anthropology 597.01 cultural conflict in d eveloping nations

“Quantities like length, breadth, distance, and magnitude are

susceptible of exact mathematical determination; human actions

cannot be so calculated.”- Sun Tzu

Anthropology 597.01 Cultural Conflict in Developing Nations

Anthropology

• The holistic & scientific study of humankind as a biological & cultural entity– Scientific study of humankind–What does it mean to be human?– Focus on human biological & cultural evolution

Anthropological Concepts

Holism • Perspective that integrates all known information• Global perspective, all time periods• Compare as wide a range of human societies as

possible

Anthropological Concepts• Relativism – View subject in terms of their principles, traditions,

history, etc.

• Ethnocentrism– The view that the ways of one’s own culture are

superior to those of other cultures– evaluating aspects of other cultures utilizing the

values of one’s own culture

Archaeology1. Reconstruct cultural history2. Reconstruct past lifeways3. Study cultural process– Independent invention– Diffusion– Migration

Physical/Biological AnthropologyThe study of human biology within the framework

of evolution

► specializations: paleoanthropology primatology human biology

Linguistic Anthropology

The study of human speech and language• Origins & historical ties• Language & Culture– Shapes cognition & thought

• Social interaction of lang & Society– Gender, class, ethnicity

Our best intelligence suggests the insurgentsare this tall

Non-verbal communication

Cultural Anthropology• Study of human culture & behavior– Comparison of differences & similarities of cultures

• Participant Observation– Intensive Fieldwork

• Ethnography & ethnology• Emic Perspective– member of society’s view of the world

• Etic Perspective– understanding of the world or a behavior from the

perspective of an outside observer

Bands 25 – 150 (ex. !Kung)• H/G • Elder/shaman • No social stratigraphy• Reciprocity (general)

Tribes 75 – 500 (ex. Yanamamo)• Horticulturalist / Pastoralist • Headman, unite for common defense • little social stratigraphy• Reciprocity (balanced)

Social Organization

Chiefdoms 1000’s (ex. Cahokia)• Small scale agriculture• Chief (CPA)• Begin social stratification• Redistribution

State 10k’s (ex. pick one)• Intensive Agriculture • Central Political Agent (President, PM, Queen/King)– Bureaucracy

• Marked social stratification• Market Economy

Social Organization

Culture:• gives meaning to reality• is adaptive• is shared• is cumulative• is not invented

A system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors and material objects that members of a society use to cope with the world & one another.

Culture

Culture & Biology

• Does biology determine culture/behavior?– Biological Determinism

• Critics:– Any person of any ‘race’ can be raised in any culture /

language– Huge cultural diversity w/ little biological diversity – Horizontal vs. Vertical Transmission

Culture in Total • Culture – any thought or action that is learned & not

instinctual or biologically inherited.– “non-biological adaptations to environment passed

on through acquired knowledge.”• Where do people acquire culture?– Enculturation – Acculturation