Table of Contents
Preface xiii
Acknowledgments xiv
1 Anthropology 1
What is anthropology? 1
The major subfields of anthropology 2
Biological (or physical) anthropology 3
Evolution 3
Anthropological linguistics 4
Archaeology 4
Cultural anthropology 5
Many worlds 6
Perspectives on others 7
Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism 7
Words matter 8
Cultural appropriation 9
Anthropology as a science 10
Empirical science 10
Objective and subjective data 10
The Western scientific method 11
Nonempirical science 12
Why study anthropology? 13
Chapter summary 14
2 A very short history of cultural anthropology 16
On the development of Western scientific thought 16
A natural evolution 17
The emergence of anthropology as a discipline 18
Unilinear cultural evolution 19
Historical particularism 21
Functional/structuralism 21
Diffusionism 22
Multilinear cultural evolution 23
Cultural ecology 23
Cultural materialism 23
Postmodernism 24
Chapter summary 25
3 Culture, personality, and worldview 26
What is culture? 26
What is a society? 27
Functions of a society 28
Personality 28
Perception and cognition 29
Elements of personality 29
What is "acceptable"? 31
Worldview 31
Cosmology 32
Chapter summary 33
4 Doing cultural anthropology 35
Anthropological methods 35
Fieldwork 36
Participant observation 36
Preparation for fieldwork 36
Once in the field 37
After fieldwork 38
Differing viewpoints 38
Chapter summary 39
5 Anthropological linguistics 40
Descriptive linguistics 41
Historical linguistics 42
Sociolinguistics 43
Some other linguistic elements 43
Writing 44
Chapter summary 45
6 Social organization 47
Kinship 47
Families and households 47
Figuring relatives 48
Figuring descent 49
Descent groups 50
The major kinship systems 53
Marriage 55
The functions of marriage 56
Some general marriage rules 56
Types of marriages 56
Monogamy 57
Polygamy 57
Postmarital residence 58
Divorce 58
Non-kinship-based social organizations 59
Sodalities 59
Inequality 60
Status and rank 62
Chapter summary 63
7 Political organization 66
Politics 66
Power and authority 66
Warfare 67
The ideology of warfare 68
Levels of political complexity 69
Bands 71
Tribes 71
Chiefdoms 72
States 73
Chapter summary 73
8 Economic organization 76
Production 76
Division of labor 77
Exchange systems 77
Value 77
The reciprocity exchange system 78
The redistribution exchange system 78
The barter exchange system 79
Money 79
The market exchange system 80
The "secret economy": the black market 81
Basic subsistence systems 81
Domestication and the development of agriculture 81
Hunting and gathering 83
Horticulture 84
Pastoralism 85
Intensive agriculture 86
Chapter summary 87
9 Identity 91
Societal identity 91
Family identity 92
Socially constructed identities 92
Race 92
Ethnic groups 93
Subcultures 94
Personal identity 94
Sex 95
Sexual preference 95
Gender 96
Gender selection 96
Chapter summary 97
10 Religion, ritual, and knowledge 99
Religion 99
General forms of religious belief 100
Functions of religion 101
Religious specialists 101
Magic 102
Ritual 103
Rites of passage 104
Ritual cannibalism 104
Funerary systems 105
Knowledge 106
Chapter summary 108
11 Expressive culture 111
Play 111
Art 112
Visual art 112
Verbal art 114
Musical art 115
Performance art 116
Chapter summary 116
12 Change and development 118
Change 118
Adaptation 119
Invention and innovation 121
Diffusion 121
Colonization 121
Acculturation 122
Ethnocide and genocide 122
Development 123
Reactions to imposed change 124
People moving 125
Climate change migration 126
Chapter summary 126
13 Applied anthropology 128
The detached approach 129
The project-specific approach 129
The proactive approach 130
Chapter summary 130
Glossary 132
References 149
Index 152