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the approach in anthropology which considers culture, history, biology, ecology essential to a complete understanding of human society. |
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judging other cultures from the perspectives (values, rules, etc.) of one’s own culture. The notion that one’s own culture is more beautiful, right, rational and nearer to perfection than any other. |
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| – a cultures complexity only makes sense in the context of their culture/ the perspective that any aspect of a culture must be viewed and evaluated within the context ( set of circumstances, including the history) of that culture. is the principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture.[1] |
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- is the view that moral judgments are true or false only relative to some particular standpoint (for instance, that of a culture or a historical period) and that no standpoint is uniquely privileged over all others.
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Cultural relativism vs moral relativism- |
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| For instance, you cannot claim americans are better parents than the Baka because Americans don’t let their children use fire. Cultural relativism would explain that in the Baka culture, fire making/handling is an integral part of their culture, which needs to be mastered at a young age. Moral relativism would defend that neither American’s nor the Baka can be seen as right or wrong, only morally relative to their own culture. |
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| A group within a culture which controls government, makes laws, and policies, owns media and corporations (large businesses) and controls police and military forces. when it comes to norms and values in a culture, who decides what is “normal” because most all cultures are not homogenous. The terms dominant culture and subculture do not refer to better and worse, superior or inferior, but rather to the idea that the dominant culture is more powerful in a society, partly because it controls information through which images of the subculture are filtered such as the law, which in some cases criminalizes subculture practices because they undermine the dominant cultures power |
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| Difference between ethnocentrism that sustains a colonizer compared to that which sustains the colonized |
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is power One claims that they are more civilized is really claiming they are more powerful.
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| A preference or inclination to think a certain way. |
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| is the tendency to agree with something you are already bias toward. |
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the tendency for a researcher (ethnographer) to depict a culture they are studying through the lens of their own culture. Maybe best for a researcher studying another culture to tell their background (northern European decent,white, uppermiddle class, male, son of doctor) and “express their personal biases, so we might get a clearer picture of the culture they study.
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| a technique used in ethnography which involves gathering data by participating in peoples lives and observing their cultures. |
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- a cultural anthropologist who engages in fieldwork (living for an extended time within a culture in order to study it).
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| a written description of a culture based on data acquired during fieldwork. |
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| - A person who is particularly knowledgeable about their own culture and who becomes a major source of information for an anthropologist. A guide to a culture/are able to introduce you to a variety of people/not an outcast or a child. |
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Postmodernism in anthropology- |
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a theoretical perspective focusing on issues of power and suggesting that anthropological accounts can be only partial truths influenced by the ethnographer’s background, training, culture, education, personal experience, gender, ethnicity, and social position. – makes assumptions about who gets to decide what is true.
1. No objective reality. Claims its near impossible for a person to see thingss “objectively.”They will always have biases. It is better to be aware of these biases and put them aside then to claim you don’t have them.
2. Many partial truths.
3. Ones “reality” is one narrative among many.
4. All knowledge about a culture is influenced by the observer’s culture and social position.
5. Emphasizes the power differences between the ethnographer and the people they study. |
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| Ethical dilemmas in research- |
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| researchers must do everything in their power to make sure that research does not harm the safety, dignity, or privacy of the people with whom they work. This includes safeguarding the rights interests and sensitivities of those studied. Researchers should make their intentions clear to the people they are studying, also insure their anonymity. Give fair return for information given. |
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| US effort to support central American govt. dictator using social scientists to find activists that opposed the govmnt. And suppress civil unrest. |
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| , French author wrote “they have eaten the forest” in his book he wrote specific names of leaders in Vietnam then the green Berets used the names to find and torture the leaders. |
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| prominent anthropologist from UC Berkeley who wrote a seminal article “study the powerful” study communities who you can’t bring harm to –rich, powerful, bankers, government, police, insurance |
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| was an af.american who believed strongly in the civil rights movement he studied. Since he was an insider, he was torn between being a disinterested insider or an advocate for the people. He faced the dilemma that if he publicized the issues he found in the organization “he risked damaging alienating the leaders and damaging causes which he believed in. |
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| – doing fieldwork in one’s own culture-you would be more bias in your own culture. |
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| -father is another type of mother. Children in bopi-don’t like being called pygmy. In the African rainforest congo |
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Yanomano- brazil/Venezuela |
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| german migrant to America early 1900’s started in physics, chose to study inuipit tribe. Wanted equal rights for all people-pacifist-Antiracist his books were banned in Germany – he said classic anthropologists needed to go live with the cultures they studied-started fieldwork. Learn their language- He encouraged women and African americans to become anthropologists he is known for suggesting 1-do fieldwork, 2- learn langua ges, 3-historical particularism, 4-cultural relativism. |
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Historical particularism- |
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Founded by Franz Boas, historical particularism accepted the cultural evolutionary model that had dominated anthropology up until Boas. It argued that each society is a collective representation of its unique historical past. Boas rejected parallel evolutionism, the idea that all societies are on the same path and have reached their specific level of development the same way all other societies have.[2] Instead, historical particularism showed that societies could reach the same level of cultural development through different paths.[2]
Boas suggested that diffusion, trade, corresponding environment, and historical accident may create similar cultural traits.[2] Three traits, as suggested by Boas, are used to explain cultural customs: environmental conditions, psychological factors, and historical connections, history being the most important (hence the school's name).[2]
Critics of historical particularism argue that it is anti theoretical because it doesn't seek to make universal theories, applicable to all the world's cultures. Boas believed that theories would arise spontaneously once enough data was collected. This school of anthropological thought was the first to be uniquely American and Boas (his school of thought included) was, arguably, the most influential anthropological thinker in American history.
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| Handout- what is anthropology |
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the scientific and humanistic study of human beings encompassing the evolutionary history of humanity, physical variation among humans, the study of past societies, and the comparative study of current day human societies and cultures. |
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| a group of people who depend on each other for survival. |
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| the learned behaviors and symbols that allow people to live in groups. |
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Handout arrainged marriges |
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girl in india argues that she is not wise enough at such a young age to make such a serious decision. While an American may see arraigned marriage as a violation of her rights, this girl feels she can just be young and let her parents make that decision, she will get to know the man they pick after they are married.
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Changing directions and critical issues in ethnography- |
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franz boas challenges classical anthropologists-encourages women and afr.americans to become anthropologist- such as Margaret Mead. Anthropology seemed to focus of male activity in a culture. Assuming that since they were more public they were more important. Made cultures seem more homogenous then they really were. The realization of postmodernism. –knowledge is influenced by the observers culture and social position. Collaborative ethnography
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