ANTH 1013 Week 7 Chapter 6: Anthropological Explanations and Chapter 7: Analysing Sociocultural Systems

1. ANTH 1013Week 7 Chapter 6:Anthropological Explanationsand Chapter 7:Analysing Sociocultural Systems

2. Steward in retrospect • Cultural ecologist accused of environmental determinism • Civilizations in Americas, Asia, Africa evolve in similar econiches, • e.g., dry river valleys modified by irrigation • Environmental determinism vs possibilism • Too idealistic?: some adaptations are mal- • Steward and White’s environmental determinism on culture parallels Mead and Benedict’s cultural determinism on personality (mid 20th century) • Advocate of multilinear evolution

3. Cultural Materialism: Marvin Harris • Based on neoevolutionism and cultural ecology • Sociocultural systems divided into: • Infrastructure (technology, subsistence strategy) • Structure (sociopolitical system) • Superstructure (intangibles of culture, ideas) • Infrastructure is prime determinant of other two • Ignores social, political, religious beliefs? • Technological determinism or possibilism? • Downplays symbolism and language

4. Harris’ Cultural Materialism: Ahimsa • Killing cows illegal in India • Ghandi: “central fact of Hinduism is cow protection” • Vedic culture, 1800-800 BC, northern India • Herds of cattle as wealth of chieftans • Communal feasts of beef on special occasions • Population grew, grazing lands plowed, forests shrank • Cattle inefficient consumers of feed - compete w. people • Brahman priests and rulers continued to eat beef • Resentment and unrest by 600 BC • Buddhism appears ca 500 BC - banned killing of animals • Also Jainism: against killing even bugs • Brahmans co-opt Buddhist respect for life doctrine as Hindu practice of Ahimsa

5. Harris’ Cultural Materialism: Ahimsa (cont.) • Materialist justification for Ahimsa • Zebu cattle feed on scraps, no competition with people • Zebus drought and disease resistant • 12 year life as draft animals for plowing • Cattle cheaper than tractors for small farms • Produce milk • Dung for fertilizer and fuel • Zebus worth more alive than dead • Case for practicality of Ahimsa based on: • cultural ecology (Steward) • energy relationships (White)

6. Marxist anthropology • Modified Morgan’s unilineal scheme: • Tribal, Asiatic, feudal, capitalism, communism • Materialist: mode of production is prime determinant of social, political, religious life • Believed class struggle unending • Capitalists vs proletariat • Social context: exploitation of workers during Industrial Revolution

7. Symbolic Anthropology • Humanistic approach • Argues cultural symbols can be independent of material factors, e.g., trucker hats • Collect data on kinship, ritual, myth, values • Interpret these from perspective of people studied • Produce “thick description” to explain the internal logic of a culture for outsiders • May neglect historical, political, materialist factors • Symbolic determinism?

8. Sociobiology • Developed by E. O. Wilson, 1970’s • Focus on biological basis for social behaviour • Assumes innate predispositions for behaviour a consequence of natural selection • Predicts men are more promiscuous than women • Limited # of eggs vs unlimited # of sperm • 9 months + 3 yrs breastfeeding per child • Women naturally more selective of mates • Inclusive fitness basis for family ties • Protect kin, they protect you • Kin selection causes nepotism • Critics cite lack of biological basis in some kin categories • Offensive to anthropologists who see enculturation as dominant in nature vs nurture debate • Enculturation can override innate tendencies

9. Feminist Anthropology • Pre-WW II, Mead popularizes anthropology • Redbook column • First to focus on gender roles • Questioned biological determinism re gender differences • Male anthropologists tended to focus on male informants; yielded biased ethnographies • Women’s Liberation movement in early ‘70’s • More female anthropologists • Critiqued sociobiological theories of gender difference • Downplayed biological and behavioural differences

10. Postmodernism and Anthropology • Question objectivity of ethnographers and validity of old field methods • Demand ethnographers acknowledge their biases • Formerly marginal cultures now in mainstream • Access to education • Internet • Can tell their own stories, ethnographers redundant • Impact on anthropology • Self-reflection now common in ethnographies • Team approach to ethnography predicted

11. Chapter 7: Analysing Sociocultural Systems • Introduction to ethnographic field methods • Examine cultural universals and variables • Subsistence and physical environment • Demography • Technology • Economy • Social structure • Political organization • Religion

12. Ethnographic field methods • Devise research design • Identify research objectives • Describe schedule, methods to be used • Background studies • Archival data (images, documents, maps, notes) • Read published work on • Anthropology • Ecology • History • Economics • Political science • Obtain research permit from country of study

13. Ethnographic research strategies • Participant observation • Learn language • Stay at least a year • Naturalistic observation • Mapping anthropogenic features • Dwellings • Gardens • Trails, roads • Mappping environmental features • Rivers, streams • Topography, soil types • Natural vegetation • Climate • Recording daily activities of people in community

14. Ethnographic research strategies (cont.) • Time-allocation analysis • How many hours spent on different activities each day • E.g.: eating 2 hrs; attending class 5 hrs; reading 2 hrs; writing; 2 hrs; physical recreation 2 hrs; sleep 8 hrs • Record for different age groups and genders • Develop relationship with key informant • Makes introductions, provides information and advice • Unstructured interviews • Spontaneous, open-ended conversations • Avoid leading questions

15. Ethnographic research strategies (cont.) • Structured interviews • Ask same questions to many people • Cross-checking makes data more reliable • Craft questions carefully for best results • May submit questionnaire to random sample of pop. • Etic perspective • Gather quantitative data • Outsider’s perspective • Emic perspective • Qualitative data • Insider’s perspective

16. Ethnographic research strategies (cont.) • Take field notes • Use waterproof paper and pencil • Laptop with database program to help organize notes • Tape recorders • Still photographs • Video cameras • Risk getting “performance” not reality • Useful for re-interpretation later • Surviving culture shock • Loneliness • Anti-malarial medication can cause panic attacks • Adopting diet of subjects can be challenging • Consumption of drugs/alcohol, e.g., in Amazon

17. Ethnographic research strategies (cont.) • Ethics • Must not let incriminating details get into wrong hands • Can use pseudonyms to protect informants • But this invites falsification of data • Anthropologists have acted as spies (WW II) • Must reveal motives to culture under study • Not supposed to try to change culture under study • Supposed to resist sexual involvement with subjects

18. Ethnographic research strategies (cont.) • Correlation is interaction of two variables • Causal or spurious relationship? • Independent variable affects dependent variable • E.g., population increase causes increased warfare • Interconnectedness of cultural variables makes assigning “dependent” or “independent” tricky • Multidimensional approach needed • Flows from holistic approach

19. Cultural Universals and Variables: 1. Subsistence and Physical Environment • Modern cultural ecology • Humans adapt to environmental niches in biomes • E.g., head of tide on river in temperate deciduous forest • Subsistence patterns • Develop as adaptations to biome parameters • Foraging • Horticulture • Pastoralism • Agriculture

20. Cultural Universals and Variables: 2. Demography • Mainly quantitative data from censuses and surveys indicating population trends in society • Three variables: fertility, mortality, migration • Fertility (number of births) • Crude birth rate = number of live births annually per 1000 people • Mortality • Crude death rate = number of deaths annually per 1000 people

21. 2. Demography (cont.) • Migration rate • In-migrants - out-migrants = net migration • Natural growth rate = CBR-CDR • Factor in net migration to determine total population change • Other demographic variables • Fecundity (potential # of births based on women stats) • Life expectancy • Infant mortality rate (# of babies /1000 that die before 1) • Child mortality rate (# of children /1000 that die before age 5)

22. 2. Demography (cont.) • Push factors induce people to leave • Drought, warfare, poverty • Pull factors induce people to in-migrate • Economic opportunity, religious tolerance • Carrying capacity • Maximum population that an environment can support • Influenced by technology, e.g. food production • Cultural values and practices affect demography • Attitudes towards birth control vary

23. Cultural Universals and Variables: 3. Technology • Broader meaning than in popular usage • Tools and knowledge humans apply to solve practical problems like subsistence and shelter • Material culture: goods (e.g., scissors) • Nonmaterial culture: services (e.g., haircut) • Role of technology in social change still debated • For next week: read Ch 6 & 7: TEST III