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Cultural Anthro Final
Final for cultural anthropology
24
Anthropology
Undergraduate 3
12/07/2014

Additional Anthropology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Ethnicity/Race
Definition
  • Ethnicity is what ethnic group you belong to, usually referring to nationality (country) but sometimes regional (Latino, Hispanic, Middle Eastern)
  • Race is a social construct based on the belief that there are biologically different groups of people that differ based on appearance and area of origin, usually believed to have different abilities and stereotypes
Term
Eugenics
Definition
The belief and practice of improving the genetic quality of the human population
Term
One-Drop Rule
Definition
If you are white but have even one ancestor of black/other race then you are considered not white
Term
Whitening
Definition
Idea that cultural mixing is good if it leads to the population becoming more white/European
Term
Mestizaje
Definition
  • Basis of national identity (in Latin America)
  • Mix of African/Indigenous/Euro people
  • Celebrated as a distinctive feature
Term
Sex/Gender
Definition
  • Sex is your biological sex determined by chromosomes and reproductive organs; female, male, intersex
  • Gender is what you identify as; identities and gender roles are heavily influenced by societal norms and vary between cultures
Term
White men saving brown women from brown men
Definition
White men (seen as better or believe they are better than brown men) seeing it as their duty to 'save' brown women from their opressors bc they know what is right for them, but ignoring brown women's autonomy and cultural differences
Term
Hegemony
Definition

Common sense that serves dominant interests; often difficult to think outside of it

Term
Discourse
Definition
  • Language that produces its object within unequal relations of power
  • Not a representational concept of language
  • i.e. sexuality, orientalism, etc.
Term
Chicago Boys
Definition
  •  a group of young male, mostly Chilean economists, the majority of whom trained at the Department of Economics of the University of Chicago under Milton Friedman and Arnold Harberger, Upon their return to Latin America most occupied leading positions in government, finance and education.
  • Brought Free Market to Chile
Term

 

 

 

 

What are the three aspects of the “different-looking terrain” of race and ethnicity in contemporary Latin America that Peter Wade describes?

 

Definition
  • Nation-states are responding to new global notions of democracy as multi-cultural & neoliberal governance as creating/operating through self-reliant/self-organizing communities
  • Black & indigenous social movements are linked into transnational concepts of human/indigenous rights & into globalizing images of blackness/Africa/indigenousness that circulate in a world commodity market
  • The migration of black and indigenous people into North America & Europe has created stronger interactions between differing (not opposing) conceptions of race & identity.
Term

In her article, what are the various reactions Gottlieb describes people in Andalusia having to a female bullfighter, a profession that is conventionally reserved for males? 

Definition
  • Traditionalists reject the idea of female bullfighters completely; will refuse to fight with, train, or watch 
  • The women, their trainers, a ticket buyers support this challenge of bullfighting as masculine
  • Some viewers think it's sexy, turning female fighters into sexual obects
  • Other viewers admire the physical control and sportsmanship
  • Other spectators say the women will fail at bullfighting bc biology
Term

What are the three reasons that Gottlieb lists for the widespread (but by no means universal) domination of women by men around the world?

Definition
  • The erosion of the clan system made the role of wife the woman's most important role, instead of sister etc., thus taking away much of their status, esp. in economy and politics
  • Childbirth and motherhood limited women's access to socially valued resources
  • Child-rearing styles are essential to the development of patriarchal attitudes in adulthood
Term

What are three reasons why Abu-Lughod is so unsettled by the responses within the United States towards Muslims generally and Muslim women in particular after September 11th 2001? 

Definition
  • In other foreign wars, no one focused on the women in the affected areas.
  • Using the cultural restrictions of muslim women to scare first world people into thinking that these cultural things will be forced on them
  • Using the perceived oppression of muslim women to justify bombings without really understanding the history of the region or the cultural differences
Term

Does Abu-Lughod’s think we should apply the concept of “cultural relativism” as we think about the relationship between the United States and Muslim women around the world?  Why or why not?

Definition
We shouldn't because interactions between different cultures that have involved ethnocentrism and imperialism have been happening for so long that it is now too late to be passive and not interfere.
Term

What does Abu-Lughod see as Westerns’ misunderstandings of the burqa or the veil more generally?  How does she suggest we think about the burqa and the ethics of the burqa?

Definition
  • Westerners see the burqa as oppressive and imposed upon women
  • The burqa is actually an important part of the culture, it helps women connect to their culture/religion/society, without it they would stand out in a negative way, and it is like portable seclusion bc it allows them to leave their home while staying hidden from strange men
Term

Harding argues that Jerry Falwell “fashioned [himself] as a postbiblical figure” (98).  What does she mean by this?  That is, how did Falwell’s community “read” him?  How did they understand the stories about his often morally ambiguous life? 

Definition
  • Falwell makes himself a postbiblical figure by telling his story as parallel to Jacob and also by creating narative 'gaps' (i.e.excessive or sparse details)
  • Falwell was seen as a modern take on fundamentalism and a new way to incorporate the bible and stuff into mainstream society
  • They understood his story through the stories from the Bible that his autobiography mimicked
Term
What were the “Chicago Boy’s” (and neoliberals more generally) views on tariffs?  How did this view differ from the previous era’s (often called Import Substitution in Latin America) view of them?
Definition
  • Neoliberals are against tariffs because they want absolutely no barriers or restrictions on trade.
  • Import Substitutionists are for tariffs in order to bolster the economy inside the country
Term

In this course, we’ve discussed how, on the one hand, race is not a biological reality.  What are two examples from our readings, discussions, and films that have demonstrated this?  On the other hand, we’ve considered the variety of ways in which race is very much a social and material reality.  What are three examples of how we’ve considered this?

Definition
  • Video about Race showed students testing their DNA & students of diff races were more similar than students of same race
  • The idea of race was not seen until Jefferson coined the term & races have changed many times over history
  • Racial stereotypes are often seen as scientific fact (i.e. Asians are smarter, Africans are more athletic)
  • Race has become extremely intertwined with social class
  • The law has, throughout history, had a part in determining who is white i.e. who gets privilege
Term

Gottlieb notes in her article that while female bullfighters may act “masculine” in the ring, they may act more “feminine” in their everyday lives or even later in their life.  What is the larger point she is getting at with this comment?  That is, what is she trying to get us to see?  Give an example in which someone might act more “masculine” or “feminine” in different moments or periods in their lives.

Definition
  • Female bullfighters act more masculine bc bullfighting as seen as a masculine profession and they want to be more accepted and fit into the environment better and gain more respect
  • Someone may act more masculine if they are an executive in a bug business so that they can gain more respect and show more authority. They could be more feminine in a teaching position so that they come off as motherly and the children will behave better and like them more
Term

What does Abu-Lughood mean when she writes, “Instead of political and historical explanations, experts were being asked to give religio-cultural ones.  Instead of questions that might lead to theexploration of global interconnections, we were offeredones that worked to artificially divide the world into separate spheres”?  Take the statement bit by bit and explain what she means by each part.

Definition
  • Political and historical examinations would explore why the relations btwn US and the Afghanistan led to events such as 911.
  • Religio-cultural differences are only looking at one small piece of the bigger picture and are not explaining much and are kind of being used to make westerners look better
  • We should be asking how cultures interact and about cultural influences and similarities in order to better understand each other
  • Instead we're focusing on differences to create divides between us and them as if there are no similarities and 'they' are inherently different
Term

The first paragraph in Europe and the People Without History reads, “The central assertion of this book is that the world of humankind constitutes a manifold, a totality of interconnected processes, and inquiries that disassemble this totality into bits and then fail to reassemble it falsify reality. Concepts like "nation," "society," and "culture" name bits and threaten to turn names into things. Only by understanding these names as bundles of relationships, and by placing them back into the field from which they were abstracted, can we hope to avoid misleading inferences and increase our share of understanding.”  What does this statement mean?  What assumptions is he trying to transform?  Again, go sentence by sentence and carefully explain the point(s) he is trying to make.

Definition
  • Everything in the world is interconnected and interacts with other things, which we break apart in order to study, but then fail to remember the interconnectedness
  • These terms name the pieces, but if we focus on these parts alone we forget about the bigger picture and only think about the individual things as their own pictures.
  • We can increase our understanding of the world and other people by understanding nations and cultures as the relate and interconnect and how they came to be the way they are and by doing that we can avoid making inferences that cultures happen in a bubble
Term

According to Escobar, what is the discourse of development and what does it do (probably good to mention at least 3 things the discourse of development does)?

Definition
  • It names a problem (underdevelopment) and a solution (un-underdeveloping), which puts one culture above another
  • It becomes standard
  • Depoliticizes the issue (i.e. making it a charity issue or scientific fact)
  • Creates new identities (i.e. first world, third world)
Term

List three economic policies associated with neoliberalism. Then, for each, give an example of the consequences that policy had in either “Chile and Neoliberalism” or Life and Debt.

Definition
  • In both, no tariffs, imported goods were cheaper, local business and economy suffered
  • In Chile, businesses were sold to private owners, but then the private sector (which was heavily influenced by foreign economies) crashed so basically everything crashed
  • In Life and Debt, there were no price controls so people who weren't making much at work could barely afford anything bc stuff is so expensive
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