-
avunculocal
residence
- the
residence pattern in which a newly married couple moves in with
or near the groom's maternal uncle's house. This is strongly
associated with
matrilineal
descent and occurs when men obtain statuses, jobs, or
prerogatives from their nearest elder matrilineal male relative.
balanced reciprocity
an economic exchange in which there is an explicit
expectation of immediate return. Simple barter or supermarket purchases
involve this understanding. See
reciprocity.
-
band
- the
level of political integration in which a society consists
only of an association of families living together. Bands are
loosely allied by marriage,
descent, friendship,
and common interest. The primary integrating mechanism is
kinship ties. There
is no economic class differentiation. All adults of the same
gender are more or less equal as far as community decision
making is concerned. However, some individuals in a band may
stand out for their skills and knowledge. These often are the
people who have the best memories, are the best hunters, most
successful curers, most gifted speakers, etc. Such people
become informal leaders. Most often they are given authority by
community consensus arrived at through casual discussion without
the need for a formal vote. Leaders generally have temporary
political power at best, and they do not have any significant
authority relative to other adults within their band.
Subsequently, bands are essentially
acephalous
societies. The total number of people within these societies
rarely exceeds a few dozen. Bands are found among
foraging societies.
barter
- trading goods and services directly for other
goods and services without the use of money as a medium of
exchange. See dumb
barter.
-
believed behavior
- what people honestly believe that
they are doing in their lives rather than what they think they should be
doing or what they actually are doing. In most societies there is a
discrepancy between these three kinds of behavior.
It is important for anthropologists to distinguish between
actual, believed, and ideal behavior when they learn about another society and its
culture.
berdache
bewitching
using
magical acts and/or the assistance of supernatural beings to cause
something to occur. Bewitching is an integral part of
witchcraft.
-
bilateral
descent
- the
cognatic
pattern of descent in which 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. This is not the same
as bilineal
descent.
-
bilineal
descent
- the
cognatic
pattern of descent in which an individual is both a
member of his mother's matrilineage and his father's
patrilineage. Also known as "double descent."
This is not the same as
bilateral
descent.
bisexual
an
individual who is sexually and/or emotionally attracted by members
of the same and the opposite gender. See
heterosexual and
homosexual.
Black English
the social
dialect spoken by many African Americans. It also known as Ebonics
.
-
biological anthropology
body language
-
boundary maintenance
(in
reference to ethnic groups)
- reinforcing an ethnic group's unity and
distinctness by emphasizing the traits that set its members
apart from others, rather than what they share in common with
them.
bound morpheme
a
morpheme that has meaning
but can not stand alone. The prefix dis in
the English word dislike is an example.
bride price
things of
high value given by a groom to his bride's father. It is a way of
showing respect for the bride and her parents. At the same time, it
is a compensation for the bride's family for the loss of her
economic services. It is also a way of validating the groom's right
to future offspring. Bride price is most common among polygynous,
small-scale, patrilineal societies--especially in sub-Saharan Africa
and among Native Americans. Bride price is also referred to as
"bride wealth" and "progeny price."
See dowry.
bride service
- work or
services done by a groom for his wife's family instead of paying a
bride price. Bride
service is usually for a set period of time, often years. It is a
common practice in societies that have little material wealth and
strong rules requiring sharing that prevent the accumulation of
wealth.
-
bureaucracy
- an administrative system that divides
governing tasks into specific categories carried out by
different individuals and/or departments. Members of a
bureaucracy are referred to as bureaucrats.
-
caste
an
individual's rigidly ascribed, or inherited, status within society.
The most extensive caste system is in India where it is
associated strongly with the Hindu religion.
There are 4 major Indian
castes originally based on vocation: the
Brahmans (or Hindu priests), warriors, farmers, and shop keepers.
The castes are all ranked relative to each other with the Brahmans
being at the top. In addition, there are people in India who are
outside of the caste system. These outcasts are at the bottom of
society. One's caste is extremely important in India. People
are careful to marry within their own caste and to avoid physical
contact with members of lower castes because of the danger of
pollution.
cereals
the edible seeds of grasses. The
economically most important cereals include wheat, rice, and corn
(maize), oats, rye, millet, and sorghum. These grains provide the
bulk of the calories consumed by people in the world today.
chiefdom
the
level of political integration in which a society has a more or
less permanent political leader (i.e., a chief) but no
bureaucracy of
professional administrators. The chief provides direction and
authority for the society as a whole. Sometimes there is an
advisory council as well. In a few of the more complex chiefdoms in
Africa and Hawaii, there have been paramount chiefs and lesser
chiefs who perform some administrative functions. Chiefs and their
families generally have a higher standard of living than ordinary
people within their society. What makes this possible is that
chiefs usually perform a society wide economic
redistribution
function that is cloaked in the guise of ritual gift giving. This
essentially siphons off surplus agricultural products from farmers
and then redistributes them throughout the society. In the process,
a small amount is held back in order to support the chief's somewhat
more lavish lifestyle. The ritualized redistribution of surplus
food and other commodities in chiefdoms is, in a sense, the
rudimentary beginnings of a taxation system. It is tolerated by
people because of the economic advantages that it can provide in
addition to social stability. The larger territorial size of
chiefdoms often encompasses diverse environmental zones with
somewhat different products. The redistribution of agricultural
surpluses can serve as a method of providing greater food variety
for the populace as a whole. Chiefdoms commonly have a population
of tens of thousands of farmers. The large population size
generally means that the people have less in common than do those in
the smaller societies of bands
and tribes. Disputes
inevitably arise that cannot be settled by informal means based on
kinship and friendship. A chief usually functions as an arbitrator
and judge in these cases.
circumcision
removing all or part of the foreskin of the
penis. This surgery is usually done with a knife as part of a
rite of passage
marking the transition from childhood to adulthood for boys.
See subincision.
clan
-
a
group of people who claim unilineal descent from the same ancestor but who cannot specify all of
the actual links. The ancestor is genealogically so remote that he or she
is often thought of as a mythical being, animal, or plant. Clans usually
consist of a number of related unilineages. See
totem.
class
a group of people thought of as a unit because they are similar in terms of
social and/or economic factors. In America, for instance, a class
distinction is commonly made between
"white collar" well paid office workers and lower paid
"blue collar" factory workers and manual laborers.
In state level societies of the past, the most
important class distinction was between the ruling elite and the
commoners. Bands, tribes, and early chiefdoms did not have classes,
though individuals were often ranked relative to each other.
-
clitoridectomy
- cutting off all or part of the clitoris
and sometime all or part of the labia. This surgery is usually
done as part of a
rite of passage
marking the transition from childhood to adulthood for girls.
In Western Nations, clitoridectomy is often
referred to as "genital mutilation."
See infibulation.
-
cognatic
descent
- tracing kinship through
both the mother's and the father's ancestors
to some degree. Cognatic descent occurs in four forms:
ambilineal,
bilineal,
parallel,
and bilateral
descent.
-
collateral
relative
- uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces
and other consanguinal kinsmen beyond ego's main line of
descent.
colonial powers
a term referring mostly to the Western
European nations that carved out colonies in Africa, Asia, Central
and South America, and the Pacific during the 18th through the early
20th centuries. The U.S., Russia, and Japan also acquired colonial
empires in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
commerce
large-scale
buying and selling of goods and services within and between societies
that usually have market
economies.
common law
a law
that has evolved over time and is part of the cultural tradition
rather than being created by enactment in legislatures or by
rulers. In
large-scale societies, many laws derive from old common laws but
are now formalized by being written down in penal codes. Virtually
all laws in
small-scale societies are unwritten common laws.
-
consanguinity
- a socially recognized biological
descent link, such
as between a woman and her father, aunt, or daughter.
Individuals who have a consanguinity relationship are "consanguines"
to each other. Consanguinity literally means "with the
blood", reflecting the old incorrect assumption that biological
inheritance is passed on through blood rather than DNA. See
affinity.
-
contagious magic
-
magic that is based on the principle that things or persons once in
contact can afterward influence each other. In other words, there
is a permanent relationship between an individual and any part of
his or her body. As a consequence, believers must take special
precautions with their hair, fingernails, teeth, clothes, and
feces. If anyone obtained these objects, magic could be performed
on them which would cause the person they came from to be affected.
-
core values
- the fundamental values that provide the
basis for social behavior in society. They are what people
believe is desirable or offensive, appropriate or inappropriate,
and correct or incorrect.
creole
- a
pidgin language that has
become the mother tongue of a population. In Haiti, for example, a
French-African pidgin became the creole language that is spoken in that
nation today by the majority of the population as their principle or
only language.
crime
- a deviation from the social norm that is
of such magnitude as to go beyond what would be considered bad
manners or odd behavior. Societies respond to such
exceptionally deviant actions by creating laws to curb and
sometimes punish them. There is no universal agreement between
the societies of the world about what constitutes criminal
behavior or how it should be dealt with. Sufficient
ethnographic
data have been collected over the last century to show that
societies with different kinds of economies have radically
different sorts of laws and legal concerns. See
tort.
-
cross cousin
- one's father's sister's children or
mother's brother's children. The gender of the children is not
relevant in making this distinction. See
parallel cousin.
-
cross dressing
-
Crow
naming system
- a
matrilineally based kin naming system in which siblings and
parallel cousins
of the same gender are given the same term of reference (5 =
male and 6 = female) as are mother and mother's sister (2).
Other people in ego's father's
matrilineage
are lumped across generations (1 = male and 3 = female),
reflecting the comparative unimportance of the father's side of
the family in societies using the Crow system.
-
-
cult
- a
devoted religious group, often living together in a community with a
charismatic prophet
leader. Cults are generally considered to be potentially dangerous,
unorthodox, extremist groups by the dominant religious organizations
in a society.
-
cultural anthropology
the study of contemporary and recent historical
cultures all over the world. The focus is on social organization,
culture change, economic and political systems, and religion.
Cultural anthropology is also referred to as social or sociocultural anthropology.
-
cultural relativity
- suspending one's
ethnocentric judgments
in order to understand and appreciate another culture.
Anthropologists try to learn about and interpret the
various aspects of the culture they are studying in reference to that
culture rather than to their own. This provides a better
understanding of how such practices as polygamy and cannibalism can
function and even support other cultural traditions.
-
cultural universals
- cultural traits that
are shared by all of humanity collectively. Examples of such general
traits are communicating with a verbal language, using age and gender to
classify people, and raising children in some sort of family setting.
No matter where people live in the world, they share these universal
cultural traits. However, different cultures have developed their
own specific ways of carrying out or expressing these general traits.
-
culture
- the full range of learned
behavior patterns that are acquired by people as members of a society.
A culture is a complex, largely interconnected whole that consists of the knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, skills, and
habits learned from parents and others in a society. Culture is the
primary adaptive
mechanism for humans.
culture bound syndrome
- a disease that has a very limited
distribution around the world due to the unique sets of
environmental circumstances and cultural practices that cause it to
occur. koro,
kuru, and
Widigo psychosis
are examples.
culture death
- the
complete disappearance of a culture as a result of the total
acculturation or the death of all of the people who shared it.
culture loss
- the
loss of cultural traits. As cultures change and acquire new traits,
old no longer useful or popular ones inevitably disappear. An
example of culture loss is the disappearance over time of certain
words and phrases in a language. In some cases, the words continue
to be used but acquire new, very different meanings. Culture loss
is accelerated during periods of
acculturation and
transculturation.
culture shock
- feelings of confusion, distress, and
sometimes depression that can result from the psychological stress
caused by the strain of rapidly adjusting to an alien culture. This
is a common phenomenon for travelers who are totally immersed in the
language and customs of another society, day and night, without a
break. It is largely due to being forced to constantly experience
new, unfamiliar cultural practices and traditions.
Transculturating
people also are likely to experience culture shock.
Until the new culture becomes familiar and comfortable, it is common
to have difficulty in communicating and to make frustrating
mistakes. This is usually compounded by feelings of
homesickness. These feelings can be emotionally debilitating.
However, culture shock eventually passes for most people.
curandero
a Latin
American folk curer. Cuanderos believe that they have
received a divine calling to their profession, and they may have
direct contact with the spirit world. They usually apprentice for
years under an older curandero. In Mexico and Central
America, there are curandero generalists and specialists.
Yerberos
are knowledgeable about herbs. Parteras
are midwifes. Sabadoros
are specialists in massaging patients. Curanderos may also
specialize in particular kinds of illness--e.g., curandero de
aire
,
etc. A
female curandero is a curandera
.
cyclical round of migrations
seasonal
migrations of foragers or pastoralists between different environments in
their territories. This often involves migrations that take people from
spring to summer camps and then to fall and finally winter ones. This cycle
of migrations that is repeated yearly is determined by the resources that
can be exploited at particular times of the year in different areas.
Carrying out such a round of migrations increases the amount of food that
can be obtained by a society. As a result a somewhat larger population can
be supported.
-
descent
socially recognized links between ancestors
and descendants, such as the bond between
children and their parents.
descriptive kin naming system
developed nation
(or society)
-
a nation or
society that is
relatively wealthy and usually industrialized. Most of
the people in developed nations
have adequate access to food,
electricity, fossil fuels, education, and medicine with the
consequence that their lives are materially more comfortable and
their life spans are
significantly longer than those in
underdeveloped nations. The United
States, Canada, most of Europe, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Singapore,
Australia, and New Zealand are developed nations.
dialect
a variant of a
language. If it is
associated with a geographically isolated speech community, it is
referred to as a regional dialect. However, if it is spoken by a speech
community that is merely socially isolated, it is called a social
dialect.
-
diffusion
- the movement of cultural traits
and ideas from one society or ethnic group to another. While the
form of a trait may be transmitted to another society, the original
meaning may not. For instance, McDonald's hamburgers are
thought of as a cheap, quick meal in North America, but they are
generally considered to be a special occasion food in China.
diglossia
- the
phenomenon in which different dialects of a language or different
languages are spoken by a person in different social situations.
Diglossic
people may quickly switch back and forth between dialects or
languages, depending on the person they are talking to at the time.
This is the case with the educated elite of Haiti. They usually
speak standard French among themselves but use the Haitian French
creole language on the street dealing with poor uneducated Haitians.
Diglossia is also referred to as "code switching."
discrimination
the act of distinguishing differences between
people and showing favoritism or prejudicial rejection of them. See
prejudice and
stereotype.
-
disease vector
-
an intermediate
host and/or disease transmitting organism for a contagious
disease. Mosquitoes, fleas, lice, ticks, flies, and even snails
are common disease vectors.
distribution and exchange
(systems of)
the practices that are involved in getting the
goods and services produced by a society to its people. See systems of
production.
diversified foraging
a hunting
and gathering subsistence pattern in which there is not a concentration of efforts in
harvesting a small number of species. Rather, virtually all potential food
sources in the environment are exploited. Most
pedestrian foragers
take a diversified approach. In contrast,
aquatic and
equestrian foragers
are specialized. A diversified subsistence pattern has the advantage of
relative economic security if there are fluctuations in the weather, water
supply, or periodic die-offs of the food sources. The disadvantage is that
the total amount of food calories acquired is often less and the amount of
time required to secure them is greater compared to
specialized foraging.
divination
a
magical procedure by which the
cause of a particular event or the future is determined.
division of labor
referring
to the jobs that are normally assigned to people based on such things as
gender and age. In most foraging societies, large animal hunting is an
occupation of adult males, while domestic tasks, child rearing, and plant
food collecting are mostly adult female jobs. In the Western industrialized
nations today, the division of labor is based mostly on age, knowledge,
skills, and preference. Gender is often rejected as a criteria for job assignment in these
contemporary societies.
double descent
dowry
money, property, or other things of high
value given by a bride's family to the groom, ostensibly to
establish a new household. It is her share of the family
inheritance. A dowry is, in a sense, the reverse of a
bride price.
drop of blood criterion
(for race classification)
see
hypodescent.
dumb barter
barter
without direct contact between the traders. Individuals from one group
leave trade goods at a neutral location on the edge of their territory
and then leave. Sometime later, members of the other community pick up
the goods and leave something in exchange. The first group then returns
and either picks up the things that were left by the strangers or leaves
them until additions or substitutions are made that are acceptable.
In the past, dumb-barter of this sort occurred in parts of West
Africa, Northern Scandinavia, India, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Timor, New
Guinea, and the Amazon Basin of South America.
Dumb barter is also known as "silent trade"
and "depot trade."
-
Ebonics
egalitarian
referring
to societies in which all people are equal in terms of economic and
political rights. Foraging bands
are the most egalitarian societies. However, even in these societies, there
are differences based on age and sometimes gender.
- ego
(in reference to diagramming kinship)
- in a kinship diagram, the individual to
whom all relationships are referred.
emic
categories
referring to the
categorization of things according to the way in which members of a
society classify their own world. In other words, this is the way their
culture and language divide up reality. Such emic categories generally
differ from culture to culture and provide valuable insights into the
perceptions and world view of other peoples. Discovering, recording,
and analyzing emic categories is the task of
ethnoscience. See
etic categories.
eminent domain
the right of a
government to take legal possession of private property for public use. In
most Western countries, the property owner is financially compensated for
the loss based on what is considered to be fair market value. An example of
eminent domain is a government taking someone's house and land in order to
build a road through the property.
enculturation
the process of being
socialized to a
particular culture. This includes learning the language, customs,
biases, and values of the culture.
Through enculturation an individual learns the statuses, roles,
rules, and values of his or her own culture. The most intensive
period of enculturation is usually during early childhood, but the
process continues throughout life.
- a disease that is always present in a
community, usually at a low, more or less constant frequency.
Malaria, arthritis, and high blood pressure are examples. See
hyperendemic.
endogamy
a marriage
partner selection rule requiring that marriage be to someone within
a defined social group such as an
extended family,
religious community, economic class, ethnic or age group. Selection
is always further restricted by
exogamy rules.
epidemic
the
occurrence of a disease in a population in which it appears, rapidly spreads
between people, reaches a high frequency, and then subsides. Contagious
diseases such as influenza, measles, and AIDS follow this pattern.
Epidemics usually appear seasonally as a
result of changing human interaction patterns and changes in the
environment. See pandemic.
- the field of medical research that
studies the causes of diseases and how to cure or control them.
Epidemiologists also track the frequency and geographic
distribution of diseases over time. In addition, they study the
causal relationships between diseases.
equestrian
foraging
a
specialized subsistence
pattern in which horses are used extensively in hunting large game
animals. Equestrian foragers evolved in only two areas of the world--the
Great Plains of North America and the sparse grasslands of Southern
Argentina. In both cases,
pedestrian foragers
acquired horses from Spanish settlers in the early 17th century. Over
several generations, horse breeding and riding skills were honed. This
resulted in a revolutionary change in these Native American societies. The
horse became the principle mode of transportation and dramatically increased
hunting success in the pursuit of large animals. These societies became
larger, more mobile, and were now able to travel over larger areas
throughout the year. Horses allowed them to effectively follow the seasonal
migrations of large herbivores over hundreds of miles. In North American
the prey of choice was the bison and in South America it was the
guanaco.
("Equestrian" is derived from the Latin word equus meaning
horse.)
- Eskimo
naming system
- a
bilateral
descent based kin naming system in which members of the
nuclear family
are given terms of reference based only on their gender and
generation. Aunts (3) and uncles (4) are distinguished from
parents (1 = father and 2 = mother) and separated by gender.
The spouses of aunts and uncles may also be given these kin
terms. All cousins are lumped together with one kin term (7)
without regard to gender. No kin name distinction is made
between uncles, aunts, and cousins with regards to side of the
family.
-
ethnic group
a category or group of people considered to
be significantly different from others in terms of cultural
(dialect, religion, traditions, etc.) and sometimes physical
characteristics (skin color, body shape, etc.). Commonly recognized
American ethnic groups include American Indians, Jews, Latinos,
Chinese, African Americans ("blacks"), European Americans
("whites"), etc.
ethnicity
ethnic symbol
selected traits used as symbolic badges of
identity to emphasize distinctness from other ethnic groups.
Dialect, religion, and style of dress are common ethnic symbols.
Biological characteristics, such as skin color and body shape, may
be used as ethnic symbols as well.
-
ethnocentrism
- the deep felt belief or feeling that your
culture is superior to all others. Being fond of your own
way of life and condescending or even hostile toward other
cultures is normal for all people. Alien culture traits
are often viewed as being not just different but less sensible
and even "unnatural."
This results
in the interpretation of other people in terms of one's own
cultural values and traditions. An example is people from
monogamous societies condemning polygamy as being "unnatural"
and immoral. Ethnocentrism is universal and normal but not
necessarily morally defensible or desirable because it prevents
understanding other cultures. It also interferes with meaningful
intercultural communication.
See cultural
relativity.
ethnocide
the act
or attempt to systematically destroy another people's ethnicity or
culture. Usually the term ethnocide is applied to intentional acts
resulting in culture
death. The legalized "kidnapping" of Native American children
so that they could be educated as Europeanized Canadians and
Americans during the late 19th and early 20th centuries is an
example of ethnocide. See
genocide.
-
ethnography
- anthropological research in which
one learns about the
culture of another society through
fieldwork and first hand observation in that
society. Ethnography is also the term used to refer to books or
monographs describing what was learned about the culture of a society.
-
ethnology
- an anthropological study that systematically
compares similar cultures.
An example of an ethnological study
would be a comparison of what cultures are like in societies that have
economies based on hunting and gathering rather than agriculture.
The data for this sort of ethnology would come from the existing
ethnographies about these
peoples. In other words, an ethnology is essentially a synthesis of
the work of many ethnographers.
- the scientific study of traditional uses
of plants and other organisms for medical purposes.
Ethnopharmacology is a specialization within ethnobiology, which
is an interdisciplinary field of research carried out by people
trained in cultural anthropology, biology, and medicine.
ethnoscience
the field of
anthropology that tries to learn about how people in different cultures
categorize things in their environment. The focus is on
emic categories.
This data provides important insights into the interests, concerns, and
values of cultures.
etic
categories
- referring to the
classification of things according to some external system of analysis
brought in by a visitor to another society. This is the approach of
biology in using the Linnaean classification system to define new
species. It assumes that ultimately, there is an objective reality and
that is more important than cultural perceptions of it. See
emic categories.
exogamy
a
marriage partner selection rule requiring that marriage be with
someone outside of a defined social group such as one's
nuclear family.
Selection is usually further restricted by
endogamy rules.
-
extended family
- two or
more nuclear
families tied together by bonds of descent. Usually an
extended family contains living relatives from three or more
generations.
family of
orientation
family of
procreation
feuding
prolonged hostility and occasional fighting
between individuals and their supporters. It is a universal form of
aggression that mostly occurs between members of the same society,
though it can occur between people from separate societies as well.
It is caused by a desire for revenge for a perceived prior wrong.
Usually, both sides in feuds believe that they have been wronged and
seek to settle the score. Inherent in feuds is a failure in
communication between the feuding parties and the belief that there
needs to be "an eye for an eye." Without adequate retribution,
there is minimally a loss of face for the families involved.
fictive
kinship
a socially recognized link between
individuals, created as an expedient for dealing with special
circumstances, such as the bond between a godmother and her godchild.
Fictive kinship bonds are based on friendship and other personal
relationships rather than marriage and descent.
foragers
people who
live in more or less isolated, small societies and obtain their food by
foraging wild plants and hunting wild animals. Foragers generally have a
passive dependence on what the environment contains. They do not plant
crops and the only domesticated animals that they usually have are dogs.
Most foraging societies do not establish permanent settlements. Rather,
they have relatively temporary encampments with tents or other easily
constructed dwellings. The length of time that they stay in any one
location is largely determined by the availability of resources. Foragers
are also referred to as hunters and gatherers.
formal education
structured and directed teaching and learning
primarily under the control and direction of adult teachers who are
professional "knowers." Formal education is usually what happens in
a classroom. See
informal education.
- gender
- sexual identity as male or female.
genealogy
the family history, or record of descent, of
an individual from his or her ancestors.
generalized reciprocity
gift giving without the expectation of an immediate
return. It is understood that at some time in the future there will be an
appropriate repayment. See reciprocity.
general purpose money
a portable, arbitrarily valued medium of exchange.
All market economies today use this form of money. It can have a variety of
physical forms--e.g., coins, paper money, or bank checks. It can also be
simply a digital transmission from one computer to another that occurs with
the use of credit cards or the electronic transfer of funds. The key point
about general purpose money is that anything that is for sale can be bought
with it--everyone accepts it. General purpose money is also referred to as
"standardized currency." See
special purpose money.
genocide
the act or attempt to systematically kill all
members of an ethnic group or culture. The Nazi extermination of
Jews and gypsies by the millions before and during World War II is
an example of genocide. See
ethnocide.
- globalism
- the progressive emergence of a single
worldwide economic system and the simultaneous reduction in
global cultural and political differences. A presumed result of
globalization would be the merging of previously separate
political entities and the growth in power and prestige of
international institutions. Those who advocate globalism generally
believe that ethnocentrism,
nationalism, and
tribalism are obstacles that
must be overcome.
-
god or goddess
- a powerful supernatural being with
an individual identity and recognizable attributes. Another term
for a god is a deity
.
Like spirits, gods have
individual identities and recognizable attributes (gods are male and
goddess are female). However, gods and goddesses are more powerful
than spirits and other lesser supernatural beings--they can
effectively alter all of nature and human fortunes. As a result,
they are commonly worshipped and requests are made of them to help
in times of need.
godparent
a person who sponsors a child and assumes
some parental responsibility for its upbringing. A godparent shares
this responsibility with the "real" parents. A godparent is a
fictive kinsman
who may be either a godmother or a godfather to a godchild.
grammar
the part of
language analysis that is concerned with how the sounds are used to make
sense. Grammar consists of
morphology and
syntax.
hallucinogen
a mind
altering drug that can cause profound hallucinations or an altered state
of awareness. Most hallucinogens used for religious purposes by
shamans and others are
derived from plants.
Hawaiian
naming system
a kin naming system in which relatives are
distinguished only by generation and gender. This results in just 4
different kin terms of reference. Ego's father and all male
relatives in his generation are referred to by the same kin term
(1). Likewise, ego's mother and all female relatives in her
generation have the same kin term (2). All brothers and male
cousins are linked by giving them the same kin term (3). Sisters
and all female cousins are also referred to by the same term (4).
-
herbivorous
- eating
only vegetable foods. Animals that have this sort of diet are
herbivores or vegetarians.
heterogeneous
society
a society consisting of many different ethnic
and/or "racial" groups, social classes, languages and/or dialects,
and cultural traditions. The U.S. and Canada are heterogeneous
societies. See
homogenous society.
heterosexual
an
individual who is sexually and/or emotionally attracted by members
of the opposite gender from himself or herself. Heterosexuality
generally refers to sexual interaction between members of the
opposite gender. See bisexual and
homosexual.
-
hierarchical society
- a
society that is divided into unequal social classes and individual
statuses. There commonly is a ranking of classes and statuses in
hierarchical societies such that those that are at the top of the
ranking have greater power and wealth. Large intensive agriculture
based societies typically have a social and political pyramid with an
elite ruling class at the top and the majority of the people at the
bottom.
Hispanic
- referring to Spanish and/or Latin
American cultural traditions. In the
U.S., Portuguese speaking Brazilians also are often considered
Hispanics for official census
recording purposes while people from Spain and Portugal are
frequently excluded. See
Latino.
holism
the
view that human existence can be adequately understood only as a
multifaceted whole. Human beliefs and actions must be seen in terms of
their interrelatedness with all other aspects of culture, human biology,
social interaction, and environmental influences.
homogenous
society
- a society that predominantly or entirely
consists of people who share the same ethnicity/race, language,
and cultural traditions. Most small-scale societies are
homogenous. A few large-scale ones, like Japan, are as well.
See
heterogeneous society.
homosexual
- an
individual who is sexually and/or emotionally attracted by
members of his or her own gender. Homosexuality generally refers
to sexual interaction between members of the same gender. In
North America, female homosexuals are often referred to as
"lesbians" while males are known as "gays."
See bisexual and
heterosexual.
-
horticulturalists
- people
who obtain most of their food by low intensity farming.
This
subsistence pattern involves at least part time planting and tending of
domesticated food plants. Pigs, chickens, or other relatively small
domesticated animals are often raised for food and prestige. Many
horticultural societies supplement their farming subsistence base with
occasional hunting and gathering of wild plants and animals. They
usually practice slash and burn field clearing methods and do not add
additional fertilizer or irrigate.
Multi-cropping is
common. They often have a partial reliance on foraging for wild foods.
Their societies are usually larger and more sedentary than those of
foragers but still are at a
low technological level and relatively small-scale.
household
- a
residential group usually, but not always, consisting of members
of the same family.
humoral pathology
a
naturalistic
medical system based on the idea that our bodies have four important
fluids or humors--blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile. Each humor
is thought to have its own "complexion." Blood is hot and wet. Phlegm
is cold and wet. Black bile is cold and dry. Yellow bile is hot and
dry. These complexions have nothing to do with actual temperature and
humidity. In addition to bodily fluids, three internal organs are
considered highly important in humoral pathology. Each one has its own
characteristic complexion. The heart is dry and cold. The brain is wet
and cold. The liver is hot and wet. Specific forms of illnesses,
medicines, foods, and most natural objects also have specific
complexions. Curing an illness involves discovering the complexion
imbalance and rectifying it.
-
hunters and gatherers
- see
foragers.
-
hyperendemic
an
endemic disease present at a continuously high frequency within
a population.
hypodescent
- the criterion for assigning individuals to
specific "races" based on only a distant hereditary relationship. The
Nazis used this criterion for labeling people as Jews whose only
connection with Judaism was a grandparent. Similarly, it has been used
in North America to label people as African American even if they were
mostly European in biological ancestry. Hypodescent is also known as
the "drop of blood" criterion.
-
hypothesis
a tentative
explanation for a set of observable or measurable facts that is
tested using the
scientific method.
incest taboos
rules
prohibiting sexual intercourse with close relatives. The prohibition
includes at least members of one's
nuclear family
and may extend to more distant relatives in some cultures.
-
ideal behavior
- what people believe that they
should do in their
lives rather than what they think they are doing or what they actually are doing. In most societies there is a discrepancy between
these three kinds of behavior.
It is
important for anthropologists to distinguish between actual,
believed, and ideal behavior when they learn about another
society and its culture.
imitative magic
see
sympathetic magic.
-
indigenous
-
referring to the native population of an area.
indigenous
world-view
a
world-view in which
it is believed that humans are not separate from nature and
the supernatural world. Living creatures and non-living objects in
nature as well as supernatural beings are thought to be human-like
in their motivations, feelings, and interactions. When the
characteristics of this type of world-view were first proposed in
the early 1950's by Robert Redfield, it was called a "primitive
world-view." See
metropolitan
world-view.
Industrial Revolution
the
transition from a society primarily dependent on hand tools produced by
individual craftsmen to one with machine and power tools developed
through large-scale industrial production. In Western Cultures, this
began to occur during the last half of the 18th century. It resulted in
increased individual wealth, progressive urbanization, and globalization
of the economy.
infanticide
the
killing of children. Extreme threat of starvation has at times
forced some societies, such as the Inuit of the North American
Arctic, to kill family members. When this occurred, the decision
was usually to eliminate the youngest daughter because she was
the least likely to add to the family's food supply. Though
illegal, female infanticide does occur occasionally in India and
mainland China where there is a high value placed on having
sons.
infibulation
Infibulation is partially closing off the
opening to the vagina by sewing, pinning, or clamping part of the
vulva. This surgery is usually done as part of a
rite of passage
marking the transition from childhood to adulthood for girls.
See clitoridectomy.
informal education
learning as a result of imitation,
experimentation, and repetitive practice of basic skills. This is
what happens when children role-play adult interactions in their
games. See formal
education.
informal negative sanction
an "unofficial", non-governmental punishment
for violations of social norms.
Informal negative sanctions usually are in the form of gossip,
public ridicule, social ostracism, insults, or even threats of
physical harm by other members of the community. See
negative sanction
and positive
sanction.
informant
someone who is not only
knowledgeable about his or her own culture but who is able and willing to
communicate this knowledge in an understandable way to an anthropologist
or some other outsider. Ethnographers usually try to develop a warm and
trusting relationship with their informants. This makes it more
likely that they will learn what the informant's culture is really like.
ingroup-outgroup dynamics
- the
social and psychological forces that operate in the interaction
between groups of people and societies. In this interaction,
ethnocentrism and
the desire to defend ethnic boundaries generally inhibits clear
communication and cultural
diffusion.
- in-law
- a person, other than a spouse, whose
kinship relationship to ego is only through a marriage bond.
Brother-in-law and mother-in-law are examples. In-laws are often
considered to be relatives by societies following the
Eskimo kin
naming system. However, such
affinal relatives are
usually considered to be more distant in terms of kinship
obligations and privileges than
consanguinal ones.
inner-directed personality
- a
personality that is guilt oriented. The behavior of
individuals with this sort of personality are strongly
controlled by their conscience. As a result, there is little
need for police to make sure that they obey the law. These
individuals monitor themselves. The inner-directed personality
is one of the modal personality types identified by David Riesman in the
early 1950's.
intensive agriculture
a
subsistence pattern characterized by full-time farming in which large beasts
of burden or highly mechanized farm equipment (e.g., rototillers and
tractors) are used to prepare the land for planting and later to harvest
crops. Intensive agriculture
usually involves the use of irrigation or other forms of water management.
Often there is mono-cropping
with heavy applications of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. This
form of agriculture is highly productive but generally capital intensive.
interaction distance
- the distance our
bodies are physically apart while talking with each other. If two
speakers have different comfortable interaction distances, a ballet of
shifting positions usually occurs until one of the individuals is backed
into a corner and feels threatened by what may be perceived as hostile
or sexual overtures. As a result, the verbal message may not be
listened to or understood as it was intended. Interaction distance is
an aspect of proxemics.
internalization of the moral code
the
situation in which people accept society’s moral code and do not
need police or other external means of social control to get them to
follow it. They feel guilty if they do something “wrong” and punish
themselves or turn themselves in for punishment.
invention
-
something new that is created. Invented cultural traits may be new
things or ideas. It is rare for inventions to be based on entirely
new principles, functions, and forms. Most often, old principles
are applied to new functions and/or forms. Inventions may also
result from
stimulus diffusion
- Iroquois
naming system
- a kin naming system in which the
same term of reference is used for father and father's brother (1)
as well as mother and mother's sister (2).
Parallel cousins
from both sides of the family are lumped together with siblings but
distinguished by gender (5 = male and 6 = female). All
cross cousins are
similarly lumped together and distinguished by gender (7 = male and
8 = female).
-
joint family
two or more
relatives of the same generation living together with their
respective spouses and children. Joint families typically consist of
1-2 generations. See extended family.
-
judgment sample
- a
probability sample
that includes only a limited number of key people selected by an
anthropologist to be his or her informants
based on the likelihood that they possess knowledge concerning the
research questions and will be most able to communicate it. For
example, religious leaders would be the most likely informants if research
concerns religious beliefs and practices. The judgment sample
approach works best if the focus of research concerns cultural information
that only some members of the host society possess.
kindred
a family group bound together by
their kinship ties to one person. An individual's kindred consists
of all of the people who are related to him or her through
consanguinal ties
and possibly affinal
ones as well. That is, it includes one's biological relatives and
sometimes spouses and in-laws.
kinesics
the
part of non-verbal communication consisting of gestures, expressions,
and postures. This part of
paralanguage is also known as body language.
kin naming system
a culturally defined set of rules
for terms of address and reference to be used for specific
categories of relatives. There are 6 different kin naming systems
in use around the world:
Eskimo,
Hawaiian,
Sudanese,
Omaha,
Crow, and
Iroquois.
Kin naming systems are also referred to as "kin terminological
systems."
kinship
culturally defined relationships
between individuals who are commonly thought of as having family
ties. Kinship is based on marriage,
descent, and,
occasionally, fictive relationships as well.
-
koro
- an irrational perception that one's
prominent sexual body parts are withdrawing into the body and
subsequently being lost. In the case of men, the concern is
that their penis and testes are shrinking. For women, the focus
is on the perceived shrinking of the vulva and nipples. In both
cases it is a fear of the loss of masculinity or femininity
followed by premature death. Koro is traditionally
believed to be caused by "unhealthy sex" (e.g., masturbation or
sex with prostitutes). It also thought to be caused by
"tainted" foods. Koro is found in China and areas of
Southeast Asia where Chinese culture has diffused (especially
Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore).
Kula Ring
- the complex system of inter-island commerce that
existed among the Trobriand
Islanders of the Southwest Pacific Ocean. The Kula Ring was a closed
trading system in which only established senior male trading partners
from each island could participate. The trade was carried out with
large outrigger sailing canoes. On the surface, it appeared to be
primarily an exchange of gift items and ceremonial feasting organized to
reinforce bonds between senior trading partners. The trade network was
essentially circular. If a trader was traveling in a clockwise
direction around the circuit, he would give long necklaces of red shells
(soulava) as gifts to his trading partner. If he was traveling
in a counterclockwise direction, he would give armbands of white shells
(mwali). These necklaces and armbands were the kula items.
While the senior trading partners were formally greeting each other and
reinforcing their friendship by giving kula gifts, the younger men were
usually unloading more practical trade items on the beach to be
bartered. These were mostly surplus luxury items from their home
islands. While the kula items were exchanged via a system of
generalized
reciprocity, the regular trade goods were mostly traded in a manner
that resulted in balanced reciprocity.
-
kuru
- a fatal disease caused by
prions that was
found among the South Foré
people of the eastern New Guinea Highlands. The symptoms
include palsy, contracted face muscles, and the loss of
motor control resulting in the inability to walk and
eventually even eat. Kuru victims become
progressively emaciated. Death almost always occurs within
6-12 months of the onset of symptoms. This disease was
spread among the South Foré as a result of cannibalism.
Kuru is a variant of Kreutzfeld-Jacob disease in humans as
well as scrapies and mad cow disease in livestock and some
wild animals.
language
a specific set
of rules for generating speech.
-
large-scale farming
- see
intensive
agriculture.
-
large-scale society
- generally, a society with cities, industry,
intensive
agriculture, and a complex international economy. Such societies
have socio-economic classes and a government with hierarchies of
officials. The importance of kinship is diminished in social, economic,
and political matters (in comparison to
small-scale
societies).
latent functions
functions that are less apparent and more
difficult to uncover (e.g., building a bridge to keep workers employed
and provide a recognizable symbol of a city). See
manifest functions.
-
Latino
- in contemporary American usage, this is a
person of Hispanic
ethnic identity. The feminine form of "latino" is "latina"?
law
a society's rules of conduct that are usually
based on social norms and generally recognized by its members as
binding or enforceable. See
common law.
lesbian
a woman who is sexually attracted to other
women--a female homosexual.
-
levels of
political integration
- a term referring to general types of
political systems used to organize and manage societies. As a
society's population size and territory grow, it must develop
new political solutions to keep from splitting apart. In the
1950's, the American Anthropologist, Elman Service described
four levels of political integration that have have been used
around the world to solve this problem--band,
tribe,
chiefdom, and
state. While there
are some unique cultural variations of each of these levels,
they are remarkably similar from one society to another.
Subsequently, classifying a society in terms of its level of
political integration has proven to be a useful tool in
comprehending the wide range of human cultures and societies
from small foraging communities to modern nation states.
levirate
a rule
specifying that a widow should marry the brother of her deceased
husband. This keeps the dead man's wealth and children within his
family. It also continues the bond between the husband's and wife's
families. This rule is most common in societies that have
patrilineal
descent and polygyny.
-
linguistics
- the comparative study of the
function, structure, and history of languages and the communication process in general.
Linguistics is also referred to as linguistic anthropology.
machismo
the Spanish
and Latin American ideal of men being confident, strong, dignified,
brave, overtly masculine, and sexually active. This ideal of a macho
,
or "real man", was brought to the New World from Spain and Portugal.
Its ultimate origin is probably to be found in the Islamic cultural
traditions of North Africa that heavily influenced the culture of
the Spanish Peninsula until the end of the 1400's A.D.
See marianismo.
-
magic
- using ritual formulas to compel or
influence supernatural beings or powers to act in certain ways for
good or evil purposes. By performing certain magical acts in a
particular way, crops might be improved, game herds replenished,
illness cured or avoided, animals and people made fertile. This is
very different from television and stage "magic" that depends on
slight-of-hand tricks and contrived illusions rather than
supernatural power.
-
majority group
- an ethnic/racial group that has the
largest population and usually the greatest economic and
political power in a society. The majority group in North
America today consists mostly of European Americans. See
minority group.
mal de ojo
(the "evil eye")
a kind of
personalistic illness in Latin America and parts of the
Mediterranean Basin resulting from soul loss. The cause is
traditionally thought to be a strong person staring at a weak
individual. The eyes of the strong person drain the power and/or
soul from the weak one. Proof that this has occurred to someone is
that he or she cries inconsolably without a cause, has fitful sleep,
diarrhea, vomiting, and/or a fever. It is thought that powerful
people can cause this draining of the soul intentionally or
unintentionally. In traditional Mexican and Central American
culture, women, babies, and young children are thought of as being
weak, while men as well as rich and politically powerful people of
either gender are strong. People who believe in the existence of
mal de ojo are likely to seek out a
curandero to cure
it.
marianismo
the Spanish
and Latin American ideal of women being modest, restrained,
virtuous, and nurturing. Women are expected to be sexually abstinent
before marriage and passive in response to their husbands' demands
after marriage. Women are expected to have sexual intercourse only
with their husbands. "Marianismo" comes from the Virgin
Mary, whose life women are encouraged to emulate as a model of
"proper" femininity. See
machismo.
marriage
the socially
recognized union of two or more people. It is a universal method of
regulating heterosexual intercourse by defining who is acceptable as
a sexual partner and who is not. Marriage establishes social
relationships that are the foundation for families and households.
manifest functions
functions that are obvious and easily discovered
even by strangers (e.g., building a bridge to get to quickly get across a
narrow waterway). See
latent functions.
market economy
an impersonal but highly efficient system of
production,
distribution, and exchange
that is principally characterized by: 1) the use of
money as a means of exchange, 2)
having the ability to accumulate vast amounts of capital (i.e., wealth that
can be used to fund further production), and 3) having highly complex
economic interactions that are ultimately international in the scale of
their inter-relatedness. See
non-market economy.
matricentric
family
a
nuclear family in
which there is no continuing adult male functioning as a
husband/father. This man is missing due to death, divorce,
abandonment, or no marriage having taken place. In such families,
the mother raises her children more or less alone and subsequently
has the major role in their socialization. Matricentric families
are also referred to as being "matrifocused"
.
matrilineage
a multi-generational group of relatives who
are related by matrilineal descent. Matrilineages usually consist
of a number of related
nuclear families
descended from the same woman.
matrilineal
descent
unilineal descent
that follows the female line. With this pattern, people are related
if they can trace descent through females to the same female
ancestor. Both males and females inherit membership in a
matrilineal family line, but only females can pass it on to their
descendants.
matrilocal
residence
the
residence pattern in which a newly married couple moves in with or
near the bride's mother's house. This keeps women near their female
relatives, while men must leave their natal households. Matrilocal
residence is strongly associated with
matrilineal
descent.
-
mechanized grain farming
- intensive farming for the production of cereals (e.g., corn, wheat,
oats) in which hundreds and even thousands of acres are planted, tended,
and harvested by a small number of people using large machinery (e.g.,
tractors and combines). There usually are heavy applications of
fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides. This highly productive form of
intensive mono-cropping
agriculture is capital but not labor intensive. The Great Plains of
North America is predominantly a region of mechanized grain farming.
medical system
- a system
of explaining, diagnosing, and curing illness. There are two
broad types of medical systems in the world--naturalistic
and
personalistic.
-
Melanesia
- New Guinea
and other nearby islands in the Southwest Pacific Ocean west of
Polynesia. Indigenous
people from this region are referred to as Melanesians.
melting pot
a society in which immigrants and native
ethnic/racial minorities are assimilated into the dominant national
culture. Those who prefer this model for America generally advocate
encouraging assimilation in order to reinforce national unity. See
multiculturalism.
messianic movement
A
millenarian
movement led by a prophet
who is either perceived as a new messiah or who predicts the
imminent arrival of one.
-
Mesoamerica
- Southern Mexico and northern Central America. This was the main center
of early plant domestication and ancient civilizations in North and
Central America.
metropolitan world-view
a
world-view in which
people have an emotional detachment between people and the
realms of nature and the supernatural. Animals, trees, rocks, and
other things in nature are "its" rather than "thous" and do not have
human personalities. This separation of people emotionally from
nature allows them to exploit it with little care for its well
being. When the characteristics of this type of world-view were
first proposed in the early 1950's by Robert Redfield, it was called
a "civilized world-view." See
indigenous
world-view.
-
millenarian movement
- a
conscious, organized movement that attempts to revive or perpetuate
selected aspects of an
indigenous culture or to gain control of the direction and rate
of culture change being forced on them. These movements have also
been referred to as messianic, nativistic, and
revitalization movements. They were especially common among
indigenous societies of European colonies. The Cargo Cults of New
Guinea and the Ghost Dance Movements of the North American Plains
Indians are examples. Millenarian movements typically have a
prophet leader and
religious beliefs requiring a major leap of faith by their
followers.
-
millennium
- a
golden age of great happiness, peace, and prosperity expected in the
near future. This sort of belief is characteristic of
millenarian
movements. Literally, "millennium" refers to a period of 1000
years or the ending of such a period.
-
minority group
an ethnic/racial group that has a smaller
population than the controlling majority group in a society.
Minority groups may also be based on shared gender, age,
disabilities, political views, etc. See
majority group.
-
minor supernatural being
-
supernatural beings who are not spirits, gods, humans, or other
natural beings. They usually have a human-like appearance and/or
personality but can do things that are beyond the abilities of
humans. Minor supernatural beings often have a "trickster"
role--they fool people, do outlandish things, and disappear. In
European folk tradition, leprechauns, elves, and pixies were minor
supernatural beings.
-
modal behavior
- the
statistically most common behavior patterns within a society. Those
who do not exhibit these patterns are usually labeled as social
deviants. What is defined as modal behavior varies from society to
society.
modal personality
moiety
- one of two
unilineal
divisions of an entire society. Moieties have reciprocal
privileges and obligations with each other, such as providing
marriage partners and assisting at funerals. The founding
moiety ancestor is often so genealogically remote that he or she
is now mythical. Societies with moieties usually consist of a
few thousand people or less. Societies with
phratries instead of
moieties are often larger.
money
anything that serves as a medium of exchange for
buying and selling goods and services. See
general purpose
money and special purpose money.
-
mono-cropping
- planting a crop of only one species in a farm field. This is a common
practice with intensive agriculture. While this can be a highly efficient farming
strategy, it results in crops that are more susceptible to being wiped
out by insects and other parasites. Mono-cropping is also known as
"mono-culture". See
multi-cropping.
monogamy
marriage of one woman to one man at a time.
This is the most common marriage pattern around the world today. If
remarriage is allowed following divorce or death of a spouse, the
marriage pattern could be defined as being "serial monogamy."
monotheism
a
belief that there is only one god. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam are
usually considered to be monotheistic religions. However, the
distinction between monotheism and
polytheism can be a
matter of focus. For instance, some scholars have argued that
monotheisms, such as Catholicism,
are actually de facto polytheisms for many of the faithful if
Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and the saints are prayed to for guidance and
help as if they were minor gods themselves.
morpheme
- the smallest
combination of sounds (i.e., phonemes) that have meaning and cannot be broken into smaller
meaningful units. Words can be one or more morphemes. For example,
hot is one morpheme while
hotdog is composed of two (hot
and dog).
morphology
-
multi-cropping
- planting a farm field with more than one species. This is a common
practice among horticulturalists. Multi-cropping reduces the chances of total crop
failure due to insects and other parasites. However, it is far more
labor intensive to plant, tend, and harvest. See
mono-cropping.
multiculturalism
a "salad bowl" model of society in which the
permanent existence of unassimilated and partially assimilated
ethnic/racial minorities is accepted and encouraged. Those who
advocate this model for America generally advocate providing special
attention and assistance to minorities that had been
underrepresented in the past. See
melting pot.
-
multinational corporation
a corporate
business that has outgrown its national roots and identity as it became
multinational with facilities in many countries and no overriding feeling of
obligation or loyalty to any one of them. Such companies typically move
their production facilities from nation to nation in response to labor costs
and tax advantages. As a result, they are generally independent and beyond
the control of any one national political system. Multinational
corporations have had a major impact on previously isolated indigenous
societies in the late 20th century. Multinational corporations are also
known as transnational corporations.
-
nationalism
- extreme loyalty and devotion to a
nation and its interests, usually at the expense of other nations or
societies.
national personality type
a distinct culturally specific personality
pattern acquired during the process of being
enculturated. The
notion of national personality types implies that
personality is almost entirely learned
rather than genetically inherited. This is no longer widely
believed in anthropology and psychology.
nativistic movement
see
millenarian
movement.
natolocal
residence
the
residence pattern in which a bride and groom remain in their own
separate family's households or compounds after their marriage
rather than occupy a residence together. The children born of this
union usually stay in their mother's home, which becomes a de
facto matricentric residence.
naturalistic medical system
a
medical system
that explains illness as being due to impersonal, mechanistic causes
in nature that can be potentially understood and cured by the
application of the
scientific method of discovery. Typical causes accepted in
naturalistic medical systems include organic breakdown or
deterioration, obstruction, injury, imbalance, malnutrition, and
parasites. Students learning to be doctors or nurses in medical schools throughout the modern world are taught this kind of
naturalistic explanation. However, there are other kinds of
naturalistic medical systems also in use today. In Latin America,
many people still also rely on
humoral pathology
to explain and cure their illnesses. This is especially true in
rural areas. See
personalistic medical system.
-
negative reciprocity
an attempt to get someone to exchange something he or
she may not want to give up or an attempt to get a more valued thing than
you give in return. This may involve trickery, coercion, or hard
bargaining. At times, negative reciprocity does not involve taking
advantage of someone. In fact, someone may willingly give you more than you
believe that you are giving in return. For example, a poor student wanting
to go to an expensive university might be polite and respectful toward a
rich uncle with the hope that he will help out financially. That uncle may
gladly pay for his nephew's or niece's education in return because of the
attention and recognition that he receives. The money is relatively
unimportant to him compared to the respect and attention that is offered.
See reciprocity.
negative sanction
a punishment for violations of social
norms. In large-scale
societies, formal negative sanctions usually take the form of fines
or prison sentences. In small-scale societies,
informal
negative sanction are more commonly used against those whose
behavior is unacceptable. See
positive sanction.
neolocal
residence
- the
residence pattern in which a married couple establishes a new
residence independent of both their relatives. This pattern is
now common in North America and other industrialized nations in
which the importance of kinship is minimized.
-
nomadism
- see
pastoral nomadism.
non-market economy
an economy with a low level of technological
knowledge and a preoccupation with the daily and, at most, seasonal food
supply because techniques for long term preservation of food are generally
inadequate. Work teams are small and usually only include members of the
local community. Large-scale collaboration on subsistence jobs is of short
duration if it occurs at all because most tasks are relatively simple and
require only a few people. Work related interactions between people are of
a face-to-face personal kind. People who work together hunting, gathering,
herding, or tending crops are usually kinsmen or lifelong friends and
neighbors. Little or no attempt is made to calculate the contribution of
individuals or to calculate individual shares. Social pressure generally
obligates individuals to freely share food and other products of their labor
with whomever needs it or asks for it in the community. This operates as an
economic leveling mechanism. As a result, there is little or no possibility
of saving and becoming more wealthy than anyone else. Subsequently, the
incentive to work is not only derived from a desire to acquire what is being
produced. There also is the pleasure of working with friends and
relatives. In addition there is potential for increased social prestige
from doing the job well. Impersonal commercial exchanges rarely occur in
non-market economies. They usually take the form of either
barter or gifts. Every household usually provides for its daily
needs from its own production. Non-market economies can only function successfully in isolation. They have
always been destroyed by prolonged contact with societies that have
market economies.
non-verbal communication
norms
the conceptions of appropriate and expected
behavior that are held by most members of the society.
Norms are also referred to as "social norms."
nuclear
family
a family consisting of a man, woman, and
their children. We are born into our "nuclear family of orientation"
and we have children in our "nuclear family of procreation."
Parents may think of themselves as being members of both of these
families at the same time. See
matricentric family.
Old World
The Old World is Europe, Asia, and Africa.
The Americas are conventionally referred to as the New World. This
distinction is largely an ethnocentric reflection of the European
origin of our modern sciences and geography.
Omaha
naming system
a
patrilineally
based kin naming system in which relatives are lumped together on
the basis of descent and gender. Siblings and
parallel cousins
of the same gender are given the same term of reference (5 = male
and 6 = female). Father and father's brother also have the same kin
term (1). Other people in ego's mother's patrilineage are lumped
across generations (2 = female and 4 = male).
-
other-directed personality
- a
personality that is shame oriented. People with this
type of personality have ambiguous feelings about right and
wrong. When they deviate from a societal norm, they usually
don't feel guilty. However, if they are caught in the act or
exposed publicly, they are likely to feel shame. The
other-directed personality is one of the
modal
personality types identified by David Riesman in the early
1950's.
See
inner-directed personality and
tradition-oriented personality.
-
otiose deity
-
a supreme god who established
the order of the universe in the distant past and is now remote
from earthly activities and concerns ("otiose" is Greek
for "at rest). As a result, otiose deities are usually almost
ignored in favor of lesser gods who take an interest in the
everyday affairs of humans.
pandemic
an
epidemic that becomes unusually widespread and even global in
its reach.
pantribal association
groups that cross-cut a tribal society by
bringing together a limited number of people, typically at least one
from each family. Pantribal associations often are in the form of
councils, groups of elder men or women who are members of the same
age set, warrior societies, religious cults,
or secret societies, . While these groups have specific purposes,
they also serve to create order and a sense of unity for a tribe.
Pantribal associations are also referred to as sodalities.
paralanguage
auxiliary
communication devices that generally assure clarity by transmitting the
same message in different ways at the same time. These include
variations in tone and character of voice along with such non-verbal
forms of communication as kinesics,
proxemics,
clothing, and makeup.
- parallel
cousin
- one's father's brother's children or
mother's sister's children. The gender of the children is not
relevant in making this distinction. With unilineal descent,
parallel cousins are members of the same
unilineage. See
cross cousin.
- parallel
descent
- the
cognatic
pattern of descent in which males trace their descent through the
male line of their father and females through the female line of
their mother. Unlike
bilineal descent,
every individual is a member of only one
unilineage.
participant observation
physically and emotionally participating in the social interaction
of another society on a daily basis in order to learn about its culture.
In practice this usually requires living within the community as a member,
learning their language, establishing close friendship ties, eating what
they eat, and taking part in normal family activities. By becoming
an active participant rather than simply an observer, ethnographers reduce
the cultural distance between themselves and the host society.
-
pastoralists
- people
who make their living by tending herds of large animals. The species of
animals vary with the region of the world, but they are all domesticated
herbivores that normally
live in herds and eat grasses or other abundant plant foods (e.g.,
cattle, horses, sheep, reindeer). Traditional pastoralists are
essentially subsistence herders who form
small-scale
societies. There are essentially two forms of pastoralism--nomadism
and transhumance.
-
pastoral nomadism
- traditional pastoralists who follow a seasonal migratory pattern that
can vary from year to year. The timing and destinations of migrations
are determined primarily by the needs of the herd animals for water and
fodder. These nomadic societies do not create permanent settlements,
but rather they live in tents or other relatively easily constructed
dwellings the year round. Pastoralist nomads are usually
self-sufficient in terms of food and most other necessities. See
transhumance.
patrilineage
a multi-generational group of relatives who
are related by patrilineal descent. Patrilineages usually consist of
a number of related
nuclear families descended from the same man.
patrilineal
descent
unilineal descent
that follows the male line. With this pattern, people are related
if they can trace descent through males to the same male ancestor.
Both males and females inherit a patrilineal family membership but
only males can pass it on to their descendants.
Also known as "agnatic descent."
patrilocal
residence
the
residence pattern in which a newly married couple moves in with or
near the groom's father's house. This keeps men near their male
relatives, while women must leave their natal households. Patrilocal
residence is strongly associated with
patrilineal
descent. Just over half of the world's societies have patrilocal
residence.
pedestrian
foragers
people
whose subsistence pattern involves diversified hunting and gathering on foot
rather than horseback. The pedestrian hunting and gathering way of life was
mobile. Most of these societies moved their camps several times a year and
had temporary dwellings. The number of people living in a camp also often
varied throughout the year depending on the local food supply. Material
possessions were generally few and light in weight so that they could be
transported easily. Subsistence tools included such things as simple
digging sticks, baskets, spears, and bows and arrows that could be easily
replaced when needed. This settlement flexibility is an efficient way of
responding to changing environmental opportunities. (The
word "pedestrian" is derived from the Latin word pedester meaning
"on foot"). See
foragers.
personalistic medical system
a
medical system
that explains illness as being due to acts or wishes of other people
or supernatural beings and forces. There is no room for accidents.
Adherents to personalistic medical systems believe that the causes
and cures of illness are not to be found only in the natural world.
Curers usually must use supernatural means to understand what is
wrong with their patients and to return them to health. Typical
causes of illness in personalistic medical systems include intrusion
of foreign objects into the body by supernatural means, spirit
possession, loss, or damage, and bewitching. Most of the
non-western world traditionally accepted a personalistic explanation
for illness. Today, it is mostly found among people in
small-scale
societies and some subcultures of larger nations. See
naturalistic medical system.
personality
all of an
individual's complex of mental
characteristics that makes him or her unique from other people. It
includes all of the patterns of thought, emotions, and other mental
traits that cause us to do and say things in particular ways.
personality type
a set of
personality traits
and behavioral tendencies which are shared by a group of people.
phoneme
the smallest
unit of sound that can be altered to change the meaning of a word. In
English, for example, the words pan and
can have different meaning due to the fact
that the initial sound, or phoneme, is different. Phonemes do not have
meaning by themselves. The sounds represented by the
p and c in the
words above are meaningless alone but they can change the meaning of
words.
phonology
the study of
phonemes, or sounds, of
language.
phratry
- a
unilineal
descent group consisting of a number of related
clans. The phratry
founding ancestor is so remote genealogically that he or she is
usually mythical. Phratries are larger and more inclusive
kinship groups than unilineages and clans.
-
physical anthropology
the study of the
non-cultural, or biological, aspects of humans and near humans.
Physical anthropologists are usually involved in one of three different
kinds of research: 1) non-human primate studies (usually in the wild), 2)
recovering the fossil record of human evolution, and 3) studying human
biological diversity, inheritance patterns, and non-cultural means of
adapting to environmental stresses. Physical anthropology is also
referred to as biological anthropology.
pidgin
a simplified,
makeshift language that develops to fulfill the communication
needs of people who have no language in common but who need to
occasionally interact for commercial and other reasons. Pidgins combine
a limited amount of the vocabulary and grammar of the different
languages. People who use pidgin
languages also speak
their own native language. Over the last
several centuries, dozens of pidgin languages
developed as Europeans expanded out into the rest of the world for
colonization and trade. There have been pidgins
developed by non-European cultures as well.
-
placebo
- a harmless medical treatment that should
have no effect on a patient's disease but actually improves his
or her condition as a result of the belief that it will help.
For example, a doctor could give patients harmless sugar pills
and tell them that they are a powerful medicine. This placebo
may actually make some of them feel better and even help them
recover from their disease. It is assumed that the belief in
the efficacy of a treatment can reduce the production of stress
hormones and improve the immune system in some cases. The kind
of placebo that works is highly culture related.
plantation agriculture
- large,
labor-intensive farms that mostly produce fruit, sugar, fiber, or
vegetable oil products for the international market. The laborers
usually work for very low wages that keep them in poverty. Many of the
plantations of Indonesia, the Philippines, Central America, the
Caribbean, and West Africa are owned by
multinational
corporations such as Dole and the National Fruit Company. The net
effect of this form of agriculture generally has been the flow of wealth
from poor nations in the Southern Hemisphere to rich ones in the
Northern Hemisphere.
political symbol
- an idea or physical thing that is used by
politicians as a tool for focusing the attention and emotions of
people. It can be something as simple as the phrase "a chicken
in every pot and a car in very garage" which was used by Herbert
Hoover in his 1928 U.S. presidential election. It can be a call
for change such as the replacement of a king with a legislature
or conversion of "non-believers" to the "true-religion."
National flags are often powerful political symbols.
politics
- competition for power over people and
things.
polyandry
- the marriage
of one woman to several men at the same time. This is a rare type of
polygamy. It usually
takes the form of "fraternal polyandry", which is brothers sharing
the same wife.
-
polygamy
the generic term for marriage to
more than one spouse at the same time. It occurs as
polygyny or,
more rarely, polyandry.
polygyny
- the
marriage of one man to several women at the same time. This is
the most common form of
polygamy. It often takes the form of "sororal polygyny",
which is two or more sisters married to the same man.
Polynesia
a major
division of islands in the South Pacific Ocean, east of the
International Date Line,
extending from Hawaii in the north to New Zealand in the south. In
addition to these islands, Polynesia includes Samoa, Tonga, the
Society, and Marquesas Islands.
The
indigenous peoples of
Polynesia speak similar Polynesian languages.
polytheism
a belief in more than one god. Hinduism is usually considered a
polytheistic religion. However, the distinction between polytheism and
monotheism can be a
matter of focus. In India and Bali, Hindus can be observed fervently
worshipping hundreds of different gods. This fits the classic
description of a polytheistic religion. However, since the many gods
are only different manifestations of the supreme god, Shiva
(or Vishnu
or Krishna
),
Hinduism can also be interpreted as a monotheism.
positive correlation
a strong
association between two different phenomena such that when one is the
present, the other is as well. For example, in the United States today,
people who have college degrees usually earn more money during their
lifetimes than do people who have only gone to high school. It is important
to keep in mind that a positive correlation does not necessarily imply a
cause and effect relationship between the co-occurring phenomena.
positive sanction
a reward for appropriate or admirable
behavior that conforms with the social
norms. Common positive
sanctions include praise and granting honors or awards. See
negative sanction.
post partum sex taboo
- a
prohibition against a husband and wife having sexual intercourse
for a specified period of time following the birth of a child.
-
potlatch
- a complex
redistributive system
that existed among some of the Indian cultures of the Northwest Coast of
North America. This was a complex
system of competitive feasting, speechmaking, and gift giving intended
in part to enhance the status of the giver. For the Kwakiutl
society, potlatches were important social gatherings held to celebrate
major life events such as a son's marriage, the birth of a child, a
daughter's first menses, and the initiation of a sister's son into a
secret society. They also were used to assert or transfer ownership of
economic and ceremonial privileges. It sometimes took years to
accumulate the things needed for a big potlatch. Loans (with interest)
had to be called in from relatives for this purpose. When all was
ready, high ranking, influential people from the local and other
communities were invited for several days of feasting and entertaining.
Guests were seated according to their relative status. The host made
speeches and dramatically gave gifts of food, Hudson Bay Company
blankets, canoes, slaves, rare copper artifacts, and other valuable
items to the guests. Those of higher status received more. The host
was likely to also destroy money, waste fish oil by throwing it on a
fire, and do other things to show that he was willing to economically
bankrupt himself in order to increase his social status. The acceptance
of the gifts was an affirmation of the host's generosity and
subsequently of his increased status. The feast and the gifts
essentially placed the guests in debt to their host until they could at
some future time invite him to their own potlatch and give him more than
he gave them--in essence a return on an investment. The potlatch served
as a tool for one-upmanship for important Kwakiutl men.
prejudice
the act of judging someone or some thing
before the facts are known. Assuming that someone of a specific
ethnic group or "race" will act in a particular way is an example of
pre-judging them. When people from different groups have little or
no contact with each other, they are likely to hold prejudicial
views about each other and to act upon them. If the prejudicial
views are inaccurate, they can be obstacles to productive dialog and
understanding. See
stereotype and
discrimination.
priest
- a
religious leader who is part of an organized religion. Different
religions have different terms for these individuals--they may be
known as rabbis, ministers, mullahs, Imams, or other terms. They
are the keepers of the sacred law and tradition. They are found
mostly in
large-scale societies. A female priests is often referred
to as a priestess
.
-
prion
- a
protein that has the ability to cause the cells that it invades
to repeatedly duplicate it. Prions are responsible for causing
kuru and other
similar diseases. Apparently, prions are not effectively
attacked by their host's immune system nor can they be killed
with existing antibiotics, extreme heat, cold, or other normally
lethal conditions. The word prion comes from
"proteinaceous infectious particle."
-
probability sample
- a sample of people that is
carefully chosen so that it will be representative of the entire community
or population. Choosing who will be in the sample can be difficult,
especially at the beginning of an
ethnographic research project when the
first contacts are made and the composition of the society and its culture
are still poorly understood.
Depending on the nature of the society and the research questions, one of
three different kinds of probability samples may be employed. They
are random
sample, stratified
sample, and judgment
sample.
-
production
(systems of)
progeny price
prophet
- an
individual who receives divine revelation concerning a restructuring
of religious practices and usually of society as well. Prophets
call for dramatic change while priesthoods usually act as
conservative forces in preserving long-standing traditions. Not
surprisingly, prophets are usually outside of the priesthood and are
seen by priests as irritating, disruptive trouble-makers. See
millenarian
movement.
-
proprietary deed
- the concept of ownership in which an owner of
property has the right to keep it whether or not it is being used or
actively possessed. For instance, an individual may own several houses
or land and never use them. In addition, the owner has the right to
pass the property on to descendents or to others chosen by the owner.
In fact, ownership is not always absolute in large-scale societies
today. In the United States, for instance, ownership may be forfeited
to the government under certain circumstances (e.g.,
eminent domain,
failure to pay taxes, or use in the commission of a felony). See
usufruct.
proxemics
the study of
interaction
distances and other culturally defined uses of space that affect
communication. Most people are unaware of the importance of space in
communication until they are confronted with someone who uses it
differently. Proxemics is a form of
paralanguage.
race
a biological subspecies, or variety, that
consists of a more or less distinct population with anatomical
traits that distinguish it clearly from other races. The human
"races" commonly assumed to exist are mostly socio-cultural
creations rather than biological realities. They are
ethnic groups that
are defined on the basis of both physical and cultural
characteristics.
racialism
a relatively benign form of using "racial"
distinctions, such as skin color and facial characteristics, for
reference purposes. An example of racialism is identifying an
accident victim as "an elderly Asian male."
In America, "racial" traits are commonly used along with age and
gender distinctions when referring to people who we do not know
personally. See racism.
racism
harmful prejudice, discrimination, and/or
persecution based on presumed ethnic/racial differences. An example
of racism is not hiring someone for a job because of his or her skin
color. Similarly, giving someone a preference in hiring due to skin
color can be racism if people with other skin colors are
disadvantaged by this act. See
racialism.
raiding
surprise predatory attacks directed against
other communities or societies. The primary objective of raiding
usually is to plunder and then to escape unharmed with the stolen
goods. In some societies, the goal is also to kill men in the
target community as well as kidnap women and children. Raiders are
virtually always men. Raiding is a more organized form of
aggression than feuding.
Violent encounters are often the result of opportunistic meetings in
the case of feuding. In contrast, raids are planned in advance.
Another difference is that raids occur in a finite time period.
They are rarely sustained activities like feuds.
-
random sample
- a
probability sample
in which people are selected on a totally random, unbiased basis.
This can be accomplished by assigning a number to everyone in a community
and then letting a computer or hand calculator generate a series of random
numbers. If a 10% sample is needed, then the first 10% of the random
numbers will indicate who will be the focus of the research. This
sampling approach is reasonable for
ethnographic research only when there
does not seem to be much difference between the people in the population.
Since this is rarely the case, random sampling is not often used for
ethnographic research.
"reasonable man" standard of law
the idea that legal judgments should be made
based on what would be acceptable to a reasonable man in the
society. Jury systems in the Western World are based on this
assumption.
reciprocity
(or
reciprocal exchange)
a relationship
between people that involves a mutual exchange of gifts of goods,
services, or favors. Inherent in reciprocal gift giving is the
obligation to return a gift in a culturally appropriate manner. Failure
to do so is likely to end the reciprocal relationship.
Reciprocity requires adequacy of response
but not necessarily mathematical equality.
Reciprocity is a common way of creating and continuing bonds between
people. See
generalized reciprocity,
balanced
reciprocity, and
negative
reciprocity.
redistribution
(or redistributive exchange)
an economic exchange intended to distribute a
society's wealth in a different way than exists at present. In the
Western World, charity and progressive income tax systems are examples
of redistributive exchanges. Progressive income taxes are intended to
make people with greater wealth give at higher rates than those at the
bottom of the economic ladder. Some of the tax money is then allocated
to help the poorer members of society. The intended net effect is to
reduce or prevent extremes of wealth and poverty. Some of the most
elaborate redistributive systems have been in small-scale societies with
non-market economies (e.g., potlatch).
regional dialect
a
dialect associated with a
geographically isolated speech community. An example
is the Texas in contrast to the upper midwestern American dialect.
-
religion
- a
system of beliefs usually involving the worship of supernatural
forces or beings.
-
revitalization movement
- a
millenarian
movement in which the followers focus on recreating and
revitalizing their indigenous culture in response to tremendous
pressure to acculturate to the culture of another society that
dominates them.
- rites of passage
- ritual ceremonies intended to mark the transition
from one phase of life to another.
-
rituals
-
stylized and usually repetitive acts that take place at a set time
and location. They almost always involve the use of symbolic
objects, words, and actions. For example, going to church on Sunday
is a common religious ritual for Christians around the world.
- role
- the part a society expects an individual to play
in a given status (e.g.,
child, wife, mother, aunt, grandmother). Social group membership gives
us a set of role tags to allow people to know what to expect from each
other.
