ANTHROPOLOGY 1003: 2010

FINAL EXAM STUDY GUIDE

BASIC COMPREHENSIVE CONCEPTS

NOTE: You should be able to both define and discuss each of these concepts. Match the scholars with their theories.

1. CULTURE (who defined it? Give 3 characteristics of it.) – Edward Tylor defined culture. Culture is that complex whole
which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by
man[kind] as a member of society.
2. ETHNOLOGY – more scientific – the comparative and theoretical study of human society at large – the branch of
anthropology that compares and analyzes the origins, distribution, technology, religion, language, and social structure
of the ethnic, racial, and/or national divisions of humanity
3. ETHNOGRAPHY – more humanistic – the study of an individual society or community, usually by a single anthropologist –
a science that studies people, ethnic groups and other ethnic formations, their ethnogenesis, composition, resettlement,
social welfare characteristics, as well as their material and spiritual culture; immersion in culture for 18 months.
4. HOLISM/HOLISTIC APPROACH – examining all aspects of a culture in order to understand the dynamic interrelationships
between them – the idea that all the properties of a given system cannot be determined by its component parts alone;
instead, the system as a whole determines in an important way how the parts behave. Every kind of evidence must be
surveyed, such as artifacts, religious rituals, culinary habits, world view, etc. (All of these factors are potentially
related!)
5. CULTURAL RELATIVISM – the belief that each culture should be judged only on its own terms
6. CULTURAL DIFFUSION – the process by which a cultural trait, material object, idea, or behavior pattern is spread from one
society to another
7. CULTURAL INTEGRATION – Where, through technology and trade, a seemingly borderless world is created.
8. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION – founded by Franz Boas – Its aim is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given
group of individuals (such as a religious, occupational, or sub cultural group, or a particular community) and their
practices through an intensive involvement with people in their natural environment, usually over an extended period of
time
9. SYMBOL VS. SIGN
SIGN: a “signifier” which commonly co-occurs with something else (the “signified”) in time and space, and may be
taken as an indication of it.
SYMBOL:
10. DISPLACEMENT – to use your senses to describe something that isn’t perceived with the senses (such as an emotion?)
11. (French) STRUCTURALISM – defined by Mary Douglas (and Claude Levi-Strauss) – a method of analyzing phenomena
chiefly characterized by contrasting the elemental structures of the phenomena in a system of binary opposition
12. CULTURAL PATTERN VS. CULTURAL TRAIT
Pattern: recurring abstract elements which fit together into a larger functional system, which is generally not understood
by the people who use it.
Trait: the minimum piece of culture. If you further divide it, it loses its meaning or function.
13. CULTURAL EVOLUTIONARY PARADIGM – Lewis Henry Morgan proposed it. Anthropologists assumed that culture
had evolved from simple to complex very similarly. It was proved to be wrong. Culture is actually very complex and
has evolved in many different ways…
14. CULTURAL MATERIALISM VS. MATERIAL CULTURE
CULTURAL MATERIALISM is a theoretical research strategy identified with Marvin Harris. Placing primary
emphasis on the role of the environment, demography, technology, and economy in determining a cultures mental and
social conditions, he argued that anthropologists can best explain ideas, values, and beliefs as adaptations to economic
and environmental conditions.
MATERIAL CULTURE is the stuff that humans have.
15. LINGUISTICS – The scientific study of all aspects of language structure, history, and use
16. PHONEME VS. ALLOPHONE
PHONEME – Smallest classes of sound that change the meaning of a word. (bit vs. pit) The b and the p make different
sounds and change the meaning of the word completely.
ALLOPHONE – One of a set of multiple possible spoken sounds used to pronounce a single phoneme. (pin vs. spin)
17. MORPHEME VS. ALLOMORPH
MORPHEME – Smallest unit of sounds that can carry a meaning
ALLOMORPH – Occurs when a unit of meaning can vary in sound (phonologically) without changing meaning. (rode
vs. ride)
18. SAPIR-WHORF HYPOTHESIS – Language predisposes people to see the world in a certain way guiding behavior
19. ACCULTURATION – the exchange of cultural features that results when groups of individuals having different cultures
come into continuous first hand contact; the original cultural patterns of either or both groups may be altered, but the
groups remain distinct.
20. GLOTTOCHRONOLOGY – Method of dating divergence in branches of language families through time. The rate of
divergence is 14-19% each millennium.
21. FRAME SUBSTITUTION – Method used to identify syntactic units of language
22. LANGUAGE FAMILY – Group of languages ultimately descended from a single ancestral language
23. DIALECTS AND CODE SWITCHING
DIALECTS – forms of a language reflecting regions or social classes.
CODE SWITCHING – Process of changing from one level of language to another
24. CORE VOCABULARY – a list of 200 words (items) that are universally used and understood. (Ex. Mother, sun, tree, etc.)
25. PROXEMICS AND KINESICS
PROXEMICS – the study of set measurable distances between people as they interact.
KINESICS – System of notating and analyzing postures, facial expressions, and body motions that convey messages.
26. MODAL PERSONALITY – the personality characteristic held by the most people in the group
27. ENCULTURATION – the process by which a person learns the requirements of the culture by which he or she is
surrounded, and acquires values and behaviors that are appropriate or necessary in that culture
28. CARRYING CAPACITY OF A NICHE - the number of people that the available resources can support at a given level of
food getting techniques
29. CULTURE CORE – Cultural features that are fundamental in the society’s way of making its living-including food
production techniques, knowledge of available resources, and the work arrangements involved in applying those
techniques to the local environment
30. SWIDDEN AGRICULTURE – Slash and burn consists of cutting and burning of forests or woodlands to create fields for
agriculture or pasture for livestock, or for a variety of other purposes.
31. PASTORALISM – the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock
32. TRANSHUMANCE – the movement of cattle to a different place; cattle are moved to water sources every season.
33. BAND – the simplest form of human society; generally consists of a small kin group, no larger than an extended family or
clan
34. TRIBE – consists of a social formation existing before the development of, or outside of, states; many people use the term to
refer to any non-Western or indigenous society; Indigenous peoples that have been granted legal recognition and
limited autonomy by the state.
35. CHIEFDOM – any community led by an individual known as a chief; more complex than a tribe and less complex than a
state.
36. STATE – a geographic political entity possessing political sovereignty, i.e. not being subject to any higher political authority
37. SUBSTANTIVISM (most like IDEOGRAPHIC?) – cultures operate of substantive systems different based on economic
principles- highly integrated depending on religion tech
38. FORMALISM (most like NOMOTHETIC?) – law of supply and demand- chief factor behind all systems universal way of
assessing culture
39. RECIPROCITY (name some types) - The exchange of goods and services, of approximately equal value, between two
parties; generalized, negative, balanced, and extended.
40. REDISTRIBUTION – A form of exchange in which goods flow into a central place, where they are sorted, counted, and
reallocated
41. MARKET PRINCIPLE - The market principle is that of buying and selling on a set price of supply and demand.
42. PERIPHERAL MARKETS - Peripheral markets don’t operate on the market system; work on the reciprocity principle (the
exchange of products of equal value). They do not bargain for a higher price.
43. LEVELING MECHANISM – Societal obligations to distribute goods so that no one accumulates substantially more wealth
than anyone else
44. KULA/KULA RING – A form of balanced reciprocity that reinforces trade relations among the seafaring Trobriand
Islanders and other Melanesians; kula is another word for generalized reciprocity
45. MONEY: TRUE/PRIMITIVE
TRUE MONEY – universally accepted; fungible; it can be translated into labor and it comes in specific units and is
portable.
PRIMITIVE MONEY – can only be traded in a sphere of exchange (brass rods, beans, cattle, etc.)
46. INCEST TABOO – the prohibition of sexual intimacy between people defined as close relatives
47. CONJUGAL VS. COGNATIC TIES
CONJUGAL TIE: that between a husband and a wife
COGNATIC TIE: ties between blood relatives
48. ENDOGAMY VS. EXOGAMY
ENDOGAMY – rules for specifying marriage within a group
EXOGAMY – rules for specifying marriage outside a group
49. FAMILY VS. HOUSEHOLD
FAMILY – group of related people living together
HOUSEHOLD – group of people living together functioning to economic benefit (not necessarily related.)
50. CONSANGUINAL FAMILY – blood relatives
51. POLYANDRY (multiple husbands) VS. POLYGYNY (multiple wives)
52. PARALLEL VS. CROSS COUSIN MARRIAGE
PARALLEL – Marrying a parallel cousin is considered marrying one of your own clan. (mothers sister/fathers brother)
CROSS COUSIN – Marrying cross cousin is considered marrying one outside of your clan. (mothers brother/fathers
sister)
53. NUCLEAR VS. EXTENDED FAMILY
NUCLEAR – close family (mom, dad, siblings)
EXTENDED – added by marriage, cousins, aunts, uncles, etc.
54. FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY/KINSHIP GROUP - provide household, create children, socialize children, provide for
sexual partner
55. BILATERAL DESCENT – every biological ancestor and descendant is a socially recognized relative; everyone is a member
of both his or her father's and mother's families. (calculated through cousins measured out to a certain degree)
56. KINDRED VS. RAMAGE
KINDRED – All of your living consanguinal kin, calculated on both sides of your family.
RAMAGE – A bilateral kinship group limited by degree.
57. UNILINEAL DESCENT – calculated through ancestors and great grandparents, etc.
58. MATRILINEAL KINSHIP, MATRILOCAL RESIDENCE (who has it?)
MATRILINEAL – tracing your decent from your mothers side
MATRILOCAL – living with the family of the wife
59. LINEAGE VS. CLAN
LINEAGE – corporate descent group that can trace back to a common ancestor
CLAN – non-corporate descent group; members claim descent from common mythical ancestor; totemism involved.
60. TOTEMISM – the totem is a creator of a clan; totemism involves the worshipping of a nonhuman clan creator (Ex.
Kangaroo)
61. PHRATRY VS. MOIETY
PHRATRY – unilineal descent group composed of two or more clans of common ancestry
MOIETY – descent group that makes up a half of a society
62. IROQUOIS VS. ESKIMO KINSHIP
IROQUOIS – bifurcate merging; parallel cousins are referred to as bro and sis (single term); cross cousins are referred
to separately
ESKIMO – lineal; only close relatives are referred to as relatives (all cousins are referred to separate)
63. AGE GRADE VS. AGE SET
GRADE – classes of people of a certain year (sophomore, junior, senior, etc.)
SET – people that move through the years together (same birth year)
65. CLASS/CASTE
CLASS – you can rank people by their cultural traits
CASTE – you can rank social groups based on religious or occupational specialization
66. JATI VS. VARNA/PANCHAYAT
JATI – local castes – localized occupational groupings; there may be several in a single Varna
VARNA – nation-wide classes of occupations
 PANCHAYAT – a local council of elected members for each Jati and for each village
67. LEOPARD SKIN CHIEF – part of the Nuer tribe (a tribe with no proper government; a headless system of organization); the
leopard skin chief was like the mediator and priest of the tribe – a position created to prevent violence within the tribe
68. SEGMENTAL OPPOSITION – no government over clan level due to allying self with closest relatives
69. LAW VS. NORMS
LAW – formal rules of conduct that when violated effectuate negative sanctions.
NORMS – rules that guide behavior
70. WORLD VIEW – the beliefs about the limits and workings of the world shared by the members of a society and represented
in their myths, lore, ceremonies, social conduct, and general values.
71. PRIMITIVE WAR (its causes–2 theories) – war that occurs in two spheres; an epideictic ritual
72. HOLISM AND PARTICULARISM
HOLISM: the idea that all the properties of a given system cannot be determined or explained by its component
alone. Instead, the system as a whole determines in an important way how the parts behave.
PARTICULARISM: a tendency to explain complex social phenomena in terms of a single causative factor
73. RECIPROCITY: NEGATIVE/ BALANCED/ ETC.
Generalized – a mode of exchange in which the value of what is given is not calculated, nor is the time of repayment
specified
Balanced – a mode of exchange in which the giving and the receiving are specific as to the value of the goods and the
time of their delivery
Negative – a form of exchange in which the aim is to get something for as little as possible. Neither fair nor balanced, it
may involve hard bargaining, manipulation, and outright cheating
Extended – A gives to B, who gives to C, who gives to D, and then, perhaps back to A
74. INSTITUTION VS. ASSOCIATION
INSTITUTION: are organizations, establishments, foundations, societies, devoted to the promotion of a particular
cause or program, especially one of a public, educational, or charitable character.
ASSOCIATION: a group of individuals who enter into an agreement as volunteers to form a body (or organization) to
accomplish a purpose. (associated with complex societies, such as the PTA, Yacht Club, and the Mardi Gras Indians…)
75. FUNCTIONALISM – Functionalists seek to describe the different parts of a society and their relationship through the
organic analogy
76. EPISTEMOLOGIES – a branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of human knowledge.
Fundamentalism--Doctrine
Relativism (postmodernism)
Rationalism (Science)
77. HUMANISM – an approach in study, philosophy, or practice that focuses on human values and concerns
78. CULTURAL ECOLOGY (SCHOOL) – relates status of a culture to its ecology; created by Julian Steward
79. SOCIAL STRATIFICATION, SOCIAL MOBILITY
SOCIAL STRATIFICATION: has 6 class systems (lower lower class, higher lower class, lower middle class, higher
middle class, lower upper class, higher upper class)
SOCIAL MOBILITY: is the upward and downward change in ones social class in a stratified society.
80. EMIC VS. ETIC
EMIC – a native system of classification, specific to a single culture – gumbo, a “hand” (horse-height)
ETIC – a universal system of classification which can be applied to all cultures
81. INFRASTRUCTURE, SUPERSTRUCTURE
SUPERSTRUCTURE: worldview; the perception of the self, society, and the world around us
SOCIAL STRUCTURE: a patterned social arrangements of individuals within a society (Social organization,
Institutions, Government)
INFRASTRUCTURE: economic base; the mode of substinence (Techno-environmental adaptations, Subsistence
Technology, Economy, Demography)
82. GENDER – the sexual identity of an individual, male or female.
83. PARALANGUAGE – the non-verbal elements of communication used to modify meaning and convey emotion
84. CULTURAL IDEALISM – great cultures are the way they are because of great ideas
85. EPIDEICTIC RITUALS – above direct proof; rituals that have consequences that we don’t understand; (Ex: the warfare of
people such as the Yanamamo Indians, when they have war they don’t realize that they are keeping population in
control as to not stress their econiche)
86. SILENT TRADE VS. BARTER
Barter – a form of negative reciprocity in which one party gets an unfair deal
 Silent trade – barter without verbal communication. Indicates mistrust between the trading parties
87. REVITALIZATION MOVEMENT – religiously based social movement with the purpose of reforming society; attempts to
construct a more satisfactory culture. [Rapid Innovation, Appeals to Supernatural Forces for aid.] Spurred by the
threat of new ideas (welfare), new technologies (WW Web) and new values (cloning, stem-cell research) – These are
seen as threatening to the established way of life.
88. STATUS VS. ROLE
Status – rules which guide one-half of a bipolar social relationship.
Role – the behavioral aspect of status
89. SERIAL MONOGAMY – person lives with a series of spouses in succession; children usually remain with the mother
90. BRIDE PRICE/DOWRY/BRIDE SERVICE
Bride price – Where abundant wealth in livestock is provided to the wife’s family in exchange for the loss of her
services as an economic provider
Bride service – labor substitutes for wealth
Dowry – a woman’s inheritance from husbands family upon marriage
91. AMBILOCAL VS. NEOLOCAL RESIDENCE
Neolocal – living away from both families (on their own)
Ambilocal – living with either the husband or wife’s family
92. “TSU” THE CHINESE CLAN – Chinese kinship organization – patriarchal – ancestor worship practiced through Tsu in a
shrine they keep in the house – part of a larger clan organization.
93. MECHANISMS OF INTEGRATION – includes various types of solidarity, such as organic and mechanical; Emile
Durkhiem is an important part of the mechanisms;
94. ACEPHALOUS KINSHIP ORGANIZATION – kinship without a head; society in which political power is diffused to the
degree that they lack institutionalized political leadership roles such as chiefs and kings
95. ETHNOSCIENCE (shared cultural cognitive systems) – determinization of categories through which people categorize
their world
96. POLITICAL ACTION VS. GOVERNMENT
POLITICAL ACTION is organization of broadly-based communities for political purposes…
GOVERNMENT is the political direction and control exercised over actions of the members, citizens, or inhabitants of
communities, societies, and states.
97. ANCESTOR SPIRITS – Humans made up of a body and a soul or vital spirit; Ancestor Spirits retain an active interest in
their descendants. They provide supernatural protection for the people of the clan or lineage. They are sacrificed to and
worshiped in clan temples.
98. INFORMAL ECONOMY – the economy common to shanytowns, , slums where goods and services sold or bartered are
unregulated by formal institutions
99. RESIDENCE PATTERNS: MATRILOCAL, ETC.
Patrilocal – living with the family of the husband
Matrilocal – living with the family of the wife
Neolocal – living away from both families (on their own)
Ambilocal – living with either the husband or wife’s family.
100. GLOBALIZATION/MODERNIZATION
globalization: worldwide interconnectedness, evidenced in global movements of natural resources, trade goods, human
labor, finance capital, information, and infectious diseases
modernization: the process of political and socioeconomic change, whereby developing societies acquire some of the
cultural characteristics of Western industrial societies
101. MULTINATIONAL CORPORATION – a corporation or an enterprise that manages production or delivers services in
more than one country. Organize and integrate production across political boundaries motivated by financial profits.
102. CREOLIZATION/SYNCRETISM (when cultures come into conflict, one dominates the other – this results in a new
culture that borrows from both cultures.
CREOLIZATION – occurs by political control of one society by another and forces one culture upon another;
creolization creatively blends cultures in ways they can live better than they would otherwise
SYNCRETISM – blending past cultures with future cultures
103. ANIMISM/MANA (anamatism)
ANIMISM: a belief that nature is animated by distinct personalized spirit beings separable from bodies
MANA: a belief that nature is enlivened or energized by an impersonal spiritual power or supernatural potency
104. STIMULUS DIFFUSION – The spread of an idea without the corresponding material invention.
105. PRIMARY/SECONDARY INNOVATION
PRIMARY INNOVATION: the creation, invention, or chance discovery of a completely new idea, method, or device
SECONDARY INNOVATION: the deliberate application or modification of an existing idea, method, or device
106. ETHNOCIDE/GENOCIDE
ETHNOCIDE: 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
GENOCIDE: the physical extermination of one people by another, either as a deliberate act or as the accidental
outcome of activities carried out by one people with little regard for their impact on others
107. CULTURE LOSS – the abandonment of an existing practice or trait
108. HORTICULTURE/AGRICULTURE
HORTICULTURE: cultivation of crops carried out with simple hand tools such as digging sticks or hoes
AGRICULTURE: the cultivation of food plates in soil prepared and maintained for crop production. It involves using
technologies other than hand tools, such as irrigation, fertilizers, and the wooden or metal plow pulled by harnessed
draft animals.
109. STRUCTURAL POWER/SOFT POWER
STRUCTURAL POWER: power that organizes and orchestrates the systematic 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.
SOFT POWER: cooptive power that presses others through attraction and persuasion to change their ideas, beliefs,
values, and behaviors
110. REPLACEMENT REPRODUCTION – the point at which birthrates and death rates are in equilibrium; people producing
onlyenough offspring to replace themselves when they die
111. STRUCTURAL VIOLENCE – physical and/or psychological harm caused by impersonal, exploitative, and unjust social,
political, and economic systems
112. GLOBAL APARTHEID – a system of inequality that dictates access to wealth, power and basic human rights based on
race and place
113. ETHNOMUSICOLOGY – the study if a society’s music in terms of its cultural setting
114. MYTH/LEGEND/FOLKTALE
MYTH – sacred story set in the remote past that solicits belief WITH supernatural or religious overtones
LEGEND – sacred story set in the remote past that solicits belief WITHOUT supernatural or religious overtones
FOLKTALE – a story told for entertainment that does not solicit belief but is instead for humor or pleasure
115. FOLKLORE – 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
116. ANTHROPOLOGY/APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY
ANTHROPOLOGY: the study of humankind in all times and places
APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY: the use of anthropological knowledge and methods to solve practical problems, often
for a specific client
117. FOUR FLAWS IN FUTURE-ORIENTED WRITINGS – in future oriented writing, people often take narrow views, they
don’t look far enough into the future, they use bias to what will happen and they aren’t concerned with the
consequences.
118. CULTURAL PLURALISM/ORGANIC SOLIDARITY
CULTURAL PLURALISM: Social and political interaction among people with different ways of living and thinking,
within the same society or multinational state
ORGANIC SOLIDARITY: differentiation and mutual interdependence
119. PANTHEON/POLYTHEISM
PANTHEON: the several gods and goddesses of a people
POLYTHEISM: belief in several gods and/or goddesses
120. MULTILINEAR EVOLUTION – A theory of cultural evolution that sees each human culture evolving in its own way by
adaptation to diverse environments: different ‘pathways’ of evolutionary development followed by different societies.
Sometimes divided into four broad stages of social organization: band, tribe, chiefdom, and state-organized society.
121. SHAMAN/PRIEST
SHAMAN: 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.
PRIEST: 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
122. SEPARATION/TRANSITION/INCORPORATION
SEPARATION: in the rite of passage, the ritual removal of the individual from society
TRANSITION: in a rite of passage, isolation of the individual following separation and prior to incorporation into
society
INCORPORATION: in a rite of passage, reincorporation of the individual into society in his or her new status
123. LIMINAL STATE – being on the "threshold" of or between two different existential planes
124. RITES OF PASSAGE/RITES OF INTENSIFICATION
RITES OF PASSAGE: a ritual that makes an important stage in an individual’s life cycle, such as birth, marriage, and
death
RITES OF INTENSIFICATION: a ritual that takes place during a crisis in the life of the group and serves to bind
individuals together
125. SORCERY VS. WITCHCRAFT VS. MAGIC
Witch – has some kind of power within; can use their power to harm others (intentionally or unintentionally)
Sorcerer – EVIL; uses magic for evil or harming others.
126. SCAPULAMANCY – divination of the shoulderblades
127. DEFINITIONS OF RELIGION – an organized system of ideas about the spiritual sphere or the supernatural along with
associated ceremonial practices by which people try to interrupt and/or influence aspects of the universe otherwise
beyond their control
128. SOCIAL ENTROPY VS. ANTI-ENTROPY
SOCIAL ENTROPY: a measure of the natural decay within a social system. It can refer to the decomposition of social
structure or of the disappearance of social distinctions.
ANTI-ENTROPY: comparing all the replicas of each piece of data that exist (or are supposed to) and updating each
replica to the newest version
129. MECHANICAL/ORGANIC SOLIDARITY
MECHANICAL SOLIDARITY: shared enculturation
ORGANIC SOLIDARITY: differentiation and mutual interdependence
130. REVITALIZATION MOVEMENT/CARGO CULT
REVITALIZATION MOVEMENT: a movement for radical cultural reform in response to widespread social disruption
and collective feelings of great stress and despair
CARGO CULT: a spiritual movement in reaction to disruptive contact with western capitalism, promising resurrection
of deceased relatives, destruction or enslavement of white foreigners, and the magical arrival of utopian riches.
131. PSYCHIC UNITY OF MANKIND – doctrine in anthropology that humans are basically psychologically equivalent
everywhere in any culture.
132. THREE TYPES OF GENDERED ECONOMIC ROLES
1. Equal – women can do men’s jobs and men can do women’s jobs (women are hunters)
2. Separate but Equal – women have certain rights
3. Males dominate Females – warfare is a serious concern
133. IDEOGRAPHIC/NOMOTHETIC
IDEOGRAPHIC: a tendency to specify, and is expressed in the humanities
NOMOTHETIC: a tendency to generalize, and is expressed in the natural sciences
134. PASTORALISM – breeding and managing large herds of domesticated grazing and browsing animals, such as goats,
sheep, cattle, llamas, or camels.
135. THE SPIRIT OF CAPITALISM – (Max Weber) It is the influence of religion on the development of capitalist society.
136. POTLATCH/COPPER
POTLATCH: a ceremonial event in which a village chief publicly gives away stockpiled food and other goods that
signify wealth. Rite of passage, face-saving, title-claiming, and rivalry
COPPER: is the media of exchange and was most valuable unit of exchange between northwest coast native
Americans.
137. CONSPICUOUS CONSUMPTION – a showy display of wealth for social prestige
138. COLLECTIVE REPRESENTATION – refers to a symbol having common-shared meaning (intellectual and emotional) to
members of a social group or society; a term from Emile Durkheim’s sociology.
139. IMITATIVE/CONTAGIOUS MAGIC
IMITATIVE MAGIC: magic based on the principle that like produces like; sometimes called sympathetic magic
CONTAGIOUS MAGIC: magic based on the principle that things or persons once in contact can influence each other
after the contact is broken
140. POSITIVE FUNCTIONS OF WITCHCRAFT – tends to shape people’s norms; it makes people be generous and social and
be kind to elders (who can turn into witches)
141. GERONTOCRACY – society ruled by the older men of the tribe
143. MANA – a belief that nature is enlivened or energized by an impersonal spiritual power or supernatural potency
144. SOULS (theories of) – One theory is that we dream (soul wanders) and other is death rattle (soul escapes)
145. CULTURAL PLURALISM – social and political interaction among people with different ways of living and thinking,
within the same society or multinational state
146. CULTURAL THEMES – dominant institutions in a society, like gerontacracy for the tiwi people.
147. MULTICULTURALISM – 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
148. MYTH/RITUAL/CULT INSTITUTIONS
MYTH: a sacred narrative that explains the fundamentals of human existence where we and everything in the world
come from, why we are here, and where we are going
RITUAL:
CULT INSTITUTIONS:
149. OCCULTED/ENDURING CREATORS
OCCULTED CREATORS: some religions, like the classical Greeks, hold that the creator of the universe did his/her
job and then retreated. The creator remains remote from mankind and is not worshipped in popular rites
ENDURING CREATORS: others combine the role of the Creator with that of a deity who takes a strong personal
interest in the affairs of mankind.
150. NAVAHO SKIN WALKERS – shape-shifters that kill at a distance and practice cannibalism; witches
151. LEVIRITE/SORORATE
LEVIRATE: widow marries the brother of her deceased husband-provides social/economic security for the
widow-preserves previously established family relationships
SORORATE: widower marries the sister of the dead wife-preserves previously established relationships-ex: the Tiwi
153. SHABANO – Name of a Shuar house, built very close together, you have to walk sideways to go through and it is pie
shaped. 
154. TSANTSA – a shrunken head; it protects your soul; you have to kill someone to get a warrior soul; must sew up the lips to
keep soul from escaping; a real one has a wound on the back of the head.
155. PUKIMANI – the Tiwi word for anything sacred, forbidden or untouchable.
156. CARRYING CAPACITY OF THE NICHE - the number of people that the available resources can support at a given level
of food getting techniques
157. POSITIVE SANCTIONS – (or rewards) are pleasant things we can do to try to make people conform and behave in a
routine, predictable, fashion. (Ex. Buying a child an ice cream to make him stop crying)

PEOPLE AND THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS:

1. ANTHONY F. C. WALLACE – a psychological anthropologist. He studied American Indians in northeast. He is a theorist
on religion and invented concept of revitalization movements. Wrote some books.
2. RALPH LINTON – American anthropologist who has a marked influence on the development of cultural anthropology. He
also introduced the terms status and role to social science. Defined status, role, and social identity
3. CLAUDE LÉVI-STRAUSS – Founder of French to live in reserves. Along with Edward Tylor-“Marry out or die out”
structuralism, culture ultimately based in cognitive dualistic oppositions such as Nature vs. Culture.
4. MARY DOUGLAS – structural anthropology
5. EDWARD TYLOR – defined culture
6. LEWIS HENRY MORGAN – best known for his work on kinship and social structure; defined unilineal evolution
7. SIR JAMES FRAZER – a Scottish social anthropologist influential in the early stages of the modern studies of mythology
and comparative religion. (Wrote The Golden Bough)
8. BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI – widely considered one of the most important 20th-century anthropologists, and also
influential in structural functionalism; his pioneering ethnographic fieldwork made a major contribution to the study of
Melanesia and of phenomena relating to reciprocity.
9. EDWARD SAPIR – Co-creator of the linguistic relativity theory; developed symbols for the phonetic alphabet; and that
alphabet was created for higher accuracy and systems can be used to distinguish languages.
10. RUTH BENEDICT – student of Franz Boaz who was influential who wrote book and was involved with evaluating Japanese
culture during WWI saying the emperor should not be executed because it would cause chaos.
11. MARGARET MEAD – studied under Frank Boaz; she did her study in the Pacific around New Guinea and she looked at
child-raising techniques and asked questions like why are American teens so rebellious. Came to conclusion that
child-raising techniques have much influence.
12. KARL POLANYI – economist who talked about different types of economic distribution in the world: reciprocity,
redistribution, and the market principle.
13. SHAKA – founded the Zulu nation in the early 19th century and reformulated the Zulu into a highly organized military clan
14. LESLIE WHITE – One of the first anthropologists to take up study of symbols. Symbolic nature of culture created creativity
to occur which other animals couldn’t do.
15. MAX WEBER – spirit of capitalism, economist, ,sociologist, religion and entrepreneurship.
16. MARVIN HARRIS – defined cultural materialism
17. EMILE DURKHEIM – a sociologist and anthropologist who studied the Australian Totemism
18. A.R. RADCLIFFE-BROWN – defined totemism. Is British, has a set of customary beliefs and practices that set up a special
system of relations between a society, the plants, animals and other objects that are important.
19. JULIAN STEWARD – cultural ecology school:
1. The parallel evolution of different cultures to similar ecosystems
2. Specific technologies are responsible for shaping life ways in similar environments.
3. Culture core
20. PANINI – one of the most innovative intellectuals in all of history who developed a comprehensive scientific analysis of
Sanskirt phonetics, phonology and morphology
21. NOAM CHOMSKY – a linguistic mathematician who established new mathematical basis for understanding the rules of
grammar
22. YALI – an important and long-standing cargo prophet from New Guinea. A sergeant major in the Australian army during
WWII, Yali was brought to Australia for further special forces training in jungle warfare and for further reinforcement
of his allegiance to the British Crown.
23. JU/’HOANSI – people that were called bushmen in the past – small stature – dark skin – found in the northern part of south
Africa – forced into preserves due to various types of violence
24. ARNOLD VAN GINNEP – talked about the rites of passage. He believed that religion was really about the holding together
of society. (separation-transition- reincorporation)
25. MORRIS OPLER – talks of how specific institutions come to have a dominant place in society (called overriding
institutions); like gerontacracy.
26.THURSTEIN VEBLEN – wrote tongue in cheek book. Was interested in how Americans use wealth socially to display
wealth to show off social importance. (kinda like a big potlatch)
27. BENJAMIN LEE WHORF – he was a student of Edward Sapir and he used his experience with the Hopi Indians to develop
the theory linguistic relativity, which is the proposition that diverse interpretations of reality embodied in language
structures yield demonstrable influences on thought.
28. R.R. MARETT – dealt with religious ethnology; articulated the conception of (magical pre-animism) an impersonal force,
identified with the Melanesian term of mana.
29. LEOPARD SKIN CHIEF – part of the Nuer tribe (a tribe with no proper government; a headless system of organization); the
leopard skin chief was like the mediator and priest of the tribe – a position created to prevent violence within the tribe
30. FLAVIUS JOSEPHUS (Joseph ben Matthias)
31. CLIFFORD GEERTZ – known mostly for his strong support for and influence on the practice of symbolic anthropology