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| Every culture is unique and has its own genius and inner dynamic, therefore you must understand a culture from within the culture. |
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| “No man has ever seen the world through pristine eyes.” |
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- Quote by Ruth Benedict
- Means that we can never see culture from a clean slate, we always will see it in the terms and in comparison to cultures we grew up with
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| “The imponderabilia of actual life.” |
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- Malinowski
- Try to bridge the gap between subject and observer
- Capture everything going on in life, not just abstract characteristics of a culture
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- Enter a different way of life and are taken aback by the contrast
- feel frustrated, anxious, and/or angry
- crave familiarity
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| Treating your culture as natural even though it may seem completely unnatural to people of different cultures. |
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| Free choice and ability to make decisions for oneself. |
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Why do anthropologists think of EB Tylor’s definition of “culture” (“that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”) as revolutionary? What was the understanding of “culture” that preceded it?
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| Previously, culture was thought of in terms of European culture. Europeans had cultures and other groups were uncivilized and had no culture. This new definition was revolutionary at the time because it recognized that all groups at culture, these cultures were just different. |
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What is Benedict getting at with this passage (Patterns of Culure p37; in great measure...combined.)? What does she want us to understand about various cultural traits and comparisons of traits between cultures?
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| I think she means that there are things which seem universal, but when you examine the culture up close, there are important difference. Therefore, we shouldn't compare similarities between cultures as if they are the same concept, because even if they seem like the same concept everything may be different. Ex: marraige in one culture v another culture. It may be a union between two people, but the origin and signifigance and ceremonial aspects can all be completely different. |
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| Based on the work of Arnold Van Gennep, what do anthropologists tend to think of as the three stage of a “rite of passage”? Give an example of a “rite of passage” and the three different stages within the example. |
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Definition
- Rites of separation, liminal phase, reaggregation.
- Marriage; go on honeymoon and move into house with spouse, put the house together/get used to living with someone/meet neighbors; become part of new neighborhood
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| What are some reasons (2 or 3) why anthropologists tend to be a bit uneasy about quantitative data (numbers, frequencies, percentages, etc.) even as they often use such data themselves? |
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Definition
- Oversimplifies, generalizes
- Doesn't portray the meanings behind things
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In Chicken what does the author seem to view as the ultimate source of individuals’ beliefs and points of view? That is, for him, where do people’s beliefs come from? Please give two examples of this perspective from the book. |
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Definition
- Social class/position determines beliefs
- Upper&middle class believe that illegal immigration is bad even though we use that to have cheap food but people in that class have the privilege of being ignorant about the origin of their food
- The one farmer of a higher social class who had a side job and therefore more financial security believed that the situation the farmers were put in wasn't that bad, but the other farmer who's only source of income was the chicken farm believed that the situation was terrible
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Striffler writes, “Fear of deportation produced the ideal worker” (98). What does he mean by that?
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| Workers will do anything to avoid being caught and deported because they have less financial difficulties working in the factories. This means that they will endure worse working conditions, longer hours, and less pay to ensure that their bosses won't rat them out. |
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For Striffler, our problems with chicken ultimately emerge from two fundamental contradictions. Tell me what these two contradictions are and briefly describe them.
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- Healthy: chicken is over processed and full of chemicals and bacteria
- Need to produce hella chicken: We have an abundance of food
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What were Boas’s critiques of the Evolutionists’ (like Tylor) view of culture (I think there are at least 3 important ones)? In turn, how have later anthropologists critiqued Boas’s perspective on culture (although it’s not explicit, MacClancey and Delaney are good places to look for this)?
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Definition
- Empirical Critique: No first-hand accounts
- Theoretical Critique: Do people really move through barbarism, savagery, and civilization? Do we know what makes something more advanced or less advanced?
- Methodological Critique: You should start with a conclusion then look for proof.
- Boas believed there was human nature and later anthropologists do not believe this
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According to Tylor, what was the difference between Magic, Religion, and Science? Malinowski strongly disagreed with Tylor’s view. How did he understand the difference between these three? In your description of Malinowski’s concepts of Magic, Religion, and Science, give an contemporary example of each.
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Definition
- Tylor believed that magic, religion, and science were all rational, but their rationality existed on a scale, with magic at the bottom, advancing to science. The differences were that magic was most primitive, religion was more organized, and science was truth and reality. For him, protestantism was truth, seperate from religion.
- Malinowski believed that every culture has knowledge, which is science. Magic makes up for where knowledge can't explain; superstitions and luck to make up for unplanned things like weather and outcome of war. Religion is used to explain major life events, such as birth and death, the big whys.
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Delaney has a significant critique of the common sense notion of “human nature.” How does she go about making this critique (I think she does it in at least 3 ways) and why is this critique important to her?
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Definition
- If there are things that are human nature, then whatever culture is 'best' at a certain trait is 'better', but there is no way to say what that one trait or factor is and what makes it better
- Things that are considered universal, such as emotions, vary extremely from one culture to another. The cause and experience of sadness can be one way for a Hmong person and completely different for a Swedish person.
- People say that human traits exist in animals, therefore these traits are natural. But really, these people are just projecting human explanations onto animal behaviours
- This is important to her bc she wants people to know that there is no culture that is more natural or right than any other.
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