavioral variation |
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| Theoretical perspective emphasizing the relativity/subjectivity of all knowledge |
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| Two purposes of research in cultural ant* |
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1. to collect and record new data about specific people
2. to expand our theoretical understanding of human cultural systems through comparative analysis |
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| Intensive study of a specific human group--gain a role and an intensive understanding through participant observations |
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| Written description of the way of life of a specific human group |
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| Written description of a specific past culture using written accounts and other documents to piece together what we think happened. |
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| Systematic comparison of elements from many cultures; less deep understanding of just one. (kinship issues across al cultures rather than just one) |
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| Comparative account of how and why cultures vary worldwide. |
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| Collection of cultural data from living individuals |
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| *An Anthropologist doing Ethnographic Fieldwork... |
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-lives with the people
-interacts with the people
-speaks their language, usually
-spends at least a year there |
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| *Unstructured Interviewing |
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Fieldwork technique for gathering cultural data by:
-observing people's behavior
-participating in their lives
-seeing firsthand how behavior varies |
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| *Getting Set Up for Fieldwork |
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Definition
1. Stereotypes:have an open mind, shelve preconceptions
2. Develop a role and a rapport
3. Identify key consultants: individuals who are particularly knowledgeable |
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| economic asset: comic, expert, friend, who are you? |
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| must gain rapport when doing fieldwork; the community's acceptance of you and your project |
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| Cross-Cultural Comparisons* |
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Test Hypotheses:
-with synchronic data (apples and apples not apples and oranges)
-from a number of societies
-examine statistical correlations between variables |
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1. Construct a testable hypothesis that can be proven wrong
2. determine relative degree of importance
3. determine presence/absence of formal legal system |
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| Four basic forms of political systems* |
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Definition
1. Bands
2. Tribes
3. Chiefdoms
4. States |
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| Egalitarian Social Stratification* |
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Definition
-No individual or group has more privileged access to resources, power or prestige than any other
-Achieved differences rather than ascribed differences
-as in bands and tribes, there is no fixed number of positions a member can achieve |
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| Rank in Social Stratification* |
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Definition
-Characterized by institutionalized differences in prestige
-No important restrictions of access to basic resources
-Institutionalized sharing (just because the chief owns 50% of the land, doesn't mean others can farm on it)
-Some rule of who gets to be in higher ranks
-Chiefdoms |
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| Stratified Social Structure* |
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Definition
-Characterized by formal, permanent social and economic inequalities
-Some people are denied access to basic resources
-roles can be achieved or ascribed
-usually are agricultural or industrial, the most socially complex systems
-States (like our own) |
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-all have about the same opportunity to exercise power
-social mobility is possible through achieved status
-social class as subculture--shared cultural patterns, behaviors, lifestyle, values
-example: US |
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-caste is hereditary--you're born into the strata that you'll stay in
-caste is ascribed-based on circumstances of your birth
-social mobility is not possible except through hypergyny
-ranked, culturally distinct, interdependent, endogamous groups
-Example: India |
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Four Varna--Sanskrit for "enclose"
-Brahmin
-Kshatriyas
-Vaisyas
-Shudras
-Dalits |
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-Least complex form of political organization
-hunter/gatherers
-Egalitarian, informal
-Leadership based on influence, not authority
-Earliest form of human political structure
-Size is determined by ecology |
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-Small family group (extended family groups)
-Family head as leader-exerts his influence, not his authority
-decisions are made as a group; males and females together
-associated with difficult ecology and exogamous marriage (marry out/fission--creates alliances with neighboring groups) |
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-Larger aggregation (can be unrelated members)
-Big Man as leader--informal structure, but this person is the leader; based on influence, rep, skill, etc. |
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Independent political unit encompassing between 1 and 20 thousand people
-in distinct, geographically dispersed communities
-economically self-sufficient residence groups
-informal leadership with limited authority
-access based on inheritance and or achievements
-group cohesion maintained by sodalities |
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-Formalized institutions, fraternities
-unite geographically scattered groups
-may be based on kin or non-kin-based |
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-Several economically interdependent residence groups
-Number from a few thousand up to 30,000
-centralized leadership, formal structure, hereditary leadership
-Hereditary Chief |
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-Full formal authority over members of the chiefdom; no longer just influence, you do it because the chief said so
-ranked or stratified, NOT egalitarian
-Individual ownership of goods
-Redistribution/reciprocal exchange of goods with other chiefdoms
-directs and supervises military actions |
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-Centralized, multilevel political unit numbering from tens of thousands to millions
-Bureaucracy-acting on behalf of a ruling elite
-Centralized leadership with formal full authority--use of legitimized force to institute/enforce policy
-Associated with: high production agriculture, economic and other specialization, market or commercial exchange, class stratification, unequal access to resources |
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| The comparative study of all humankind around the world and through time |
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-Study of living and recent human societies and cultures
-how humans adapt to the environment
-firsthand accounts of: comparisons of diverse cultural expressions, understanding various dimensions of human life, analyze the causes and consequences of cultural change |
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Study of human language/communication and of relationships of language to other aspects of culture, behavior, thought, society.
-how languages and social phenomena interact in and across cultures |
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Study of past human cultures through recovery, documentation, analysis of material/remains (material culture)
-relies on evidence to reconstruct the past
-artifacts |
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| written records vs ancient cultures that predate writing |
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Study of biological facets of human and non-human primates; human origins
-Biological diversity-interconnections between human biological variations and physiology, anatomy, disease and demography |
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| Study of fossil records to understand process and products of human evolution (biological ANT) |
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Fifth subfield
Applies techniques, knowledge, theory from traditional 4 subfields for problem solving:
-forensic ant
-bridges cultural and biological ant
-medical-focuses on health and diseases
-biocultural-culture and evolution
-nutritional-food, culture, bio, disease |
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Looking at all aspects of humanity to understand any part.
-considers culture, history, language, bio, essential to complete understanding of human society |
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| Compare features across cultures/individuals/households (unite of analysis) to find similarities and differences |
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tendency to think one's own ways are normal and natural and that others' are inferior
Antonym: Cultural Relativism: no inherently superior culture. |
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| changes in the environment determine changes in a society |
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| No references to lands occupied by groups, ancient technologies, changing landscapes |
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| Claims that the satisfaction of human material needs and desires is the most important influence on how societies are organized and what people think and believe |
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| contemporary theorists who analyze cultural elements by explicating their meanings to people and understanding them in their local context; generally emphasize cultural diversity and the unique qualities of particular cultures. |
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