Cultural Anthropology Chapter 13

Stratification: “Race” and Ethnicity

© 2011 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

Race and ethnicity are complicated

• Is the child of a biracial couple (black and white) black or white? Mixed?

• Is Judaism a religion or an ethnicity? Both? • Race and ethnicity are terms used every day but

rarely explored.

3Introduction to Sociology: Race and

Ethnicity4

□ This woman is not real.

□ She was created by a computer from a mix of several races.

© 2011 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

Defining race

• Race refers to an externally imposed system of social categorization and stratification.

• No true biological races exist; rather, human groups must be placed on a continuum.

• Typically, race refers to some set of physical characteristics granted importance by a society.

• Race is socially constructed.

6© 2011 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

Defining ethnicity

• Ethnicity refers to the distinct cultural norms and values of a social group.

• Characteristics of ethnic groups include (to varying degrees):

– Shared history – Religion and culture – Kin or ancestry – Sense of shared destiny – Language

4

© 2011 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.

Racism

• Racism is a form of prejudice and/or discrimination based on physical differences.

• There are many layers of racism – Individual consciousness and behavior – Ideologies of supremacy – Institutional racism

8

Ethnicity

▪ Perceived differences in culture, national origin, and historical experience by which groups of people are distinguished from others in the same social environment. – Ethnic identity - The sense of self one experiences as a member of

an ethnic group.

Ethnic Conflict

▪ Extreme ethnic conflict is a product of contemporary economic, political, and social conditions.

▪ Ethnic violence, as described for the former Yugoslavia, suggests that political manipulation of cultural differences, not ethnicity per se, is at the root of interethnic violence.

U.S. Cultural Diversity

▪ From the 1880s through the 1920s, restrictive and racist immigration laws gave preference to immigration from European countries.

▪ In 1965, changes in American immigration laws led to increasing immigration from a wide diversity of nations and “races.”

© 2011 W. W. Norton Co., Inc.14

65.9% WHITE (NON-HISPANIC) 198,420,355 people

15.1% HISPANIC OR LATINO 45,432,158 people

12.1% AFRICAN AMERICAN 36,397,922 people

4.3% ASIAN 13,000,306 people

1.6% TWO OR MORE RACES 4,794,461 people

0.7% AMERICAN INDIAN AND ALASKA NATIVE 2,041,269 people

0.1% NATIVE HAWAIIAN AND OTHER PACIFIC ISLANDER 413,294 people

0.2% SOME OTHER RACE 737,938 people

Note: This map is not geographically representative of population distribution. SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census 2008b.

Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Racial and Ethnic PopulationsModels of Adaptation

▪ Assimilation model ▪ Melting pot model ▪ Mosaic Model

Assimilation Model

▪ Immigrants should abandon traditions and become absorbed in American culture.

▪ Resulted in the building of urban Settlement Houses, designed to teach immigrants “American” ways.

Melting Pot Model

▪ Immigrants will melt together into a new American culture.

▪ By the late 1950s, it was clear that the melting pot theory had only limited application.

Mosaic Model

▪ Cultural diversity is a positive aspect of American national identity.

▪ Arose in response to the swell of immigration in the past 25 years.

Figure 10.3 Median Household Income by Race, 1980– 2008. Essentials Of Sociology, 3rd Edition Copyright © 2011 W.W. Norton & Company

Introduction to Sociology: Race and Ethnicity

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Number of Executions and Race of Prisoners Executed, 1976–2009

Introduction to Sociology: Race and Ethnicity

18

Americans without Health Insurance by Race, 2007

Introduction to Sociology: Race and Ethnicity

19

U.S. Infant Mortality Rate, 2005

Introduction to Sociology: Race and Ethnicity

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Educational Attainment Based on Race, 2007

21

GENOCIDE

Nazis: (1933-1945)

Jews, Gypsies, gays & lesbians, communists, mentally ill

KILLED: @11 MILLION

Turks: Armenians in WWI (1914-1918)

KILLED:@2 MILLION

MASS MURDER

Slave Trade

(U.S. & many W. European countries):

@1600-1850

KILLED:@20 MILLION

Turks

Armenians, 1890s

KILLED 300-400,000

ETHNIC CLEANSING

U.S. & Native Americans

Pop. of NAs reduced from about 2million to 500,000 over 300 years. -- mass murder -- starvation -- war -- forced removals -- disease

Yugoslavia Serbs in Bosnia (1980s,1990s) -- terror, expulsion, and thousands found in mass graves

DISCRIMINATION

!History of many non-Northern European groups in U.S.

-- Irish, Italians, eastern Europeans, Jews, African-Americans, Latinos, Asians, etc.

Women around the world

Hindu Caste system

examples of genocide, mass murder, ethnic cleansing and discrimination

22

Mass Murder and Genocide in the 20th Century from R. J. Rummel, http://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills

TOTALITARIAN REGIMES USSR, 1917-1987 62,000,000 Chinese Communists, 1923-1987 39,000,000 Nazi Germany, 1933-1945 21,000,000 !AUTHORITARIAN REGIMES Chinese Nationalists, 1928-1949 10,000,000 Japan, 1936-1945 6,000,000 Turkey, 1909-1923 2,600,000 Cambodia, 1975-1980 2,000,000 !!Note: These numbers are best guesstimates. In most cases, because of denials,

secrecy, and coverups, it is impossible to know the exact number with precision.

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Mass Killing is common in Africa

Congo 4 million deaths since 1998, prompted by endless fighting between armed gangs/

warlords. !Sudan (Darfur) 800,000 dead since 2002, in tribal/religious warfare/genocide !Uganda Idi Amin (dictator) killed 400,000 of his own people in the 1970s and 1980s. (Last

King of Scotland) Since 2002, another 100,000 dead from rebellion in North. !Nigerian Civil War (1970s) 400,000 dead !Rwanda (1990s) 800,000 dead (about half from gov’t-sponsored genocide) (Hotel Rwanda)

Ethnic majority groups in the Balkans

•

The Balkans was once part of the Roman Empire and many people there are still Christian

(Catholic or Orthodox)

•

Because the Balkans sits at a cultural crossroads, there are many ethnic groups in the area. This has caused tension making the region a SHATTERBELT.

(Bosnia is about the size of Wyoming)

2. Ethnic divisions

CROATIA BOSNIA SERBIA KOSOVO

ETHNIC MAJORITY

CROATS MUSLIMS SERBS ALBANIAN

ETHNIC MINORITY

SERBS CROATS/ SERBS

MUSLIMS/ CROATS

SERBS

WRITING SYSTEM

LATIN/ROMAN (You are using it now)

LATIN/ ROMAN

CYRILLIC/ RUSSIAN

LATIN/ ROMAN

HISTORICAL ALLY

AUSTRIA/ GERMANY

OTTOMAN TURKS

RUSSIA ALBANIANS

RELIGION CHRISTIAN/ CATHOLIC

ISLAM CHRISTIAN/ORTHODOX

CHRISTIAN/MUSLIM

Migrating populations, 1990-2000

2000: 175 million; >4x increase from 1975 ; 2050: 230 million; internal migrants are three times that number

Population Action International 1994, IOM 2003

Chapter 14

Religion

Religion . . .

. . . is a cultural universal that involves a belief in the supernatural , and typically includes the worship of a force or forces.

!

. . . . involves faith, which cannot be empirically demonstrated.

A Human Universal

▪ Religion dates back to the beginnings of the human species.

▪ No religion is more evolved than another. ▪ E. B. Tylor,one of the founders of

anthropology, saw religion as beginning with animism, animism, the notion that all objects, living and non-living are imbued with spirits.

Functions of Religion in Society

1. Explains aspects of the physical and social environment.

2. Helps people understand the world. 3. Preserves the social order. 4. Includes practices aimed at ensuring

success.

Religious Symbols

▪ Religious symbols are multivalent, they include many different and sometimes contradictory meanings into a single word, idea, or object. – The Christian cross.

• The cross means life, death, love, sacrifice, identity, history, power, weakness, wealth, poverty, and much more besides.

• Because it carries so many meanings, it has enormous emotional and intellectual power for Christians.

God

▪ A named spirit who is believed to have created or to control some aspect of the world.

▪ Gods understood as the creator of the world and as the ultimate power in it are present in only about half of all societies.

▪ In about 1/3 of these societies, such gods are distant and withdrawn, having little interest in people, and prayer to them is unnecessary.

God▪ Religions may be polytheistic (many gods) or

monotheistic (one god). ▪ Polytheistic religions - many gods may be different

aspects of one god. – In India, there are millions of gods; yet all Indians

understand that in some way they are all aspects of one divine essence.

▪ Monotheistic religions - one god may have several aspects. – In Roman Catholicism: God the Father, God the

Son, and God the Holy Spirit are all part of a single, unitary god.

Theories on Origins and Functions of Religion (cont.)

• RELIGION BINDS PEOPLE TOGETHER • Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) - French • People who share strong religious beliefs are

bound together socially with a sense of belonging. (congregation).

Theories on Origins and Functions of Religion (cont.)

• EXPLANATORY FUNCTIONS • Tylor and others • Religion is a source of explanations about the

world. • It answers the BIG questions that are beyond the reach of science.

Theories on Origins and Functions of Religion (cont.)

• RELIGION GIVES COMFORT TO BELIEVERS • Faith that the forces unseen are more

important that those seen. • Faith that the will of God is most important,

and whatever happens will be “for the best” • Faith that there will be eternal rewards in the

next world.

Theories on Origins and Functions of Religion (cont.)

• RELIGION HELPS WITH SOCIAL CONTROL. • It teaches right from wrong (morality), and the

consequences of sinning (breaking the rules).

• The term animism (from Latin anima or soul), commonly refers to belief systems that attribute souls to animals, plants, natural phenomena, and geographic features, in addition to humans.

Animism – the earliest form of religion?

Other forms of religion

• Monotheism -Christianity -Islam -Judiasm !

Major tenet – salvation and heaven

Other forms of religion

• Polytheism - Hinduism Major tenet - reincarnation

Rites of Passage: The Ceremonial Marking Of A Transition To Another Life Stage.

• Bar Mitzvah • Bat Mitzvah • Quinceana

In U.S., there are secular rites of passage marking the gradual change to adulthood.

• They include:

A Religious Pilgrimage: “Pilgrims” Visit Significant Religious Sites to Demonstrate

Their Dedication• Mecca for Muslims

A Religious Pilgrimage: “Pilgrims” Visit Significant Religious Sites to

Demonstrate Their Dedication (cont.)• Jerusalem and the Wailing Wall for Jews

A Religious Pilgrimage: “Pilgrims” Visit Significant Religious Sites to

Demonstrate Their Dedication (cont.)• Bethlehem and Calvary for Christians

Voudou (Voodoo) is a form of magic

• It originated in Africa, then spread to Haiti and New Orleans

Navajo Healing: a Quest for Harmony

• It is a combination of animism and magic using dry painting (sand) and a

complex ritual to heal.

Wicca : Modern nature worship and witchcraft

• There is a belief in a God or gods (many variations).

• Rituals are performs, spells may be cast.

Baseball Magic (cont.)

• Can’t mention “no hitters” to anyone during the game or pitcher will be jinxed.

Baseball Magic: the quirks of Turk Wendell

A 2008 attempt to “hex” the Yankees during construction of the new Yankee Stadium.

To tie up the subject of religion into a neat bow, what can we say?

• It is a cultural universal. We can assume that means that all societies find a need for it. !

• Religion does perform a number of functions (explanatory, comfort, social).

!• Tylor thought that as science expanded, religion

would diminish until it disappeared completely. He was presuming that it ONLY had the explanatory function. Science has grown, but religion remains.

Classification of Religions

■Monotheism --- belief in a single deity ■Polytheism ----- belief in

many gods !■Universalizing Religions --

faiths that claim to apply to all humans and seek to transmit this to all lands

Judaism

■Belief in a single god ■ Foundation of Christianity

and Islam ■ Identified with a single

ethnic group ■Emerged about 3000 to

3500 years ago ■Dispersed throughout the

world by 500 ad. ■ 1948 creation of the

Jewish state, Israel

Christianity

■Origin in the life and teachings of Jesus, ■began as a cult

"The Way“ !■Promise of salvation to all,

not just a chosen people ■Mission: conversion of

the world, the hope it provides led to rapid growth

Islam

■ Islam = submission ■Muslim = one who

submits ■Qua’ran unchanged

since 650 b.c. ■Unifying language of

Arabic ■ Standard & regulation

of faith leaves no room for interpretation

Five Pillars of Faith

■ There is no god but Allah, and Muhammad is his Prophet

■ A Muslim must pray five times daily, facing Mecca

■ A Muslim must give alms to the poor.

■ A Muslim must fast during daylight hours in the month of Ramadan

■ A holy visit to Mecca must be undertaken by every Muslim who can afford it during lifetime

Dome of the Rock

Mecca — Ka’ ba

The “Black Stone” Hinduism

■ Forces of nature are personified as gods & goddesses ■ 150,000 gods

!■Hindu pantheon ■Brahma --- the Creator ■Vishnu --- the Preserver ■Shiva --- the Destroyer

Key Concepts

■Dharma ■One’s social duty !!■Karma ■Result of acting

against one’s dharma

Buddhism

■300 million followers ■Siddhartha Guatama --- 563 b.c.

■Buddha = Enlightened One !■Four Noble Truths

■All living beings suffer ■Suffering comes from desire to

live ■Goal of life is to escape

suffering and endless cycle of rebirth --- Nirvana ■Nirvana is attained through

Eightfold Path

Eight-fold Path Confucius – Kung Fu tzu

■Troubles of society could be fixed, if man would submit to political and social order !■Five Types of Human Relationships

■ father and son (loving / reverential) ■elder brother and younger brother

(gentle / respectful) ■husband and wife (good / listening) ■older friend and younger friend

(considerate / deferential) ■ ruler and subject (benevolent /

loyal)

Taoism – Lao zi

■Opposite of Confucian stress on world of man ■All nature follows the Tao

= “the Way” ■Relativity of all things

and dependence of one thing on its opposite

■Yin & Yang

Baseball Magic

• The use of Rally Caps - “bottom of the 9th, one run down, two out”

MAGIC• The belief that supernatural forces can be

controlled by the human shaman / magician. • It involves using specific incantations or other

rituals, that, if followed properly, will guarantee the desired outcome. (In religion, practitioners beseech the supernatural, but accept whatever outcome is desired by the supernatural. God can say “NO”.)

• Magic involves arrogance, religion uses reverence.

An American Secular Pilgrimage

• If one is part of a TRUE American family, where MUST that family make a pilgrimage sometime before the children leave home for good?

Chapter 15

Creative Expression: Anthropology and the Arts

Art

▪ Universal means of expressing the identity of a culture.

▪ Evidence of art appears early in the human fossil record.

▪ There is no known culture without art.

Functions of Art

▪ Communication with and control over nature and the supernatural.

▪ Display of cultural themes. ▪ Cultural and social integration. ▪ Express cultural identity and history.

Visual Art

○ Visual art may be representational (imitating closely the forms of nature) or abstract (drawing from natural forms but representing only their basic patterns or arrangements).

Rock Art○ Paintings, engravings, and carvings

on the walls of caves and rocky shelters or outcrops is a hallmark of early modern human populations.

○ The first true expression of artistic behavior in the human species.

Iconic Images

○ These images depicted in rock art are thought the be culturally specific people, animals, and monsters that might be seen in the deepest stages of trance. Also known as iconic images.

○ Trances might have been drug induced.

Tattooing• In parts of Polynesia,

full-body tattooing is considered a significant form of art.

Art and Government• This bronze head of

Lenin, the largest in the world, located in the city of Ulan-Ude, Russia, is a piece of art commissioned by the communist government to evoke positive feelings about one of its founders.

Ethnomusicology• Ethnomusicologists

would be interested in studying both the music of this Ukrainian andura player and how that music reflects the wider culture of which it is a part.

Utility and Art• Art comes in many

forms, some utilitarian, others not.

• Here a man weaves a rug in Rajasthan, India.

Music

Verbal Art• Myths are stories of our search for significance,

meaning, and truth. • Legends are told as if they were true, but often

are only partially true or not at all true. They attempt to explain the establishment of local customs, the movement of populations from one land to another, or the traits of folk heroes.

• Folktales have no particular basis in history and exist largely for the purpose of entertainment.

Film

Chapter 16

Culture Change in the Modern World

CULTURE CHANGE

RECOGNIZING THE INEVITABLE

World Population

▪ Two thousand years ago there were only about 250 million people in the world.

▪ By 1750, this had tripled to 750 million.

World Population

▪ In 1800, there were 1 billion people in the world; by 1930, there were 2 billion.

▪ By the summer of 2005 it stood at about 6.4 billion.

▪ World population continues to increase at the rate of about 1 billion people a decade.

World Resource Use

▪ 1,000 years ago, the majority of the world’s population consumed at similar levels, although substantial differences in wealth existed.

▪ Today, about 1/5 of the Earth’s population takes home 64% of the world’s income.

World Resource Use

▪ The net worth of the 358 richest people in the world is equal to the combined income of the world’s poorest 2.3 billion people.

▪ The average person in an industrialized nation consumes: – 3 times as much fresh water – 10 times as much energy – 19 times as much aluminum

as someone in a developing nation.

Europeans in 1400

▪ Devised oceangoing vessels. ▪ Were masters of cathedral and castle

construction. ▪ Experienced much war, plague, and

economic depression.

Developments Aiding Expansion

▪ Rise of a banking and merchant class. ▪ Growing population. ▪ New ship design that was better at

sailing into the wind. ▪ Diseases carried by Europeans to native

populations.

Culture Is Dynamic• One of the qualities of culture is that it always changes. • Change cannot be totally stopped, even by those who resist it.

Amish changes in transportation and communication – slow buggy sign, buggy lights, and an Amish phone house.

Culture Change takes place in both Material and Non-material Culture.• Material culture change includes changes in

technology, such as forms of transportation. • Europe to New World – 1492 – 30 days !!!!!

• Paris to New York - 2000 – Concorde jet – 3 hours

Trans-Atlantic Crossing 2007: Space Shuttle – 10 minutes

Culture changes takes place primarily through one of two ways:

!

1 - Independent Invention

(a.k.a Innovation)

!

2 - Diffusion

Giants of Invention include:

Leonardo DaVinci

Thomas Edison

To the pedestrian American Indians of the 1500s, Spanish horses were a perfect addition to nomadic hunting and gathering cultures.

Although the King of Denmark thought tobacco was a vile plant, the practice of smoking spread outward from the New

World.

WESTERNIZATION

• (A.K.A. modernization) It is the process of non-industrial Third World countries adopting the qualities of Western industrialized societies. !

• Traits include: – Capitalism – Democracy – Industrialization – Emphasis on nuclear families – Emphasis on time

Is change always good? NOIs change ever good? YES

• For many Democrats anticipating the 2008 presidential election, “CHANGE” really just means, “Anybody but W.”

Forced Labor

▪ In the 15th century, Europeans practiced slavery on a larger scale than any people before them.

▪ Non-Europeans exported over 7 million slaves to the Islamic world between 650 and 1600.

▪ At the end of the 19th century approximately 11 million slaves were exported to the Americas.

ENDITMOVEMENT.COM

Slavery occurs where one person exercises the ‘right’ of ownership over a person.2 (League of Nations)

They are held against their will often under the threat of violence. Physical, emotional and mental abuse is oftenpart of their enslavement.3 (IJM)

Slavery still exists. It is estimated that there are anything between 10 million and 27 million slaves in the world today.4 (ILO and freetheslaves.net)

The reason for this broad range is that those people being counted are largely a ‘hidden’ population.5 (CNN Freedom Project)

It is estimated that human traffi cking alone generates annual profi ts of around $32 billion.6 (ILO)

The majority of traffi cking victims are between 18 and 24 years of age.7 (UN.GIFT)

In 1850, the cost of a slave (in today’s dollars) was $40,000, the avg. price of a slave today is $90.8 (Free the Slaves)

The victims most vulnerable are women and children. Children in particular are sold, bonded, traffi cked, subjected to commercial sexual exploitation, recruited into armed confl icts and forced to work as domestic workers.9 (antislavery.org)

Several factors contribute to the persistence of slavery practices despite it being illegal in most countries, most signifi cantly, poverty, the lack of enforcement of anti-slavery laws, and crime and corruption, including at the state level.10 (Free the Slaves)

Slavery has various forms today including human traffi cking, forced labour, descent-based slavery, bonded labour and child labour.11 (antislavery.

org)

Other less known forms of slavery include domestic servitude, forced marriage and those traded for the purpose of organ removal.12 (United

Nations Offi ce on Drugs and Crime)

2 ENDITMOVEMENT.COM

Slavery occurs when one person completely controls another person, using violence or the threat of violence to

maintain that control, exploits them economically, pays them nothing and they cannot walk away.1 (CNN Freedom Project)

THE DEFINITION OF SLAVERY.

THE SLAVERY “INDUSTRY” RAKES IN AN ESTIMATED $32 BILLION DOLLARS EACH YEAR.

SLAVERY FACTS

Cultural Anthropology