Study Questions

Anthropology V02 - Spring 2013
Monday & Wednesday 1:00-2:50

Study Questions Weeks 5-9

What is it that enables humans to adapt to a much wider variety of environments than other animals? List 3 examples of this kind of adaptation.

What is the difference between cash cropping and subsistence farming? Describe 2 ways in which the imposition of cash cropping affects indigenous farmers. How does globalization affect this situation?

The 5 major subsistence strategies are foraging, horticulture, pastoralism, agriculture, and industrialism. Define each of these.

Up until about 10,000-12,000 years ago, the subsistence strategy of all humans was ___________________.

What is meant by 'carrying capacity'? What enables humans to increase carrying capacity? Describe a change from one subsistence strategy to another that illustrates this.

Why have foragers been described as the original affluent society? Does Lee's data on the Ju/'hoansi support this? Explain. Is this characteristic universal among foraging societies? Explain.

Compare and contrast foraging and industrial strategies in terms of production, division of labor, consumption, social organization, property relations, resource use, sustainability, work and leisure.

With regard to property relations, what is the difference between use rights and ownership? Name two subsistence strategies associated with each. Describe an ethnographic example of how these two conceptions of property can cause conflict between groups with different subsistence strategies.

Why do circumpolar foragers (e.g. Inuit) work more hours than foragers in temperate climates (e.g. Ju/'hoansi)? How and why is the gender division of labor different for these two kinds of foragers?

What is the "Man the Hunter" model of human evolution? How and why did anthropologists revise this model of prehistoric and contemporary foragers? Explain how Lee's data from the Ju/'hoansi support this revision.

Sharing and mobility are the two characteristics of traditional Ju/'hoansi lifestyle that Lee describes as crucial to their survival. In terms of cultural ecology (relation to their environment and subsistence strategy), why is this so (how are these two behaviors adaptive)? In other words explain how these two characteristics ensure survival.

According to Lee, why did the !Kung demean the Christmas ox? [See Lee, Appendix A/"Eating Christmas in the Kalahari" pp 245-251 (207-212 in older edition)]

What is meant by "leveling mechanism?" Describe two leveling mechanisms that the Ju/'hoansi employ.

What is meant by aggregation and dispersal with regard to foraging societies? Describe this pattern among the Ju/'hoansi. What is the primary resource that determines when these movements occur? Describe Inuit aggregatation and dispersal.

What was the Neolithic revolution? Where did it first occur? Describe the consequences and processes that were set in motion.

What is fallowing? Why do some formerly sustainable horticultural systems reduce fallowing time, and what is the consequence?

According to lecture, women's status relative to men's was high among the Iroquois and lower among the Yanomamö. What was the explanation given for this difference?

What is meant by an "extensive strategy" with regard to subsistence strategies? Name two subsistence strategies to which it applies. What is "intensive strategy?" To what type of subsistence strategy does it apply? Which strategy increases the carrying capacity of the land?

How do acephalous societies deal with conflict? How does forced sedentarization, as seen in the film, N!ai, the Portrait of a !Kung Woman, affect conflict situations?

From the film, N!ai, the Portrait of a !Kung Woman, describe 3 ways in which forced sedentarization and relocation changed !Kung traditional culture and society.

In the film, N!ai, the Portrait of a !Kung Woman, in what ways are the !Kung being integrated into the larger, national society? Is this a good thing? Why or why not?

Use the idea of holism or the organic analogy to explain what happened to the !Kung in the film, N!ai, the Story of a !Kung Woman.

Give one example of ethnocentrism among people in the film, N!ai, the Portrait of a !Kung Woman.

Traditional pastoralism existed for thousands of years as a sustainable subsistence strategy. Why are there very few or no 'pure' pastoralist societies remaining in the world today? Describe the struggle of the Maasai of East Africa and how it exemplifies this situation.

Describe 3 differences between peasant (family) farming and industrial agriculture. Name one country where peasant farming predominates, and one where industrial agriculture predominates. What are 3 consequences of industrial agriculture?

What are 4 subsistence systems in which families are the basic units of production?

In terms of energy expended per calorie of food produced, which is the LEAST efficient form of subsistence? In terms of environmental degradation, which is the least sustainable?

According to Jared Diamond, what was the "worst mistake in the history of the human race?" What are 3 reasons he gives? In other words, what are 3 of the negative repercussions of this event?

What are the two universal divisions of labor? What are 2 kinds of societies in terms of subsistence strategies in which these two are the ONLY divisions of labor? What additional division of labor do you find in societies such as the U.S. ?

How does child labor in the global capitalist economy differ from child labor in traditional societies such as those that practice horticulture or family farming? Give one example.

Emile Durkheim described two ways in which different kinds of societies are held together. He called these mechanical solidarity and organic solidarity. Define each and name one ethnographic example for each. [Note: whenever the question asks for an 'ethnographic example' it means name a particular group/culture]

The 3 types of exchange delineated by Polanyi are reciprocity, redistribution, and market exchange. Give examples of each type as practiced in the U.S.

In what kinds of societies is reciprocity the predominate form of exchange? Give two ethnographic examples (i.e., name 2 societies in which reciprocity is the predominate form of exchange). What kind of subsistence strategy does each of these groups practice?

The 3 types of reciprocity are generalized, balanced, and negative. Give one example of each as practiced in the U.S.

Give one example of generalized reciprocity and one example of balanced reciprocity among the traditional Ju/'hoansi.

What is the kula ring? Where does it take place? What kind of exchange system does it represent?

What makes the items in the kula ring valuable? What is one of the 'practical functions' of the kula ring?

What is the purpose or social benefit of delay in reciprocal exchange systems? In other words why don't people just exchange equally on the spot, rather than waiting for return?

The U.S. economic system falls under which of Polanyi's three categories of economic exchange (reciprocity, redistribution, market exchange)? What happens to land and labor in this type of exchange system compared with other systems? What are two of the social consequences of this? According to Polanyi, what other form of exchange must be used in this system to prevent social problems? In what form do we find this remedy in the U.S.?

What is a moral economy? What kind of exchange systems fall under the category of ‘moral economies’? How do they differ from market exchange? Give one example.

Describe trading among the Yanomamö and the function that it serves. What do you call this type of exchange?

Describe the Kwakiutl potlatch. How does Marvin Harris explain the apparently irrational behavior of the Kwakiutl potlatch? What is the explanation from an emic perspective? What is its function from Harris's etic perspective? Is Harris's theoretical approach materialist or interpretive? How is it similar to his explanation of Hindu vegetarianism?

Compare the Kwakiutl chief and his potlatch with the Kaoka or Kawelka big man and his feast. According to Harris, what is the difference between how a Kwakiutl chief and a Kaoka big man gather and distribute the wealth of a potlatch or a feast? What kind of exchange system do these both exemplify?

What explanation does Harris give for why reciprocity prevails in band-level, foraging societies? What does he argue makes the development of competitive feasting and redistribution possible? Describe the process by which stratification develops according to Harris.

Compare the purpose of feasts among the Yanomamö vs. the purpose of feasts among big-man societies (e.g. the Kaoka or Kawelka) or the potlatch among the Kwakiutl.

What are 2 major transformations that have taken place as a result of capitalist expansion into non-capitalist settings?

In the film, Ongka's Big Moka, what subsistence strategy does Ongka's group, the Kawelka, use? Where do they live?

In the film, Ongka's Big Moka, why are pigs important to the Kawelka ? What are they used for?

What is a 'moka' ? From an emic perspective, why does Ongka give one? What is the objective of mokas? From an etic, cultural materialist perspective, what is the 'practical' aspect of this practice?

In 1964 Lee went looking for the headman in Ju/'hoansi society. What did he discover? What was the explanation given to him by one Ju/'hoansi informant?

How has the presence of Tswana and Herero in their area affected the way that the Ju/'hoansi handle conflict?

Describe the hxaro exchange system among the Ju/'hoansi. How is it different from barter? What is the major function of hxaro in their society according to Lee? Name two items that are exchanged. What kind of exchange (reciprocity, redistribution, or market) is hxaro?

Cronk ("Strings Attached") describes ways in which the giving of gifts can be a form of status competition, aggression, or manipulation. Describe one ethnographic example of this aspect of gift-giving.

Using the numbers in the above chart, identify each of the following:
[Examples: ego’s brother and sister: 15, 16; ego’s nephew: 25]
ego's maternal grandparents
ego’s parallel cousins
ego's cross cousins
ego's matrilineal relatives
ego's patrilateral relatives
ego's kindred

Using English terms, what would you call each of the persons in ego’s generation and ego’s parents’ generation according to the Eskimo system?

Using English terms, what would you call the people in ego's generation and ego's parent's generation according to the Hawaiian system? What does the Hawaiian terminology system imply about the nuclear family compared with the Eskimo system?

In the Ju/'hoansi system, which generations would have similar names (you don't have to give the numbers, just indicate which generations in relation to ego, e.g. ego's, ego's parents', ego's children's, grandparents', etc.). How is this naming system related to the Ju/’hoansi kinship terminology system and to their joking and avoidance system?

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Why are anthropologists like Lee, who study small-scale societies usually given a kinship designation?

Give one example of an affine. Give one example of a consanguineal kin. Give one example of fictive kinship.

In terms of subsistence strategies, in what 2 kinds of societies do you usually find bilateral descent?

How does Iroquois kinship terminology reflect preferential cross-cousin marriage?

What is meant by a corporate descent group? Name one kind of unilineal corporate descent group. Why do you not find corporate groups in bilateral systems?

Which type of descent (patrilineal, matrilineal, bilateral) do both the Ju/'hoansi and Americans use? How is this kind of descent system advantageous for the Ju/'hoansi?

Of the six kinship terminology/classification systems (Sudanese, Hawaiian, Eskimo, Iroquois, Omaha, Crow), which one do the Ju/'hoansi use? Which one do Americans use?

Why do you find an emphasis on the nuclear family in both Ju/'hoansi and U.S. culture? In other words, what do these two cultures have in common that makes nuclear families more practical than extended ones?

Describe the namesake system among the Ju/'hoansi. What function does it serve? What problem is created by this system and how does the custom of Wi solve it?

Why are marriage alliances and an extensive kinship system important for Ju/'hoansi survival?

Americans think of kinship in biologically based ways, but anthropologists point to the variety of kinship structures around the world to show that kinship is inherently cultural. Give one ethnographic example (a particular culture that we have looked at in the course) that demonstrates the fact that kinship categorizations or definitions (e.g. marriage, parenthood, gender roles, kinship categories/terminology, etc.) are culturally constructed. In other words, describe some aspect of kinship in another specific culture that is different from how Americans think about kinship categories, definitions, roles, or relationships.

The incest taboo is universal, but varies from one culture to the next. Describe how it is conceived differently in two different societies. In other words, provide examples of two named societies in which what is considered incest differs.

According to lecture, what is one advantage of patrilateral parallel cousin marriage preferred by many Islamic groups in Middle-eastern and North African cultures?

There are several reasons and ways in which women in matrilineal and bilateral societies generally enjoy a better position than women in patrilineal societies. Compare the situation of women in these two systems and describe 3 advantages for women in matrilineal and bilateral systems compared with patrilineal systems.

Both the Na of China and the traditional Nayar of India have different arrangements when it comes to marriage and family. Describe this system, including their type of descent, who lives in the household, and who has responsibility for raising the children.

Societies in many parts of Asia, the Middle East, and Africa are structured on the basis of hierarchically organized corporate descent groups such as lineages, clans, or castes. Why are marriages in these cultures usually arranged marriages? Compare the focus and purpose of marriage in these kinds of cultures with those in cultures with bilateral decent systems. Name one ethnographic example (name the society) of each of these two kinds of societies.

What is fraternal polyandry? In which society does Goldstein describe this practice? What reason do her informants give for this practice? Why does it occur less frequently among the poor?

What is bridewealth? What is dowry? What effect does a high bridewealth or dowry have on the divorce rate? Why does it have this effect?

Define exogamy and endogamy. Provide an example of each. In other words, entities to which these terms apply: ____________________ exogamy, and _____________________ endogamy.

What is an extended family? In what kinds of societies, in terms of subsistence, do extended families predominate and why?

The three forms of heterosexual marriage according to the number of spouses are monogamy, polygyny, and polyandry. Which form is found in the greatest number of societies worldwide? Name one society for each of these 3 forms (one society in which monogamy is the norm, one in which polygyny is practiced, one in which polyandry is practiced).

In southern India the preferred marriage is that of cross cousins. This is generally not the case in northern India, where village exogamy is practiced. Describe how these two different marriage practices create a different kind of kinship network in southern India vs. northern India.

The 5 different residence rules/patterns (where people live after marriage) are: patrilocal, matrilocal, avunculocal, ambilocal, and neolocal. Which one of these is the traditional pattern that Indians practice? Which one(s) do the Ju/'hoansi traditionally practice? Which one do Americans practice?

Although many of the world's societies practice polygyny, few people in these societies actually practice it. Why? What is one advantage of polygyny? What circumstances make it a more likely choice?

Why would a polygynous arrangement be more likely to occur in some horticultural or pastoral societies than with an Inuit forager?

Using appropriate kinship terminology, describe the marriage and family system among the Ju/'hoansi including the following: A) Who chooses the bride and groom, and by what criteria are grooms chosen? B) How much say does the woman have? C) With whom do they live initially and why? D) What kind of economic exchange occurs with marriage? E) Do they practice polygyny?

A) Describe the dowry system as it is practiced in India. B) What was the original, traditional, purpose? C) How and why has it changed in recent decades? D) What are two of its effects on the lives of women and girls? E) How does this affect the sex ratios? F) What role does modern technology play in these ratios?

Compare divorce in the U.S. with divorce in India. Compare three cultural elements that account for the difference. Why are women in India reluctant to seek divorce even when they are unhappy with their marriage?

Are traditional two-parent households in the U.S. increasing or decreasing in recent decades? What is one reason for this?

In the film, Dadi's Family, where does this family live, and how do they make a living? Who lives in the household? What do you call this family type? What type of descent, and post-marital residence do they practice? Who is the head of the family?

In the film, Dadi's Family, what is the difference in how daughters and daughters-in-law are regarded in Dadi's village? How is this related to village exogamy?

Dadi expresses ambivalence with regard to educating women. Explain why she might feel this way.

Compare the differences among the 3 sons and daughters-in-law in Dadi's family with regard to advantages and disadvantages of the extended family .

How do Dadi and her daughters-in-law compare women's lives now with previous generations in terms of the dynamics of the relationship between the men, their wives, and the mother-in-law?

According to the narrator in Dadi's Family, upon what does a woman's security depend? How does this cause tension between the mother-in-law and her daughters-in-law with regard to the son/husband? In terms of descent and residence patterns, in what type of societies do you find this kind of conflict?

Dadi's third son, Rajinder, has a different kind of marriage than his brothers. How is it different?

Describe one aspect of Kawelka, Yanomamö, Ju/'hoansi, or Indian culture from A) an ethnocentric perspective, and B) from a culturally relative perspective.

With regard to gender and subsistence, which of these kinds of societies tends to be the most gender egalitarian: foragers, horticulturalists, pastoralists, or agriculturalists?

In New Guinea, Sambian boys engage in homosexual fellatio during their adolescent years. What is the emic view of this practice? How are women viewed by Sambian men?

According to Lee, why is the incidence of HIV/AIDS lower among the Ju/'hoansi compared with other groups in the area?

According to the Ferraro text, how have things changed for gay and lesbian Iraqis since the U.S. invasion in 2003?

From a materialist perspective, contribution to subsistence is a necessary, but not sufficient factor with regard to women's status relative to men. According to Friedl, control of distribution and exchange outside of the household is an important factor is determining the status of women. Choose one particular culture (e.g., Ju/'hoansi, Yanomamö, Iroquois, Navajo, Inuit, Kawelka, Maasai, Aka, U.S., India, etc.). Describe women's roles in production and distribution, and how this relates to their status in that culture.

What is meant by "honor killing?" Why is it done? In societies with what kind of descent system do honor killings mostly occur?

In the U.S., over half of female murder victims are killed by ______________________________.

Describe three ways in which women in various parts of the world are disadvantaged relative to men.

Provide one ethnographic example of the way in which ideology can affect the way women are perceived in a particular culture.

According to the Ferraro text, what are two examples of how the construction of masculinity in the U.S. can be harmful to men?

Glossary of Kin Terms

ambilineal - involving claims to group membership, property, and status through only one parent, although the choice between the paternal or maternal bond is open to choice.

ambilocal - a residential arrangement in which a married couple can choose to live with either set of parents.

avunculocal - Upon adulthood, a man moves to his mother's brother's household. A newly married couple establishes their home near or in the groom's maternal uncle's house.

bifurcate merging - a terminological system which distinguishes relatives on the father's and mother's side of the family and lumps (merges) each group into a single category. Typical of Iroquois, Omaha , and Crow terminologies.

bride wealth - an payment from the groom to the bride's family as a requirement of the marriage agreement. Also known as bride price.

clan - a unilineal descent group whose members do not trace genealogical links to a known founding ancestor.

cognatic - related by blood through linking relatives of any sex, non- unilineal .

collateral relatives - kin other than the direct ancestors or descendants of a particular Ego.

corporate group - a group which stands as an entity in itself with collective rights. Members come and go (are born into it and die), but the corporate group continues to exist as long as there are members.

cross cousins - children of opposite sexed siblings (of a brother and sister).

Crow terminology - a system of kin terms which groups relatives together on the basis of matrilineal descent.

dowry - a quantity of wealth allocated to a bride (and her husband and children) from her natal family.

dual or double descent - an arrangement whereby ego is a member of two separate and distinct groups- a matrilineal group through his mother and patrilineal group through is father.

Ego - the individual who forms the central reference point in a kinship diagram.

Egocentric - a network defined by the relationship of participants to a single individual at its center.

endogamy - inmarriage , marriage to an individual within a defined social group, category, or range.

Eskimo terminology - a system of kin terms which groups relatives together on the basis of collateral degree.

exogamy - outmarriage , marriage to an individual outside of a defined social group, category, or range.

fictive kinship -the assignment of kinship status to someone who is not related by descent or marriage.

Hawaiian terminology - a system of kin terms which groups relatives together on the sole basis of generation; a generational system.

Iroquois terminology - a system of kin terms which groups relatives together on the basis of relation through the mother or father.

kindred - an individual's extended bilateral network of relatives traced through both parents and their kin of either sex.

kinship - principle of organizing individuals into social groups, roles, and categories based on parentage and marriage.

levirate - a rule requiring the marriage between a man's widow and his surviving brother.

lineage - a unilineal descent group whose members trace their descent from a common ancestor through an acknowledged sequence of known linking antecedents.

lineal relatives - either the direct ancestors or descendants of a particular Ego.

matrifocal - a residential arrangement in which a woman lives with her children and sometimes her daughter's children, without coresident husbands or other adult men.

matrilineal (uterine) - related by tracing common descent exclusively through females from a founding female ancestor.

matrilocal - residence upon marriage where a woman remains in her parents' household while her husband leaves his family to move in with her.

neolocal - residence after marriage where each spouse leaves his or her family of origin and jointly forms a new household.

nuclear family - a family consisting of two parents and their unmarried children.

Omaha terminology - a system of kin terms which groups relatives together on the basis of patrilineal descent.

parallel cousins - children of same sexed siblings (of two brothers or two sisters).

patrilineal (agnatic) - related by tracing common descent exclusively through males from a founding male ancestor.

patrilocal - residence upon marriage where a man remains in his parents' household while his wife leaves her family to move in with him.

primogeniture - a system of inheritance in which a persons property passes exclusively to the eldest (or otherwise most senior) son.

segmentation- the division of a descent group or household into two or more independent units.

social structure - the system of formal rules, societal roles, and behavioral norms that constitutes an essential aspect of social organization.

Sudanese terminology - a system of kin terms which assigns a unique category to each kin type; a collateral system.

uxorilocal - residence rule that, upon marriage a man moves to his his wife's household (same as matrilocal).

virilocal - residence rule that, upon marriage a women moves to her husband's household (same as patrilocal).