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Final Exam
Cultural Anthropology Burton
75
Anthropology
Undergraduate 2
05/05/2010

Additional Anthropology Flashcards

 


 

Cards

Term
Age Grade
Definition
an organized category of people based on age; every individual passes through a series of such categories over his or her lifetime
Term
Age Set
Definition
a formally established group of people born during a certain time span who move through the series of age-grade categories together
Term
Common-Interest Association
Definition
associations that result from an act of joining based on sharing particular activities, objectives, vales or beliefs
Term
Stratification
Definition
societies in which people are hierarchically divided and ranked into social strata, or layers, and do not share equally in basic resources that support survival, influence and prestige
Term
Egalitarianism
Definition
societies in which everyone has about equal rank, access to, and power over basic resources
Term
Social Class
Definition
a category of individuals in a stratified society who enjoy equal or nearly equal prestige according to the system of evaluation
Term
Caste
Definition
a closed social class in a stratified society in which membership is determined by birth and fixed for life
Term
Social Mobility
Definition
upward or downward change in one’s social class position in a stratified society
Term
Power Definition
Definition
the ability of individuals or groups to impose their will upon others and make them do things even against their own wants or wishes
Term
Political Organization
Definition
the way power is distributed and embedded in society; the means through which a society creates and maintains social order
Term
Band Definition
Definition
a relatively small and loosely organized kin-ordered group that inhabits a specific territory and that may split periodically into smaller extended family groups that are politically independent
Term
Tribe
Definition
in anthropology, refers to a range of kin-ordered groups that are politically integrated by some unifying factor and whose members share a common ancestry, identity, culture, language, and territory
Term
Clan
Definition
an extended unilineal kinship group, often consisting of several lineages, whose members claim common descent from a remote ancestor, usually legendary or mythological
Term
Chiefdom
Definition
a regional polity in which who or more local groups are organized under single chief, who is at the head of a ranked hierarchy of people
Term
State
Definition
in anthropology, a centralized polity involving large numbers of people within a defined territory who are divided into social classes and organized and directed by a formal government that has the capacity and authority to make laws, and use force to defend the social order
Term
Nation
Definition
a people who share a collective identity based on a common culture, language, territorial base, and history
Term
Legitimacy
Definition
the right of political leaders to govern-to hold, use, and allocate power- based on the values of a particular society
Term
Religion
Definition
an organized system of ideas about the spiritual sphere or the supernatural, along with associated ceremonial practices by which people try o interpret and/or influence aspects of the universe otherwise beyond their control
Term
Political Power
Definition
is a type of power held by a group in a society which allows administration of some or all of public resources, including labor, and wealth
Term
Cultural Control
Definition
control through beliefs and values deeply internalized in the minds of individuals
Term
Social Control
Definition
external control through open coercion
Term
Sanction
Definition
an externalized social control designed to encourage conformity to social norms
Term
Law
Definition
formal rules of conduct that, when isolated, effectuate negative sanctions
Term
Crime
Definition
an action or an instance of negligence that is deemed injurious to the public welfare or morals or to the interests of the state and that is legally prohibited
Term
War
Definition
a conflict carried on by force of arms, as between nations or between parties within a nation; warfare, as by land, sea, or air
Term
Worldview
Definition
the collective body of ideas that members of a culture generally share concerning the ultimate shape and substance of their reality
Term
Religion
Definition
an organized system of ideas about the spiritual sphere or the supernatural, along with associated ceremonial practices by which people try to interpret and/or influence aspects of the universe otherwise beyond their control
Term
Spirituality
Definition
concern with the sacred, as distinguished from material matters. In contrast to religion, spirituality is often individual rather than collective and does not require a distinctive format or traditional organization
Term
Supernatural Beings
Definition
an incorporeal being believed to have powers to affect the course of human events
Term
Pantheon
Definition
the several gods and goddesses of a people
Term
Animism
Definition
a belief that nature is enlivened or energized by distinct personalized spirit beings separable from bodies
Term
Animatism
Definition
a belief that nature is enlivened or energized by an impersonal spiritual power or supernatural potency
Term
Shamans
Definition
a person who enters an altered state of consciousness- at will- to contact and utilize an ordinarily hidden reality in order to acquire knowledge, power, and to help others
Term
Priests
Definition
a full-time religious specialist formally recognized for his or her role in guiding the religious practices of others and for contacting and influencing supernatural powers
Term
Rite of Passage
Definition
a ritual that marks an important stage in an individual’s life cycle, such as birth, marriage, and death
Term
Separation
Definition
in rites of passage, the ritual removal of the individual from society
Term
Liminality
Definition
the transitional period or phase of a rite of passage, during which the participant lacks social status or rank, remains anonymous, shows obedience and humility, and follows prescribed forms of conduct, dress, etc
Term
Rite of Intensification
Definition
a ritual that takes place during a crisis in the life of the group and serves to bind individuals together
Term
Imitative Magic
Definition
magic based on the principle that like produces like; sometimes called sympathetic magic
Term
Contagious Magic
Definition
magic based on the principle that things once in contact can influence each other after the contact is broken
Term
Witchcraft
Definition
an explanation of events based on the belief that certain individuals possess an innate psychic power capable of causing harm, including sickness and death
Term
Divination
Definition
a magical procedure or spiritual ritual designed to find out about what is not knowable by ordinary means, such as foretelling the future by interpreting omens
Term
Revitalization
Definition
a movement for radical cultural reform in response to widespread social disruption and collective feelings of great stress and despair
Term
Art
Definition
the creative use of the human imagination to aesthetically interpret, express, and engage life, modifying experienced reality in the process
Term
Iconic Images
Definition
culturally specific people, animals, and monsters seen in the deepest stage of trance
Term
Entoptic Phenomena
Definition
are visual effects whose source is within the eye itself
Term
Myth
Definition
a sacred narrative that explains the fundamentals of human existence- where we and everything in our world came from, why we are here, and where we are going
Term
Folklore
Definition
a term coined by 19th century scholars studying the unwritten stories and other artistic traditions of rural peoples to distinguish between “folk art” and the “fine art” of the literate elite
Term
Legend
Definition
a story about a memorable event or figure handed down by tradition and told as true but without historical evidence
Term
Epic
Definition
a long dramatic narrative recounting the celebrated deeds of a historic or legendary hero- often sung or recited in poetic language
Term
Epic
Definition
a long dramatic narrative recounting the celebrated deeds of a historic or legendary hero- often sung or recited in poetic language
Term
Tale
Definition
a creative narrative that is recognized as fiction for entertainment but may also draw a moral or teach a practical lesson
Term
Motif
Definition
a story situation in a tale
Term
Music
Definition
an art of sound in time that expresses ideas and emotions in significant forms through the elements of rhythm, melody, harmony, and color
Term
Ethnomusicology
Definition
the study of a society’s music in terms of its cultural setting
Term
Tone
Definition
quality or character of sound
Term
Pentatonic Scale
Definition
a scale having five tones to an octave, as one having intervals that correspond to the five black keys of a piano octave
Term
Innovation
Definition
something new or different introduced
Term
Diffusion
Definition
the spread of certain ideas, customs, or practices from one culture to another
Term
Acculturation
Definition
massive culture change that occurs in a society when it experiences intensive firsthand contact with a more powerful society
Term
Cultural Loss
Definition
the abandonment of an existing practice or trait
Term
Ethnocide
Definition
the violent eradication of an ethnic group’s collective cultural identity as a distinctive people; occurs when a dominant society deliberately sets out to destroy another society’s cultural heritage
Term
Genocide
Definition
the physical extermination of one people by another, either as a deliberate act or as the accidental outcome of activities carried as the accidental outcome of activities carried out by one people with little regard for their impact on others
Term
Tradition
Definition
customary ideas and practices passed on from generation to generation, which in a modernizing society may form an obstacle to new ways of doing things
Term
Syncretism
Definition
in acculturation, the creative blending of indigenous and foreign beliefs and practices into new cultural forms
Term
Rebellion
Definition
organized armed resistance to an established government or authority in power
Term
Revolution
Definition
radical change in a society or culture. In the political arena, it involves the forced overthrow of an old government and establishment of a completely new one
Term
Modernization
Definition
the process of political and socioeconomic change, whereby developing societies acquire some of the cultural characteristics of Western industrial societies
Term
Globalization
Definition
worldwide interconnectedness, evidenced in global movements of natural resources, trade goods, human labor, finance capital, information and infectious diseases
Term
Multiculturalism
Definition
public policy for managing cultural diversity in a multi-ethnic society, officially stressing mutual respect and tolerance for cultural differences within a country’s borders
Term
Structural Power
Definition
power that organizes and orchestrates the systemic interaction within and among societies, directing economic and political forces on the one hand and ideological forces that shape public ideas, values, and beliefs on the other
Term
Hard Power
Definition
coercive power that is backed up by economic and military forces
Term
Soft Power
Definition
co-optive power that presses others through attraction and persuasion to change their ideas, beliefs, values and behaviors
Term
Structural Violence
Definition
It refers to a form of violence based on the systematic ways in which a given social structure or social institution "kills people" by preventing them from meeting their basic needs
Term
Replacement Reproduction
Definition
the point at which birthrates and death rates are in equilibrium; people producing only enough offspring to replace themselves when they die
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