etic
The term serves in contrast the term emic; both of which are used to describe the way anthropologists go about studying a particular people or idea. An emic approach is related to participant-observation and lets the subject define and categorize their ow
Ritual
is a sequence of activities that consist of words, gestures, and objects performed in a special place and according to specific sequences based on specific communities, traditions, and/or religion. A specific example of a "ritual" could best be shown in a
Key Respondent
In order to engage in the most authentic ethnographic research; researchers arrive on the scene strangers to whatever group they are studying. Therefore, they have to create trust relationships with people in the group the called informants. They usually
Koyukon
In Chapter 10 of Conformity and Conflict, Richard Nelson writes in his article "Eskimo Science" about the anthropological theory of unilineal evolution, the idea that societies could be sorted into cultural development stages named savagery, barbarism, an
Secular Pilgrim
Dubisch shares the example of the journey of Vietnam veterans, and family members of veterans, across the country from California to Washington DC. This group of veterans and family members travel on motorcycle for ten days to the site of the Vietnam Memo
cultural relativism
ideas and cultural conceptions are true as far as a society is concerned. This heavily relates to the idea of making the familiar strange and the strange familiar because these conceptions will vary between societies.
Female underside of globalization
In one article, this intense topic of the demale underside of globalization was discussed. As a result of the globalization of the world's economy and other industrial developments, many are migrating to first world cities from third world countries. Wome
Oakland School Board decision (Rickford)
This term refers to the decision to take AAVE into account when teaching young black students reading and writing in Standard English. According to Rickford, this was a good decision on the park of the Oakland School Board, because after the decision was
Redistribution
Redistribution is an economic function where some kind of resource is collected (usually by a governing body or leader) from members of society, and then directly or indirectly shared back with society in a more or less equal way. One common example of th
Reciprocity
is the transfer of goods and services between two people or groups based on role obligations. The concept of reciprocity can be observed in many contexts, particularly when exchanging holiday gifts with others. Generally, it is considered polite to, when
a mingua
The termrefers to infants dying "of neglect." Used by Brazilian mothers, it can be used in reference to mortal selective neglect, also known as passive infanticide. As Nancy Scheper-Hughes explains in her piece "Mother's Love: Death without Weeping," Braz
Arak
are a social unit discussed by David W. McCurdy in chapter 18 (Family and Kinship in Village India) of Conformity and Conflict. It is the Bhil word for clan, and it denotes a unit of patrilineal family within a certain village area. It cover a small geogr
Conversation Style
In chapter 8 of Conformity and Conflict, Deborah Tannen discusses how differences in conversation style between men and women in the workplace can lead to miscommunication and misguided evaluations. For example, she cites an instance of a female manager w
Enculturation
is "the process by which an individual learns the traditional content of a culture and assimilates its practices and values." A specific example of enculturation would include parents or peers. Parents and peers, or other adults, act as influences that gu
Ethnocentricism
is when one judges another culture based solely on the values and priorities of one's own culture. It takes root more in traditional anthropology, but modern anthropology takes an approach that seeks to minimize ethnocentrism. In order to understand a cul
Mentalese
(as described in the essay in Taking Sides by Steven Pinker) is the 'language of thought'; that is, some language that's all in our brain that is then translated into English or French or whatever language we speak when we want to communicate. He gives th
Perscriptive language
is a set of rules based on how people think language should be spoken. According to prescriptive grammar, there is a right language and a wrong language. If you don't follow the prescriptive rammar rules, you are incorrect. An example of a prescriptive gr
A Rite of Passage
is a custom by which children come to be seen as adult individuals that are a part of and can contribute to the community. These rites many times involve some form of ritual by way of which the child becomes an adult in the eyes of the community. One good
Cross Cousins
are the children of one's mother's brother or father's sister. This is in contrast to parallel cousins, which are the children of one's mother's sister or father's brother. The difference between the two types of cousin becomes important in societies that
Crowd Diseases
is a topic discussed by Jared Diamond, in "Domestication and the Evolution of Disease." They are diseases that thrive in large groups of people because the diseases infect a large number of people, and when the people finally acclimate to the infection, t
Guugu Yimithirr
Guugu Yimithirr is an Australian aboriginal language spoken by a native people residing in north Queensland. Guy Deutsher describes the language as absent of the egocentrism the is prevalent among western languages. Guugu Yimithirr uses cardinal direction
Original Affluent Society
is a theory developed by Marshall Sahlins in 1966 suggesting that hunter-gatherers were the original affluent society, and were not in fact a people always on the brink of starvation, as was previously believed. An example of this was depicted in the Rich
Polyandry
is a form of polygamy where a woman takes more than one husband. A specific example is that of the Tibetans in Northern Nepal. They practice a form called fraternal polyandry where two, three, four or more brothers jointly take a wife. It is relevant and
Race/ethnicity
focused around the concept of whether or not race and ethnicty was a human construction. In Brazil, race is determined by one's appearance. In one of the texts we read, an anthropologist which supported the idea of a race believed that people originating
Ethnography
Ethnography is "the study and systematic recording of human cultures; a descriptive work produced from such research" (Marriam-Webster). In anthropology, researchers in the field spend a year or more with their culture of interest. They completely submerg
Matrilocal
The term refers to a marriage pattern in which the couple lives with the wife's family. Since the female offspring of a mother remain living in the mother's house, large clan-families are often formed, which results in several generations living together.
Naive Realism
The term is the belief that one sees reality as it really is - objectively and without bias. An example of na�ve realism can be found in Issue 14 of Taking Sides which discusses supernatural elements of society and whether that belief is legitimate versus
Nacirema
are a Native American group of people that we discussed and learned about in the article "Body Ritual Among the Nacirema", by Horace Miner. In this article the body rituals and use of magic potions and charms by the Nacirema people are depicted and interp
League of Iroquois
was (and still is) a form of representative government practiced by Native American tribes. Over time, it has consisted of 5-6 predominant tribes in North America, particularly the United States of America. It was formed through a non-aggression pact betw
Participant Observation
is a research method employed commonly amongst cultural anthropologists across the globe. The aim of it is to develop close relationships with members of a particular group, and to study them while participating in the group's life. The observer acts as a
Cocaine Economic Deterioration of Bolivia
In the text, "Cocaine and the Economic Deterioration of Bolivia" Jack Weatherford discusses the effects the world market, especially the cocaine demand in Europe and the United States, has on the Bolivian culture and community. The people of Pocona consis
Affinity
Regarding Anthropology, it relates to family ties. It is the bond created by those who wish to define themselves as family, but are not blood related and are lacking legal ties (like marriage). Families of affinity can occur in the US due to the current b
Folk taxonomy
is a people's way of using non-scientific method of classification for items of importance, or their peers. It's the naming or referencing of something in a way that isn't by it's scientific name, like calling a puffy plant a fluff-ball, or like calling a
Veiling
is a way of dressing practiced by women in many Muslim countries to preserve their respectability and modesty when they are outside the home. One specific example is the burqa worn in Afganistan, as described by Lila Abu-Lughod in her article "Do Muslim W
Rasta
The term refers to a group of people related to the _____ movement, an African-based spiritual movement which rose to prominence in Jamaica during the early 1900s. The founder of the movement, Marcus Garvey, advocated self-reliance for black Americans and
Emic
An approach to doing ethnographic research is marked by the importance it places on trying to observe a specific culture with as little judgment as possible. This approach is usually used when studying only one culture versus many. Anthropologists using t
Marime
is a gypsy term for pollution. It is an important term in "Cross-Cultural Law: The Case of the Gypsy Offender" by Anne Sutherland, which discussed the case of a gypsy using the social security number of a nephew to buy a car. Because the United States gov
Supernatural
The term pertains to beings and powers that are believed to lie beyond the realm of natural things. In anthropology, the first anthropological definition of religion is the belief in ______ beings. The importance of supernatural regarding our coursework i
Sapir-Whorf hypothesis
This hypothesis states that the structure of your language shapes how you perceive the world, which then determines how you behave/act. In "Issue 9" of the book Taking Side, the question "does language shape the way we think?" was hotly debated. Steven Pi
Making the familiar strange
comes hand in hand with "making the strange familiar," which is the idea that culture is not a set of norms or exceptions; in its distilled form, cultural differences is simply "variations". "Making the familiar strange" is specifically the case where one
Market Exchange
as opposed to reciprocity or redistribution, is a system of distribution of goods that puts a specific price and value on goods or services. Often, market exchange occurs in settings that are specifically designated for the purchase of goods, such as mark