Religion and Magic
Give an example of both imitative and contagious magic.
Imitative: wearing the same number as Michael Jordan. Contagious: Wearing Michael Jordan's shoes. (or Giambi's "golden thong")
What is social capital? Give an example.
Social capital is the ability to secure or have access to certain things by being a member of a group. Example: Members of a study group receiving higher grades on an exam
What is the main reason for colonialism?
To extract wealth from colonized countries.
What is agency?
The capacity for people to make their own choices
-must consider what are their goals, how much power do they have, what are their limitations
What did Cornelio decide to do with his beans when he found out the price had more than doubled? What does this demonstrate?
He didn't sell any beans. This disproves the ethnocentric idea of economic rationality, that maximizing profit is the only goal.
What is the difference between Animism and Animatism?
Animism is the belief in individualized spirits within people or things. Animatism is the belief in a generalized power/spirit flowing through all things, over which we have some control.
What are the three forms of reciprocity? Give an example of each.
General (giving a close family member cash when they're having a hard time), Balanced (two friends buying Christmas presents for each other), Negative (selling your rundown car for much more than its worth).
What was the Berlin Conference?
European leaders met and divided Africa amongst themselves. Colonizers argued that they were doing the colonized a favor- "White Man’s Burden" (moral obligation to civilize the world)
What is structure?
patterned arrangements which influence or limit the choices and opportunities available.
-the social, economic, and political structures, the “rules of the game”
What are the three types of ritual ceremonies? What type is Halloween and what function does it serve?
Rite of Passage, Ritual of Intensification and Ritual of Role Reversal. Halloween: Role Reversal. It decreases social tension and allows for "antistructure," the suspension of normal rules and behaviors
What did the differentiation between "how" and "why" questions explain?
Religion/witchcraft explains why things happen (the plane crashed because God willed it) and evidence/science explains how things happen (the plane crashed because it had a faulty propeller.
What are the 5 subsistence strategies? Which allows for the most leisure time, healthy people, quality food, food security?
Foraging, Horticulture, Agriculture, Pastoralism, Industrialism.
Foraging
When was the peak of European colonialism?
1884-1945
Is supply/demand or a distribution the main reason why many parts of the developing world cannot feed itself?
Distribution.
We have the capacity to feed everyone but the food is often not available to everyone for cultural (social, economic, political) reasons.
What are the Intervention and Collaboration Philosophies. Which is the more effective philosophy to use as an anthropologist?
Intervention philosophy: outsiders guide locals in development, believing they know better than local people
Collaboration philosophy: incorporates local people as leaders and collaborators in every stage
What are the three stages of ritual ceremonies and what do they entail?
1. Separation (removal from "normal" life) 2. Liminality (ambiguous social position with rules suspended) 3. Reincorporation (return to society with a new or modified status)
What are the three means of production?
Land, Labor, Capital
Why was reducing local food production a tactic of colonial powers?
It allowed them to create a cheap supply of workers for plantations
In lecture, how did Dr. Whittle describe why people in the developing world are having so many children?
The solution is imagined to be that people are ignorant, that we need to teach women how to manage their fertility, educate them, etc.
In fact, poor families in the "third world" children are an asset. Families are having lots of children as a survival strategy.
When is magic used?
1. When the outcome is important, 2. When it is not entirely in your control
Why could the concept of "supernatural" be considered ethnocentric?
Supernatural is defined as not observable and in-explicable in ordinary terms but a believer may view it to be observable and very ordinary.
What are the three types of relations of production (labor)? Give an example from San Pablo.
Wage labor, household labor and cooperative labor. Cooperative labor was used to roof a house in San Pablo.
How did Joint Stock Companies fuel colonialism?
They made treaties, waged war, sent capital back to Europe, occupied lands, etc.
What is the problem with urbanization?
Populations are growing only in the developing urban slums in the developing world.
-future population growth=urban slum growth
What is swidden farming and what is the misconception associated with it?
It is a form of slash and burn horticulture used in rural Mexico and is falsely believed to be more environmentally degrading than agriculture.