Anthro 104 Lecture Notes

11/19/08 12:03 AM Lecture 1- Introduction- 9/2/08 Culture- what is learned and transmitter from generation to generation Objective of anthropology Generous, contextualized, holistic Comparative: defining the possible Critical: stepping in and stepping back Ethnocentrism interferes with understanding different cultures, but is universal to all societies Tendency to judge others? society based on that of ones own, usually with a view that ours is best Culture shock- feeling of disorientation, panic, when thrust into a new/different environment Lecture 2- History of Anthropological Theory- 9/4/08 Culture vs. Moral Relativism Cultural relativism- should bring an appreciation and awareness for other cultures Understanding methodology of other cultures Opposite of ethnocentrism Methodilogial Understanding is not the same as approval Moral relativism- understanding ethics of other cultures Approving/unapproving Ethics Ex. Male circumcision vs. female circumcision (genital mutulation) Realizing that if female circumcision is considered unethical genital mutulation, then male circumcision in US should be considered unethical genital mutulation Important Vocabulary: Ethnography- detailed description of particular groups, using knowledge obtained through fieldwork Ethnology- research that seeks to uncover general patterns of human behavior through comparative study Emic- understanding from the inside?stepping in Etic- understanding from the outside?stepping back Idiographic- intended to provide detailed knowledge (in this case about a particular group) Nomothetic- intended to derive general propositions or statements about Unilinear Evolution- cultures evolve and eventually become like ht western culture (social evolution) In a line/changing Developed by two men Lewis Henry Morgan Sir Edward Burnett Tylor each stage listen below had specific organization and structure Savagery Barbarism Civilization Believed that osicety could be ranked Problems: Does not flow Some people skip stages Unilinear evolution does not actually hold up well in reality, no data could be found to support theories Karl Marx- Revolutionary responsible for ideals of communism Communal Ethic communism Society structured by the way they produced goods Materialism vs. idealism Commonalities b/t Marx, Morgan, Tylor Line on which societies progress Stages of societies Diffusionism diffusion of culture Beliefs that people are uninventive and would rather borrow beliefs and ideas than create their own Cultural features are borrowed from ?culture centers? as groups interact We all started at one piece and evolved to our different stages and postulated a psychic unity of mankind Unlikely that groups far from each other would develop same culture Culture center- Egypt Problems Doesn?t hold up well in actuality and could not support with true data Why start a culture center Historical Particularism (1900s) Franz Boas- father of anthropology- science should be about questions, not answers, black and white beliefs are totalitarian Collect data through inquiry debunked contemporary ideas of race using cranial anthropometry trained entire eminent first generation of American anthropologists started ?four-field? basis of anthropology and put it on a scientific basis conducted in-depth studies of several American and Canadian indigenous groups Values have no place in scientific theories Put anthro on a scientific basic Linguistics, culture, historical contexts Looking at particular societies in particular time Pioneered forefront anthropology Trained other anthropologists Study in changes of body form in immigrants Anthropometry: the study of human body measurements especially on a comparative basis Innate biological differences in race? Fear of Irish/Italians Found that immigrants had smaller heads but also had smaller heads than those of the same race in the US Not correlated head size to intelligence Lecture 3- History of Anthropological Theory, Part 2- 9/9/08 Culture and Personality Ruth Benedict Diff cultures could be categorized by diff personality types 4 personalities Each culture has general occurrences that give it a likelihood to e a certain way Margaret Mead Culture NOT biology determines personality Personalities between men and women- culture NOT biology is responsible Diff. characteristics for men and women Book: Sex and Temperament Functionalism How does culture function? Psychological functionalism- Bronislaw Malinowski- 1st anthropologist to study culture from within Advocated emic reproach Needs (food) vs. derived needs (cooperation, food collection) Derived needs/secondary needs Religion, magic = explanations for 2nd needs) Structural functionalism- Radcliffe Brown How culture maintains stability of society as a whole Ex. Ways of dealing with in-laws Joking/teasing or avoiding relationship Help maintain social balance by making marriage and kinship work Objectives PF: why are there different strategies History was ignored in both versions of functionalism Cant really test the ideals of functionalism Neoevolutionalism Leslie White ?Culture evolves as the amount of energy harnessed par capital per year is inc? ? 1949 Put cultures on a scale/timeline Doesn?t take into account external forces Theory that was a product of its time Put cultures on a scale like earlier theories Matter of progress Not looking broadly enough at what is going on in the world Cultural Ecology (still persists today) Exists to a certain extent today explanation for some aspects of cultural variation can be found in the relationship between a given cultural group and the environment in which they live Looks more broadly at culture Group ad environment interactions Implies that a culture will stay the same except if something comes to change it Environment causes cultural adaptations and this helps/allows groups to thrive Ex. Pigs They eat garbage.. too large population causes problems To account for issues, slaughter ritual were created equilibrium Political Economy External environments/societies Examples: sugar cane- Puerto Rico; fur trade- Labrador Peninsula POWERFUL SOCIETIES shape the culture Ex. Colonialism and post colonialism explored impact of powerful external forces ? especially colonialism and other forms of political & economic domination ? on cultural groups examples: Eric Wolf / Sidney Mintz (sugar in Puerto Rico), Eleanor Leacock (Labrador indigenous people and the fur trade) Material conditions effect how we make culture Like Karl Marx Eric Wolffe Cultures-interconnected Licock- Canada, indigenous population (fur trade) Cultures are always changing ad interacting Sugar cane in Puerto Rico Drink reward for work Interconnected Feminist Anthropology More focused on ?woman, the gatherer? than ?man, the hunter? re-examine role of women in society key insight: roles and behaviors of observer profoundly affect data / analysis We don?t leave behind our gender, when we go into the field Now studying women?s roles? female ethnology Ex. Role of gathering Perceptions of other cultures are changed by ones on culture (gender/age/etc..) Interpretive Anthropology Goal= what it means to be a part of a culture goal of anthropology is to understand what it means to be a person living in a particular culture, rather than to explain why cultures vary ? anthropology is about understanding meaning Victor Turner Understanding and interpreting meaning Analyzing all aspects of an event and interpreting Geertz Believed with Max Weber that ?man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun. I take culture to be those webs and the analysis of it to be, therefore, not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning? Cockfights in Bali No two people are the same **Tension over years of specific cultural analysis** Boas- idiographic vs. nomothatic How much cultural variation is there really? Lecture 4- Research Methods- 9/11/08 QuestionStudy/WriteFieldworkStudy/Write Question- start with a question Study/Write- language training, background reading, skills, get funding/permission Fieldwork- listen, watch, participate Study/Write- look for patterns, write about it Need permits/visas Fieldwork 1+ year Informal interviews Looking for patterns Present reports (to people/boss/etc) Leads to new questions Recursive/iterative Use theories (when going into field) Helps let you know what?s important Ethical questions What to publish Analysis through researchers means Pay attention to one?s own responses Personal characteristics can have effect Extrovert/introvert Gender Strategies Interviewing and participant observation Learn from children Take notes Field notes Small notebook From primary sources Reconstruction of the day every night What do you do with it? Go over then looking for themes Social control Conflict Relationship management Status Acquisition Maintenance Problem solving Risk Poverty Workload Links within categories Lecture 5- Objectivity, Evidence and Representation- 9/16/08 How Can Fieldwork Go Wrong? Failing the ?so what?? Why should we care? Problems in the field Scared Seeing only what fits the 1st hypothesis Over rely on few informants Not all arguments can be valued Types of evidence Hypothetical Philosophy/ethics What would you do? Ethics under the decision Not a good form in anthro Different ethical frameworks Experimental Measuring results Not very available Observational/experiential Observations and evaluating yourself Evaluating anthropological arguments Reflexivity- consideration of one?s own bias Adequate details Look for surprises Data justifies conclusion Over-generalization Not good/trusting Always is variations Use other ethnographies of the people/topic Lectures 1-5 11/19/08 12:03 AM Lecture 6- Language/Cognition/Ideas of Time and Space- 9/23/08 Chichewa language Shows things about culture Polite Time=important Set of 9 noun classes People/animals Abstract concepts Objects that have something inside them Objects that have something on them Objects one is approaching Things made by humans ? ? ? Differences in language reflect/give insight into cultures Edward Sapir Language creates different concepts of organizing reality how linguistic categories influence perception and behavior Symbols- anything to which some group of people have assigned an arbitrary meaning, abstract and can have more than one meaning Inculturation- Symbol vs. Sign Sign: direct, to the point, pretty much only one definition Can be complex Emotional force Words hav multiple meanings Ex. The color red Love, stop, evil, passion Flag Flag/burningwhat is the symbol? Is it good or bad? Language/Sound Bicultural Allows communication Creates barriers Able to talk about abstract thought Patterns Sounds- every language has few sounds used Meaning Phoneme- smallest unit of sound recognized by and significant for speakers of a specific language Accent- comes from talking in language with different phoneme Morpheme- the smallest unit of meaning recognized by and significant for speakers of a specific language Grammar- underlying structure of language (not technically proper use, but actual use) Tone- fits a language together Generative- All languages based on one deep structure Language communities may map onto ethnicity may be communities with a technical vocabulary in common (examples: anthropologists; medical professionals) may involve an entire language, a subset of vocabulary, or even specific styles of using vocabulary common to a broader community (example: evangelical Christians Reflects/refers to reality There are no primitive/incomplete languages Industrialized world has greater vocabulary Used to form communities Share language Used to include or exclude Ex. Professional worlds Structuralism Everything is divided into opposites Intuition Theory Hard to find out if true Culture, especially language, reflects the underlying universal principles of the human mind and its rules of thought Levi-Strauss Ethnoscience Comes out of structuralism related theoretical tradition involves scientific search for these underlying structures (not assumed to be human universals) in various cultures Tries to find evidence for it Analytical Look at language Lecture 7- Aesthetics: Music, Stories and Performance- 9/25/08 Symbolism Grammar- structure of language NOT what specialists consider right (Technical) No language is biologically easier/harder than any other May be difficult to learn Unfamiliar sounds Different rules Polarization of meaning Sensory pole- what it is Ideological pole- what it means Condensation- when one symbol has multiple meanings Multivocality- smybol may mean different things to different people Ambiguity- symbol within culture, but if you are not in that culture, you will not get it Victor Turner Rituals Ex. Mudyi Tree- multiple symbols Symbolism in Art Integral art of life- religious/political/etc Forms Decoration- detail by no function Message Effecting presence- creates/evokes feelings Not the same in all cultures Symbolism in Stories Tales Morals reinforce cultures Fiction Told or performed as fictional; reinforce cultural values (example: Tiv story of husband, wife, and vulva) Legends Told as if true Cultural messages Told as truth; often involve historical figures; reinforce appropriate and inappropriate behaviors (example: the Mexican pet rat legend) Myth Stories of cosmology; relation between gods / humans / nature; origins of the world (example: Dayak origin story) In some ways untrue -- in most cultures, not thought to describe events literally Also key to the ultimate truths or moral foundations of society Aphorisms Very condensed cultural messages (examples from Wisconsin and Malawi) Proverbs Short piece of wisdom Jokes Condensed stories intended to be amusing; poorly translatable; enforce shared acceptance of cultural truths ? often, but not always, truths not palatable in plain language Depend on a shared set of cultural principles Lecture 8- Culture/Art/Experience- Ken George- 9/30/08 Is Art Culture Specific? ?art and the equipment to grasp it are made in the same shop? ? Clifford Geertz (examples: tau-tau effigies of Toraja people in Sulawesi highlands, The Shade from the Hill Comes Over and Talks in Language by Rover Thomas, Australian aboriginal artist) problems with Geertz?s perspective objects, ideas and artists are often on the move art worlds intermingle (example: tau-tau ritual objects on black market become ?art?) formal patterns cross between art forms (example: rice barn shape recapitulated in dancers? costumes and stance) meanings and values change does not examine relationship of art, self, and experience examples: Raden Saleh, mid-19th c. Muslim Indonesian who used colonizers? painting techniques to suggest the seething explosiveness of colonial life debates over status of figure in Islamic art shrouding non-religious paintings to protest political violence artists who mix sacred and secular (or even sacred and sexual) Contemporary Indonesian Muslamic Art Art is profoundly cultural To understand/interpret art, you must know the culture Culturally specific Ex. Painting ?The Shade from the Hill Comes Over? ?Talks in language?- Rover Thomas ?The dreaming? Canvas on ground Ex. ?Tau-Tau?-effigies of the dead The Toraja in Sulawesi, Indonesia Artancestral religion Rice barns and hatswomen Formal patterning A ritual object becomes ?art? ?However Objects/ideas/artists are on the move Art worlds intermingle Meanings/values change Relationship of art/self and experience Background Raden Salen- born in Indonesia Premier portrait painter in Europe Politics are very important Lifeworlds We are ?thrown? into lifeworlds Born into a particular place and ten we move around Intimate and global in scale Are improvised Work in progress How we experience culture Stories and paintings are bridges between public and private- points of human encounter Where we improvise culture Develop an identity Painting and stories are bridges between lifeworlds Work With AD Pirous- means turquoise Leader in Indonesian/Muslim Art Calographic Q?Ran in art Uses lots of turquoise- signature color Art is an ethical issue Try to do good Paintings as spiritual notes Islamic calligraphy and abstract art East West Corn in Ache Religious painting Anti-political painting Lecture 9- Reproduction/Birth/Maturation- 10/2/08 Reproduction why is reproduction anthropologically interesting? reproduction entails physiological processes and social activities (Jean Comaroff: reproduction is ?symbolically marginal, midway between society and the wild?) major site of controversy over cultural values, ideas of risk and the ?good birth? (examples: Ju?hoansi of Botswana and the unattended birth; controversy over birth and govt. policy in the Inuit communities of Keewatin) Rules of how it should be done Ex- teen pregnancy ?Symbolically marginal, midway between society and the wild?- Jean Connaroff How to prepare for birth? Who?s at the birth? Cultural vlues Stoicism (fortitude in pain) G-d Ex- Birth in Nunavut (Keewatin Peninsula) Midwives vs. Medical care Risk- govt vs. families vs. doctors Inacronism Personhood: When do you start being a person? When do you stop? Delayed personhood: till you survive first days/weeks of life Navajos 1st laugh ceremony, as learn to talk Ghana- spirit children denied personhood Born deformed/mom dies/twin Believed to be spirits/not humans Abandon/don?t feed/kill Personhood towards conception Speaking about/celebrating culture can be bad W. cultures celebrate being pregnant Is miscarriage more traumatic? example: implications of obstetrical ultrasound in contemporary US) Maturation: Moving from one life stage to another - (example: three stages of life and their health implications among UK youth) Rituals Rite of passage- rituals of transition Three stages Separation: marked by paint/vei/etc?physical separation- person is symbolically separated from previous life experience, and often physically separated as well Transition: ?liminal? space, from limen/threshold- person is not what they once were, but also not yet what they will become ? this is a symbolically dangerous phase in which people often face hazing, humiliation, deprivation Reintegration- person symbolically and physically rejoins community and is allowed to assume function of new social role General features Often involve Shift between color/no color Often involve Metaphors of death and resurrection Often involve Metaphors of circulation or linear time Often involve Go under water/land and reemerge Often a period of association with/vulnerability to spirits Examples: baptism/marriage/graduation/bat mitzvah Lecture 10- The Anthropology of Gender- Maria Lepowsky- 10/7/08 Gender used (Since 1980) to refer to norms, values, expectations, roles and prohibitions associated with persons of each sex in a given culture/society Old term: sex or sex roles Pioneers Anthropology- the study of man not human Women not included Women not in AA until 1902 Founded own society WAS Margaret Mead Anthropology of gender ?Coming of Age in Samoa?- how other cultures go through adolescence Cultural determinism ?The status of women? Women?s activities largely ignored by male anthropologists Men = standard person Did not analyze male roles as gendered Status of women as a distinct topic 1970?s: New research for answers Impact from ?women?s movements? More women training and anthropologists Focusing on Women?s lives/roles of women vs. men Restudies Studying sex-roles cross culturally Is male dominance universal? NO Colonialism distorts gender roles Matrilineal Societies Tracing descent trough mother?s clan Cather is not kinsman NOT matriarchy No record of women ruling over men 1980?s to Present: Anthropology of Gender Similarities Gender symbolism- born male and female Cultural construction of the body Gender and sexuality Gender and globalization Egalitarian Society Male and females are seen as equal Example: Vanatinai (Suduest Island) Totem: everyone had their own bird no ideology of male dominance matrilineal society so logical to suspect important roles for at least some women not a matriarchy (no evidence genuine matriarchies exist) gender is very useful lens through which to explore activities at all life stages important roles for men and women in all aspects of life: family, ceremonial, exchange, witchcraft / sorcery adolescence similar to that described by Mead in Samoa Father = important Sharing Dear or witchcraft can learn it Lectures 6-10 11/19/08 12:03 AM Lecture 11- Sex/Sexuality/Marriage- 10/9/08 Family- primary unit in culture Marriage In most societies, everyone gets married Cultural act Legal contractual affair Transition of social status Union expected to be permanent (throughout cultures) Monogamy- (union of one person to another, usually but not always a male to a female): <20% of societies historically Polygamy- a general term for plural marriage Polygyny- (union of one male to more than one female): extremely common ~80% of all societies historically, may be prerogative of wealthy (example: W. African Muslim groups) Polyandry- (union of one female to more than one male): relatively rare, ~2% of human societies, typically in difficult terrain where population control is crucial (example: Tibetan pastoralists) Functions Provide socially secure for raising children Control sexual access Doesn?t always work some marriages without sex ? example Taiwanese spirit brides Secure economic and social exchange With wider social structures and kin groups Bridewealth- men has to pay the wives family Bridelabor/service- service instead of money of a man for his wife?s kin Dowry- womens family pays for mens Labor of spouses themselves- which job belongs to which gender varies Does marriage have to be heterosexual? ?What about love?? Relatively recent innovation Western society have great freedom in choosing spouse Not random (Race/class/status/etc) Gender vs. Sex Gender- culturally constructed roles Sex- biological differences Many societies have 2 sexes but more than 2 genders Ex. Hyra Sexuality Lots of variation of rules all regulate to some extent Before marriage? Night/day? Society controls sexuality Most condemn promiscuity More inhibition on female sexuality General expression of male dominance Ex. Virginity at marriage Lecture 12- Kinship- 10/14/08 Unilineal descent: ties to ancestors traced through only one parent; may be patrilineal or matrilineal Cognatic descent (or bilateral kinship) ancestral and family ties traced through both parents Consanguines: relatives through birth ("blood relatives") Affines: relatives through marriage Fraternal polyandry- a women marries more than one brother Ex. Tibetan pastoralists Sororal polygyny- a man marries more than one sister Ex. Crow people in historic time Endogamy- marriage within any particular named group Exogamy- marriage outside any particular named group Can have combos of endogamy and exogamy Marriage used to keep kin together Incest taboo Nearly universal- but also highly variable No sexual relations in nuclear family Cross-cousin: children of brother and sister Parallel-cousins- children of two borthers or two sisters Marriage of cousins is usually cross-cousin Widowhood Levirate- man must marry brother?s widow Chukchee of Siberia Sororate- woman must marry sister?s husband Swazi people Different places were married couple live Matrilocality- helps when husband is gone a lot Neolocality Parallels with adolescent rebellion In many industrialized societies Neolocal: postmarital residence in a new or separate location Bilocal: postmarital residence alternating between the kin or each spouse Patrilocal: male-centered residence, literally with father (pater); usually refers to postmarital residence with the husband's relatives Matrilocal: female-centered residence, literally with the mother (mater); usually refers to postmarital residence with the wife's relatives. Virilocal: husband-centered residence; postmarital residence with the husband's relatives. Uxorilocal: wife-centered residence; postmarital residence with the wife and possibly her relatives. Requirements for marriage Endogamy: marrying within a defined social category, for example within the same lineage, village, caste, race, religion etc. Exogamy: marrying outside a defined social category Hypergamy: marrying up Kinds of families Natal- family into which one is born Nuclear- a married couple and their children Extended or ?joint?- two or more nuclear families linked through parent-child or sibling ties. May include several generations. Lineage: group of people formed by descent from a known common ancestor Clan- group of lineage Totem- typical ancestor of a clan, when non-human Also called any nonhuman animal, object of plant that is believed to watch over a group of people What is kinship for? Solicit certain kinds of behavior Provide social/economic/moral support Determine alliances and enemies in warfare Religious structures Fictive kinship- no blood ties or marriage Adoption Fosterage Partible maternity (or paternity) Have more than one mom (dad) Example- Nuyoo Mataphorical kinship Term used to indicate closeness G-dparents Institutional settings Pets Matrilineal: Related though female Advantages: Know who the mom is Issues: Inheritance Patrilieal: Related through male Lecture 13- Self/Body/Perception of Illness- 10/16/08 Americans Self ends with body Emphasis on brain (myself is my brain) Autonomous self Other beliefs (Concepts about self) Animal coessential- mixtec Ecological coessential- inuit Collective (relational)- southern Africa Situational- Japan Self Look for cues in behavior to study perception of self Child learning People alter bodies to represent self Often used to delineate social position Rank Gender Occupation Religious affiliation Body adornment to convey desirability Body modification to convey desirability Foot binding Plastic surgery Weight/body shape Fatness shows wealth vs. fatness shows laziness thin is preferred Clothing/tattoo/dying hair/scarring Hygiene Lack of it shows asceticism Perception of Illness Physical body is fairly similar throughout the world However, much more variation in illness Stigma= an attribute that is deeply discrediting within a particular social interactionGoffman Three categories (These are highly culturized) Abomination of body physical deformations Blemishes of individual character mental disease/homosexuality/depression/etc Stigma of race/nation/religion anything that can effect many Diseases with highest degree of stigma When disease affects a group already marked as ?other?, makes stigma worse Example: AIDS in America progressive and incurable not well understood among the public the person with the disease is seen as responsible for having the illness, especially when disease is seen as reflecting on the morality of the patient symptoms cannot be concealed or are physically disfiguring afflicts primarily those already socially marginalized disease has special meaning in a given time and place Does disease bear special meaning? Leprosy- not treated like people Stigma can vary Emic (from outside) / etic (from outside) distinction Example- intestinal worms Emic- caused by sweets- if you get agitated/come out then problem Etic- caused by a parasite Illness (not feeling well) (inside view) / disease (outside usually with view) (derivation from health norm) Illness without disease? - home sickness/heartbreak/hypochondria Disease without illness? ? high blood pressure Lecture 14- Health and Healing- 10/21/08 Evans-Prichard Video Illness/Disease Illuminate social organization and construction of meaning Networks of care Example- homosexual care of AIDS Illuminates construction of meaning (example: divine possession or temporal lobe epilepsy?) Theories of causation Metaphors used for disease or therapy Now sufferers are treated Example- seizures Good wisdom bringing or bad brain problem Illuminates construction of meaning (example: divine possession or temporal lobe epilepsy?) metaphors used to describe disease and therapy theories of causation Systems of healing What is health? Illness? important to explore in any given culture whether illness of the body is distinguished from other kinds of misfortune, what techniques are used to diagnose and resolve misfortunes, and who practices those techniques Western Medicine Assumption #1: healing systems can be categorized into biomedicine and ?traditional healing? George Foster: disease is one of two things Personalistic: disease result of purpose/intervention of an agent Naturalistic: disease results from natural forces/conditions **Azande theory has room for both** Nancy Hunt Healing systems on continuum from Internalizing directing attention towards interior of body Externalizing attention to social network or morally significant events Assumption #2: since biomedical can loot at body?s inside, it is evidence-based, rational and effective.. and other healing systems are not empirical problem: all longstanding healing systems are empirical (based on results) or they do not survive (this is not the same as saying they are all based on science) ?hoped-for? results occur if any intervention takes place between onset and resolution of symptoms, and if remission / resolution is more common than death even expected but feared results can confirm the system?s coherence (example: death from pancreatic cancer) most medical systems thus overestimate actual efficacy of interventions and underestimate cost / toxicity of those interventions ? in good faith Most overestimate efficacy and underestimate harm Women?s body = risky place Lecture 15: Researching Storytelling as a Vehicle for Religious Teaching- Kirin Narayan- 10/28/08 Fieldwork Nasile, India Swamiki Sadhu/holy man Samyasi renouncer Devoted fulltime to religion Guru- teacher Teaching through stories, particular fold narrative Many about sadhus Presented as simpleton, saint, scoundrel, storyteller Anthropology of Religion Holistic: religion as entwined with other spheres of social and cultural life Universalistic: study all societies Comparative: develops analytic language across specific contexts Contextual: interprets facts in terms of contexts that produced them Two poles of meaning Mystical: religion points inward, towards experience, deep emotions, transformed. The particulars of religious experience are culturally produced Ideological: religion points outward to social roles, hierarchies, power, divisions and distinctions stories can provide us insights into religion folk narratives are different than personal stories collectively forged: may be tales, legends, myths like symbols, may be multivocal often have recurring themes (example: for Swamiji, major themes included food and the sadhu ? as saint, simpleton, scoundrel or storyteller) narratives about deities and gurus can also provide insight Swamiji: people need a form to hang their faith onto and may choose the form most resonant to them examples: mother goddesses as beautiful, benevolent and serene or as fiercely protective; guru as herbal healer, interpreter of astrological charts, dispute settler, or religious teacher -- for the local and the far away two Swamiji stories: ?that?s good? ? coping with small inconveniences and uncertainties ?lunchtime in heaven and hell? ? insight into larger philosophy of serving and feeding, transformation of people through eating of food as a form of worship that can convey emotion and blessing ** Use in everyday happenings** G-ddess Worship 33 million deities ?Shakta? from Shakti, energy Mole g-ds have shaktis Mother g-ddesses may stand alone Worshiped as beautiful but deeply protective The subtle energy body At yogi- yoga Chakra energy Feeding as worship Founded school- start with the children Food Emotions as a substance Moods can communicate through food People can be transformed through eating Prasad offerings Tories often feature food Heaven and hell story Lecture 16- Kent Wesnust (TA)- Culture, Subsistence, and Environment- 10/30/08 Ecological anthropology: how people survive in the environment Ecological anthro and why? What do different subsistence strategies have to do with the forms culture takes? theoretical approaches to the interactions of environment and culture through history historical approaches include environmental determinism (environment determines human behavior and society), possibilism (environments do not determine society, but set the limits of possibility), cultural ecology (cultures interact with the environment through a process of adaptation related to changing technology and arrangements of production) and ecological functionalism (culture is a set of feedback systems keeping everything ? like population and resources ? in homeostasis) many of these theories had the same problems we have discussed in other circumstances: they did not explain cultural variation well (possibilism, environmental determinism); or they didn?t account for external forces like history or political and economic influences (environmental determinism, ecological functionalism); or they were ethnocentric (environmental determinism) cultural ecology did not have these flaws, but it privileged the issue of subsistence over all the other things to which humans have to adapt current approaches concede that relations of human and environment are highly complex and must be studied holistically, using multiple approaches and moving back and forth between idiographic and nomothetic approaches Early approaches Environmental determination claim that features of environment directly determine features of human behavior (and hence society) Very ethnocentric Ignores contrary evidence Possiblism- notion that environment may limit, but doesn?t directly cause socio-cultural variation A.L. Kroeber 1950s- Cultural Ecology- cultures interact with their environment through process of adaptation Julian Steward Technology 1960s/1970s Ecological functionalism- looked at culture as set of feedback systems Focused on non-subsistence traits such as ritual and population regulation Example- Roy Rappaport in New Guinea Problem: look at static model of culture Current approaches Ethno-ecology/ethno-biology: now others understand natural world by examining folk classifications and theory Historical ecology: role humans have played in shaping and changing environment over time Political ecology: focuses on environmental issues as areas for political struggle Subsistence Strategies Foraging: hunting, fishing, gathering Most basic Ju/hoansi people of Namibia Horticulture: farming of domesticates without complex technology Kent?s fieldwork among the Caboclo Pastoralism: adaptation that focuses on one or more domesticated/semi-domesticated animal Animal is center of culture Chukchi reindeer herders, Siberia Intensive agriculture: farming using various complex agricultural technologies such as domesticated animals, plows, irrigation, fertilizers (rice farming in Bali) Industrialized food production: mechanized industrial agriculture- uses machines (US) His Fieldwork In Rio Negro, South America Caboclo people Horticulture manioc Lots missionized Turtles Hunt (but not as much as fishing) Lecture 17- Economic Anthropology- 11/4/08 Why aren?t we talking more about religion? Problems with anthro of religion in historical perspective We are talking about it Terms used (only from 2 religion) not as good as explaining religion ? and especially so-called ?primitive religion? ? was a major focus of 19th and early 20th c anthropology: huge body of literature unfortunately major theoretical flaws in this material limit its usefulness, in large part because words and concepts derived from the study of one religion (often but not always Victorian Christianity) were treated as true in all circumstances -- ethnocentrism made it difficult to understand religious views from an emic perspective examples: Durkheim?s distinction between ?sacred? (anything to do with gods and supernatural powers) and ?profane? (anything to do with everyday life) ? useful for some societies but completely invalid in others similarly, separating ?religion? from the rest of culture sort of works for mainstream American and European society, but doesn?t work at all for many other societies ? and we can argue that in many cases here in mainstream America it doesn?t work all that well either analyses of ?magic? (anything some ?other? group believes that ?we? don?t) lumped together wildly different types of beliefs into one not-very-useful category notice here the striking parallels with theoretical problems in looking at healing systems: the division between illness and other forms of suffering does not hold across cultures; separating ?healing? from other practices (including religious ones!) doesn?t work very well even in our own society; and analyses of ?traditional healing? as anything that wasn?t biomedicine (what ?we? believe) pulls together far too many very different systems into one over-broad category ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Resources + culture + work = human survival People tend to use only a few resources What is desirable for use/exchange? Economic Anthropology- systems of exchange Every economy involves production, distribution, consumption of goods and services Factors of production in capitalist economies Labor Paid work Subsistence work directly to own survival Gardening/cooking Low status- maintenance work- maintain (cleaning) High status- wage work- get $ Land Source of resources In some non-capitalist don?t buy/sell land Capital $ or property used General purpose $ Use of $ (doesn?t have to be dollar bill) Allows evaluation of different goods and services on a common scale Serves as a means of exchange Functions as a means of repayment Special purposes $ Only used for certain things Example- buying a wife Modes of circulating goods Householding- members of a household produce what they need to survive with minimal trade needed Reciprocity- exchange of goods/services among those already associated (kin) Redistribution- systematic movement of goods to a common center and then redistributed out to the masses Example- communism/taxes/charity Market Exchange of goods at prices determined by the laws of supply and demand Exchangers with anyone they choose Kent?s lecture on ecology and subsistence made clear to you that people have all kinds of ways to extract resources from the environment on which they can live humans can live anywhere if 1. resources we need are there 2. we have cultural tools to survive and to turn resources into usable products 3. we work hard enough to do so people generally tend to use only a few of the resources available in any given environment oil and coal under the land were not resources for Native Americans who lived in this country before the arrival of immigrants from Europe ? for us, they are crucial we do not use acorns or the seed-bearing grasses of the prairies as resources for survival, but for many Native groups they were essential goods may be produced for consumption or exchange, and what goods are seen as desirable to consume or desirable to exchange varies very dramatically from culture to culture every economy involves production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services that are either necessary (for survival) or desirable (for luxury or prestige) inhabitants of industrialized Western societies tend to think of production, distribution and consumption as organized either by a market system or by central governmental control, or some combination of both let?s look briefly at some of the factors involved in market systems to see how they might vary cross-culturally before we turn to examination of non-market systems three factors of production in capitalist economies: labor, land, and capital (some add a fourth, risk taking, which we will not discuss today) labor: any work that is paid for work rewarded with money is considered to be the highest form of work in industrialized societies work leading directly to our own subsistence ? food gardening, cooking ? is another form of work, and this is still the most common form of work in many tribal societies can think of a third form of work: ?maintenance? work maintains ourselves and our households (cleaning, laundry, raking leaves) in general, maintenance work is relatively low-status; where paid labor is available that tends to take on the highest status, and both subsistence and maintenance activities are of lower status ? can have implications for status of men vs. women where work types are highly gender-specific land: both a site for living and working, and a source of resources in capitalist societies land can be bought and sold in many non-capitalist societies this is an absurd idea in some societies we have already discussed, the use of land is divided by lineages, but this does not mean the land itself can be sold or exchanged hunting grounds for many Native American and aboriginal Canadian peoples among Tiv of Nigeria, land use is within kinship systems; rights to use of land are determined by genealogy however, the specific piece of land a family has rights to changes place names are the names of lineages a man and his wife have very specific rights to farm a piece of land during the time it is cultivated after 2-3 years land must lie fallow to allow the soil to recover rights to that specific piece of land lapse, and a new piece of land becomes theirs to cultivate capital: the money or property used to carry on a business ? typically refers to general-purpose money money is an ingenious intervention with three related important uses allows evaluation of many different kinds of goods (and services!) on a common scale serves as a means of exchange: you can sell what you have (including your labor) and buy what you want [note barter is more difficult: you have to find someone who has what you want and wants what you have!] functions as a means of repayment ? no matter how a person contracts a debt, it can be paid in money (no matter how that money was obtained) any item that serves all these purposes ? whether that be brass rods, dollar bills, coins, cowrie shells, or cattle ? can be called money note that in some societies there are ?special-purpose? moneys that can be used for some things ? like buying a wife, for instance ? but not others, like buying millet at the market how do people circulate and allocate goods, with or without money? four basic modes of allocation are householding, reciprocity, redistribution, and market householding: when members of a household produce their own subsistence, with minimal dependence on trade for food or other necessities householding may be supplemented by trade, but trade is not central (or usually even necessary) examples: American agricultural pioneers in Wisconsin who produced their own shelter, food, and fuel ? might have traded extras for things like sugar and coffee, but didn?t need them to survive many people still today grow gardens and orchards, preserve and store food for winter, even if these are less often substantial portions of the household economy suspect we will see ? in a time when market seems less reliable ? increased focus on householding reciprocity ? exchange of goods among people already associated with one another (usually by kinship or place of residence) if trading contacts are made with strangers, reciprocity of these arrangements may be useful in other ways: for allies in warfare, or for support in times of trouble Bronislaw Malinowski analyzed a particularly elaborate form of reciprocity among Trobriand Islanders that we will discuss in a minute you can think about gift exchange in our society too: even though we buy most of the gifts we give on the market, there is a non-market aspect of our gift-giving too, in that exchanges of goods are reciprocal and cement other types of ties (family, friendship) redistribution ? systematic movement of goods or wealth toward an administrative center and its reallocation by authorities communist societies in which government controlled production, collected surplus, and redistributed it ? with a chunk of it going to keep government running many simpler societies in which members of a band or compound put part of their subsistence into a common store which is then redistributed under the chief or some other official all modern tax institutions (whether they redistribute wealth from the rich from the poor or from the poor to the rich) in American society, taxes, fines, and charities are prominent examples of redistribution market ? exchange of goods at prices (in money or in other goods) determined by laws of supply and demand if there is great demand, the price will move higher if there is less demand the price will move lower if there is a great supply the price will move lower if there is a scanty supply the price will move higher people operating under market principle are at least in theory free to make exchanges with anyone they choose, and exchange is not restricted by kinship or community ties note: don?t confuse existence of a marketplace with market principle as basis of society! most societies have marketplaces they may be of relatively little importance if other forms of allocation (householding, redistribution, or reciprocity) are central also note, obviously, that different types of allocation systems can coexist in a society; people often characterize America as a market-based society, but we can see elements of all four allocation systems here economic anthropology pays special attention to systems of production and distribution that occur in the absence of a market system, or of a central government **Most societies have elements in all modes** Example of non-market economy Kula Malinowski Trobriand Islands Adult men have arm bands and necklaces with great prestige (highly desired) Trading created relationships Exchanges expected to be reciprocated Potlatch Prestige exchange What you give away (not what you possess gives you prestige) Give gifts to rivals Expectation that rival reciprocates and doubles Gave copper (in order to get out of debt) Rivals would destroy copper ? have so much prestige that can get rid of it two classic examples of nonmarket economies: kula and potlatch kula is one aspect of the exchange system in the Trobriand Islands and was described by Malinowski in Argonauts of the Western Pacific ordinary (non-kula) reciprocity among Trobrianders involves exchange of fish and yams between people from inland villages (who grow yams) and people from shore villages (who catch fish) not determined by laws of supply and demand fixed exchange rate: the people that want to make the exchange ? of say fish ? bring a certain size string of fish to traditional trading partners, and get for it a certain sized bundle of yams yams may then be redistributed to other villages along the coast, and fish redistributed to villages in the highlands people also give yams to their chiefs, who put them in storehouses to be saved as source of food for festivals and celebrations (redistribution) kula is not a subsistence exchange, but a prestige one: adult men have permanent trading relationships with men in other villages on other islands armbands made from large shells and necklaces made from small shells are considered very prestigious and valuable (in fact, individual ones are named and made famous ? cf. the Hope Diamond!), though you can?t eat them or use them for any practical purpose men try to get trading partners to give them one of these valuable armbands or necklaces an elaborate set of rituals is involved in the giving away and receiving of these valuables the armbands move one way around a circle of islands several hundred miles in circumference while the necklaces move the other way note two things here: 1) kula trading partnerships serve as a form of fictive kinship: trading partners are obliged to help each other in extremity (e.g. traveling and stranded by a storm or without food) 2) the exchange is exactly equal: a person who gets a set of valuables from a trading partner expects that later he will be asked for valuables of an equivalent worth from that partner (we might think this is like exchanging gifts between romantic partners on Valentine?s Day in the US: too large may make the recipient feel embarrassed or indebted, too small a gift may make the recipient feel unvalued or humiliated) potlatch is another form of prestige exchange among the peoples of the Northwest Coast of North America and was described by Franz Boas ? best documented example those of the Kwakiutl of Vancouver Island among this group it is not what you possess that provides prestige, but what you give away in addition, though reciprocity is expected, the exchange is not equal Kwakiutl were divided into twenty-five village groups, each with a hierarchy of offices involving ceremonial privileges and titles potlatch (a word from the Chinook language which means gift) was a ceremonial occasion on which a person who occupied a named prestigious office gave gifts to his rival ? gifts were made ostentatiously and with lots of bragging, basically daring the rival to give a potlatch even more theatrical and extravagant expectation then was that the rival would double the amount of the gift in a return potlatch say you gave your rival fifty blankets then the rival would be expected to throw a big party and give you a hundred blankets ultimately so many blankets would be involved that debts would instead involve ?coppers? ? sheets of pounded copper about 2 ½ feet long, named and with histories of their own (like those of the items in the kula ring!) when a copper given away in repayment for a blanket debt its value in blankets was known system was played out when an office holder, scorning his rivals, destroyed a copper by breaking it into pieces or throwing it into the sea ? thus turning the value of the copper into pure prestige in this system, items defined as wealth were spent on prestige instead of subsistence Lectures 11-15 11/19/08 12:03 AM Lecture 19- Katherine Bowdy- Gener and Politics: The Case of Thailand- 11/6/08 Focus on political role of women in matrilocal, matrilineal society Domestic vs. public Domestic = women Public = men fieldwork in Thailand provides evidence that puts this distinction in doubt Thai women have substantial civil and political rights Thai women have had suffrage (voting rights) since at least 1897 general perception of Thai electoral politics is that men dominate even in a matrilineal, matrilocal society, gender ideology is complex and the ways women participate are not always immediately obvious: matrilineality allows women to mobilize along kinship lines (example: the story of the drunken husband) matrilocality puts men under tremendous pressure to act politically with their wive?s kin (example: the story of the pork seller) matrilines also serve as ways to heal the divisions of electoral politics Right to property/support/etc In Thailand, women have rights to property and inheritance and are usually responsible for financial matter Female ultimogeniture Despite this, most political offices are male 1st phase: Tiger Scout Initiation Students arrested NOT A PHASE 1995- election Men involved and report back to women Men must conform to what?s going on in women?s village 2nd phase: Women gather regularly With kin Need to say something to husband Kin is forever, not husband NOT A PHASE After election Although not directly involved in politics, women play important role 3rd phase: Laws (1897) men and women allowed to vote underlying themes related to anthropological work: personal histories and accidents may affect the directions of one?s research (example: for Prof Bowie, early interest in politics paid attention to 1995 village election awareness of hitherto invisible role of women in village-level politics; interest in understanding changing laws in triggering corruption study of early Thai law; personal history provided awareness of global suffrage struggles learned Thai women could vote earlier than women almost anywhere became interested in Prince Damrong and the role of women at court unearthed role of WCTU and influence of women missionaries led to interest in ?harem life? led to realization that women in the Thai court were not the fulfillers of the rulers? sexual fantasies [as the missionaries imagined] but were very powerful, and provided important links to village matrilines) even when an anthropologist is paying careful attention, he or she may remain blind to major cultural issues (in this case, the influence of women in the political world) for years Lecture 20: Social Control/Rank/Power/Politics- 11/11/08 Society Group of people united by some common principle(s) Recognizes itself as a group Typically territorially localizes Common language and symbols Interactions primarily within group and new members come from procreation within group Basis of claiming superiority Simple societies gender Industrial societies gender, race, class, caste, ethnicity Divisions matter because? Unequal distribution of the 4 P?s Property, prestige, pleasure, power rank may become prejudice if it enforces unequal access to the four Ps (examples: racism ? Koreans in the US and in Japan; sexism: ?math geniuses? around the world) key features of caste (India) ? as an ideal, fixed social order combines endogamy, occupational specialization, and ritual purity reinforced by rules of daily living determined by lineage allows little to no social mobility key features of social class (America) ? as an ideal Marxist definitions of class: capitalists or bourgeoisie controlled means of production, proletariat labored for wage other definitions of class combine material possessions, income, education, and cultural performance high social mobility same life chances (opportunities to fulfill potential) for everybody Rank Prejudices: Racism/sexism- prejudice within genders Racism- cultural ranking or race Leads to unequal opportunities Caste- Indian Fixed social order Marriage within group- endogamy (not readily in practice) Every person born into caste Social mobility fairly limited Class Group of people with same rank in society and cultural values Marx Capitalist vs. proletarian Does not fit well Income/occupation/education In US society, no kinship based on class Stated as ?classless society?- American dream Primary criteria of class = material wealth Also cultural traits Economic and more (Shared cultural patterns) More likely to be with though of your own class Social mobility- life chances 11/19/08 12:03 AM Lecture 21- Status and Race- 11/13/08 Social status not really avoidable Ascribed- has little control (born in to/etc) Race/caste/gender/etc Achieved- may not assume until you have met the requirements (either on your own or with help) Very often, statuses are linked Help show us how to act Role- one can have many roles Sense of self is largely regarded to hw others view us status: publicly recognized social positions (not dependent on the specific individual) ? examples mother, nephew, king, parishioner, middle class, etcetera individuals occupy multiple statuses simultaneously status can be ascribed or achieved role is customary rights and obligations appropriate for occupants of the status in question castes and social classes are statuses; so is race Methods of Ranking: Race Cultural vs. biological Is a Folk taxonomy- cultural set of group, NOT A BIOLOGICALLY MEANINGFUL CATEGORIZATION Based on social criteria More variation within ?races? than between them (in genetics) Phenotypic variations do not vary systematically with each other We select some criteria for ranking but ignore others that vary just as much Example- round and lanky As its actually used, race has meaning beyond physical variation Across time and space, racial categories have changed Is race a myth? NO, but it is a social set Lecture 22- Violence and Politics- 11/18/08 Violence Thomas Hobbes: Social life is not the cause of, but the alternative to violence Humans have capacity for violence Don?t have predetermined genetic nature Does physical violence always imply mental violence (seeing the other as inhuman)? Conflict/Deviance What minimizes? Factors that constrain deviance Guilt- internalized version of society?s external laws Shame- public notice of improper behavior- fear of disapproval Avoidance- don?t want to be avoided- deviant person loses social and economic ties Supernatural sanction- fear of being accused (of witchcraft/etc) Example- Santa many of these same factors prevent or mitigate conflict, but in addition societies use arbitration and remediation (example: Inuit song contest) law ? codified rules of behavior, enforced by duly constituted authority Informal Sanctions- public ways of dealing with conflicts Song contest. of inuit Law Come when something is really important or in complex society Imposed by constituted authority Institutionalized power Government Conflict management Protection from other groups Basic social welfare Education / etc State: political entity/monopolizes on the legitimate use of violence/roles put into place to help keep order- bureaucracy Nation: community of citizens that claim their own group/common culture Ethnic nation: ethnicity (ex. Navajo nation) Civic nation: based on civility (ex. US) Ethnicity- perceived roots of shared cultural history Self conscious Segregated from other groups Products of intergroup relations Shared history/showed destiny Nation-state: shared political and cultural border **Often tend to discriminate against each other** Authority: influence because of one?s status- ability to influence based on personal status or status of office Power: impose one?s will through threats- role structure with monopoly on legitimate use of violence Maintenance of power can involve Antonio Gramsci usefully distinguished between three means of maintaining rule domination: rule by coercive power (example: Robert Mugabe) ideology: openly perpetuated beliefs justifying political arrangements (example: the Pledge of Allegiance) hegemony: perpetuation of the world view of the dominant as ?common-sense? values or ideas, accepted by rulers and ruled (example: the American dream) Dominance: rule by coercive force Expensive/unstable Ideology: openly advocated systems of belief that advocates a justification and government Hegemony: perpetuation of their world views that are unconsciously done Common sense values/norms Example- American dream: rulers and ruled genuinely believe in it, yet it is far less common than we actually believe/ therefore to consent to power structures Never absolute Counter-hegemonic ideas OR COMBINATION OF ALL THREE Lecture 23- Triumph of Evil (1999)- 11/20/08 ABOUT THIS FILM In 1994, an estimated 800,000 Rwandans were slaughtered while the United Nations and other powerful global actors did, if not nothing, very little to stop the carnage. This PBS Frontline documentary combines interviews and disturbing news footage about the 100 days of genocide and about international inaction. Several of you asked for an update. Today the situation in Rwanda is very complicated; it is illegal for political parties to designate themselves as ?Hutu? or ?Tutsi,? but it is also illegal to question the government?s official history of the genocide. Rwanda itself is at peace, and the genocidaires are slowly being tried in local gacaca courts. Conflict continues in neighboring eastern Congo, however, and in recent weeks has gotten much worse. NOTES? QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT Obviously, this film gives us plenty ? too much, in fact ? to think about. Here are just a few questions that come to me: The film takes its title from a saying often (if incorrectly) attributed to philosopher Edmund Burke: ?The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing.? Do you agree? At one point in an interview, a member of the US delegation to the UN said ?What was it about myself, what was it about the process, that could allow lots of really smart, good, responsible people to come to such decisions?? How would you answer him? Can a bureaucracy be (or do) evil when the individuals in it are not (or do not)? If so, how does that happen? In two of these interviews, people talked about being jolted out of one role into another -- from reporter to woman; from military man to ?normal human being?-- by personal appeal. Does role have anything to do with this question, then? The killers mobilized hundreds of thousands of people to horrific acts of brutality. How did they do so? Specifically, how did they manipulate various kinds of media and symbols both to motivate genocide and to blunt any potential international response? With the previous question in mind, how could we use media and symbols in future situations like this to prompt an international response that could save people? What words or phrases had power in this situation (Hutu, Tutsi, genocide, never again, Somalia? I?m sure you can think of others)? Power to do what? Lecture 24- Globalization- 11/25/08 What is globalization? The formation of a ?global village??closer contact between different parts of the world, with increasing possibilities of personal exchange, mutual understanding and friendship between ?world citizens", and creation of a global civilization. "The concept of globalization refers both to the compression of the world and the intensification of consciousness of the world as a whole" -Roland Robertson Globalization-economic The World Bank defines globalization as the ?Freedom and ability of individuals and firms to initiate voluntary economic transactions with residents of other countries?. The negative effects of for-profit multinational corporations ?the use of substantial and sophisticated legal and financial means to circumvent the bounds of local laws and standards, in order to leverage the labor and services of unequally-developed regions against each other. Modernity as large-scale integration from a condition of isolation Increased movement of goods, capital, people, and information among formerly separate areas, and increased influence that reaches beyond a local area. Increased formalization of those mobile elements, development of 'circuits' on which those elements and influences travel, and standardization of many aspects of the society in general that is conducive to the mobility. Increased specialization of different segments of society, such as the division of labor, and interdependency among areas Globalization and modernity (being modern) as features of cultures Flexibility and dynamism (as opposed to rigidity and static) These features are linked to ?success? in the project of modernity Those cultures who have developed ideas that embrace the changing nature of human existence can more easily ?adapt? to a shifting global ?ethnoscape? and a borderless world. -Ability to escape the ?shackles of tradition? Identity and modernity When identity is linked to tradition, the project of ?modernity? involves a shift in how people construct their sense of social and individual selves. When ?modernity? effects cultures that we desire to remain traditional, how do we react? How do we address a world of ?differential modernities?? The experience of globalization Local experience of global processes, economic and otherwise is the focus of cultural anthropology. This includes the effects of ideas of modernity as well. All of the effects of larger social movements and processes on local cultures ?changes in economics, politics and social life are within the realm of cultural anthropology. Indigenism In the Amazon, indigenism is a political response to the relatiohships nations have with their native populations Indigenism is about ethnic pride, but also about relating a sense of Place to Identity Indigenism is a global social movement that starts locally and projects onto a larger global stage Indigenism is different in different locations around the world, but all have at least one thing in common The local expression of identity speaking to a larger global audience, AND flow back of the same Symbolic Discourse through the Ambient Flora Amerindian Philosophies of Nature and the Intersection of Botany and Cultural Representation Among the Waiwai of Southern Guyana. Themes for this presentation Amazonia as an imagined space Paths to fieldwork and the self Amazonian ethnography and botany The Waiwai and their plants in botanical history Symbolic Discourse and symbolic capital Conservation and NGO?s Amazonian Indians and their representations Stewards of nature, guardians of the forest Closer to nature Wild and fierce Quiet and inscrutable Preoccupied with the supernatural Isolated from modernity Simple lives with an emphasis on tradition Paths to fieldwork and the self What do indigenous peoples think about their ambient flora? How does this compare to the way in which ?we? view their environments and the flora within them? What are the popular, received representations of Amazonia as a place and Amazonian Indians as people? What are the ?academic? representations of these same places and peoples (from various disciplines)? How does one know what they know and why do we choose the career paths we do? A girl from central Wisconsin and the Amazon Reflexivity in anthropology What representations did I absorb? A 1980?s popular education Rainforest beef, oil, logging, gold, diamonds, orchids Sting, Emerald Forest, Medicine Man, Jungle 2 Jungle Popular ethnobotany Richard Evans Schultes Mark Plotkin Paul Alan Cox Wade Davis Andrew Weil Timothy Plowman Popular anthropology Psychedelic shamanism ?Michael Harner, Terrence McKenna Tobacco, drugs, curare Popular academic trends in the Amazon Ethnobotany Blues ?Michael Brown Intellectual Property Rights and indigenous sovereignty Medicine Quest Conservation The Waiwai Ethnographic Orientation The Waiwai are a group of Carib-speaking Amerindians that inhabit the forests of the deep south of Guyana and northern Brazil. In Guyana there are presently two villages ?one on the Kuyuwini River with about 70 persons and the village that is the site of my fieldwork ?named ?Masakinyarï??or ?Mosquito Place? on the Essequibo River, with about 200 persons. In Brazil the villages are spread along the Mapuera River, with smaller villages on the Anaua and Jatapú Rivers. The Waiwai population in Brazil is about 1500. The Waiwai and their plants in botanical history New York Botanical Gardens ?1939 Nicholas Guppy ?1958 Smithsonian Institution ?1992 Conservation International ?2002 But none of these focused on Waiwai views of plants, or any ethnobotanical information. Collaborating with the Waiwai What is a Waiwai view of their ambient flora? Is there a symbolic aspect to their ideas and uses of plants? How does their philosophy of nature incorporate ideas about their identity and purpose for living? When Waiwai talk about plants through discourse, what do they ?say?? How can we use this information to make the Waiwai (and other Amazonian Indians) more accessible? What can we learn about ourselves? Other players, modernity and culture change NGO?s and Conservation Conservation International and protected areas Agendas and worldviews The Waiwai, ethnobotany and UWSP The Amerindian Exchange Program ?2009 Students from both cultures learning other worldviews and processes for using and thinking about plants Ethnobotany, ethnomedicine, anthropology Amazon Conservation Team and shaman?s apprentice program Development Education, interpretation and access The next generation Lecture 25- How Does Culture Change?- 12/2/08 Common Fallacies of cultural determinism Cultures are sealed off from one another Culture is like a billiard ball- they may knock into eac oter but they are not changed- Erick Wolffe Cultures permit no variety- allow no decent, monolithic Every culture provides variations and ones own interpretation People are passively molded by culture Cultures: The parts rub alongside each other, there is friction.. That friction allows for creativity and change Culture is the product of human creativity Questioning the standard blueprint Recontexting- taking things form one context and adapting them to another context We can recontext things to be part of our selves Noble savage vs. debased creature (creative vs. lack there of) Thoughts from the late 1800s Cultural life is about improving tools we use and ideas that are unclear Two Major Forms of Recontexting We take something that we have seen somewhere else and incorporate it into our own culture (borrowing something from one culture into another) Example- Corbett article Example- (WaiWai) Bone flute- to attract game and attract lovers (men only play it) Boomboxes are used nowadays (using this boombox as a cultural shape) Substantial changes with colonial encounters (compromise to opposition) Yaqui- Mexico Jesuits assumed that there was religion They willingly moved 1737: Revolt when Yaqui was whipped 1000 settlers were killed Jesuits got expelled After Mexico gained independence Yaqui tried to be independent, failed and then began to assimilate into another culture Tried to get independence again, but Mexican soldiers stomped out and they were al exported Millenarian Cults: the Melanesian ?cargo cult? Direct response to colonization- ancestors would come and they would bring cargo Years during and after WWII 11/19/08 12:03 AM They represent creative response to cultures in history Practice Quiz/Discussion Information Diffusionism- ?deep down we are all the same? Unilineal evolution- we all started at one place and evolved to our different stages and postulated a psychic unit of mankind Defamiliarizing- makes familiar seen strange Culture of poverty Poverty and other problemsof lower class life are primarily due to flaws in their values, especially an unwillingness to ?delay gratification? Bohannon Her view of Hamlet vs. the Tiv?s view Universality in themes? Not always the case Need to look at it in context of the culture Different interpretations in kinship and family Brother has to marry widow Afterlife/magic Different religious views Araens Symbolism of football Represents Gender Violence Technology Diversity/unity (of America) Geertz Cockfighting Symbol of masculinity (bravery, assertiveness, risks-illegal) Outward expression Work for cock represents other things Social hierarchy Status (after win/within fight) Domesticating- makes strange seem familiar Lifeworlds We are all partial members of the greater culture Partial knowledge that defines a person Own culture within a culture Tale vs. legend Both try to explain the inexplainable/give moral values/both stories Legends are told as truth while tales as told as false (not expected to be believed) Hypothetical evidence- ?trolley-problems?- used in anthropology because different cultures have different (not better or worse) views of what is important in life Most common least common forms of marriage Polygyny (80%) Monogamy (>20%) Polyandry (2%) Illness is when a person feels sick. Disease is an actual diagnosis that something is wrong. A problem is that the distinctions between the two vary with cultures Disease is directed at a group already classified as ?other? Physical evidence Already has special meaning Not curable ***aside from ?not curable?, the rest are more likely to be stigmatized*** Illness: insider view of health problem/emic view- perceived feeling Disease: etic view/biomedicine view/undesirable deviation from natural norm Problem: differences between the two vary with cultures Nationalism: claim to political autonomy by virtue or common language, unique customs and shared origin Political expression of ethnicity or race Biomedical vs. traditional healing systems. What would be a better way off categorizing healing systems worldwide? Know problems with distinction Lots of overlap Ethnocentric- biomedical Traditional is way too general Propose alternative way Mystical/rational Personalistic/naturalistic Internalizing vs. externalizing ** What does it mean to say that religion has two poles? Mystical The individual experience/transformed personal consciousness Connected by morals and values Institutional Social (hierarchy and roles) Mystical and institutional ha two really different ends, but it still is the same thing. Intrinsically different by still connected Power vs. Authority Power- means to compel others to do what he wants them to do Authority- ability to exert ones influence because of personal attributes. Can be ascribed or achieved Caste in India vs. social classes in US Similarities: systems of ranking Differences: cant leave caste level, but can change social class Caste = ascribed while class = ascribed/achieved Clan exogamous- must marry outside the clan Tribe endogamous- must marry inside the tribe Defining characteristics of general-purpose money Means of exchange System of repayment System of evaluation State Political Makes laws Use of violence Police Army Borders Authority Influence Karisma Power Coercive via threats Citizenship Nation Civic Citizenship Ex. US Ethnic Can you make a claim to the right to citizenship by some ethnic heritage Ex. Native Americans Ethnicity Lineage Perceived- self-perception Shared Culture and history- traditions (food) ?Other? Race Language Recreation Rules/morals Religion In human societies we know of, prestige can be earned by Accumulating desirable objects Giving away desirable objects Destroying desirable objects Whis is Bourgois? major critique of the ?culture of poverty? approach to understanding life in the slums? Culture of poverty- there is a certain culture that is transmitted through generations that makes it impossible to succeed Blame the victim mentality Its their fault because it has been passed down and that you are passing it down Political economic- this is missing in the culture of poverty Doesn?t deal with major structural restraints that are outside the bounds of the people It ignores P, E, and S issues It looks solely within the people as to why this is happening as oppose to also the P, E, S Nest In The Wind Themes: Romanticism vs. reality Culture shock Reciprocal anthropology Gender Floyd wants/expects the women to do it for him Matrilineal descent Clan ?Night-crawling? Wound people having romantic encounters at night In Search of Respect Tereotypes/race/ethnicity Poverty/blame?/agency Place/history- identity change Prestige/respect/power Underground economy Culture of fear Cultural capital- information that you gather that lets you act within your culture ?Jibaro?- wold/rebel/macho Evans-Pritchard Functionalism theory/perspective What is a witch and how do they function? Witchcraft gives a means of explanation and resolution and helps organize Be good to everyone so that a witch will not hurt you With is synonymous with misfortune Key difference between witch and witchdoctor? Witches are born, witchdoctors are trained There are bits of ?rites of passage? in becoming a witchdoctor Function of a witchdoctor: provides answers, social prestige/tradition/psychological **Psychological functionalism** 11/19/08 12:03 AM Franz Boas Considered the father of modern American anthropology Levi-Strauss Founded structuralism Claimed that human classification was universal because a human predisposition to making distinctions produces classifications that were but surface representations of a more fundamental ?deep structure? shaped by the binary nature of human kind Ethnoscience Formal methods of analysis were applied to domains such as kinship terms, flora and fauna, colour, diseases and the like Benedict- practices, beliefs, and values of a given culture differed from other cultures in a consistent and mutually reinforcing way Cultural relativism Our beliefs, moral, behaviors are the product of culture, learned as members of the communities in which we are reared. Cultures can only be judged relative to one another, and the meaning of a given belief or behavior must first and foremost be understood relative to its own cultural context Radcliffe-Brown Structural functionalist The idea of social structure to describe patterns of relations between individuals and groups and tended to explain those patterns in terms of their functions Institutions Patterns of behavior and ideology that become relatively discrete, enduring and autonomous Total institutions: the military, prisons, boarding schools, communes, cuts, psychiatric hospitals Pierre Bourdieu The west is divided into a number of specialized and relatively autonomous and hierarchically organized fields or institutions within which people are engaged in a constant struggle for position Two major assets in this struggle: Financial capital and cultural capital Social identity A variety of positions in society and a set of rights and duties with respect to others occupying other complementary positions Non-unilineal descent Combination of mal and female links back to an important ancestor Disease Sickness caused by a physiological malfunction or agent Illness 11/19/08 12:03 AM Sickness brought on by a patient?s perception of his or her bodily state 11/19/08 12:03 AM 11/19/08 12:03 AM