Cultural Anthropology Chapter 2

enculturation

the process of learning to be a member of a particular cultural group

symbol

something that stands for something else. Central to language and culture

anthropological theory

a set of propositions about which aspects of culture are critical, ow they should be studied, and what the goal of studying them should be

culture and personality

a theoretical position in anthropology that held that cultures could best be understood by examining the patterns of child rearing and considering their effect on adult lives and social institutions

ethnoscience

a theoretical position in anthropology that focuses on recording and examining the ways in which members of a culture use language to classify and organize their cognitive world

cognitive anthropology

A theoretical position in anthropolology that focuses on the relationship between the mind and society

ethnobotany

a focus within anthropology that examines the relationship between humans and plants in different cultures

ethnomedicine

a focus within anthropology that examines the ways in which people in different cultures understand health and sicknesses as well as the ways they attempt to cure disease

symbolic anthropology

a theoretical position in anthropology that focuses on understanding cultures by discovering and analyzing the symbols that are most important to their members

interpretive anthropology

a theoretical position in anthropology that focuses on using humanistic methods, such as those found in the analysis of literature to analyze culture and discover the meaning of culture to its participants

organic analogy

the comparison of societies to living organisms

functionalism

a theoretical position in anthropology, common in the first half of the 20th century, that focuses on finding general laws that identify diffenent elements of society, show how they relate to each other, and demonstrate their role in maintaining social or

ecological functionalism

a theoretical position in anthropology that focuses on the relationship between environment and society

norms

shared ideas about the way things ought to be done; rules of behavior that reflect and enforce culture

values

shared ideas about what is true, right, and beautiful

subculture

a group within a society that shares norms and values significantly different from those of the dominant culutre

dominant culture

the culture with the greatest wealth and power in a society that consists of many subcultures

historical particularism

a theoretical position in anthropology associated with American anthropologists of the early 20th centurey that focuses on providing objective descriptions of cultures within their historical and environmental context

postmodernism

a theoretical position in anthropology that focuses on issues of power and voice. Postmodernists suggest that anthropological accounts are partial truths reflecting the backgrounds, training, and social positons of their authors

adaptation

a change in the biological structure or life-ways of an individual or population by which it becomes better fitted to survive and reproduce in its environment

plasticity

the ability of human individuals or cultural groups to change their behavior with relative ease

cultural ecology

a theoretical position in anthropology that focuses on the adaptive dimension of culture

innovation

an object or a way of thinking or behaving that is new because it is qualitatively different form existing forms

diffusion

the spread of cultural elements from one culture to another