anthropology + primitive Flashcards Preview

social anthropology 1007 > anthropology + primitive > Flashcards

Flashcards in anthropology + primitive Deck (32)
Loading flashcards...
1
Q

western enlightnment

A

17-18th century
sociopyschological unit of humanity in rational nature
» humans subject to laws of pgoress of nature and itself
- from begginging of time aim is to improve;
resulted in EVOLUTIONARY ANTHROPOLOGY

2
Q

evolutionary anthro

A

human society; dynamic movement by evolution from lower to higher civillization (in lin ewith gods laws and nature)
savage societies—> civillized societies

truer knowledge-> superior technology -> control over nature –> finer arts —> truer religion

3
Q

stages of human society

A

Economic:
hunter gatherer - pastoralist - agricultralist- slavery-feudalism-industrial capitalism/socialism/communism- end of human history

social;
primitive promisciuty to polygamy to matriniliny to patriniliny

4
Q

evolutionary image of primitive humanity

A
  • human (not homo monstrous)
  • savage/british (biolent aggresive and immoral, eogistic) and underveloped (technology and politics and religion)
  • sexually controlled (primitive promisciuty)
  • instinct and reflexible yaware (only more or less aware of rules and norms)
  • rough assembly, social structure
5
Q

famous evoluitonary anthopologists

A

edwardy tylor
lewis henry moran

  • built on ‘scientific findings’
  • little ethnography; ‘army chair field work ‘
  • speculated evolutionary schemas on datter
6
Q

signs of evolutionayr anthropology

A

framed 19th century political and intellectual views:

  • musuems of ‘human social evolution condition’
  • justification of colonialism on basis of social darwinism
  • justification of social reforms to ‘improve’ poor and ensalved
7
Q

change of evolutionary anthropology?

A

moved away from evolutionary anthropology in 20th century

8
Q

omai

A

1768 and 1774:
‘individual, polynesian ‘ brought to west and dressed up as a ‘greek philosopher’ to paint ‘savage’ as noble
- challenged previous conceptions of primitive as dirty and immoral and stupid

= resulted in a famous painting by sir Joshua Reynolds

9
Q

rousseau

A

j.j. rousseau ‘the noble savage’; believed human society in state of ‘primtiive perfection ‘ at beginiing of time

primitive technology= more happy and content people= more at one with nature and social world; social and cultural belief sin harmony internally and exetnerally without ‘evils of modern simulation’

e.g. indigenous and neative beliefts; are logical, scientific and FUNCITONAL in the environment

in modern societies; social evolution is regressive and fractured unition

10
Q

previous belief of hunter gatherers

A

seen as bottom of social human evolution as ‘at mery of nature’ and ‘dismayal existnece’
; lack society and are ex-svaages
- hunting as an ineffective economy
-domestification of nature= sign of evolved society

11
Q

levi strauss re-analysis of hunter gatherer

A

hg are not primitive; are complex and its a choice to occupy a different ecosystem as:
1. they produce ans socialize in complex social organizaitons and beliefs

  1. accuulated knolwedge of terrirtory
  2. rarely starve; hence economically self sustaining
  3. they REJECT and KNOW of agriculture/alternative lifestyles, but choose not to follow as agriculturists stuck in society
  4. instead, maximize leisure over wealther to enjoy freedom of movement
12
Q

marshall sahlins on HG

A

‘original affluent society’ 1968;
an affluent society is where all matieral needs are satisfied;
zen philosophy where its a self-sustaining economy
- happiness= out of low standards

thats why; HG societies have low standards; easily satisified; not poor in possession as poverty is a social status relative to a civilizaiton

13
Q

Kwakiutl in Australia (levistrauss take) HG society

A
different marriage and age section
patrimony and matrinony
slave and slave system
know where water, fishing hunting is
inveted smoked salmon 
have knowledge of orientation and geography
14
Q

bushmen in kalahari

A
  • aretefacts; free from matieral pressure as purely tools addapted to living
  • accumulation of objects; not a sign of status
  • borrowing and no hoarding
  • sloppy with posessesion (according to westerners)
  • division of labour for food and water; energy conserved for maxiimum amount of people
  • work less than we do; only work they have to feed for survival
  • lack of schedule
  • food quest as leisure
15
Q

McCarthy-McArthur Study

A
  • study on the nutritional outcomes of australian bushmen
    1. erratic work patterns (2.5 hrs per adult per week); low economic standards and highly concentrate dphysical work
    2. adequate dietry intake
    3. food collecting is primary productive activity
    4. less mobility means less wealth
    5. no food storage= no hoarding= efficien thunting
    6. rely on ECOLOGICAL Pressures
16
Q

pastoralists (stateless societies)

A

no state, politically uncertrainsed and have hostility to strong and centralist leaderships
e.g. nuer in souther sudan

17
Q

nuer development

A
  • in 1930: 200,000
  • in 1950; 450,000
    in 1980s; 800,000 to 1 million people

have a warrior ethos (fierce); fights betwene clans and war with dinka neighbours
inittiation rituals for boys to kill something

are a stateless society

18
Q

evans pritchard

A

conducted reanalysis in 1940 of nuer society; how do they remain society without state

19
Q

nuer findings evans pritchard

A
  1. patriclian exogamy; they marry out to keep peace by family negogitation in between clans
  2. cross cut membership (seasonal break up and recompositions of wet season villages); migraiton i dfferent seasons allows for groups to join [ climate change affecting this by creating political fonlicts due to less wet season]
  3. aggression aroudn chiefly lineasges
  4. junior age grade; warriorhood intitaiton based on age, not clan
  5. kin related reules for weapons use and biolence (kins; use fits, nonkins; use spears) to regulate fonlict
  6. equillibrium in fued; close kin fueds only involve few, distant kin fueds involve whole clan
  7. leopard skin chiefs; ritual mediators; figre out compensations in fights
  8. prophets unite clans for war; they live in pyramids

= inner, balance eqiulibrium, of ‘ordered anarchy’

20
Q

max gluckmann

A

‘the peace in the feud’ 1955

  • societies without a state; lack power sto judge and mediate conflict= but have own moral codes
21
Q

gluckmann on nuer

A
  • forced cooperation in wet season
  • nomadic rules= friendships create peace
  • no chiefs but marriage between clans
  • cattle as currency
  • all NUER against foreigns (unity against greater enemy)
  • ancestral linkages and brotherhood in kinship systems
  • earth; has mystical value; to live on earth men must be friends

= balance and cooperation and fonlict for cusotm unity

22
Q

margaread mead

A

‘coming of age in samoa’ 1938

23
Q

mead findings

A
  • modern american teenagers have culturally problematic and painful puberty
  • mead when to samoa in polynesian pacific islands and found:
    its non repressive
    girls have several boyfriends/sexual experitation wtihout guilt

‘painless mentruation’ as ‘samoan ethos encourages natural expression’

24
Q

critiques of mead

A

derek freeman: samoa is also represseive/unhappy

  • mead idealized it due to her own preconcieved prediction
  • she lied with a gender goal and misinformed whole societiy
  • cult of virginity, rape and female sucidie still takes place as men still onctorl women in public
  • all socieities have same level of happiness and unhappiness
25
Q

anthropological critiques of ‘primitive notion’

A

1980s; flaws of rousseaous ideas of ‘primtiive perfection’ pointed out:

  1. nonmodern blief systems are plural and not logically odered
  2. non moden economics can also deplete or spoil environments
  3. non modern politics can also be violent and oppresive
  4. primitive societies are globally incoporated
26
Q

aim of critiques on primitive notion

A

problematize opposition of primitive=modern

abolish ide aof primitive; all cultures complex

different societies= different types of complexities exist

27
Q

e.ardner

A

‘belief in the problem of women’ ; studied the bakweri women in mt camerron
- unconvered internal variation of cultural perspectives

28
Q

friednman

A

‘kachin people in burma mynanmar’ ecological crisis going on in microcosm as people are over hunting and over fisthing; distruption of harmonious relationships to nature in both primitive and modern societies

29
Q

nonmodern politics and violence

A
  • no ordered anarhcy exists (even ‘stateless societies’ have meditiating shamans)
  • sorcery, tighting, alcholo, drugs, murder and crime in all societies
30
Q

globalization and the primitive?

A
  • no ‘uncontacted societies’ exist

1971; unkown tribe in Mindaneo, phillipines, ‘discovredy; turns out to be environment hoax

31
Q

persistance of primitive condition in popular culture?

A
  1. idealization of native american societies and shaminism (e..g commersialization of native american spa in sedona)
  2. idealization of primitive religion
    - people ‘feerer’ in hg societies; fiji weddings are sold
  3. idealization of primitive medicine;
    shamans, yoga, chakras and herabal medicines as superior to western meidicne
  4. communism idealization
  5. peace and beauty aesthetic idealization ; art, fiji water as liequid purity
  6. idealization of ‘untouched’ societies; aim to find innocence of modernity and garden of eden?
32
Q

casse; bakweri

A

bakweri women ritualize their understanding of a woman in the world. men and women are not uniform in their cultural perspectives and differential

MEN: view themselves as civilized representatives on which women depend [patriarchy]; against nature
= are the ‘visilbe structure’

WOMEN; ardener found in ethnography that women can ritually transform themselves into mermaids with civilized and culture relations to sea; overlap with nature
= complex, invisible structure

ritual of llengu; the water spirit;
for men; cleansing of spiritual illness, infertility and witchcraft

for women; process of becoming a llengu is process of a girl becoming women by self-acceptance of spirit