Studying Contemporary Culture

Learning Objectives

- what anthropologists mean by culture

- the usefulness of using the approach of cultural relativism over ethnocentrism

- how to evaluate whether cultural practices are adaptive or maladaptive

- the functions of culture

- how raising children and cultural practices are connected

- how anthropologists study culture in the field and ensure they are acting ethically

- the applicability of anthropological research to solving problems

Review Questions

1. What makes anthropologists’ study of culture different than that of other fields?

2. What are the components of culture?

3. What are the differences between an ethnocentric and a culturally relative approach to culture?

4. What are the criteria for adaptive aspects of culture?

5. How do different child-rearing practices affect the development of personality and culture?

6. How should anthropologists in the field (whether face-to-face or virtually) ensure they are acting ethically?

7. How can anthropological understandings and perspectives help solve real-world problems?

Discussion Questions

1. What aspects of your culture might be seen as maladaptive? Use the criteria in Table 2.1 to make your assessment.

2. If you received funding for a year of fieldwork, what community of people would you choose to study and what would be the focus of your research?

3. Many students feel caught between their parents’ or grandparents’ view of the world through dependence training and their own view of North American independence training. Is this true for you or someone you know? What are some areas of life in which expectations might be different?

4. In Figure 2.5, “Participant Observation, a Potentially Revolutionary Praxis,” how is the ethnographer changed by her experience among the “mermaid” people? How will she use her experience and understandings to challenge assumptions about mermaids?

5. What problems in your community might benefit from the actions and work of an applied anthropologist

Chapter Outline and Key Points

Introduction: Studying Culture

Humans are born with the capacity to learn culture based on experience. Culture is not inherited as part of our DNA or other biology. Ethnographers learn about culture by participating in people’s lives and learning their behavior.

What Are the Parts of Culture?

Culture is the shared understandings that guide our behavior. It is made up of three parts: what we think, what we do, and what we have. Culture has four additional characteristics: it is learned, based on symbols, holistic, and shared. Society refers to a group of people who share culture, and members may have many or few identity markers in common. Culture is passed down through enculturation.

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

An ethnocentric approach to cultural differences judges people to be abnormal or wrong because they are different. On the other hand, a culturally relative approach recognizes that all cultures are valid and complex, and they may only be evaluated in their own cultural context. Anthropologists take the latter approach.

Cultural Adaptation and Maladaptation

Cultural adaptation largely drives change among human groups. Not all change is beneficial, however. Maladaptive practices lead to long-term harm to people or to the culture.

The Functions of Culture

Culture should support its members’ health, longevity, distribution of goods and services, order, and continued enculturation.

Child Rearing

Different types of child rearing develop different sets of values and cultural norms. Dependence training supports extended family households and the pooling of resources. Independence training supports nuclear families and an urban lifestyle.

Fieldwork Methods and Ethics

Ethnographers study culture in field settings, with the intent to produce an ethnography. They use a variety of methods, but primarily participant observation, in order to interact with informants. It is essential that the ethnographer act ethically towards their informants, in alignment with the American Anthropological Association’s Code of Ethics.

Applied Anthropology

Applied anthropologists work with communities to solve real-world problems. Because it can lead to social change, ethnography has the power to make a positive difference in the world.

Glossary

applied anthropology: a field of anthropology in which the researcher uses knowledge of anthropological methods, theory, and perspectives to solve human problems

biological adaptation: a physical adaptation that allows an organism to survive better in its environment

cognitive: having to do with thought or perception

community: people who live, work, and play together; or people who share cultural values and norms but may not share a physical location

cultural adaptation: a belief or behavior that allows an organism with culture (especially humans) to better thrive in their environment

cultural relativism: the idea that all cultures are equally valid, and that every culture can only be understood in its own context

dependence training: set of child-rearing practices that supports compliance to the family unit over individual needs

diaspora: members of a society or culture who have spread to different parts of the world outside their original homeland, especially used in reference to ethnic or cultural groups

emic: an insider’s view; the perspective of the subject

enculturation: the process by which culture is passed from generation to generation

entomophagy: the practice of eating insects for food

ethnicity: a term used to describe the heritage, geographic origin, language, and other features of a person

ethnocentrism: the idea that our own customs are normal while others’ customs are strange, wrong, or disgusting

ethnographer: a cultural anthropologist who studies a group of people in a field setting

ethnographic research): the process of studying culture, undertaken in a field setting

ethnography: the written or visual product of ethnographic (field) research

etic: an outsider’s view; an objective explanation

fandom: a supportive community of people (either online, in person, or both) who share a mutual interest

gender roles: the culturally appropriate or expected roles of individuals in society based on sex

heterogeneous: sharing few identity markers

homogeneous: sharing similar identity markers

ideal behavior: how people believe they behave or would like to behave; the norms of a society

identity markers: cultural characteristics of a person, such as ethnicity, socio-economic class, religious beliefs, age, gender, and interests

independence training: the set of child-rearing practices that foster a child’s self-reliance

informants: study subjects of an anthropologist; also referred to variously as collaborators, field subjects, or associates

intersectionality: a term coined by Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw as a way to think about a person’s multiple, overlapping identity markers (such as gender, sex, sexuality, race/ethnicity, religion, ability) which produce varying degrees of discrimination or privilege in society

judgment sample: a method of choosing informants based on their knowledge or skills

key informant: a person with whom the ethnographer spends a great amount of time because of the person’s knowledge, skills, or insight

lingo: special vocabulary shared by a group of people

maladaptive: leading to harm or death; not productive for a culture’s survival in the long run

marginalization: to keep in a position of social disadvantage or without power

objective: based in fact; non-biased by personal feelings or opinions

participant observation: a research method used in anthropology in which an ethnographer lives with a group of people and observes their regular activities

participatory action research (PAR): an applied anthropological method of field research and implementation of solutions; relies on close collaboration with the target community

personality: the unique way an individual thinks, feels, and acts

praxis: the use of a learned skill or application of an idea

random sample: a method of choosing informants randomly

real behavior: how people actually behave as observed by an ethnographer in the field

snowball sample: a method of finding informants through association with previous informants

society: people who share a large number of social or cultural connections; in the animal world, a group of animals born with instincts that cause them to occupy a particular place in the group hierarchy

subculture: a group of people within a culture who are connected by similar identity markers; this may include ethnic heritage or interests

subjective: based on interpretation, opinion, or feelings

symbol: something that stands for something else with little or no natural relationship to its referent; a type of sign