Social and Community Psychology: Kula Ring and Tuareg Headscarfs PDF
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Uploaded by LuckiestForethought
University of South Australia
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This document explores social psychology concepts through the analysis of the Kula Ring and Tuareg head scarfs. It examines various social behaviours and relationships within these contexts, highlighting the complexities of exchange and trust. The document references key figures and scholarly works relevant to the social sciences.
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Social and Community Psychology Applying Exchange and Trust Kula Ring and Tuareg Headscarfs The Kula Ring - Bronisław Malinowski (1922) “Argonauts of the Western Pacific” Yanajin33 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Museum_of_Ethnology,_Osaka__Shell_necklace_used_for_Kula_exchange_...
Social and Community Psychology Applying Exchange and Trust Kula Ring and Tuareg Headscarfs The Kula Ring - Bronisław Malinowski (1922) “Argonauts of the Western Pacific” Yanajin33 (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Museum_of_Ethnology,_Osaka__Shell_necklace_used_for_Kula_exchange_(soulava)__Trobriand_islands_in_Papua_New_Guinea_-_Made_in_the_latter_half_of_19th_Century__George_Brown_Collection.jpg), „National Museum of Ethnology, Osaka - Shell necklace used for Kula exchange (soulava) - Trobriand islands in Papua New Guinea - Made in the latter half of 19th Century - George Brown Collection“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/bysa/3.0/legalcode The Kula Ring - Bronisław Malinowski (1922) “Argonauts of the Western Pacific” Brocken Inaglory (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kula_bracelet_with_insert-2.jpg), „Kula bracelet with insert-2“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/legalcode Contexts • The groups traded a lot of other things together • The shells themselves were abundant and did not seem to “serve a purpose” • This was part of a wider symbolic generalised exchange • This kept the groups working together and functional • Reduced hostility • If you stop this practice, you may lose your other exchanges • Right to barter was complicated (no barter with shell recipients) • It is not right to boil this down to “cultural” or “polite” • What do your relationships value despite not having a “value”? The Tuareg Head Scarfs – Murphy (1964) • Men rather than women wear a veil • Murphy argues in context there is not really anonymity but “facelessness and the idiom of privacy” • People should be ambivalent and ambiguous about who they deal with • You don’t need to give any more than the situation (exchange) needs despite interconnections in family (polygamy) Alfred Weidinger from Vienna, Austria (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Touaregs_at_the_Festival_au_Desert_near_Timbuktu,_Mali_ 2012.jpg), „Touaregs at the Festival au Desert near Timbuktu, Mali 2012“, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/legalcode Examples in your own life • Change the password on your phone • Hide what you are doing on the screen from your partner • (Both of these things will end your relationship) • Think about who is allowed to give out this information • Someone is pregnant • You know, but can you tell everyone can do that celebration? • They haven’t disclosed, but everyone knows (sees maybe) what do you do? • Most groups have “secrets” which are “secrets” because everyone knows about them Flip it! Strategic Usurpation Social Behaviour Strategies are not monoliths • Someone always tells the truth; then suddenly lies (Pattern Break) • 1940-50: Tip your hat to a lady; then do it to a man (Insult?) • Deliberately going along with a stereotype (Script Taking?) • Do something weird and get everyone's attention (Distraction?) • Tell a stranger at a party a secret only seconds into meeting them (Beginning Reciprocity?) Consider what behaviour you have used to reverse or change the function suddenly What is Expected of You • You can discuss the possible contexts, especially resources, relationships, exchanges, secrecy, monitoring and trust, in the two examples discussed • You would be able to find these patterns in other behaviours • You are looking at observations with these concepts to generate possibilities • You use these concepts when looking at other cases of social behaviour • You are able to describe and apply the idea of strategic usurpation References Malinowski, B. (1922). Argonauts of the Western Pacific. New York: Dutton. Murphy, R. F. (1964). ‘Social distance and the veil’. American Anthropologist, 66, 1257–74. Social and Community Psychology Applying Exchange and Trust Kula Ring and Tuareg Headscarfs
