Revision:Definitions and Terms

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Acculturation - Culture change brought about by contact between people with different cultures. Usually refers to the loss of traditional culture when the members of small-scale cultures adopt elements of global-scale cultures.

Anthropology - The study of humans, especially of their customs, cultures, societies, beliefs etc.

Culture - The way in which members of a certain society generally tend to behave, like, think, say etc.

Cultural relativity - The view that culture should be evaluated relative to its own values instead of relative to the values of any other cultures.

Ethnocentrism - The idea that one's own society, culture and beliefs are better than any others.

Ethnography - Either a piece of written work which is produced after detailed study and research on a certain society/culture OR the way in which such a work is produced. It is either a product/book or a way of doing things.

Norms - The behaviour which is considered acceptable by a society.

Society - A number of people who live within the same area and who have lives which are interdependent of each other.

Theory - Different ways at looking and obtaining information from data.

Fourth World - indigenous peoples and small-scale society.

Enculturation - When, from very early childhood, a person begins to learn and understand his/her culture from others.

Socialisation - Similar to enculturation, absorbing knowledge about aspects of one's culture subconsciously from birth.

Nature/Nurture - When discussing how a person is raised, and what makes him/her what they are, nature refers to the genetic make-up of the individual, while nurture refers to the way in which they were raised.

Cultural Diffusion - The movement of technology, ideas and opinion between cultures.

Applied anthropology - The non-academic employment of anthropologists for government, commercial, or humanitarian purposes.

Artefact - Any material thing made by people.

Cultural evolution - The notion that cultures evolve, usually gradually and steadily, in the direction of greater efficiency and complexity.

Multi-lineal evolution - the notion that different cultures evolve along multiple, if similar lines, depending on their natural and cultural environments.

Historical Particularism - The idea that every culture, because it is the product of specific historical circumstances, is unique.

Complex Industrial Society (CIS) - Western Society.

Synchronic - looking at a culture as it is now (in time)

Diachronic - looking a culture how it was in the past

Applying Anthropological Concepts to Case Studies

Yanomamo

• Marvin Harris' CULTURAL MATERIALIST theory: According to Harris, the main cause of war among the Yanomamo was scarcity of protein; he argued that groups were forced to expand their territory in order to get more food. Chagnon, by contrast, held the FUNCTIONALIST theory that the quest for women was more important. It later transpired that there was no correlation between protein deficiency and war. The Yanomamo were well-nourished and in fact, the frequency of war was highest in areas that were particularly rich in protein. The Yanomamo admitted they were fond of meat, but even more fond of women.
• Levi-Strauss preferred to look at social structure, while Chagnon preferred to investigate social behaviour. Chagnon believes there is a relationship between the two.
• Levi-Strauss pointed out that both men and women are created equal, and therefore they must have been born at the same time and therefore they are incestuous. Yanomamo cope with this by having the myths explain them as being created separately (men by moon-blood and women by fruit), so no incest has occurred.
• Keiser refers to Clifford Geertz in his study of the Vice Lords. He was an interpretative anthropologist. Interpretative - the idea that an ethnographer's job is to describe and interpret what members of the culture being studied find meaningful. They try to find the ideal behaviour (etic) and what people actually do (emic), i.e. they try to find the meaning of behaviour.
• Kwaio- symbolic anthropology.

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