Introduction to Anthropology Test 1 Review Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Scope of Anthropology Anthropology can be defined as the study of humankind in all times and places Broader in scope than other disciplines Every part of the world containing human populations is of interest to anthropological study. Includes studying other primates to look for clues about our ancestral origins Chapter 1… Anthropology

The Holistic Approach Anthropology is a unique discipline because it employs a holistic, or multifaceted, approach to the study of human beings.

The Anthropological Curiosity Anthropologists generally focus on typical characteristics of a population. When describing a group of people, anthropologists may discuss: the history of the area in which they live, the physical environment, the organization of family life, the general features of their language, their political and economic systems, their religion, their diet, or their styles of art and dress.

Cultural Anthropology Cultural anthropology is concerned with how and why cultures vary or are similar in the past and present. The Three Branches of Cultural Anthropology are:  Archaeology  Linguistics  Ethnology Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Archaeology Archaeologists try to reconstruct history from the remains of human cultures. How do archaeologists differ from historians?  Most studies deal with prehistory  Some specialize in historical archaeology

Anthropological Linguistics The anthropological study of language.  Historical Linguistics  Study of how languages change over time and how they are related  Descriptive or Structural Linguistics  Study how contemporary languages may differ  Sociolinguistics  Study how language is used in social context Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ethnology Commonly referred to as cultural anthropology, ethnology is concerned with patterns of thought and behavior.  Ethnographers  Ethnohistorian  Cross-Cultural Researcher Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Relevance of Anthropology  In order to understand humans, it is essential that we study humans in all times and places.  Anthropological studies can illustrate why other people are the way they are, both culturally and physically.

Defining Culture What is Culture? Culture is a set of learned behaviors and ideas that are characteristic of a particular society or other social group. material culture Vs. non-material. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Chapter 2. Culture

Ethnocentrism The person who judges other cultures solely in terms of his or her own culture is practicing Ethnocentrism. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Cultural Relativism The anthropological attitude that a society’s customs and ideas should be described objectively and understood in the context of that society’s problems and opportunities became known as Cultural Relativism. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Adaptive and maladaptive traits in culture Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

How and Why Cultures Change Diffusion is a process by which cultural elements are borrowed from another society and incorporated into the culture of the recipient group. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

How and Why Cultures Change  Acculturation refers to the changes that occur when different cultural groups come into intensive contact.  Typically, a situation in which one of the societies in contact is much more powerful than the other. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ethnogenesis: The Emergence of New Cultures Ethnogenesis is a process whereby new cultures are created usually in the aftermath of violent events such as depopulation, relocation, enslavement, and genocide. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Globalization: Problems and Opportunities Globalization is the spread of cultural features around the world. The diffusion of a cultural trait does not mean that it is incorporated in exactly the same way. Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

Early Anthropological Theory Early Evolutionism  Darwinism influenced cultural theory. In the early years the prevailing view was that culture generally develops (evolves) in a uniform and progressive manner. Chapter 3

“Race” Theory  Evolutionism influenced anthropology in the 19 th century to posit that the reason human cultures differed was because they represented separate subspecies of humans or “races.” Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Early Anthropological Theory

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Later Anthropological Theory Historical Particularism  Frank Boas opposed evolutionism  Stressed the importance of collecting as much anthropological data as possible, from which the laws governing cultural variation would emerge

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Later Anthropological Theory Functionalism  An analysis of what function or part some aspect of culture or social life plays in the maintenance of society.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Later Anthropological Theory Structuralism  Lévi-Strauss’ approach views culture as a surface representation of the underlying patterns of the human mind.

Later Anthropological Theory Cultural Ecology  The study of the relationships between cultures and their physical and social environments.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Later Anthropological Theory Political Economy  Assumes that external forces explain the way a society changes and adapts. Central to this approach is the social and political impact of those state societies that transformed the world by colonialism and imperialism after the mid-1400s.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Recent Developments in Anthropological Theory Feminist Approaches  With the advent of the “women’s movement” of the 1960s, a focused effort on studying the roles of women was found necessary.

Copyright © 2011 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved. Recent Developments in Anthropological Theory Postmodernists  All knowledge is subjective and actively shaped by the political powers-that-be.