Anthro-1AB3-lecture-notes 2 PDF

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ANTHRO 1AB3 lecture notes up to the midterm Lecture 1: Introducc, archaeology, applied and medical anthropology)

Lecture: •

Anthropologists explore human socie>es, culture, and physical diversity across >me (history) and space (geography); anthropology includes the scien>fic study of human beings as biocultural organisms

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This defini>on brings about endless ques>ons such as-

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Anthropological ques>ons: o

How did we originate as a species?

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When and where did we appear on the earth?

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How have we changed physically and culturally?

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In what ways are we all similar and what makes us diverse?

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What makes humans different from other animals

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And more… biology, culture, religion, economics, poli>cs, history, literature, technology, kinship

What is Anthro? On one hand there is a set of common methods Method •

Long-term fieldwork, excava>ons, par>cipant-observa>on

Theory (theore>cal commitments as well) •

Compara1ve (both similari>es and differences),

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holis1c (human life is complex and integrated),

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field-based (not armchair – connec>on between the researcher and their physical studies, requires engagement), and

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historical (interested in changes over >me: human life is not sta>c)

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Anthro ques1ons are not only about collec1ng a catalogue of diversity

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Case: ea>ng winged termites. Facts vs values – in textbook

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Anthropologists had to travel to a distant culture and have to eat winged termites

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It is an interes>ng fact, but anthropologists take it for granted that there all are sorts of unique aspects of different cultures

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They are all facts that can be catalogued but on its own is not really an anthro discovery

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What do the winged termites mean, where are the values integrated into the culture, what about food prac>ces

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Many ques>ons come out of the ea>ng

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Understanding the meanings and the roll that the food plays in the larger society

The Culture Concept •

An explanatory tool

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Culture consists of beliefs, tradi>ons, customs, and ideas that humans learn as members of society,

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The culture concept is central to explana>ons in anthropology

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Culture allows humans to adapt and transform the world around them

Many anthropologists see humans as biocultural organisms o

all humans share the same biological capacity for culture

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culture is learned by observing and copying others, not inherited

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all humans’ biological survival depends on culture

in history – culture was considered of only belonging to Europeans

A Cross-disciplinary Discipline •

anthropology spans social science, natural science, and humani>es

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anthropology in north America is tradi>onally divided into four subfields including:

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biological (or physical) anthro

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cultural

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linguis>c

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archaeology

applied (& medical) anthro draws on each of the four fields

Diagram from textbook •

borders of the different subfields are not strict – interrela>ons

A cross-disciplinary discipline with a colonial history •

anthro developed as a handmaiden to empire

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emerged to teach the colonial empires of the people they rule

Biological Anthro •

focuses on biological varia>on and diversity among modern humans and non-human primates and their ex>nct ancestors

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examines human biological varia>on and paWerns of adapta>on across >me and space

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compares humans to other animals to see what makes us similar or different from a biological perspec>ve

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the field of biological anthro:

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began in the 19th century to explain differences in physical appearance of human popula>ons around the world

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sought to measure observable features of human popula>ons in order to classify them into dis>nc>ve groups or races, based on skin colour, mental and moral aWributes and skull (brain) size

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used the idea of inherent biological superiority of “white” Europeans to jus>fy domina>on of supposedly biologically inferior groups and validate the prac>ce of racism (e.g. Bri>sh colonizer’s oppression of Indigenous peoples in Canada)

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race is now understood as a social-cultural construct rather than a biological fact

this subfield now includes, for example, - pp9 o

primatology: the study of the biology, behaviour, and social life of non-human primates, our closest living rela>ves

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paleoanthropology: examines human and non-human primate evolu>on, especially as revealed by fossilized remains

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human skeletal biology: (measuring and comparing the shapes and sizes – or morphology – of human bones and teeth using skeletal remains from diff popula>ons

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newer special>es focus on human adaptability in different ecological se^ngs, on human growth and development, or on the connec>ons between a popula>ons evolu>onary history and its suscep>bility to disease

it now considers, for example o

human adap>on to various environments

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human growth and development

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connec>ons between the evolu>onary history of a popula>on and its suscep>bility to disease

Cultural anthro •

the specialty of anthropology that shows how varia>on in the beliefs and behaviours of members of different human groups is shaped by sets of learned behaviours and ideas that human beings acquire as members of society – that is by culture

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cultural anthropologists explore cultural diversity among all living socie>es, including our own. This may include:

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how humans organize themselves to carry our collec>ve tasks

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contemporary issues such as gender and sexuality, urbaniza>on, globaliza>on, transna>onal migra>on, and human rights

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how paWerns of cultural expression or material life and technology vary across cultures and over >me

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how culture shapes varia>on in the beliefs and behaviours of members of different human groups

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sociocultural and poli>cal economic factors that affect local communi>es

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the ways local communi>es respond to challenges of colonialism and capitalism

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anthropology was the discipline for everywhere else whereas sociology started as a study of Europeans

Cultural anthropologists collect their data during a period of fieldwork: an extended period of close involvement with the people they study o

Anthropologists carry out par1cipant observa1on where they both observe and par>cipate in ac>vi>es along with local people

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Anthropologists engage with informants (interlocutors): local people with knowledge of their culture, to gather informa>on about their way of life

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Explain how people’s actual behaviour may differ from reported behaviours

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Cultural anthropologists show how varia>on between human socie>es arises out of learned customs and behaviours humans acquire as members of a society

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With the data they collect during fieldwork, anthropologists produce wriWen or other recorded accounts called ethnographies o

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Ethnography: a systemic study and descrip>on of a par>cular culture

Ethnology is the compara>ve study of two or more groups, popula>ons, or socie>es o

Ethnology draws on ethnographic data to generalize about society and culture

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Ethnology involves the crea>on of theories to increase our understanding of how culture and socie>es work

Globalizaons by powerful global forces on an ever-intensifying scale

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Sex: the physical characteris>cs that tradi>onally dis>nguish two kinds of humans, females, and males (ex. By body shape, distribu>on of body hair, reproduc>ve organs, sex chromosomes)

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Gender: the culturally constructed roles assigned to males and females, which vary considerably from society to society

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Design anthropologist: work with companies to design products that are culturally appealing to consumers o

Ex. Design anthropologist Gray Graffam at UofT works on how anthropological research can contribute to marke>ng

Linguis>c Anthropology •

Linguis>c anthro studies human language in its cultural and historical contexts to examine diversity

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Language is a system of arbitrary symbols that enables communica>on and transmission of cultural knowledge

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When speakers from two diff languages are forced to communicate they create languages called pidgins

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Conlangs: constructed languages

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Early linguis>c anthropologists transcribed and documented the languages of non-western peoples in order to preserve them o

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Sounds good but was coated within a range of other violence’s – and thought that these non-western peoples belonged in the past

Contemporary linguis>c anthropologists focus on a variety of topics, including; o

The correla>on of language differences with gender, class, race, or ethnicity

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Mul>lingualism and code-switching

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The development of new languages called pidgins

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Language learning

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Language and na>onal iden>ty

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Iden>fy the causes of the loss of diverse and indigenous languages, and contribute to finding ways to preserve them

Case: what is in the nature of a ques>on? (clip) o

Film Arrival – about aliens arriving on earth and no one is sure how to address them or find out what they want – so governments turn to linguists

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Need to understand intent

Archaeology •

Studies human culture by analyzing the material remains people leave behind

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Material remains allow past cultural ac>vi>es to be described, reconstructed, and interpreted

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Material culture includes objects shaped by humans that have cultural meaning, such as:

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Portable objects made or modified by people, known as ar>facts

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Plant and animal remains; and

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Buildings, pits, or other non-portable elements of the cultural landscape

Archeologists reconstruct human cultural past, especially prehistory using various methods: o

They conduct surveys of geographical areas to locate where people lived

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They reconstruct material items such as houses and tools to see how they were made and used

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They examine garbage to see what people ate

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They excavate archeological sites to recover ar>facts and evidence of material culture

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They seek explana>ons for social and cultural variability in the ways in which people interact with material culture

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Archaeologists may study the material culture of more recent or contemporary peoples, for example examining garbage to understand paWerns of consump>on

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Must respect ethical guidelines in excava>ng, preserving and cura>ng ar>facts

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Serve as an important tool for understanding the problems of past and present for developing solu>ons to those problems

Applied Anthro •

Uses info gathered in other anthro subfields to address and find prac>cal solu>ons for contemporary cross-cultural problems and issues

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Some of these issues:

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Public health and healthcare

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Sustainable development

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Refugee reseWlement

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Adap>on of local communi>es to climate change

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Indigenous land claims

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Management of local resources and environmental protec>ons

Anthros who work for the gov oden describe their work as the anthology of prac1ce

Medical anthro •

Focuses on health in its cultural context

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Examines the factors that contribute to disease or illness

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Explores the ways that human popula>ons react to handle disease or illness

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Takes a biocultural perspec>ve, linking health, disease, illness, environment and culture

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Takes a cri>cal perspec>ve that links health and illness to social, economic, and poli>cal processes and ques>ons contemporary biomedical prac>ces

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Also explains how various social structural factors such as gender, ethnicity, race or class affect human health and wellbeing

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Cri>cal medical anthropology pp. 19 – links ques>ons of human health and illness in local se^ngs to social, economic, and poli>cal processes opera>ng on a regional, na>onal, or global scale o

Pay aWen>on to the way social divisions based on class, “race”, gender, and ethnicity can block access to medical aWen>on or make people more vulnerable to disease and suffering

David Graeber – seeking to understand the possible MaWhew Engelke – anthro is about sensibility – coming to ques>on what you take for granted Reading for this week: “What is anthropology” from the textbook •

Anthropology is holis>c, compara>ve, field-based, and evolu>onary

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Anthropology emphasizes that all the aspects of human life intersect with one another in complex ways and become integrated with one another over >me

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Anthropology – the holis>c study of human nature, human society, human language, and human past

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Interested in comparison: to generalize about humans we require evidence from the widest possible range of human socie>es

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Holisc of the anthropological perspec>ve that describes, at the highest and most inclusive level, how anthropology tries to integrate all that is known about human beings and their ac>vi>es

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Comparison: characteris>c that requires anthropologists to study similari>es and differences across as many human socie>es as possible before generalizing about human beings

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Field based: actual data collec>on takes place in direct contact with the people, the sites, the animals, etc they are researching

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Evolung and understanding change over >me; requires observa>ons about human beings in a temporal framework that takes into considera>on change over >me o

Biological evolu1on: looks at how the physical features and life processes of human beings have changed over >me; also looks at human origins and the gene>c varia>on and inheritance in living human popula>ons

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Cultural evolu1on: concerns change over >me in beliefs, behaviours, and material objects that shape human development and social life

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Concept of culture

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Culture: sets of learned behaviour, ideas, and material goods that human beings share as members of society

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Humans are biocultural organisms: our biological makeup (brain, nervous system, and anatomy) is the outcome of developmental processes to which our genes and cellular chemistry contribute in fundamental ways – it also makes us organisms capable of crea>ng and using culture

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What makes anthropology cross-disciplinary? o

What it is not the study of is: the exo>c, primi>ve, or the savage – terms originally used in colonial >mes that anthropologists rejected long ago

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Figure on page 5 that shows the variety of interests and disciplines

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Tradi>onally North American anthro includes a holis>c 4 field approach: biological anthropology, cultural anthro, linguis>c, and archaeology

Lecture 2 : Culture •

Defining culture

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Culture in history

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What is the culture concept good for?

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Ethnocentrism and rela>vism

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The Nacirema

Defining Culture •

“Culture” involves paWerns of learned behaviours and ideas (discourse) along with the ar>facts and structures that humans create and use (materiality)

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Individuals acquire culture as members of society; it is passed down across the genera>ons, a complex inheritance, a heritage that is modified over >me o

Every genera>on does not need to reinvent the wheel – we are born into culture and learn how to inhabit them

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Five features: culture is learned, shared, paEerned, symbolic, and adap1ve

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Ruth Benedict’s paWerns of culture

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Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of habitus (embodied, learned)

Culture is learned, shared, paEerned, symbolic and adap1ve

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It is learned o

Socializang with others, strategies to be fully func>oning, and coping with group behavioural rules

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Enculturame socializa>on/ encultura>on is used to understand this holis>c experience

Shared o

Collec>ve across a society

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Produces a socially and culturally constructed individual capable of func>oning successfully in society – thus shared

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Habitus – is the result of learning and is heavily influenced by our interac>ons with material culture

PaEerned o

Related cultural beliefs/prac>ces appear repeatedly in different areas of social life (e.g. individualism in NA) and can be traced across >me and space

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Ex. Language

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Cultural paWerns can be traced through >me: the fact that English and French are widely spoken in Canada but not Fulfulde is because of coloniza>on

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The English of newfoundland differs from the English of other provinces in style, rhythm and vocab

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PaWerned cultural varia>on allows anthropologists to dis>nguish different “cultural tradi>ons” from one another

Symbolic o

Cultural significance is communicated symbolically (one thing stands for something else: gesture, ritual, words, etc.)

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Ex. Stop signs are symbols for drivers to stop, how we bury the dead, how we conduct ourselves socially

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Hominin: all bipedal apes

Adap1ve o

Human b...