ANTH_211_Unit_2.docx

ANTH 211 Unit 2 Notes Political Systems and Action Egyptian Women in the RevolutionThere is an unprecedented participation of women in the uprising. Although sexual harassment has long been considered a major headache for women in Egypt, regardless of whether they observe the Islamic dress code or not, women noted the absence of such abuse at the rally despite the crowds. Kolona Khaled Said (We are all Khaled Said)Said was killed by Alexandria police who claimed he choked on a bag of marijuana. His tortured body was dumped by police. The InspirationThe protestors have said that they were inspired by the successful revolution in Tunisia, which ousted authoritarian President Ben Ali The Tunisian RevolutionIt started Dec 17th when Mohamed Bouazizi set himself on fire in protest. The 26-year-old acted out of desperation after police confiscated the fruits and vegetables he sold without a permit. He died Jan. 4. There was so much outrage over his ordeal that even President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, the dictator, visited Bouazizi on Dec 28 to try to blunt the anger. But the outcry could not be suppressed and, on Jan 14, just 10 days after Bouazizi died, Ben Ali?s 23-year-rule of Tunisia was over. The Egyptian Revolutionstarted Jan 25 to protest poverty, rampant unemployment, government corruption and autocratic governance of President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled the country for 30 years. What is ?The Political???Political organization compromises those portions of social organization that specifically relate to the individuals or groups that manage the affairs of public policy or seek to control the appointment or activities of those individuals or groups.? ? Morton Fried in The Evolution of Political Society: An Essay in Political Anthropology Those who seek to influencepolitical parties, unions, corporations, consumers, activists, action committees, religious groups, Nongovernmental Organizations (NGO?s). Power and AuthorityPower ? ability to exercise one?s will over others. Authority ? socially approved use of power. Elman Service identified four types of political organizationBand, tribe, chiefdom, state. Problem 0 today, none of the first three types can be studied as a self-contained form of political organization outside of the context of the nation-state. BandSmall, kin-based group. Domestic unit is nuclear family. All members related by kinship or marriage. Decision by consensus with flexible leadership. Found among foragers - ex, Basarwa San. Communal mode of production. Usually between 60-100 people, don?t transform nature, gather naturally available resources, practice hunting and gathering, all people stand as equal members of the community. Cultural aspects ? emphasis on sharing (generalized reciprocity), egalitarian, status based on prestige, direct relationship with the supernatural, no priests, etc. impact of world system ? rapid absorption of peoples, dependence on cash economy, intrusion of missionaries and schools (in the last 40 years, foraging people have been transformed and sedentized and are typically part of the cash economy). The San ? populations are small; economies that do not transform nature, but gather what is already there (Band Mode of Production). By 1500, foragers are already displaced by tribal peoples and state **************. Women bring in 60-80% of diet, control food distribution, travel to collect food giving women knowledge of the environment (like men when hunting). Advantage of male hunting balanced by advantage of female gathering. Flexible division of labor ? men sometimes do women?s work, participate in child rearing, women sometimes do men?s work (though more rarely that men engage in women?s work). Leadership is Fluid and Egalitarian ? both men and women speak in public, men may be spokespersons, but women often take an important role in marriage and dispute settlements. N!ore or band territory Is traced to ownership of both brothers and sisters (male and female ancestors). Neither men nor women can direct or order around others. The Inuit ? men?s hunting provides most of the food. Whaling on coast of Alaska; sealing along northern coast, inland ? caribou. Men are hunters/providers, women are tanners, tailors, cooks, childcare, control meat distribution. More male dominance/female dependence especially where whaling is organized around groups of males. Norms ? cultural standards or guidelines that enable individuals to distinguish between appropriate and inappropriate behavior in a given society. Prestige ? esteem, respect, or approval for culturally valued qualities. 3/2 Conflict Resolution Inuit Style ? Song BattleInuit practice polygyny (many wives) and wives could be stolen. The husband could challenge his rival to a song battle in a public setting. Contestants made up insulting songs about each other and the crowd would choose a winner. Solution to violent confrontation. Tribe ? has an economy based on nonintensive food production (horticulture or pastoralism). Live in villages and are organized into kin groups based on common descent (clans). Lack a formal government and have no reliable means to enforce political decisions. Have no socioeconomic stratification (class). Kin corporate mode of production. A segment of nature is transformed by people (agriculture or herding). People become equipped with tools, organization, and ideas. Goal is to produce crops or livestock.Kin Groups of Tribes - Lineages composed of extended families (residence is usually patrilocal or matrilocal). Corporate (last beyond lives of individuals). All members have collective ownership and are political decision-makers. Men have more decision-making power. Village Headlimited authority, leads by example and persuasion, serves role of mediator, must lead in generosity, gains his authority through supporters. Yanomami of Venezuela/Brazil, have a village head. Dissent If you don?t like the village head, the solution is to move and start your own village. ?Big Man? Papua New Guinea ? Regional head of several villages who has no sure means of enforcing political decisions, but he has prestige and limited authority. Kapauku ? Unlike a village head, the big man?s wealth is greater than that of his supporters. Law of tribal life ? if someone achieves wealth and widespread respect and support, he or she must be generous. Status ? various positions that people occupy in society, such as spouse, parent, teacher, student, or big man. All people occupy multiple statuses. Ascribed ? little or no choice (age, gender). Achieved ? come through choice, action, efforts, accomplishments. ChiefdomsFirst emerged about 6,500 years ago. Very rare today (Caribbean, lowland Amozonia, Polynesia), chief is a full-time political specialist who regulates the economy, has offices, or a permanent position which must be filled. ?An incipient aristocracy with advantages in wealth and lifestyle? ? Earle, 1987. Privileged few are always relatives and assistants of the chief, usually have less land and less populous than states. StatesFirst emerged about 5,500 years ago in Iran. Is ?an autonomous political unit encompassing many communities within its territory, having a centralized government with the power to collect taxes, draft men for war, or work, and decree and enforce laws? - Carneiro 1970. Is stratified, contains unrelated groups that differ in access to wealth, prestige, power. Basic characteristics ? Like domestication, they develop independently in several parts of the world during a similar window of time. All depend on intensive crop agriculture. Animal husbandry is important in all but Mesoamerican civilization. All tend to develop around abundant, continuous water sources in arid or semi-arid environments. Irrigation systems are often an important factor in cultivation. All State societies include ? hierarchical and centralized decision making, substantial population, full-time religious and craft specialists, public buildings, art style. Population control - fixing of boundaries, establishment of citizenship categories, taking of census. Judiciary - laws, legal procedures, judges. Enforcement - permanent military/police. Fiscal - taxation. 4 types of archaeological evidence signaling development of social complexity/state level societiesMonumental architecture, differences in size of residences, differences in the amount of material placed in graves as offerings, development of settlement hierarchies (regional capitals with dependent settlements in the hinterlands. Open and Closed Class systemsVertical mobility ? upward or downward change in a person?s social status which occurs in an open-class system. Caste system ? closed, hereditary systems of stratification that often are dictated by religion. Kinship and Marriage MarriageSocially approved sexual and economic union, usually between a woman and a man. Universal among societies, but is culturally constructed and is variable from culture to culture. Why is marriage universal?Gender division of labor ? society must have some mechanism by which women and men share the products of labor, answer is marriage.Prolonged infant dependency ? because humans have the longest period of infant dependency, women need the help of a man for work incompatible with child-care. Sexual competition ? most female primates go through estrus, humans don?t. Marriage is a way to minimize rivalry among males for females. The Na ExceptionThe Na of Yunnan in southwest China don?t practice marriage, no word for marriage. People live their entire lives in a residential group made up of maternal kin. Furtive sex is the norm. Since 1959, the Chinese government has attempted to impose monogamy and fines for illegitimate births. Marriage is Universal, Rite of Passage Isn?tDiverse ceremonies mark the beginning of a marriage, some cultures don?t have a ceremony but rather a gradual transition. Some cultures have a trial marriage (Kwoma of New Guinea). The Economy of MarriageBride Price (most common with 44%) ? gift of money/goods from groom or kin to bride?s kin, gives groom the right to marry and right to a bride?s children. Bride Service (19%) ? requires groom to work for bride?s family.Dowry ? substantial transfer of goods or money from bride?s family to bride, groom, or couple. Types of MarriagesArranged ? negotiated by immediate families. Exogamy ? marriage partner chosen from outside own kin group (Navajo)Endogamy ? obliges a person to marry within some group (caste group of India). CastesStratified groups in which membership is ascribed at birth and is lifelong. Although officially abolished in 1949, structure still lingers and the belief that intercaste sexual unions leads to ritual impurity for the higher-caste partner is still embraced. Marriage RelationshipsMonogamy ? one man/one woman.Polygamy ? plural spouse marriage. Polygyny ? one man, many women. Sororal ? man is married to two or more sisters. Nonsororal ? co-wives are not sisters. Polyandry ? one woman, many men. Fraternal ? woman married to two or more brothers. Nonfraternal ? co-husbands are not brothers. Rarest. Cousin marriages ? some societies prohibit cousin marriage, others prefer particular kinds.Cross-cousins ? children of siblings of opposite sex (father?s sister?s children)Parallel-cousins ? children of siblings of the same sex (mom?s sister?s kids). 3/4 Residence Patterns and KinshipNeolocal Residence ? both son and daughter leave, married couples live apart from relatives of both spouses (5%). Most Americans. Levirate ? a custom whereby a man is obligated to marry his brother?s widow. Sororate ? a custom whereby a woman is obligated to marry her deceased sister?s husband. Universal Incest TaboosInbreeding Theory ? mating with a close relative is harmful because the chances of harmful recessive genes becoming combined is greater. Childhood-Familiarity Theory ? (Westermarck) argues that people who have been closely associated to each other will not have sexual attraction.Psychoanalytic Theory ? (Freud) argues that the incest taboo is a reaction against unconscious, unacceptable desires.Cooperation Theory ? (Tylor) argues that the incest taboo promotes cooperation among family groups by breaking down suspicion and hostility. 3/14 Types of FamiliesFamily ? social and economic unit consisting minimally of one or more parents and their children.Extended Family ? consists of two or more nuclear families linked by blood ties living in the same household (most common practice among humans)Nuclear Family ? a married couple and their offspring. Primary unit in the US. Zadruga - Among the Muslims of Western Bosnia. Several nuclear families live in extended family households. Each nuclear family has their own room in a Zadruga, but possessions are shared. Children are thought to belong to the Zadruga, not to the husband and wife. Nayars ? alternative to the nuclear family. Matrilineal extended family compounds called tarawads. Tarawad ? own temple, granary, water well, orchard, gardens. Headed by senior women, assisted by her brother, children are members of their mother?s tarawad. Family of Orientation ? the family in which one is born and grows up.Family of Procreation - formed when one marries and has children. Residence patterns and kinshipPatrilocal residence ? son stays, daughter leaves, couple lives with/near husband?s parents (67%). Matrilocal residence ? daughter stays, son leaves, couple lives with/near the wife?s parents (15%).Bilocal Residence ? either son or daughter leaves, couple lives with/near either spouse?s parents (7%).Avunculocal ? both son and daughter leave but they settle with/near his mother?s brother (4%). Neolocal Residence ? son and daughter leave, couples live apart from relatives of both spouses (5%). Structure of KinshipUnilinear descent ? traced through links of one sex only. Patrilineal or Matrilineal. Ambilineal descent - kinship is related to a person through men or womenLineage ? set of kin whose members trace descent from a common ancestor through known links.Clan (sib) ? set of kin whose members believe themselves to be descended from a common ancestor, often designated by an animal name called a totem.Unilinear descent groups function to regulate marriage, support each other economically, establish political power and roles in warfare, provide religious affiliation and spiritual security.Consanguineal kin ? related by blood.Affinal kin ? kin by marriage (in laws)Fictive kin ? people not related by blood or marriage but you are considered like family. US kinship - Most us residents use the Inuit kin system in which all cousins are lumped together under the same term but are distinguished from brothers and sisters, all aunts from mom, all uncles from dad. Omaha system ? dad/dad?s brothers are all referred to by the same term. Crow system ? mom/mom?s sisters are same term. Iroquois ? Omaha + crowSudanese ? each relative gets their own term. Hawaiian ? everyone of same sex and generation are same term. Gender and CultureGender differences are cultural, sex differences are biological. US culture - two genders.Cheyenne - male, female, two-spirits.India - hijras (neither man or woman) ? born as male but dress in women?s clothes, marry men, bless male babies with fertility. Sexual Dimorphism ? humans are sexually dimorphic, females and males of our species are generally different in size/appearance. Women have wider pelvises, men are taller and have heavier skeletons. Gender Roles ? in most societies, there is the gender division of labor and there are almost universal or near-universal patterns of labor by gender. Why?Four Theories about Gender Division of LaborStrength Theory ? men are stronger and more fit for certain tasks. Activities that require lifting heavy objects such as hunting large animals, butchering, working with stone, throwing weapons, etc. are all thought to be performed best by males. Problem ? cannot explain all observed patterns. Why are the traditionally male activities of trapping small animals, collecting wild honey, making musical instruments ?male activities when they don?t require strength?Compatibility with Childcare Theory ? women breast feed, which men can?t do, biologically predisposes women to certain tasks. In most societies, women breast feed for two years, suggests that women do certain tasks that are less dangerous/closer to home. Problem ? doesn?t explain why men perform activities like prepare soil, work bone and shell because these are activities that women could perform simultaneously with childcare. Also, women sometimes work far away from home (i.e. Nepal).Economy of Effort Theory ? may be advantageous for a gender to do tasks that follow in a production sequence, saves time and effort. Argues that it may be advantageous for men to make instruments because they collect the wood. Also, it required less effort for a gender to perform tasks that are located close to each other, thus women could perform tasks close to home to care for children. Expendability Theory ? men do more dangerous work because they are more reproductively expendable. Essentially, loss of men is less disadvantageous. Problem is in some societies, women do this work. Many Philippine Agta women regularly hunt wild pig and deer, about 30% of large game. Why do men take over certain crafts in societies when they are commercialized? Women are traditionally weavers, basket makers, potters. This becomes a full-time specialization and production for trade, the division of labor changes and these become male activities. Men want to do the things that bring in the money. Women cook mostly at home, but most chefs are male. In almost every society, men are political leaders, even matrilineal societies. Ex, Iroquois nation (NY State) ? women controlled resources, descent is traced through women, but men occupied the political positions. Some anthropologists theorize this is because it is primarily men that engage in warfare and they control the weapons. Others attribute it to height and others to men?s greater mobility/get around more. Status of WomenWhy do women have a lower status than men in most cultures? One theory ? women?s status is higher when they contribute substantially to primary subsistence activities. Another argues that where warfare is valued, men will be more valued than women. Political behavior is valued, then men will have higher status because they are primarily involved in political action. In general when matrilineal kin groups and matrilocal residence, women tend to have a higher status. Ex, Iroquois women ? although they could not hold public office, they did have considerable authority in the political process. A lower status of women tends to be associated with societies with greater social complexity such as irrigation agriculture, large settlements, private property, and craft specialization. Western Colonialism has been extremely detrimental to women?s status. Europeans would restructure land ownership around men and teach men modern farming techniques even in places where women were traditionally the farmers. Colonialism undermined the status of women in many cultures. 3/16 Extramarital Sexin 69% of the world?s societies, men have extramarital sex regularly, in 57% women do. Our ideas about fidelity are decidedly America. There?s often a discrepancy between a prescriptive code and practice. Nazi GermanyProhibitions can differ among populations depending on the governments perspectives on the ideal citizen. Abortion and homosexuality was punished if the ?perpetrators? were Arian. On the other hand, homosexuality and abortion was promoted by the Nazis among Jew and Gypsies or ?undesirable? populations. DANCING SKELETONS: Life and Death in West Africa Infant mortality in 200210 in 100,000 here which is really high for a developed nation. Sweden is 1 in 100,000. Languages of MaliDettwyler speaks Bambara (spoken by 80% of the population of Mali). National language is French although only 21% of Malian citizens speak it and only 4% of women. 13 of the most widely spoken indigenous languages are considered ?national languages?. Opening Vignette ? Kid #104?Since my research involved documenting traditional infant feeding practices and their effects on children?s growth, I usually didn?t interfere with the infants feeding practices of my informants. In select instances, however, it seemed unethical not to provide whatever help and advice I could.? Dettwyler?s ResearchStarted as a graduate student in ?81, returned in ?89 as a Fulbright scholar. Studied the ?lifestyles of the poor and anonymous?. Hired a field assistant named Moussa Diarra, a nanny for her daughter Miranda, a night watchman and a launderer. ObjectivesTo contact as many children from her original study to determine how malnourishment impacts their growth, measure new children to determine Malian growth patterns, visit new households to measure and interview (extended, semi-structured) members about infant feeding beliefs. InformationDettwyler wants to gather information about such practices as when solid foods are started in the diet of children, when children are weaned from the breast, and what kinds of foods are given to young children. Her GoalThe development of culturally appropriate nutrition education programs, aimed at improving people?s understandings of the links between diet and health. Food pyramid is a model based on an environment of access to abundant food. In Appalachia, many infants drink Mountain Dew and parents consider it a sign of prestige when they can afford to give them soda. The same phenomena occurs in other cultures with Coca-Cola. Importance of Greetings in Bambara CultureGreetings are an indispensable part of daily life in Mali, important in most all cultures, but some are more elaborate. Address work, health, progression of the day or night, and family. Generic response of ?no trouble? ? similar to English?s ?fine? or ?good?. Higher a person?s status, longer and more elaborate the greeting. Dancing Skeletons is built around several themesEthnography ? what Mali and Malian people are like. Dettwyler focuses her ethnographic investigation on beliefs about food and health, and daily life routines.Disease and death in Mali ? these are a pervasive presence in the country. The experiences of Malian mothers in dealing with illness, parasites, handicaps, and death of children, in contrast to US experiences, are often stunning.Practical research methodologies ? what do biocultural anthropologists do and how they do it. 3/18 AmintataAmintata tested positive for tapeworm. Her mother said ?everyone knows that you can eat a lot and still be skinny? (p44). The connection between food intake and health is not at all obvious for people repeatedly subjected to a variety of illnesses and intestinal parasites. SchistosomaOf 68 fecal specimens, half were positive for ?black water fever?, which is a parasite that burrows through the skin around the ankles and calves when a person wades in infected water. Among parasitic diseases, schistosoma is generally believed to rank second behind malaria in global importance. It infects more than 200 million people. 25 year old man still looks like a child, very short, scrawny, huge tummy. Death as a fact of life in Mali?Every woman had a story to tell, of heartache and sorrow, of children lost. And yet some women spoke of their profound losses with little expressions of emotion? (p157). Death is too commonplace in Mali to be considered a tragedy. Mali and Burkina Faso have among the highest rates of child mortality in West Africa and the world. Death as a UniversalAll human creatures have beliefs and practices around death but these practices have great variation. Consider how a Navajo might feel about Dia de los Muertos. Death Rite ? any of the ceremonial acts or customs employed at the time of death or burial. Child MortalityWhen Dettwyler returned to continue her research, she would greet a mother and then ask if the child she was studying was still alive. This is ?not a question one would normally ask an acquaintance in the US.? In some societies with high infant mortality, there is a ?routinization? of children?s death. Bambara Death RitualsThe Bambara people practice a syncretism (combination of belief systems) of ancestor worship and Islam. Most Bambara continue to pray to their deceased ancestors for guidance. Death rites are performed on the first, third (buried), seventh, and fortieth day after death which leads the soul towards heaven when it can be reincarnated. Syncretism ? merging of several originally discrete traditions into the formation of something new, the reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief. Religious syncretism often takes place when foreign beliefs are introduced to an indigenous belief system and the teachings are blended. AnimismTraditional Bambara beliefs are animistic. Animism is a belief in spirit beings (gods, souls, ghosts, demons.) Anthropomorphic refers to things that are not human but have humanlike characteristics and behave like humans. Initiation SocietiesThe religion of the Bambara is directly related to the six initiation societies (Jo). The final dyow, the kore, is devised to allow a man to regain that portion of his spirit that has been lost to the god through the process of reincarnation. Kore ? if a man is unable to regain his spirit for several lifetimes, he will be entirely absorbed by the god and will cease to exist on Earth NyamaEach person has a life force called Nyama (kind of like the soul). As a person ages, they gain a greater amount of nyama. The dead are buried within the family compound and they must be given libations regularly. Not inherently bad or good like hozho. Dogon death RitualThere are three stages of the death ritual. Buried immediately after death, however the soul stays in the village. In many villages, the body is hoisted or ?buried? in the ancient burial caves of Tellum. Six months later a three night and three day ceremony is held to invite the soul to leave the family home. The Dama is held five years after a death to ensure the soul leaves the village for good. A mask dance is performed and the soul follows the dancer out of the village into the bush. Kwashiorkor (Ewe for ?first child-second child?)A disease in children resulting from a diet that is low in protein and high in calories. Usually found in communities where the staple foods are low in protein. A diet that is low in both protein and calories (marasmus) is less likely to kill you. Funa Bana (Swelling Sickness)Kwashiorkor usually develops around 3 or 4 when a toddler is weaned because a new sibling has arrived. Children?s Diet in MaliGood food/high protein foods are reserved for adults and the elderly. ?Good food is wasted on children.? They are thought to be undeserving and will have good food when (and if) they grow older. The Children who Never Grow UpThere is a category of children in Mali called ?the children who never grow up?. They don?t eat, don?t speak, don?t sit up or walk. Not like Peter Pan. Village chief explains, ?If they don?t get better after a couple of years, then you know that they are evil spirits and you give up. Take them out into the bush and you just leave them. They turn into snakes and slither away.? (p85-86)How it Happens ? women who are pregnant should not walk around at night, it?s when bad spirits are looking for someone to take over. When this happens, your baby can be born dead, deformed, or a ?child who never grows up?. PersonhoodSocial birth that gives moral status and membership into a community. A cross-cultural perspective shows that the beginning of life and personhood are a function of who society considers a person, under what conditions, and why. Who is a Person? - Status that can be conferred before physical birth, like US Pro-Life; physical birth as in Orthodox Jewish law; can occur several weeks to even years after birth. Personhood Bestowed ? many cultures have rituals associated with incorporating an infant into the community. Naming ceremonies transition infants from potential people to people. Before a naming ceremony, it is common that an infant is not considered a member of humanity, and if it died before the ceremony, it was not accorded the customary funerary rites. Degrees of Personhood ? in some instances, an infant can have degrees of personhood, such as with the Hmong of Laos who believe in three souls; one at conception, one at birth, and then one after the third day of birth with a ceremony, the hu plig. Personhood Denied ? personhood can be denied to entire groups such as occurred during the Spanish conquest of what is now Mexico the US southwest, when the Catholic Church doctrine held that Native Americans did not have souls and were therefore not human. Mother Love: A cultural construction?Modern notions of mother love derive, in the first instance, from a ?new? reproductive strategy ? to give birth to few infants and to invest heavily (emotionally as well as materially) in each one from birth onward. This reproductive strategy was alien to most of European history through the early modern period, and it does not reflect the maternal thinking and practice of a great many women living in poverty.? ? Nancy Scheper-Hughes. 3/21The Ebbs and Flows of Ethnographic ResearchThe deaths of Kay (malaria) and Mickey ( meningitis misdiagnosed as malaria) prompted her and her husband to leave Mali. Ending up in Mali was a ?quirk of fate.? She was originally going to study in the Sudan. Magnambougou is across the river from Bamako. Climate and Geography of MaliThe Niger River bisects the country. Bamako is the capital ?village? of Mali and in 2009 1.8 million people lived there (Dettwyler designated the population as 1 million in 1994). In 2010, it is the fastest growing city in Africa. Ethnic Groups of MaliBambara ? most populous, subsistence farmersTamaseq ? matrilineal camel herders and caravanersFulani ? nomadic pastoralists who herd cattleDogon ? cliff settlements along the Bandiagara escapement, ?Darlings of Anthropology?Bozo ? fishermen who fish in the Niger Not ?Native Enough?The Dettwylers were treated with some disdain by other anthropologists at IU because they didn?t ?live like natives?. They lived in an air-conditioned apartment because her husband was hired to run the American Community Center. Magnambougou?Houses are sleeping rooms, most activities happen outside. Compounds house extended family, patrilocal residence groups. A man with multiple wives (polygyny) will build a room for each wife (Islam officially limits a man to four wives). Patrilineal descent. Most residents practice a syncretism of traditional and Muslim beliefs. HealthThere was a government-run clinic, but most women would take a sick child to a traditional healer first. Measles, malaria, upper respiratory infection, diarrhea are major illnesses of young children. Ironically, malnourished children are better able to cope with malaria than well-nourished ones, because their red blood cells are less stable for the malaria protozoa (like sickle-cell anemia). Female CircumcisionClitoridectomy in females would be analogous to cutting off the head of the penis.? For the Dogon, a boy must be circumcised to be truly male and a female must be circumcised to be truly females. In Magnambougou, female circumcision is usually performed when a girl is 6 months old. ?it?s our tradition, we all do this.? BreastfeedingSuppresses ovulation (lactational amenorrhea) and Malian women know this works. It?s only effective if the baby nurses very often throughout the day. Some women in Magnambougou thought breastfeeding past a certain age would make a child stupid. Fat Lady from TimbuktuShe is Moor and, like the Tamasheq, obesity is valued as a sign of beauty. A fat wife indicates that a man is wealthy and able to provide plenty of food for his wife. Obese women are considered very sexy. Daouda and BalaBala wasn?t feeding Daouda properly and Dettwyler gave her long lectures about how to feed him. Later it was explained to her that Bala was mentally ?retarded?. In many societies, people who are developmentally disabled are integrated into everyday life. Giving AlmsIn Muslim beliefs, giving alms to the desolate, the blind, lepers, and mothers of twins is a way of pleasing Allah. Dettwyler taught Heather, a graduate student from Texas A&M to choose a particular person to give money to as a strategy to avoid an onslaught of requests. ?This is my leper,? she said. The ElderlyGreatly respected in Mali. One way to show respect is to pay their bache (public transportation) fare. Earned her respect. Bartering in MaliIn Mali, everything is negotiable. An object is worth as much as a person is willing to pay for it. Sellers will undercut prices to gain a buyer?s regular relationship. Wealthier people (especially toubabs) are expected to pay more for the same item than poorer people. Bargaining functions to create social ties in a community. 3/23Joking RelationshipsInvolve official, sanctioned silliness, usually centered around the trading of insults. Insults may reference genitals and body functions. Joking is never in the spirit of meanness. Komo masks of the BambaraMen will apprentice for years with a master dancer to learn the skill. Thomas Malthus ? The Principle of Population, 1798Reverend Malthus argued that populations have a tendency to increase exponentially (or geometrically) while available resources remain more or less finite or increased much more slowly. ?The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man.?Populations inevitably reach the limit of the environment?s food supply ? then starvation, warfare, and disease bring population levels back down blow the carrying capacity of the environment. Malthus saw this as divinely imposed to teach virtuous behavior. From the pulpit, Malthus argued that feeding the poor was immoral because their death (a positive check) was beneficial to the greater society. Likewise, their reproduction was problematic because it simply perpetuated wide-spread suffering. The Malthusian RuseAccording to Neo-Malthusians, population problems as they presently exist in underdeveloped countries, is an inevitable result of the reproductive behaviors of humans. Some Neo-Malthusians assume that poor nations, such as Mali, will not be able to rise above subsistence levels unless they engage in preventative populations checks (i.e., state directed reproduction through birth control and abortion). Why have many children?Children are breadwinners. A man?s success is measured by the number of children he has. They will take care of you in old age. In 1979, three years after Mao?s death, a one-child policy was introduced to reduce China?s burgeoning population. According to the policy as it was most commonly enforced, a couple was allowed to have one child. If that child turned out to be a girl, they were allowed to have a second child. After the second, they weren?t allowed to have any more. In some places couples were only allowed to have one child regardless of whether it?s a boy or girl. This policy is still in effect today. 3/25Health Care in Developing Countries Mali is the world?s 3rd poorest country72.3% of the population lives with less than a dollar a day. 81 percent of the adult population (15 and older) is illiterate. 29 percent of the population suffers from malnutrition. ¼ of all children die before the age of 5. Life expectancy is 47.9 years. Mamako is the fastest growing city in Africa93% of Mali?s urban population lives in slums ? lack safe water, sanitation, secure tenure, durable housing, sufficient living area. Healthcare SystemsBeliefs, customs, and specialists concerned with ensuring health and preventing and curing illness; a cultural universal. Public health can be defined as ?ensuring the conditions in which people can be healthy.? Disease-Theory SystemsSystem of beliefs which identifies, classifies, explains illness. Three basic theories. Naturalistic ? western medicine and the germ theory. Also known as the pathogenic theory of medicine. Microorganisms were first directly observed by Anton Van Leeuwenhoek. Building on Leeuwenhoek?s work, physician Nicolas Andry argued in 1700 that microorganisms he called ?worms? were responsible for smallpox and other diseases. Personalistic ? theories which attribute diseases to witches, sorcerers, ghosts, and ancestor spirits. Illness, religion, and magic are inseparable. Most common disease-theory globally. Emotionalistic ? intense emotional experiences cause illness. The event of being scared causes an imbalance or even a partial loss of the soul. Susto - emotional illness, ?fright sickness?, comes from the Spanish word for ?fright?, indigenously attributed to ?soul loss? resulting from frightful or traumatic experiences, can cause sickness, infertility, and mental illness. Evil Eye ? both emotionalistic and personalistic. Many Middle eastern cultures believe in the evil eye. Some cultures report afflictions with bad luck; others believe the evil eye may cause disease, wasting, or even death. The primary victims are thought to be babies and young children, because they are so often praised and commented upon by strangers or by childless women. Curer ? specialized role acquired through a culturally appropriate process of selection, training, certification, and acquisition of a professional image; consulted by patients, how believe in his or her special powers, and receives some form of special consideration; cultural universal. Dettwyler as an Applied AnthropologistShe worked for the CARE health project in northern Mali. Explored traditional beliefs about Vitamin A deficiency. By weighing and measuring villages, she was attempting to collect data on nutrition in Mali order to inform aid organizations. Health Concerns in MaliPrinciple concerns ?nutritional deficiency, diarrhea, control, malaria, cholera, tuberculosis, leprosy, pneumonia, and parasite-related diseases such as schistosomiasis, onchocerciasis, and trypanosomiasis. Mali has one of the lowest rates of HIV infection in Sub-Saharan Africa. Health Projects in Mali todayCenter for Global Health, Mali Health Organization Project, Strengthening Reproductive Health Project (World Bank), Project Muso. Binary Oppositions ? First World vs. Third WorldModernity vs. Tradition, Science vs. Superstition, Civilized vs. barbarous, Freedom vs. Torture/Repression, Medical Knowledge vs. Ignorance/Disease, Women as Actors vs. Women as Oppressed. Bambara ProverbBi mogo te a tafo, fo walita. ?Today?s people don?t talk about their own problems, but about other people?s?. UnderdifferentiationTendency to view lesser developed countries as alike. Development agencies may ignore cultural diversity and adopt a uniform approach. Well-meaning efforts have produced harmful consequences.