Introduction to Anthropology PDF

ANTH*1150.02 Lec 1 Anthropology The study of humanity The word "anthropology" comes from the Greek anthropos ("human") and logia ("study"). Can be seen as the study of humans The Four Subfields of Anthropology Archaeology - prehistoric and historical Biological Anthropology- paleoanthropology...

ANTH*1150.02 Lec 1 Anthropology The study of humanity The word "anthropology" comes from the Greek anthropos ("human") and logia ("study"). Can be seen as the study of humans The Four Subfields of Anthropology Archaeology - prehistoric and historical Biological Anthropology- paleoanthropology human biology and variation, primatology Linguistic Anthropology- descriptive, comparative and historical Linguistic Cultural Anthropology- kinship and social organization, material life and technology, subsistence and economics and world views Archaeology Study of rocks or trees ect and how they come to be There meaning and where and how they were used Archaeologists study past human societies through material remains, such as tools, pottery, and other artifacts, to reconstruct historical ways of life. Biological Anthropology How we evolve How apes are similar to us This subfield examines human origins, evolution, and biological variation, including the study of extinct species and contemporary human populations. Linguistic Anthropology The study of a certain word and what is the meaning of that word. The way we can say the word with emotion Linguistic anthropologists study language and its social and cultural contexts, exploring how language influences communication and shapes cultural identity. Cultural Anthropology This subfield focuses on the study of living societies and cultural groups through immersive fieldwork, examining social practices, beliefs, and cultural norms.  Cultural Anthropology ( Ethnology and Ethnography) Ethnology Ethnography Comparison of culture Description studies Similarity and Difference specifics (through participant observation) Comparison along the lines of Universals Particulars of 1 Group Expressions of the universals at a local level Economics unique characteristics and practices of a Families particular group. It involves immersion in the culture, observing and interacting with its Politics members to gain a deep understanding of their Marriage beliefs, values, and behaviors. Religion generaling Anthropological Perspectives Anthropology is the study of human nature, society and history. Itis a scholarly discipline that tries to describes what it means to be human seeks to understand the diversity of human experiences across time and space while also recognizing the interconnectedness of all aspects of human life. It forces us to question common-sense assumptions It makes moral and political decisions more difficult It decreases ethnocentric thinking Recognizes history, agency, and culture The 4 Anthropological Perspectives Holism- a perspective on human condition that assumes the mind and body, nature and culture, individual and society and environment permeate and even define one another Comparative- this ask anthropology to comparative human societies before generalizing on human nature, society and history Evolutionary-place there observation on human nature, society or history in a framework and has the consideration of change over time ( studies both the biological and the cultural evolution of humans, past and present) Fieldwork- direct contact with the thing that is in interest Lec 2 ethnocentrism The belief that one's culture is better then others In the context of anthropology, "the Other" refers to individuals or groups whose customs, beliefs, or behaviors differ from one's own. This concept highlights the idea of cultural difference and is often used to explore how societies perceive and interact with those who are considered different or outside their own cultural norms. Cultural relativism All cultures are equally valid and the belief and behavior can be interpreted in their own context Lec 3 Culture Culture is a set of beliefs, practices, and symbols that are learned and shared. Together, they form an all-encompassing, integrated whole that binds people together and shapes their worldview and lifeways. Characteristics of Culture 6 Beliefs and Practices Culture is Learned Culture is Shared Culture is Based on Symbols The components of a culture are integrated and best understood holistically Cultures interact and change (week 12) Ways to get info The topic investigated ? to guide the research Where research will be Whos funding it Political or ethnicity Technological facilities available ethnographer An ethnographer is a researcher who studies cultures and communities through direct observation and participation in their daily lives. Ethnographers typically conduct fieldwork, immersing themselves in the culture they are studying to gather qualitative data about social practices, beliefs, and interactions. Anthropology and the Concept of Culture E.B. Tylor defined culture as "that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, customs, and any other capabilities and habits acquired... as a member of society." Human beings are biocultural organisms: Defined by biology and culture Brains are capable of symbolic thought and 'creating' culture Hands can manipulate matter Calter words Emic: a description of the studied culture from the perspective of a member of the culture or insider. Ethnocentrism: the tendency to view one’s own culture as most important and correct and as the stick by which to measure all other cultures. Ethnography: the in-depth study of the everyday practices and lives of a people. Etic: a description of the studied culture from the perspective of an observer or outsider. Armchair anthropology: an early and discredited method of anthropological research that did not involve direct contact with the people studied. Cultural determinism: the idea that behavioral differences are a result of cultural, not racial or genetic causes. Cultural evolutionism: a discredited theory popular in nineteenth century anthropology suggesting that societies evolve through stages from simple to advanced. Cultural relativism: the idea that we should seek to understand another person’s beliefs and behaviors from the perspective of their own culture and not our own. Participant observation Participant observation: a type of observation in which the anthropologist observes while participating in the same activities in which her informants are engaged.  Methods of Collecting Information Fieldwork An extended period of close involvement with the people in whose way of life anthropologists are interested, during which anthropologists ordinarily collect most of their data Participant-observation The method anthropologists use to gather information by living and working with the people whose culture they are studying while participating in their lives as much as possible  Methods of Collecting Information Fieldwork is among the most distinctive practices anthropologists bring to the study of human life in society. Through fieldwork, the social anthropologist seeks a detailed and intimate understanding of the context of social action and relations. Fieldwork in a previously unfamiliar setting is to look at everyday reality in new and unexpected ways.  Reflexivity 3 Reflexivity: critically thinking about the way one thinks and reflecting on one’s own experience Situated subjectivity: one’s unique perspective Positionality: a person’s uniquely situated social position such as gender, nationality, political views, etc. Situated knowledge: knowledge that is set within or specific to a precise context or situation E.g., being barred from certain social activities due to gender or age and acknowledging what you were able to learn and what you were limited in seeing  Methods of Collecting Information Fieldwork can take many different forms, shaped by factors such as: the topic of investigation, questions guiding the research, where the research will be carried out, who is funding it, external political or economic factors, the age, sex or ethnicity of the anthropologist, the technological facilities available. And many more… The Fieldwork Experience: A Brief Overview Prepare for fieldwork: select site and research available material Obtain funding Receive ethics approval, permission from academic and government offices in host country, and support from participants No policy can suit every researcher/address every issue E.g., one might have to forgo a confidentiality requirement set out by a granting body if participants want to express their identities The Fieldwork Experience: A Brief Overview, cont’d Arriving Establishing rapport Adapting to culture shock Data collection Cameras, laptops, recorders, etc., are now essential to record accurate field data Back-and-forth process of collecting information, analyzing, developing more questions/interpretations to take back to participants  Interactions in the Field: Interpretation and Translation Two important processes involving all active agents Dialectic of fieldwork: the process of building a bridge of understanding between anthropologist and informant so that each can begin to understand the other Interpretation is about comprehending the cultural self by way of the cultural other  The Effects of Fieldwork On informants Code of ethics (Do no harm) On the researcher Culture shock Friendship, career, and learning On humanity Human nature, human society, human history The Production of Anthropological Knowledge Facts: a widely accepted observation that becomes intelligible only when it is interpreted and placed in a context of meaning What constitutes a cultural fact? Facts are complex phenomena Participants and anthropologists may disagree Anthropologists may disagree with each other Participants may disagree with each other  Anthropological Knowledge as Open-Ended What does it mean to say that knowledge is produced and open-ended? Reflexive Never fully objective Never-ending process Learning and evolving Methods of Collecting Information, cont’d Structured interviews A method for gathering information whereby an anthropologist or researcher asks a set of predetermined questions and records participants’ responses Questionnaires Archival material Published literature  Participant Observation: Summary of Strengths and Limitations1 Strengths Limitations Good for documenting obvious Hard to document subtle behaviours and and visible behaviours answering ‘why’ questions Flexible method; lots of data Firsthand experiences and empathy can cause you to become too “inside” Firsthand Experience Your presence may affect the behaviours of Contextual Understanding others (holism, interconnections) Takes a long time, tiring, hard to record, lots Ethnographic, yet can lead to of data comparison and theory (Small sample??) 1 This list is not exhaustive. What do they say in Perspectives? Modes of Ethnographic Fieldwork: A Short History, The cont’d Positivist Approach Positivism: the view that there is a reality “out there” that can be detected through the senses and that there is a single, appropriate scientific method for investigating that reality E.g., Mead’s application of controlled comparison to study gender roles in four societies Objective knowledge: knowledge about reality that is absolute and true for all people, in all times and places Separating facts from values  Modes of Ethnographic Fieldwork: A Short History, cont’d Ethics of Fieldwork Positivism contains implicit hierarchy between researcher and participants Approaching human beings as ‘objects of study’, mischaracterizes the subject matter of anthropology Need to recognize ethical obligations to other human beings Anthropologists are involved in human interactions and their observations are not entirely value free  Emic and Etic Perspectives in Anthropological Research Emic Perspective Etic Frameworks Perspective of people in the Perspective of the observer, the “studied” culture anthropologist, anthropology What insiders think about their Analytical framework and tools used by culture; their view outsiders to learn about a particular culture or to make comparisons The subjective perspective (?) The objective perspective (?) How urban Angola understand and About the anthropologist, the outsider experience being middle class Outsider point of view; tied to interpretation, comparison, universals Ethnography / Description Ethnology / Theory Angolan Middle Class Perspectives text and universals Ethnography: Background and methods ANTH*1150 Dr. Sneyd What is an ethnography? Ethnography is a form of social research that explores particular, individual forms of social experiences by gathering unstructured data in the field from a relatively small group or limited number of participants, and then interpreting the meanings of these behaviors in some type of report. Ethnography is a way of studying people, cultures, enterprises, and phenomena in a natural setting (Miller and Deutsch 2009: 138). Ethnography is the writing of the people, the writing of society, the writing of culture (McGranahan 2014). The word ethnography comes from the Greek—ethnos means “folk/the people” and grapho is “to write. What is an ethnography? “Ethnographic research is not static or fixed; instead, it is personal, transformational, contingent, and responsive to actually existing and often shifting conditions. It is an open- minded, open-ended collection and celebration of the excess and messiness of human life” (McGranahan 2014). A way of generating data. A qualitative research method. What is an ethnography? Ethnography is different than many other types of research because it places the researcher in the field and has the researcher actually participating in the activities that are being researched. Writing ethnography is not merely about describing what we encounter in the field, but about abstracting, interpreting and analyzing. Authors view anthropology as a science and ethnography as a tool that helps it deliver objective representations of society. What is an ethnography All ethnographies are written by individuals with particular interests and obsessions, likes and dislikes, backgrounds and personal and intellectual trajectories. And just like the people they study, writers of ethnography live within social worlds and they partake of and help to shape determines worldview (p. 118). Ethnographies are moulded by the social and cultural contexts within which they are produced. Learning about this context helps the reader gain a better understanding of the author’s perspective, and also of the lives of the people portrayed in the ethnography  Comparison Ethnographers compare. They compare what they see and live in the field against their own lives, ideas and expectations. The concern with understanding different cultural or social life words by reference to each other, through comparison.  … making decisions Writers of ethnography approach this issue in a unique manner, taking their field experiences as their starting point and framing them in terms of anthropological standards, concepts and debates. The culture of a site is what is being studied. Making decisions about what is being studied and what will be included. Economics Week 3 Dr. Sneyd  Nature, Culture, and Landscape Anthropologists increasingly recognizing the interrelationships of the physical, biological, economic, and cultural aspects of human existence Human culture is not apart from the natural world, but a part of the natural world The natural world is shaped by our wants and needs Natural world as a cultural construct: How we understand and utilize our natural environment is culturally specific  Nature, Culture, and Landscape, cont’d The diverse ways that humans make a living are shaped by cultural and contextual factors Societies will adapt their strategies according to emerging circumstances Who performs the labour to ‘make a living’? Unfree labour: an all-encompassing term for the formalized coercion of men, women, and children (through need or violence) to provide their labour. Such labour can range from migrant work to sex slavery to the use of children as soldiers.  Culture and Livelihood Economy: the culturally specific processes used by members of a society to provide themselves with material resources Economic anthropology is “the part of the discipline that debates issues of human nature that relate directly to the decisions of daily life and making a living” (Wilk, 1996: xv)  Economic Anthropology How humans work to obtain the material necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter How people produce, exchange, and consume material objects The role that immaterial things such as labor, services, and knowledge play in our livelihood Economic anthropologists describe what people actually do and why  Culture and Livelihood, cont’d Self-Interest, Institutions, and Morals Three economic models based on different assumptions of human nature (Wilk and Cliggett): 1) Self-interested model Individuals are interested in their own well-being How individuals maximize their utility under conditions of scarcity: when resources are not enough to obtain all necessary goods  Culture and Livelihood, cont’d Self-Interest, Institutions, and Morals, cont’d 2) Social model How people form groups and exercise power. Focus should be on institutions, which are stable and enduring cultural practices that organize social life 3) Moral model Human motivation is shaped by culturally specific belief systems and values  Subsistence Strategies Subsistence strategies: the patterns of production, distribution, and consumption that members of a society use to meet their basic material and survival needs Distinction between food collectors and food producers: Food collectors: those who gather, fish, or hunt for food Food producers: those who depend on domesticated plants and/or animals for food  Subsistence Strategies, cont’d Three types of agriculture: Extensive agriculture: depends on slash-and-burn techniques, rainwater, human muscle power, and a few simple tools such as digging sticks, hoes, and/or machetes; it exhausts the land, requiring farmers to move plots every few years. Intensive agriculture: employs plows, draft animals, irrigation, fertilizer, and such, to bring much more land under cultivation at one time. Mechanized industrial agriculture: large-scale farming, often found in conjunction with factory farming of animals, that is highly dependent on industrial methods of technology and production. Subsistence Strategies, cont’d Subsistence Strategies, cont’d  Phases of Economic Activity Three distinct phases: Production: the transformation of nature’s raw materials into a form suitable for human use Distribution: the allocation of goods and services Consumption: using up material goods necessary for human survival  Phases of Economic Activity, cont’d Modes, Means, and Relations of Production Mode of production: a specific, historically occurring set of social relations through which labour is deployed to wrest energy from nature by means of tools, skills, organization, and knowledge Means of production: the tools, skills, organization, and knowledge used to extract energy from nature Relations of production: the social relations linking the people who use a given means of production within a particular mode of production  Phases of Economic Activity, cont’d Modes, Means, and Relations of Production, cont’d Wolf ’s three modes of production: 1) The kin-ordered mode in which social labour is deployed on the basis of kinship relations 2) A tributary mode in which the primary producer, whether cultivator or herdsman, is allowed access to the means of production while tribute is exacted from him by political or military means political economy and subsequent Marxian analysis, the 3) The capitalist mode capitalist mode of production refers to the systems of organizing production and distribution within capitalist  Phases of Economic Activity, cont’d Applying Production Theory to Social and Cultural Life, cont’d Ideology: according to Marx, ideology is those products of consciousness—such as morality, religion, and metaphysics— that purport to explain to people who they are and to justify the kinds of lives they lead. The powerful class will use ideology to give credence to the mode of production and reduce conflict Thus, production theorists argue that poorer classes are not simple ‘lazy’ or inherently inferior, but that the particular mode of production prevents them from winning  Phases of Economic Activity, cont’d Consumption The internal explanation Responding to human needs Malinowski The external explanation Responding to natural environment Cultural ecology, ecozones, econiche The cultural explanation Human agency and cultural forces( won’t eat food because of their certain culture) Mary Douglas and Baron Isherwood  Phases of Economic Activity, cont’d The Cultural Construction of Needs Culture helps to shape needs and offers a way of satisfying them A good’s meaning may have to do with its edibility, but edibility is often culturally determined E.g., For Jews and Muslims, pork is inedible, culturally speaking  Phases of Economic Activity, cont’d The Cultural Construction of Utility Capitalist societies have passed laws and created social institutions that reward individuals for accumulating wealth Institutionalized sharing: some non-capitalist societies prevent individual accumulation of wealth; the goal is to spread any wealth that exists throughout the community E.g., the Plains Cree of North America Phases of Economic Activity, cont’d The Role of Conflict in Material Life Link between a society’s social organization and its mode of production Social change is not orderly and social organization is not harmonious The Marxist approach treats conflict as a natural part of the human condition In the capitalist mode of production, different classes are incorporated into society in different ways, which may lead to disunity The more complex and unequal the involvement of different classes, the more struggle is likely to occur  Phases of Economic Activity, cont’d Modes, Means, and Relations of Production, cont’d Three main features of the capitalist mode of production: 1) The means of production are property owned by the capitalists 2) Workers are denied access to such ownership and must sell their labour to the capitalists in order to survive 3) This labour for capitalists produces surpluses of wealth that capitalists may retain or plow back into production to increase output and generate further surpluses Modes of production - characteristics Domestic Production (kin-ordered) Foragers and small-scale farmers Egalitarian Labor organized by kinship relations Collective ownership of means of production Lower rates of social domination Sharing Modes of production - characteristics Tributary Production Societies with classes of rulers and subjects Farmers and herders who produce for themselves but also give portion to rulers as tribute Communities organized by kinship Tribute is used by ruling class rather than exchanged Relationships often conflictual Production is controlled politically  Modes of production - characteristics Capitalist Production Began during 17th and 18th Centuries Private property owned by a capitalist class Workers sell their labor to others, are separated from the means of production Keep wages low in order to sell products for more than it costs to produce the products Generates a surplus Consumption and Global Capitalism Consumption – the process of buying, eating, or using a resource, food, commodity or service Forms of behavior that connect our economic activity with the cultural symbols that give our lives meaning Commodity – a good that is produced for sale or exchange for other goods Objects have a “social life” Consumption and Global Capitalism In the developing world, worries that Westernization around the world would change values has been challenged Global supply chains move commodities around the world – Ex: Darjeeling Tea production and consumers – Food is another example….  Phases of Economic Activity, cont’d The Anthropology of Food and Nutrition Explores how the global capitalist food market works, and how it favours the food security of some consumers over others Sheds light on how different ways of cooking may bolster individuals’ racial, ethnic, gender, sexual, or national identities  Phases of Economic Activity, cont’d The Anthropology of Food and Nutrition, cont’d Carole Counihan: Aspired to give ethnographic voice to women and found that food was an aspect of culture that many woman used to express themselves During her research in Italy, collected life histories of women and men from different generations, revealing how lives were shaped by historical changes in the political economy of food  Foraging , sometimes known as hunting and gathering, describes societies that rely primarily on “wild” plant and animal food resources  Horticulture is the small-scale cultivation of crops intended primarily for subsistence horticulture differs from other kinds of farming in its scale and purpose. Most farmers in the United States sell their crops as a source of income, but in horticultural societies crops are consumed by those who grow them or are shared with others in the community rather than sold for profit.  Pastoralism m is a subsistence system in which people raise herds of domesticated livestock  Agriculture the subsistence system used in the United States, involves the cultivation of domesticated plants and animals using technologies that allow for intensive use of the land Agriculture is defined as the cultivation of domesticated plants and animals using technologies such as irrigation, draft animals, mechanization, and inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides that allow for intensive and continuous use of land resources.  Industrial capitalism Industrial capitalism is a system of production and trade based on private ownership and profit  Sustainability 4 modes of subsistence. The four modes of subsistence are foraging, pastoralism, horticulture, and agriculture Exchange Week 4 Dr. Sneyd  Outline Modes of Production and Modes of Exchange Consumption of goods and services – Exchange Reciprocity Redistribution Market exchanges  Economic Anthropology Economic anthropology encompasses the production, exchange, consumption, meaning, and uses of both material objects and immaterial services, whereas contemporary economics focuses primarily on market exchanges The 3 phases of Economic activities Production Exchange Consumption  Phases of Economic Activity Production Some economic anthropologists view production as the driving force behind economic activity It is responsible for supply and determines levels of consumption Labour and the 3 types The activity linking human social groups to the material world around them; human labour is always social labour Includes physical, mental, or cognitive labour  Phases of Economic Activity Distribution and Exchange Modes of exchange: patterns according to which distribution takes place: reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange  Phases of Economic Activity Distribution and Exchange, cont’d Redistribution: a mode of exchange in which a centralized social organization receives contributions from all members of the group and redistributes them in a way that provides for every member( like candy when we put it in a pile and Redistribution it) Market exchange: a mode of exchange in which the exchange of goods (trade) is calculated in terms of a multi- purpose medium of exchange and standard of value (money) and carried on by means of a supply–demand–price mechanism (the market) Note: Societies may have more than one mode of exchange at any point in time  Phases of Economic Activity, cont’d Distribution and Exchange, cont’d Reciprocity: Characteristic of egalitarian societies. Marshall Sahlins (1972) identified three kinds of reciprocity: 1) Generalized: no expectation of immediate return or do not specify value of return 2) Balanced: expecting a return of equal value within a specified time limit 3) Negative: one party attempts to get something for nothing without suffering penalties( like gambling)  xx xxx xxxxx x xxxxx  Modes of exchange Reciprocity – Giving gifts create relationships Generalized – Exact value of the gift and time is not specified (Halloween) Balanced – Something of equal value and time period is expected (Kula ring) Negative – attempt to get something for nothing Ex: Christmas giving  Reciprocity xxxxx  Reciprocity xxxxx  Modes of exchange Redistribution – the accumulation of goods or labor by a particular person or institution for the purpose of dispersal at a later rate Requires a centralized political body to coordinate and enforce Found in all societies Ex: potlatch or more contemporary Canada Revenue Agency From Water to Wine The deal was simple: I worked at the school as a music teacher for a minimum wage, teaching students from age five to thirteen how to play the recorder and read music notation. In exchange, I would meet their parents and, after seeking appropriate consent, could interview these parents about their backgrounds, lifestyles, aspirations, and experiences in Lobito (Auerbach 2020:36). From Water to Wine For Joyce, the value in perfume did not life only in the substance itself, but also in the kinds of social interactions it would enable. When her adolescent sons encountered the response to the perfume from others, they would be prompted to describe their upwardly mobile familial relationships … smell was to communicate something positive that would open up opportunities … but it could also do exactly the opposite (Auerbach 2020:43).  Redistribution xxxxx Redistribution Centralized collection of goods and then (re)distribution of those goods back to the community in form of goods or services Redistribution Example 2: Moka Right: Ongka talking about the importance of pigs to the Kawelka people.  Market exchanges So why do we engage in exchanges? To get what we need (or avoid or manage risk) To get ahead (to create obligations, to make commitments and to demonstrate status)  Market Exchange A form of trade that today most commonly involves general purpose money, bargaining and supply and demand price mechanisms. Are market exchanges balanced exchanges? (Perhaps! Maybe Not!)  Modes of exchange Markets – social institutions with prices or exchange equivalencies Regulated by supply and demand Based on transactions, often impersonal but not always Ex: Maine lobster markets  Modes of exchange Money – General purpose money medium of exchange tool for storing wealth way to assign interchangeable values Increases opportunities for unequal exchange Consumption and Global Capitalism Consumption – the process of buying, eating, or using a resource, food, commodity or service Forms of behavior that connect our economic activity with the cultural symbols that give our lives meaning Commodity – a good that is produced for sale or exchange for other goods Objects have a “social life” Consumption and Global Capitalism In the developing world, worries that Westernization around the world would change values has been challenged Global supply chains move commodities around the world – Ex: Darjeeling Tea production and consumers Political Economy: Understanding Inequality Political economy – contextualizes economic relations within state structures, political processes, social structures, and cultural values Structural violence – a social structure or institution harms people by preventing them from meeting their basic needs – Ex: the politics of aid to Haiti  Conclusion Multiple forms of economic production and exchange structure our daily lives Community economies framework may decrease economic inequities by recognizing our interdependence Central goal of economic anthropology is to support equality ANTH 1150 Dr. Sneyd ▪ Human families cross-culturally ▪ Parental rights and responsibilities ▪ Kinship systems ▪ Words used to describe family members (“mother” or “cousin”) indicate rights and responsibilities of family members Your sex(MorF) plays a role in your job ▪ Status – a culturally-designated position a person occupies in a particular setting (“father” or “younger brother”) ▪ Role – the set of behaviors expected of a person who occupies a particular status  KINSHIP VS DESCENT ▪ Kinship – culturally recognized ties between members of a family ▪ Both blood (consanguineal) and marriage (affinal), as well as “chosen kin” ▪ Descent – how people reckon their kinship ▪ Patrilineal – through the father’s line ▪ Matrilineal – through the mother’s line ▪ Bilateral – through both lines ▪ Human interdependence may be organized through kinship ▪ Involves birth, nurturance, or invited kinship, and organized by patrilineal, matrilineal, or bilateral descent ▪ Functions of kinship: ▪ Carries out the recruiting of group members ▪ Provides residence rules ▪ Provides intergenerational links ▪ Helps to decide succession or inheritance Kinship Kinship is: The people you are related to, through blood (descent) and marriage (in-law kin) How you recognize and behave around your kin Its a culture and made off bio Kinship is: Insider knowledge (emic perspective) about: Who your relatives are and how to interact with them (It’s people and actions around those people. It’s sometimes about blood/biological relationships. But it’s also about relationships that exist within cultural contexts and are guided by cultural ideas.) ▪ The terms used in a language to describe relatives ▪ Differences provide insight into how people think about families and their roles ▪ Example: Hawaiian kinship terminology ▪ Patterns of Descent in Kinship ▪ (There are 4 types) of Unilineal descent(1 sides ): the principle that a descent group is formed by people who believe they are related to each other by links made through a father (patrilineal descent) or mother (matrilineal descent) ▪ (There are 6 types) of Bilateral descent(2 sides): the principle that a descent group is formed by people who believe they are related to each other by connections made through their mothers and fathers equally ▪ Kinship Terminologies and Classification ▪ Anthropologists have been able to identify different types of kin terminology that appear in multiple societies ▪ The common criteria used are: ▪ Generation, Gender/Sex, Affinity, Collaterality, Sex/Gender of Linking Relative, Bifurcation, Relative Age Ego: person from whose perspective the kinship associations are being mapped and/or discussed  Kinship System / Kinship Chart Kinship System is: A cultural pattern of kinship relationships Kinship Chart is: A visual diagram illustrating a kinship system and relationships between kin (relatives) It charts out who is related to whom and implies some things about how those relationships are enacted (emic information) Relies on kinship terminology – terms in a particular language or culture for describing relatives – instead of personal names It is an etic framework for showing information about families – comparison between cultures is possible  Kinship Charts Equals sign (=) is marriage / spousal tie or a parental tie Older Generation Younger Generation Triangles are male Square is “ego” (the reference point) Circles are female People on the same row are in the same generation Kinship charts are “ego” oriented (ego-centric) People on different rows are in different generations (Genealogies are ancestor-oriented) Older generations are above; younger generations are below  (Inuit Kinship System; very common in many parts of Kinship Charts North America and Hollywood(!)) 1. who you are related to Uncle Aunt Father Mother Uncle Aunt Cousins Cousins Brother Sister Ego Brother Sister Cousins Cousins (You!) Notes: Cousins are not distinguished by sex or side of the family. Brothers and sisters of parents (ie aunts and uncles) are distinguished by sex but not by side of family.  (Inuit Kinship System; very common in many parts of Kinship Charts North America and Hollywood(!)) 2. Implications for behaviour Uncle Aunt Father Mother Uncle Aunt Cousins Cousins Brother Sister Ego Brother Sister Cousins Cousins (You!) Household: sometimes “the nuclear family” Separate Separate Households Households  (Iroquois Kinship System; common in different places in Kinship Charts Indigenous North America) 1. who you are related to  Emic and Etic Perspectives in Anthropological Research Emic Perspective Etic Frameworks Perspective of people in the Perspective of the observer, the “studied” culture anthropologist, anthropology What insiders think about their Analytical framework and tools used by culture; their view outsiders to learn about a particular culture or to make comparisons The subjective perspective (?) The objective perspective (?) How urban Angola understand and About the anthropologist, the outsider experience being middle class Outsider point of view; tied to interpretation, comparison, universals Ethnography / Description Ethnology / Theory  Kinship Summary Lived Reality Emic Kinship Diagrams Particular and ethnographic Etic EG: Friend, cousin, brother, sister, sweet-heart, etc. Universal and ethnological (the words of everyday life) EG: Distinguish cross cousins and parallel cousins (the jargon of anthropology) theory Phenomenology Theory: Individuals attach their own meanings to Positivism their lives and actions Social world is orderly and patterned, Individuals create their own social realities governed by rules or laws – no singular reality exists There is an objective reality and Emphasizes the particular, the unique, anthropologists work to document that contexts reality Real world can be measured; context is less important ▪ Croatia ▪ Uncles: Father’s brother (stric) is an authority figure, while mother’s brother (ujak) is nurturing ▪ China ▪ Different names for family statuses reflect different roles ▪ Navajo ▪ People are “born to” their mother’s clan ▪ United States ▪ Bilateral, equally related socially and legally ▪ Lineages ▪ Lineage: a descent group composed of blood relatives who believe they can trace their descent from known ancestors ▪ Clan: a descent group formed by members who believe they have a common ancestor, even if they cannot specify the genealogical links Left: Franz Boas, 1858-1942; Right: Margaret Mead, 1901-1978 Sources: http://www.americananthro.org/ConnectWithAAA/Content.a spx?ItemNumber=2574 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/62/Franz Boas.jpg Descent and Descent Systems Descent is: One way of defining and recognizing blood relatives (your kin) A group of people whose members claim shared and common ancestry Back to a real person A mythological ancestor Groups that provide individuals with a sense of identity – and other things … Descent and Descent Systems Descent Systems Patrilineal Descent System Father’s line Most common worldwide; common in pastoral and agricultural societies (and elsewhere) Children in their father’s group Patriarchy / patriarchal Patri = father Archy / archal = authority Patrilocal residence after marriage Patri = father Local = location  (Patrilineal Descent System) Descent Systems Notes: Two groups (a coloured-in group and a clear group) Each group (clan) has 5000 members – so any one person will not know everyone in the clan Must marry outside of your group (exogamous marriage) Notes: Two groups (a coloured-in group and a clear group) Each group (clan) has 5000 members – so any one person will not know everyone in the clan Must marry outside of your group (exogamous marriage) Descent Systems Matrilineal Descent System Mother’s line Approx. 15% of world’s cultures; common in foraging, horticultural societies; some pastoral and agricultural societies too. Not unique in these groups. Children in their mother’s group Still usually patriarchy / patriarchal, at least in some ways (ie not usually matriarchal) Matri = mother Archy / archal = authority Matrilocal residence after marriage Matri = mother Local = location Descent Systems (Matrilineal Descent System) Notes: Two groups (a coloured-in group and a clear group) Each group (clan) has 5000 members – so any one person will not know everyone in the clan Must marry outside of your group (exogamous marriage) Notes: Two groups (a coloured-in group and a clear group) Each group (clan) has 5000 members – so any one person will not know everyone in the clan Must marry outside of your group (exogamous marriage) Descent Systems Descent Systems Double Descent System Ambilineal Descent System Ambi = either (as in ambidextrous means “either hand”) Lineal = line Descent Systems (Summary) Unilineal Descent Systems Bilateral Descent (Patrilineal and Matrilineal) System Large Smaller groups groups Sedentary (don’t move much) Mobility Horticulture, pastoralism, agriculture Foragers and industrialists Redistribution exchanges (small surpluses) Generalized reciprocity Rigid membership rules; limited choice Flexible membership rules; lots of choice Lots of people to help you Fewer people to help you Lots of people for you to help Fewer people for you to help So, why the differences? Might be about economics and the control of property.