Anda di halaman 1dari 384


Appreciating Cultural

Students Get Results with
Connect® Anthropology
McGraw-Hill Connect strengthens the link between faculty, students, and coursework,
and achieve better results.

Instructors Get Results with

Connect Insight™
The ﬁrst and only analytics tool of its kind, Connect Insightt
is a series of visual data displays, each framed by an intuitive
question —(How are my students doing? How is my sectionn
doing?)—that provides at-a-glance information regarding
how your class is doing. Connect Insight is accessible at a
moment’s notice from your tablet device or desktop.

LearnSmart is an amazing study

“ tool. I wish all of my courses had
this online material.

– University of Colorado, Denver
Also Available from McGraw-Hill by Conrad Phillip Kottak Anthropology:
Human Diversity,
16th ed. (2015)

Mirror for Humanity:

A Concise
to Cultural
9th ed. (2014)

Window on
A Concise
Introduction to
6th ed. (2014)

2nd ed. (2014, with
Lisa L. Gezon)

On Being
Diversity and
in the North
4th ed. (2012, with
Kathryn A. Kozaitis)

Assault on
Paradise: The
Globalization of
a Little Community
in Brazil,
4th ed. (2006)

ii PART 2 Physical Anthropology and Archaeology

anthropology APPRECIATING


Conrad Phillip Kottak

University of Michigan

Chapter 13 The Origin and Spread of Modern Humans iii

To my mother, Mariana Kottak Roberts


Education. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Previous editions © 2013, 2011, and 2009. No
other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 RMN/RMN 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4
ISBN 978-0-07-786153-7
MHID 0-07-786153-1
Senior Vice President, Products & Markets: Kurt L. Strand
Vice President, General Manager, Products & Markets: Michael J. Ryan
Vice President, Content Production & Technology Services: Kimberly Meriwether David
Managing Director: Gina Boedeker
Brand Manager: Courtney Austermehle
Lead Product Developer: Rhona Robbin
Development Editor: Barbara A. Heinssen
Digital Development Editor: Emily Pecora
Digital Product Analyst: John Brady
Brand Coordinator: Diane Grayson
Marketing Manager: Philip Weaver
Director, Content Delivery & Design: Terri Schiesl
Content Project Manager, Core: Angela Norris
Buyer: Susan K. Culbertson
Design: Tara McDermott
Lead Content Licensing Specialist: Keri Johnson
Content Project Manager, Assessment: Katie Klochan
Content Project Manager, OLC: Judi David
Cover Image: Zubin Lil/Getty Images/RF
Typeface: Times Lt Std 10/12
Compositor: Aptara®, Inc.
Printer: R. R. Donnelley
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kottak, Conrad Phillip.
Cultural anthropology : appreciating cultural diversity / Conrad Phillip Kottak. — Sixteenth edition.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-07-786153-7 (alk. paper)—ISBN 0-07-786153-1 (alk. paper) 1. Ethnology. I. Title.
GN316.K643 2015
Proudly sourced and uploaded by [StormRG]
Kickass Torrents | TPB | ET | h33t

accuracy of the information presented at these sites.
contents in brief
List of Boxes xvi
About the Author xviii
Preface xix

PA R T 1 Introduction to Anthropology

PA R T 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

9 GENDER 174

PA R T 3 The Changing World

Glossary 312
Bibliography 319
Credits 334
Index 336

List of Boxes xvi
About the Author xviii
Preface xix

1 What Is Anthropology? 1

General Anthropology 6
Cultural Forces Shape Human Biology 6
The Subdisciplines of Anthropology 7
Cultural Anthropology 7
Anthropological Archaeology 8
Biological, or Physical, Anthropology 9
Linguistic Anthropology 10
Anthropology and Other Academic Fields 11
Cultural Anthropology and Sociology 11
Anthropology and Psychology 11
Applied Anthropology 13

The Scientiﬁc Method 13


the Anthropologist 14

Theories, Associations, and Explanations 14

When Multiple Variables Predict 17
Summary 18
Human Diversity 2
Adaptation, Variation, and Change 3 Key Terms 19


Critical Thinking 19

2 Culture 20


What Is Culture? 21
Culture Is Learned 22
Culture Is Symbolic 23
Culture Is Shared 24
Culture and Nature 24
Culture Is All-Encompassing 24
Culture Is Integrated 24
Culture Is Instrumental, Adaptive, and
Maladaptive 25
Culture’s Evolutionary Basis 25
What We Share with Other Primates 26
Culture Clash: Makah Seek
How We Differ from Other Primates 26 Return to Whaling Past 32
Universality, Generality, and Particularity 27 Mechanisms of Cultural Change 34
Universals and Generalities 27
Globalization 34
Particularity: Patterns of Culture 28
Globalization: Its Meaning and Its Nature 35
Culture and the Individual: Agency and Practice 29
Summary 36
Levels of Culture 29
Key Terms 37
Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism,
and Human Rights 30 Critical Thinking 37

3 Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology 39


Ethnography: Anthropology’s Distinctive

Strategy 40
Ethnographic Techniques 41
Observation and Participant Observation 41
Conversation, Interviewing, and Interview
Schedules 41

APPRECIATING DIVERSITY: Even Anthropologists Get

Culture Shock 42
The Genealogical Method 43
Key Cultural Consultants 44
Life Histories 44
Problem-Oriented Ethnography 44
Longitudinal Research 45
Team Research 45
Ethnographic Perspectives 46
Emic and Etic 46
Expansion in Analytic Scale 46
Online Ethnography 47

Contents vii
Survey Research 47 Science and Determinism 56
Doing Anthropology Right and Wrong: Ethical Culture versus the Individual 56
Issues 48 Symbolic and Interpretive Anthropology 57
The Code of Ethics 49 Structuralism 58
Anthropologists and Terrorism 49 Processual Approaches 58
Theory in Anthropology over Time 50 World-System Theory and Political
Economy 59
Unilinear Evolutionism 51
Culture, History, Power 59
Historical Particularism 52
Functionalism 53 Anthropology Today 60

Conﬁgurationalism 54 Summary 61
Neoevolutionism 55 Key Terms 62
Cultural Materialism 56
Critical Thinking 62

4 Applying Anthropology 63


The Role of the Applied Anthropologist 65

Early Applications 65
Academic and Applied Anthropology 66
Applied Anthropology Today 66
Development Anthropology 67
Equity 67
Anthropologists Say 68
Strategies for Innovation 68
Overinnovation 69
Underdifferentiation 70
Indigenous Models 70
Anthropology and Education 71

Urban Anthropology 72
Urban versus Rural 72

Medical Anthropology 73
Pandemic of Our Time 74

Anthropology and Business 76

APPRECIATING DIVERSITY: Culturally Appropriate

Marketing 77
Public and Applied Anthropology 78
Careers and Anthropology 78

Summary 79

Key Terms 80
Critical Thinking 80

viii Contents
5 Language and Communication 81


What Is Language? 82

Nonhuman Primate Communication 83

Call Systems 83
Sign Language 83
The Origin of Language 85
Nonverbal Communication 85

The Structure of Language 86

Speech Sounds 86
Language, Thought, and Culture 87
The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis 87
Focal Vocabulary 88
Meaning 89
Sociolinguistics 89
Linguistic Diversity 90
Historical Linguistics 97
Language, Culture, and History 99
Gender Speech Contrasts 92
Language Loss 100
Language and Status Position 92
Stratiﬁcation 92
Summary 100

APPRECIATING ANTHROPOLOGY: I Wish They All Could Key Terms 101

Be California Vowels 94 Critical Thinking 101
African American Vernacular English (AAVE) 96

6 Ethnicity and Race 102


Ethnic Groups and Ethnicity 104

Status Shifting 104
Minority Groups and Stratiﬁcation 105
Human Biological Diversity and
the Race Concept 106
Races Are Not Biologically Distinct 107
Explaining Skin Color 108
The AAA RACE Project 111
Race and Ethnicity 111


Wrong with Race? 112
The Social Construction of Race 114
Hypodescent: Race in the
United States 114
Race in the Census 115
Not Us: Race in Japan 116
Phenotype and Fluidity: Race in Brazil 117

Contents ix
Ethnic Groups, Nations, and Nationalities 119 FOCUS ON GLOBALIZATION: The Gray and
Nationalities and Imagined Communities 120
the Brown 123
Prejudice and Discrimination 124
Ethnic Tolerance and Accommodation 120
Chips in the Mosaic 124
Assimilation 120
Aftermaths of Oppression 125
The Plural Society 121
Multiculturalism 121
Summary 127

Changing Demographics 121 Key Terms 128

Roots of Ethnic Conﬂict 122 Critical Thinking 128

7 Making a Living 129


Adaptive Strategies 131

Foraging 131
Geographic Distribution of Foragers 131
Correlates of Foraging 133
Adaptive Strategies Based on Food Production 134
Horticulture 134
Agriculture 134
The Cultivation Continuum 136
Intensiﬁcation: People and the Environment 136
Pastoralism 136
Modes of Production 138
Production in Nonindustrial Societies 138
Means of Production 139
Alienation in Industrial Economies 139
FOCUS ON GLOBALIZATION: Our Global Economy 141


Betsileo 142
Economizing and Maximization 142
Alternative Ends 144
Distribution, Exchange 144
The Market Principle 144
Redistribution 144
Reciprocity 145 Summary 149

Coexistence of Exchange Principles 146 Key Terms 149

Potlatching 147 Critical Thinking 150

x Contents
8 Political Systems 151


What Is “The Political”? 153

Types and Trends 153

Bands and Tribes 154

Foraging Bands 154
Tribal Cultivators 156
The Village Head 156
The “Big Man” 157
Pantribal Sodalities 158
Nomadic Politics 159
Chiefdoms 161
Political and Economic Systems 161
Status Systems 162
The Emergence of Stratiﬁcation 162
State Systems 163 APPRECIATING DIVERSITY:Globalization Spreads
Population Control 163 Political Power to the Countryside 166
Judiciary 164 Weapons of the Weak 167

Enforcement 164 Shame and Gossip 167

Fiscal Support 164 The Igbo Women’s War 169

Resistance via Social Media: A Case Study 170
of New Media 165 Summary 172

Social Control 165 Key Terms 173

Hegemony and Resistance 165 Critical Thinking 173

9 Gender 174


Sex and Gender 175

Recurrent Gender Patterns 177

Gender Roles and Gender Stratiﬁcation 180

Reduced Gender Stratiﬁcation—Matrilineal-
Matrilocal Societies 181
Matriarchy 181
Increased Gender Stratiﬁcation—Patrilineal-
Patrilocal Societies 181
Patriarchy and Violence 182
Gender in Industrial Societies 183
The Feminization of Poverty 184
Work and Happiness 185 Hidden Women, Public
Men—Public Women, Hidden Men 190
Index 186 Summary 192

Beyond Male and Female 187 Key Terms 193

Sexual Orientation 189 Critical Thinking 193

Chapter 13 The Origin and Spread of ModernContents

Humans xi
10 Families, Kinship, and Descent 194


in the 21st Century 202
Descent 203
Descent Groups 203
Lineages, Clans, and Residence
Rules 204
Ambilineal Descent 204
Family versus Descent 205
Kinship Calculation 206
Genealogical Kin Types and
Kin Terms 206
Kinship Terminology 207
Lineal Terminology 208
Bifurcate Merging Terminology 208
UNDERSTANDING OURSELVES 195 Generational Terminology 209
Families 195 Bifurcate Collateral Terminology 209
Nuclear and Extended Families 196 Summary 210
Industrialism and Family Organization 197 Key Terms 211
APPRECIATING DIVERSITY: Social Security, Kinship Critical Thinking 211
Style 198
Changes in North American Kinship 198
The Family among Foragers 201

11 Marriage 212


Band, Baby 217
Incest Avoidance 218
Endogamy 218
Caste 219
Royal Endogamy 219
Marital Rights and Same-Sex Marriage 220

Marriage as Group Alliance 222

Gifts at Marriage 222
Durable Alliances 224
Divorce 225

Plural Marriages 226

Polygyny 226
Polyandry 227
UNDERSTANDING OURSELVES 213 The Online Marriage Market 227
What Is Marriage? 213 Summary 229
Incest and Exogamy 214 Key Terms 229
Incest and Its Avoidance 215 Critical Thinking 230

xii Contents
12 Religion 231


What Is Religion? 232

Expressions of Religion 234

Spiritual Beings 234
Powers and Forces 234
Magic and Religion 235
Uncertainty, Anxiety, Solace 235
Rituals 236
Rites of Passage 236
Totemism 238
Religion and Cultural Ecology 238
Sacred Cattle in India 238
Social Control 239
Kinds of Religion 240 Back Yoga 244
Protestant Values and Capitalism 240 Homogenization, Indigenization, or
Hybridization? 246
World Religions 241
Antimodernism and Fundamentalism 246
Religion and Change 241 The Spread of Islam 247
Cargo Cults 241
Secular Rituals 247
New and Alternative Religious Movements 243
Summary 248
Religion and Cultural Globalization 243
Key Terms 249
Evangelical Protestantism and
Pentecostalism 243 Critical Thinking 249

13 Arts, Media, and Sports 250


What Is Art? 251

Art and Religion 252
Locating Art 253
Art and Individuality 254
The Work of Art 255
Art, Society, and Culture 255
Ethnomusicology 256
Representations of Art and
Culture 257
Art and Communication 257
Art and Politics 258
The Cultural Transmission of
the Arts 258
My Pretty, and Your Little R2 260
Continuity and Change 262

Contents xiii
Media and Culture 263 What Determines International Sports
Using the Media 263 Success? 267
Assessing the Effects of Television 264 The Fall from Grace: Golf and the Celebrity
Scandal 269
Networking and Sociability On- and
Offline 265 Summary 271

Sports and Culture 267 Key Terms 272

American Football 267 Critical Thinking 272

14 The World System and Colonialism 273


FOCUS ON GLOBALIZATION: Where in the World Are

the Jobs? 282
Colonialism 283
British Colonialism 283
French Colonialism 284
Colonialism and Identity 285
Postcolonial Studies 286
Development 286
Neoliberalism 287
NAFTA’s Economic Refugees 288

The Second World 289

Communism 289
Sustainable? 290
The World System 275 Postsocialist Transitions 291
The Emergence of the World System 275
The World System Today 292
Bones Reveal Some Truth
Summary 293
in “Noble Savage” Myth 276
Key Terms 294
Industrialization 277
Causes of the Industrial Revolution 278 Critical Thinking 294

Socioeconomic Effects of Industrialization 278

Industrial Stratiﬁcation 279
Modern Stratiﬁcation Systems 281

xiv Contents
15 Anthropology’s Role in a Globalizing World 295


Energy Consumption and Industrial Degradation 297

Global Climate Change 297


Refugees 298
Environmental Anthropology 300
Global Assaults on Local Autonomy 301
Deforestation 302
Emerging Diseases 302
Interethnic Contact 304
Cultural Imperialism and Indigenization 305
A Global System of Images 306
A Global Culture of Consumption 306
People in Motion 307

Indigenous Peoples 308

Anthropology’s Lessons 310 Key Terms 311

Summary 310 Critical Thinking 311

Contents xv
list of boxes
appreciating ANTHROPOLOGY
His Mother, the Anthropologist 14–15 What’s Wrong with Race? 112–113 Come Join My Band, Baby 217
Afghanistan: What the Anthropologists Hidden Women, Public Men—Public I’ll Get You, My Pretty, and
Say 68–69 Women, Hidden Men 190–191 Your Little R2 260–261
I Wish They All Could Be California American Family Life in the Is Mining Sustainable? 290–291
Vowels 94–95 21st Century 202

appreciating DIVERSITY
“Give Me a Hug” 4–5 Googling Locally 90–91 Hinduism Takes Back Yoga 244–245
Culture Clash: Makah Seek Return Scarcity and the Bones Reveal Some Truth in “Noble
to Whaling Past 32–33 Betsileo 142–143 Savage” Myth 276–277
Even Anthropologists Get Culture Globalization Spreads Political Power The Plight of Climate
Shock 42–43 to the Countryside 166 Refugees 298–299
Culturally Appropriate Social Security, Kinship Style 198–199
Marketing 77

focus on Forms of Cultural and Biological Adaptation
GLOBALIZATION (to High Altitude) 3
World Events 8 Ethnography and Ethnology—Two Dimensions
The Deadliest Global Pandemic of Our Time 74 of Cultural Anthropology 9

The Gray and the Brown 123 Steps in the Scientiﬁc Method 16

Our Global Economy 141 Ethnography and Survey Research Contrasted 49

The Political Role of New Media 165 Timeline and Key Works in Anthropological Theory 60

The Global Gender Gap Index 186 The Four Subﬁelds and Two Dimensions
of Anthropology 65
Where in the World Are the Jobs? 282
Language Contrasted with Call Systems 84
Types of Ethnic Interaction 126
Yehudi Cohen’s Adaptive Strategies (Economic Typology)
Summarized 138
Economic Basis of and Political Regulation in Bands,
Tribes, Chiefdoms, and States 163
The Four Systems of Kinship Terminology, with Their
Social and Economic Correlates 210
Oppositions between Liminality and Normal Social
Life 237
Star Wars as a Structural Transformation
of The Wizard of Oz 261
Ascent and Decline of Nations within the World
System 292
What Heats, What Cools, the Earth? 300

List of boxes xvii

Conrad Phillip Kottak (A.B. Colum- and Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diver-
bia College, Ph.D. Columbia Uni- sity were published by McGraw-Hill in 2015. He also is
versity) is the Julian H. Steward the author of Mirror for Humanity: A Concise Introduction
Collegiate Professor Emeritus of to Cultural Anthropology (9th ed., McGraw-Hill, 2014)
Anthropology at the University and Window on Humanity: A Concise Introduction to
of Michigan, where he served as Anthropology (6th ed., McGraw-Hill, 2014). With Kathryn
from 1996 to 2006. He has been Multiculturalism in the North American Mainstream
honored for his undergraduate (4th ed., McGraw-Hill, 2012).
Conrad Phillip Kottak teaching by the university and Conrad Kottak’s articles have appeared in academic
the state of Michigan and by the journals, including American Anthropologist, Journal of
American Anthropological Association. He is an elected Anthropological Research, American Ethnologist, Eth-
member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences nology, Human Organization, and Luso-Brazilian Review.
and the National Academy of Sciences, where he chaired He also has written for popular journals, including
Section 51, Anthropology from 2010 to 2013. Transaction/SOCIETY, Natural History, Psychology Today,
Professor Kottak has done ethnographic ﬁeldwork in and General Anthropology.
Brazil, Madagascar, and the United States. His general Kottak and his colleagues have researched televi-
interests are in the processes by which local cultures are sion’s impact in Brazil, environmental risk perception in
incorporated—and resist incorporation—into larger sys- Brazil, deforestation and biodiversity conservation in
tional culture, and the mass media, including new media. American families use various media in planning, man-
Kottak’s popular case study Assault on Paradise: The aging, and evaluating the competing demands of work
Globalization of a Little Community in Brazil (2006) and family. That research is the basis of their book Media
describes his long-term and continuing ﬁeldwork in and Middle Class Moms: Images and Realities of Work
Arembepe, Bahia, Brazil. His book Prime-Time Society: and Family (Descartes and Kottak 2009). Professor Kot-
An Anthropological Analysis of Television and Culture tak currently is collaborating with Professor Richard
(2009) is a comparative study of the nature and impact Pace of Middle Tennessee State University and several
of television in Brazil and the United States. graduate students on research investigating “The Evolu-
Kottak’s other books include The Past in the Present: tion of Media Impact: A Longitudinal and Multi-Site Study
History, Ecology and Cultural Variation in Highland Mad- of Television and New Electronic/Digital Media in Brazil.”
agascar; Researching American Culture: A Guide for Stu- Conrad Kottak appreciates comments about his
dent Anthropologists; and Madagascar: Society and books from professors and students. He can be reached
History. The most recent editions (16th) of his texts by e-mail at the following Internet address: ckottak@
Anthropology: Appreciating Human Diversity (this book)

a letter from the author
Welcome to the 16th Edition of Cultural Anthropology: Appreciating Cultural Diversity!
anthropology. My colleagues and I were excited about new discoveries and directions in all four of
anthropology’s subfields—biological anthropology, anthropological archaeology, sociocultural anthropol-
ogy, and linguistic anthropology. My goal was to write a book that would capture that excitement, that would
address key changes in anthropology, while providing a solid foundation of core concepts and the basics.
Just as anthropology is a dynamic discipline that explores new discoveries and the profound changes
that affect people and societies, this edition of Cultural Anthropology has kept pace with changes in the
way students read and learn core content today through the digital program called Connect Anthropol-
ogy. This program includes assignable and assessable quizzes, exercises, and interactive activities, orga-
nized around course-specific learning objectives. In addition, Connect includes an interactive eBook,
LearnSmart, an adaptive testing program, and SmartBook, the first and only adaptive reading experi-
ence. The tools and resources provided in Connect Anthropology are designed to engage students and
enable them to improve their performance in the course.
While any competent text must present anthropology’s core, it also must demonstrate anthropology’s
relevance to the 21st-century world we inhabit. Accordingly, several “Focus on Globalization” essays in
this book examine topics as diverse as the global gender gap, the political role of new media, world sports
branding. In addition, discussions of new media, including social media, have been added to several
Each chapter begins with a discussion titled “Understanding Ourselves.” These introductions,
along with examples from popular culture throughout the book, show how anthropology relates to
students’ everyday lives. My overarching goal for this textbook is to help students appreciate the field
of anthropology and the various kinds of diversity it studies. How do anthropologists think and work?
Where do we go, and how do we interpret what we see? How do we step back, compare, and analyze?
How does anthropology contribute to our understanding of the world? To answer these questions,
chapters contain boxed sections titled “Appreciating Anthropology,” which focus on the value and
usefulness of anthropological research and approaches. Other boxes, titled “Appreciating Diversity,”
focus on various forms and expressions of human biological and cultural diversity.
Most students who read this book will not go on to become cultural anthropologists, or even anthro-
pology majors. For those who do, this book should provide a solid foundation to build on. For those who
don’t—that is, for most of my readers—my goal is to instill a sense of appreciation: of human diversity,
of anthropology as a field, and of how anthropology can build on, and help make sense of, the experience
that students bring to the classroom. May this course and this text help students think differently about,
and achieve greater understanding of, their own culture and its place within our globalizing world.

Conrad Phillip Kottak

Highlights of the 16th Edition

Cultural Anthropology is an ever-evolving ﬁeld, reﬂecting the rapidly changing world it studies. As such it is important to provide new and updated
content to enrich, for both students and instructors, the appreciation of anthropology’s subject matter, intrinsic interest, and contemporary
relevance. In this edition you will ﬁnd some entirely new discussions and subject matter—in particular, increased attention to the key role of the
Internet and social media in today’s globalizing world.

CHAPTER 1: WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY? CHAPTER 7: MAKING A LIVING “Evangelical Protestantism and Pentecostalism,”
• New discussion of culturally speciﬁc syndromes, Major revision and rewrite with speciﬁc changes, “Homogenization, Indigenization, or Hybridiza-
including the cultural construction of anorexia in including the following: tion?”, “Antimodernism and Fundamentalism,”
China • New introduction clarifying the huge importance and “The Spread of Islam”
• Rewritten section on the scientiﬁc method and transformational nature of food-producing • Substantially updated and revised section on
(Neolithic) economies world religions
• New material on foragers in South Asia • New “Appreciating Diversity” box, “Hinduism
CHAPTER 2: CULTURE • New hunter-gatherer distribution map Takes Back Yoga”
• New information on the Internet and social
• Revised section on globalization CHAPTER 8: POLITICAL SYSTEMS CHAPTER 13: ARTS, MEDIA, AND
• New section titled “Resistance via Social Media” SPORTS
• New “Appreciating Diversity” box on political Signiﬁcantly revised chapter includes two major new
CHAPTER 3: METHOD AND THEORY mobilizations in rural Thailand sections titled “Networking and Sociability On- and
IN CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY Offline” and “The Fall from Grace: Golf and the
• Revised with clearer subheads and an updated Celebrity Scandal”
section on ethics CHAPTER 9: GENDER
• New discussion of Margaret Mead’s pioneering
• New section, “Online Ethnography”
work on gender
• Updated section on gender in industrial societies
• Revised material on transgender and gender • Major new section titled “NAFTA’s Economic
identity (as distinguished from sexual Refugees”
• New section on “Public and Applied Anthropology”
orientation) • Expanded discussion of skewed wealth distribu-
• New “Appreciating Anthropology” box, “Afghani-
stan: What the Anthropologists Say” tion in the contemporary United States (including
the Occupy movement)
CHAPTER 5: LANGUAGE AND • Informative new “Appreciating Anthropology”
COMMUNICATION box on American family life in the 21st century CHAPTER 15: ANTHROPOLOGY’S ROLE IN A
• Updated with a new “Appreciating Anthropol- • All charts, ﬁgures, and statistics have been GLOBALIZING WORLD
ogy” box on California accents updated. A substantially revised section on globalization
• New section titled “Language, Culture, and His- begins this chapter, which has been updated
tory,” featuring new information on Proto-Indo- throughout.
European (PIE) CHAPTER 11: MARRIAGE • Section on energy consumption and industrial
Thoroughly updated, the chapter now contains a major degradation moved here from the previous
new section titled “The Online Marriage Market.” chapter
CHAPTER 6: ETHNICITY AND RACE • Major new section on emerging diseases
• Updated with the latest demographic data from • Substantially revised sections on global climate
the United States and Canada CHAPTER 12: RELIGION change, environmental anthropology, and cul-
• New sections titled “Minority Groups and Stratiﬁ- Substantially revised, the chapter now includes tural imperialism and indigenization
cation” and “Changing Demographics” • Major new section, “Religion and Cultural • New concluding discussion of anthropology’s
• Revised and updated section on multiculturalism Globalization,” whose subsections are titled key lessons

Teaching Resources

MH Campus® is the ﬁrst-of-its-kind institutional service providing faculty

with true, single sign-on access to all of McGraw-Hill’s course content,
digital tools, and other high-quality learning resources from any learning
management system (LMS). This innovative offering allows for secure and
The following instructor resources can be accessed through the Library deep integration and seamless access to any of our course solutions
tab in Connect Anthropology: such as Connect, LearnSmart, Create, or Tegrity. MH Campus includes
• Instructor’s manual access to our entire content library, including eBooks, assessment tools,
• PowerPoint lecture slides presentation slides, and multimedia content, among other resources,
• Computerized test bank providing faculty open and unlimited access to prepare for class, create
tests/quizzes, develop lecture material, integrate interactive content,
• Word version of the test bank
and much more.
• Links to professional resources and career-related information
• “Beyond the Classroom” essays
• Supplementary content on the following topics: anthropological
theories, ethics, and popular culture

CourseSmart offers thousands of the most commonly adopted textbooks With McGraw-Hill Create at, you can design
across hundreds of courses from a wide variety of higher education publishers. your own course materials. You can rearrange or omit chapters, combine
It is the only place for faculty to review and compare the full text of a textbook material from other sources, and/or upload your syllabus or any other content
online, providing immediate access without the environmental impact of you have written to make the perfect resources for your students. You can
requesting a printed exam copy. At CourseSmart, students can save up to 50% search thousands of leading McGraw-Hill textbooks to ﬁnd the best content
off the cost of a printed book, reduce their impact on the environment, and for your students, and then arrange it to ﬁt your teaching style. You can even
gain access to powerful Web tools for learning, including full text search, notes personalize your book’s appearance by selecting the cover and adding your
and highlighting, and e-mail tools for sharing notes among classmates. Learn name, school, and course information. When you order a Create book, you
more at receive a complimentary review copy. Get a printed copy in 3 to 5 business
days or an electronic copy (eComp) via e-mail in about an hour. Register
today at and craft your course resources to
match the way you teach.

Improve Student
Performance with

McGraw-Hill LearnSmart guides

students to an understanding of core
concepts by helping them identify
knowledge gaps and by providing key
content at speciﬁc intervals to ensure
mastery and long-term knowledge
retention. LearnSmart continuously
adapts as students answer questions,
building an optimal learning path,
so that students spend less time on
concepts they already know and more
time focused on those they don’t.
Reports provide valuable information
about individual and class

Offer your students a more personalized

reading experience with
SmartBook creates a personalized reading
experience by highlighting the most important
concepts a student needs to learn at a given
moment in time. This ensures that every minute
spent with SmartBook is returned to the student
as the most value-added minute possible. The
reading experience continuously adapts by
highlighting content based on what the student
knows and doesn’t know.

Help your Students Succeed with

McGraw-Hill Connect Anthropology

includes assignable and assessable quizzes,
exercises, and interactive activities, organized
around course-speciﬁc learning objectives.
Interactive quizzes and assessments engage
students and help them to review and master
core content. In addition, Connect includes
an interactive eBook, LearnSmart, an adaptive
testing program, and SmartBook, the ﬁrst and
only adaptive reading experience. The tools and
resources provided in Connect Anthropology
are designed to engage students and enable
them to improve their performance in the course.
Printable, exportable reports show how well each
student (or section) is performing on each
course segment.

Assess Student and

Class Performance with

The ﬁrst and only analytics tool of its kind,

McGraw-Hill Connect Insight is a series of
visual data displays, each framed by an
intuitive question (How are my students
doing? How is my section doing?) that
provides at-a-glance information regarding
how your class is doing. Connect Insight™ is
accessible at a moment’s notice from your
tablet device.

As always, I’m grateful to many colleagues I’m also grateful to the valued reviewers Sean M. Daley, Johnson County
at McGraw-Hill. Thanks to Gina Boedeker, of previous editions of this book and of Community College
McGraw-Hill’s Managing Director for An- my Anthropology text. Their names are Karen Dalke, University of Wisconsin–
thropology, and Courtney Austermehle, as follows: Green Bay
Brand Manager. Thanks as well to Diane Julianna Acheson, Green Mountain Norbert Dannhaeuser, Texas A&M
Grayson, Brand Coordinator for anthropol- College University
ogy, and to Rhona Robbin, Lead Product Stephanie W. Alemán, Iowa State Michael Davis, Truman State University
Developer, and Emily Pecora, who has University
managed the development of Connect Hillary Delprete, Wagner College
Mohammad Al-Madani, Seattle Central
Anthropology. It’s been a real pleasure to Paul Demers, University of Nebraska–
Community College
work closely with Development Editor Lincoln
Barbara Heinssen, whom I thank for her Douglas J. Anderson, Front Range
Darryl de Ruiter, Texas A&M University
excellent ideas, skillful editing, and hard Community College
Robert Dirks, Illinois State University
work putting this manuscript—text and E. F. Aranyosi, University of Washington
William W. Donner, Kutztown University
visual—into production. I thank Marketing Robert Bee, University of Connecticut
Manager Philip Weaver and McGraw-Hill’s Mary Durocher, Wayne State University
Joy A. Bilharz, SUNY at Fredonia
entire team of sales reps and regional Paul Durrenberger, Pennsylvania State
James R. Bindon, University of Alabama
managers for the work they do in helping University
professors and students gain access to Kira Blaisdell-Sloan, Louisiana State
George Esber, Miami University of Ohio
my books. University
Les W. Field, University of New Mexico
I’m truly grateful as well for the superb Kathleen T. Blue, Minnesota State
University Grace Fraser, Plymouth State College
work of the following: K4 specialist Christine
Demma Foushi, Core Content Project Daniel Boxberger, Western Washington Todd Jeffrey French, University of New
Manager Angela Norris, Designer Tara University Hampshire, Durham
McDermott, Image Content Licensing Vicki Bradley, University of Houston Richard H. Furlow, College of DuPage
Specialist Keri Johnson, Text Content Lisa Kaye Brandt, North Dakota State Vance Geiger, University of Central
Licensing Specialist Wesley Hall, Assess- University Florida
ment Content Project Manager Katie Laurie Godfrey, University of
Ethan M. Braunstein, Northern Arizona
Klochan, and OLC Content Project Man- Massachusetts–Amherst
ager Judi David. I offer special thanks as
Ned Breschel, Morehead State University Bob Goodby, Franklin Pierce College
well to Charlotte Goldman, Freelance Photo
Researcher; Deb DeBord, Copyeditor; and Peter J. Brown, Emory University Gloria Gozdzik, West Virginia University
Margaret Moore, proofreader. Thanks as Margaret S. Bruchez, Blinn College Tom Greaves, Bucknell University
well to Scott Lukas, Lake Tahoe Commu- Vaughn M. Bryant, Texas A&M University Mark Grey, University of Northern Iowa
nity College, who created the content for Sharon Gursky, Texas A&M University
Andrew Buckser, Purdue University
the Connect products for this book. I’m
Richard H. Buonforte, Brigham Young John Dwight Hines, University of
grateful also to Richard Pace, who drafted
University California, Santa Barbara
the section on social media in Brazil in
Chapter 17. Karen Burns, University of Georgia Brian A. Hoey, Marshall University
I’m especially indebted to the review- Richard Burns, Arkansas State University Homes Hogue, Mississippi State University
ers who evaluated the 15th edition of this Mary Cameron, Auburn University Kara C. Hoover, Georgia State University
book: Charles W. Houck, University of North
Joseph L. Chartkoff , Michigan State
University Carolina–Charlotte
Maria Altemara, West Virginia University,
Robert Morris University Dianne Chidester, University of South Stevan R. Jackson, Virginia Tech
Timi Lynne Barone, University of Dakota Alice James, Shippensburg University of
Nebraska, Omaha Stephen Childs, Valdosta State University Pennsylvania
Renée M. Bonzani, University of Inne Choi, California Polytechnic State Cara Roure Johnson, University of
Kentucky University–San Luis Obispo Connecticut
Christopher A. Brooks, Virginia Wanda Clark, South Plains College Richard King, Drake University
Commonwealth University Jeffrey Cohen, Penn State University Christine Kray, Rochester Institute of
Holly Peters-Golden, University of Fred Conquest, Community College of Technology
Michigan Southern Nevada Eric Lassiter, Ball State University
Kevin Keating, Broward College Barbara Cook, California Polytechnic State Jill Leonard, University of Illinois–
Richard A. Sattler, University of Montana University–San Luis Obispo Urbana-Champaign
Heather Walder, University of Wisconsin– Maia Greenwell Cunningham, Citrus Kenneth Lewis, Michigan State University
La Crosse College David Lipset, University of Minnesota

Walter E. Little, University at Albany, SUNY Mary Scott, San Francisco State University Other professors and many students reg-
Jon K. Loessin, Wharton County Junior James Sewastynowicz, Jacksonville State ularly share their insights about this and
College University my other texts via e-mail and so have con-
Brian Malley, University of Michigan Brian Siegel, Furman University tributed to this book. I’m especially grate-
ful to my Michigan colleagues who use
Jonathan Marks, University of North Michael Simonton, Northern Kentucky
my books and have suggested ways of
Carolina–Charlotte University
making them better. Thanks especially to
H. Lyn Miles, University of Tennessee at Megan Sinnott, University of Colorado– a 101 team that includes Tom Fricke, Stuart
Chattanooga Boulder Kirsch, Holly Peters-Golden, and Andrew
Barbara Miller, George Washington Esther Skirboll, Slippery Rock University of Shryock. Special thanks as well to Joyce
University Pennsylvania Marcus and Kent Flannery for continuing
Richard G. Milo, Chicago State University Alexia Smith, University of Connecticut to nurture the archaeologist in me. By
John Nass, Jr., California University of Gregory Starrett, University of North now, I’ve beneﬁted from the knowledge,
Pennsylvania Carolina–Charlotte help, and advice of so many friends, col-
leagues, teaching assistants, graduate
Frank Ng, California State University– Karl Steinen, University of West Georgia
student instructors, and students that I
Fresno Noelle Stout, Foothill and Skyline can no longer ﬁt their names into a short
Constanza Ocampo-Raeder, University of Colleges preface. I hope they know who they are
Maine (Orono) Merrily Stover, University of Maryland– and accept my thanks.
Divinity B. O’Connor DLR-Roberts, Des University College As usual, my family has offered me
Moines Area Community College Elizabeth A. Throop, Eastern Kentucky understanding, support, and inspiration
Martin Ottenheimer, Kansas State University during the preparation of this book.
University Ruth Toulson, Brigham Young University Dr. Nicholas Kottak, who, like me, holds a
De Ann Pendry, University of Tennessee– Susan Trencher, George Mason University doctorate in anthropology, regularly
Knoxville shares his insights with me, as does my
Mark Tromans, Broward Community
Leonard Plotnicov, University of Pittsburgh daughter, Dr. Juliet Kottak Mavromatis,
and my wife, Isabel Wagley Kottak. Isabel
Janet Pollak, William Paterson University Christina Turner, Virginia Commonwealth has been my companion in the ﬁeld and
Christina Nicole Pomianek, University of University in life during my entire career in anthro-
Missouri–Columbia Donald Tyler, University of Idaho pology, and I can’t imagine being without
Geoffrey G. Pope, William Paterson Daniel Varisco, Hofstra University her. I renew my dedication of this book to
University Albert Wahrhaftig, Sonoma State the memory of my mother, Mariana Kottak
Howard Prince, CUNY–Borough of University Roberts, who kindled my interest in the
Manhattan Community College human condition and provided many
Joe Watkins, University of New Mexico
Frances E. Purifoy, University of Louisville insights about people and society.
David Webb, Kutztown University of Over my many years of teaching
Asa Randall, University of Florida Pennsylvania anthropology, feedback from students
Mark A. Rees, University of Louisiana at George Westermark, Santa Clara has kept me up to date on the interests
Lafayette University and needs of my readers, as does my
Bruce D. Roberts, Minnesota State Donald A. Whatley, Blinn College ongoing participation in workshops on
University Moorhead Nancy White, University of South Florida the teaching of anthropology. I hope this
Rita C. Rodabaugh, Central Piedmont Katharine Wiegele, Northern Illinois product of my experience will be helpful
Community College University to others.
Steven Rubenstein, Ohio University Mary S. Willis, University of Nebraska– Conrad Phillip Kottak
Robert Rubinstein, Syracuse University Lincoln Seabrook Island, SC,
Richard A. Sattler, University of Montana Brent Woodﬁll, University of Louisiana at and Decatur, Georgia
Richard Scaglion, University of Pittsburgh Lafayette

What Is Anthropology?

What distinguishes
anthropology from
other ﬁelds that study
human beings?

How do
anthropologists study
human diversity in
time and space?

Why is anthropology
both scientiﬁc and

In Karachi, Pakistan, a bus gathers passengers next to watermelon stalls at the edge of a roadside market.
chapter outline HUMAN DIVERSITY
Adaptation, Variation,
and Change

Cultural Forces Shape
Human Biology

understanding OURSELVES
hen you grew up, which sport did affects our development as much as do nutrition,

you appreciate the most—soccer, heat, cold, and altitude. Culture also guides our
Cultural Anthropology
swimming, football, baseball, ten- emotional and cognitive growth and helps deter-
Archaeology nis, golf, or some other sport (or mine the kinds of personalities we have as adults.
Biological, or Physical, perhaps none at all)? Is this because of “who you Among scholarly disciplines, anthropology
Anthropology are” or because of the opportunities you had as a stands out as the ﬁeld that provides the cross-
Linguistic Anthropology child to practice and participate in this particular cultural test. How much would we know about
activity? Think about the phrases and sentences human behavior, thought, and feeling if we stud-
ANTHROPOLOGY AND you would use to describe yourself in a personal ied only our own kind? What if our entire under-
ad or on a networking site—your likes and dis- standing of human behavior were based on
Cultural Anthropology
likes, hobbies, and habits. How many of these analysis of questionnaires ﬁlled out by college
and Sociology
descriptors would be the same if you had been students in Oregon? That is a radical question, but
Anthropology and
Psychology born in a different place or time? one that should make you think about the basis for
When you were young, your parents might statements about what humans are like, individu-
APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY have told you that drinking milk and eating veg- ally or as a group. A primary reason anthropology
etables would help you grow up “big and strong.” can uncover so much about what it means to be
They probably didn’t as readily recognize the role human is that the discipline is based on the cross-
Theories, Associations,
and Explanations that culture plays in shaping bodies, personali- cultural perspective. One culture can’t tell us
ties, and personal health. If nutrition matters in everything we need to know about what it means
When Multiple Variables
Predict growth, so, too, do cultural guidelines. What is to be human. Often culture is “invisible” (assumed
proper behavior for boys and girls? What kinds of to be normal, or just the way things are) until it is
work should men and women do? Where should placed in comparison to another culture. For
people live? What are proper uses of their leisure example, to appreciate how watching television
time? What role should religion play? How should affects us, as human beings, we need to study not
people relate to their family, friends, and neigh- just North America today but some other place—
bors? Although our genetic attributes provide a and perhaps some other time (such as Brazil in the
foundation for our growth and development, 1980s; see Kottak 1990b, 2009). The cross-cultural
human biology is fairly plastic—that is, it is mal- test is fundamental to the anthropological  ap-
leable. Culture is an environmental force that proach, which orients this textbook.

Humans are among the world’s most

HUMAN DIVERSITY adaptable animals. In the Andes of South
Anthropologists study human beings and America, people wake up in villages 16,000
their products wherever and whenever they feet above sea level and then trek 1,500 feet
find them—in rural Kenya, a Turkish café, a higher to work in tin mines. Tribes in the
Mesopotamian tomb, or a North American Australian desert worship animals and
shopping mall. Anthropology explores human discuss philosophy. People survive malaria
diversity across time and space, seeking to in the tropics. Men have walked on the
understand as much as possible about moon. The model of the USS Enterprise in
the human condition. Of particular interest is Washington’s Smithsonian Institution sym-
the diversity that comes through human bolizes the desire to “seek out new life and
adaptability. civilizations, to boldly go where no one has

gone before.” Wishes to know the unknown, control society. (This chapter’s “Appreciating Diversity”
the uncontrollable, and create order out of chaos on pp. 4–5 discusses how attitudes about displays
find expression among all peoples. Creativity, of affection, which are transmitted culturally, can
adaptability, and flexibility are basic human attri- also change.)
butes, and human diversity is the subject matter of The most critical element of cultural traditions is
anthropology. their transmission through learning rather than
Students often are surprised by the breadth of through biological inheritance. Culture is not itself
anthropology, which is the study of the human spe- biological, but it rests on certain features of human anthropology
cies and its immediate ancestors. Anthropology is a biology. For more than a million years, humans have The study of the human
uniquely comparative and holistic science. Holism possessed at least some of the biological capacities species and its
refers to the study of the whole of the human condi- on which culture depends. These abilities are to immediate ancestors.
tion: past, present, and future; biology, society, learn, to think symbolically, to use language, and to
language, and culture. Most people think that make and use tools.
Encompassing past,
anthropologists study fossils and nonindustrial, non- Anthropology confronts and ponders major ques- present, and future;
Western cultures, and many of them do. But anthro- tions about past and present human existence. By biology, society,
pology is much more than the study of nonindustrial examining ancient bones and tools, we unravel the language, and culture.
peoples: It is a comparative field that examines all mysteries of human origins. When did our ancestors
societies, ancient and modern, simple and complex, separate from those of the apes? Where and when
local and global. The other social sciences tend to did Homo sapiens originate? How has our species
focus on a single society, usually an industrial nation changed? What are we now, and where are we
like the United States or Canada. Anthropology, going? How have changes in culture and society
however, offers a unique cross-cultural perspective influenced biological change? Our genus, Homo,
by constantly comparing the customs of one society has been changing for more than one million years.
with those of others. Humans continue to adapt and change both biologi-
People share society—organized life in groups— cally and culturally.
with other animals, including baboons, wolves,
mole rats, and even ants. Culture, however, is more
distinctly human. Cultures are traditions and cus- Adaptation, Variation, and Change culture
toms, transmitted through learning, that form and Adaptation refers to the processes by which organ- Traditions and customs
guide the beliefs and behavior of the people isms cope with environmental forces and stresses. transmitted through
exposed to them. Children learn such a tradition by How do organisms change to fit their environments, learning.
growing up in a particular society, through a pro- such as dry climates or high mountain altitudes?
cess called enculturation. Cultural traditions Like other animals, humans have biological means
include customs and opinions, developed over the of adaptation. But humans also habitually rely on
generations, about proper and improper behavior. cultural means of adaptation. Recap 1.1 summarizes
These traditions answer such questions as these: the cultural and biological means that humans use to
How should we do things? How do we make sense adapt to high altitudes.
of the world? How do we tell right from wrong? Mountainous terrains pose particular challenges,
What is right, and what is wrong? A culture pro- those associated with altitude and oxygen depriva-
duces a degree of consistency in behavior and tion. Consider four ways (one cultural and three bio-
thought among the people who live in a particular logical) in which humans may cope with low oxygen

RECAP 1.1 Forms of Cultural and Biological Adaptation (to High Altitude)


Technology Cultural Pressurized airplane cabin with

oxygen masks
Genetic adaptation Biological Larger “barrel chests” of native
(occurs over generations) highlanders
Long-term physiological adaptation Biological More efficient respiratory system, to
(occurs during growth and development extract oxygen from “thin air”
of the individual organism)
Short-term physiological adaptation Biological Increased heart rate,
(occurs spontaneously when the hyperventilation
individual organism enters a new

Chapter 1 What Is Anthropology? 3

appreciating DIVERSITY
“Give Me a Hug”
A few years ago I created and taught a course well that any nation usually contains diverse erational differences involving the propriety of
called “Experiencing Culture” to American col- and even conﬂicting cultural values. One PDAs and concerns about sexual harassment.
lege students in Italy. Students wrote biweekly example is generational diversity, which the
journals reﬂecting on the cultural differences famed anthropologist Margaret Mead, one of There is so much hugging at Pascack Hills High
they observed between Europeans and Ameri- my teachers, referred to as “the generation School in Montvale, N.J., that students have bro-
cans. One thing that really impressed them was gap.” Americans (in this case parents and ken down the hugs by type:
the greater frequency and intensity of PDAs— school officials versus teenagers) exhibit gen-
There is the basic friend hug, probably the
public displays of affection—between romantic
most popular, and the bear hug, of course.
couples in Italy, compared with the U.S.
But now there is also the bear claw, when
The world’s nations and cultures have strik-
a boy embraces a girl awkwardly with his
ingly different notions about displays of affec-
elbows poking out.
tion and personal space. Cocktail parties in
There is the hug that starts with a high-
international meeting places such as the United
ﬁve, then moves into a ﬁst bump, followed by
Nations can resemble an elaborate insect mat-
a slap on the back and an embrace.
ing ritual as diplomats from different countries
There’s the shake and lean; the hug from
advance, withdraw, and sidestep. When Ameri-
behind; and, the newest addition, the triple—
cans talk, walk, and dance, they maintain a cer-
any combination of three girls and boys hug-
tain distance from others. Italians or Brazilians,
ging at once.
who need less personal space, may interpret
such “standoffishness” as a sign of coldness. In “We’re not afraid, we just get in and hug,” said
conversational pairs, the Italian or Brazilian Danny Schneider, a junior at the school, where
typically moves in, while the American “instinc- hallway hugging began shortly after 7 A.M. on a
tively” retreats from a “close talker.” recent morning as students arrived. “The guy
Such bodily movements illustrate not in- friends, we don’t care. You just get right in there
stinct, but culture—behavior programmed and jump in.”
by years of exposure to a particular cultural There are romantic hugs, too, but that is not
tradition. Culture, however, is not static, as is what these teenagers are talking about.
suggested by this recent account of hugging Girls embracing girls, girls embracing boys,
Does high school hugging as described in this news story
behavior in American schools. Appreciate as seem strange to you? boys embracing each other—the hug has become

ree at
a high
h gh
gh altitudes.
s.. Illustrating
Ill l stttrating cultural
al (tech-
al (tech
( chh- level
le velell would
wouldd be.bee. This
Th his illustrates
iillustrateess long-term
ng gg-t
m physiolog-
o ogggical) aadaptation
oonn wou
woulduldd bbee a pres
ul ppre
zed aair
r- ical
ccaal adaptation
da ttaattion
ti dduring
ingngg the
the body’s
booddy’s growth
wthh and devel-
nee cabin
cabin n equipped
e d with
thh oxygen
ooxygeen n masks.
m ks. There
Th are arree oopment.
op p
pment. Third,
Th hird
rdd,, humans
hu nnss also have
hhuman hhav
ve the capacity
ap ty for
threee ways
way off adapting
wa aadaptin
nng biolo
allly to highh aaltitudes
altitudes:ss: short-term
sho ort-te
r erm rm
m or o immediate
mm meedia
medi diaaate physiological
physiooological adaptation.
genetic i adaptation,
d i long-term
l physiological
h i l i l adapta- d Thus,
Th h when h llowlanders l d arrive i iin the h hi highlands,
hl d they
hl h
tion, and short-term physiological adaptation. First, immediately increase their breathing and heart rates.
native populations of high-altitude areas, such as the Hyperventilation increases the oxygen in their lungs
Andes of Peru and the Himalayas of Tibet and and arteries. As the pulse also increases, blood reaches
Nepal, seem to have acquired certain genetic advan- their tissues more rapidly. These varied adaptive
tages for life at very high altitudes. The Andean ten- responses—cultural and biological—all fulfill the
dency to develop a voluminous chest and lungs need to supply an adequate amount of oxygen to
probably has a genetic basis. Second, regardless of the body.
their genes, people who grow up at a high altitude As human history has unfolded, the social and
become physiologically more efficient there than cultural means of adaptation have become increas-
genetically similar people who have grown up at sea ingly important. In this process, humans have

4 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

the favorite social greeting when teenagers meet of George G. White School, a junior high school in using the word “dap” to describe a ritual involving
or part these days. . . . Hillsdale, N.J., who banned hugging two years handshakes, slaps on the shoulders and, more re-
A measure of how rapidly the ritual is spreading ago. . . . cently, a hug, also sometimes called the gangsta
is that some students complain of peer pressure to Schools that have limited hugging invoked hug among urban youth. . . .
hug to ﬁt in. And schools from Hillsdale, N.J., to longstanding rules against public displays of af- Some parents ﬁnd it paradoxical that a genera-
Bend, Ore., wary in a litigious era about sexual ha- fection, meant to maintain an atmosphere of tion so steeped in hands-off virtual communication
rassment or improper touching—or citing hallway academic seriousness and prevent unwanted would be so eager to hug.
clogging and late arrivals to class—have banned touching, or even groping. “Maybe it’s because all these kids do is text
hugging or imposed a three-second rule. But pro-hugging students say it is not a roman- and go on Facebook so they don’t even have hu-
Parents, who grew up in a generation more tic or sexual gesture, simply the “hello” of their man contact anymore,” said Dona Eichner, the
likely to use the handshake, the low-ﬁve or the generation. . . . mother of freshman and junior girls at the high
high-ﬁve, are often baffled by the close physical Amy L. Best, a sociologist at George Mason school in Montvale. . . .
contact. “It’s a wordless custom, from what I’ve University, said the teenage embrace is more a Carrie Osbourne, a sixth-grade teacher at
observed,” wrote Beth J. Harpaz, the mother of reﬂection of the overall evolution of the American Claire Lilienthal Alternative School, said hugging
two boys, 11 and 16, and a parenting columnist for greeting, which has become less formal since the was a powerful and positive sign that children are
The Associated Press, in a new book, “13 Is the 1970s. “Without question, the boundaries of touch inclined to nurture one another, breaking down
New 18.” . . . have changed in American culture,” she said. “We barriers. “And it gets to that core that every person
“Witnessing this interaction always makes me display bodies more readily, there are fewer rules wants to feel cared for, regardless of your age or
feel like I am a tourist in a country where I do not governing body touch and a lot more permissible how cool you are or how cool you think you are,”
know the customs and cannot speak the lan- access to other people’s bodies.” she said.
guage.” For teenagers, though, hugging is hip. Hugging appears to be a grassroots phenome- As much as hugging is a physical gesture, it
And not hugging? non and not an imitation of a character or custom on has migrated online as well. Facebook applica-
“If somebody were to not hug someone, to TV or in movies. The prevalence of boys’ nonroman- tions allowing friends to send hugs have tens of
never hug anybody, people might be just a little tic hugging (especially of other boys) is most strik- thousands of fans.
wary of them and think they are weird or peculiar,” ing to adults. Experts say that over the last
said Gabrielle Brown, a freshman at Fiorello generation, boys have become more comfortable
SOURCE: Sarah Kershaw, “For Teenagers, Hello Means
H. LaGuardia High School in Manhattan. expressing emotion, as embodied by the MTV show ‘How About a Hug?’” From The New York Times, May
Comforting as the hug may be, principals “Bromance,” which is now a widely used term for 28, 2009. © 2009 The New York Times. All rights
reserved. Used by permission and protected by the
across the country have clamped down. affection between straight male friends. . . . Copyright Laws of the United States. The printing,
“Touching and physical contact is very danger- African American boys and men have been copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this
Content without express written permission is
ous territory,” said Noreen Hajinlian, the principal hugging as part of their greeting for decades, prohibited.

ddev v sed diverse
rse w
rs waayys off co
ways copi
ing withw thee range range
ra ge oof Much
M uch
h m more
oree recently,
recen tllyyy, the spread
pread of
pre of industria
v ronm
o m ments th tthey
hhe ha
hey havee ooccup
piieedd iin
n time
timee an
nd spa
ce. production
c io has hhaaass profoundly
ouund nd y affected
ndly af
fe edd human
umaaan life.
Th rate
The tee of
o cultu
ltuuural adapt
on aand change
hhaaange hasass accel-
acc Throughout
u human
maan n history,
history y, major
y, m r innovations
nn ion
n have
erated, particularly
i ar arl
lyy during
innng the last
lastt 10,000
la 1000,000 years.
yearsrrss. For spread
sp d at
a the
thhee expense
eex see of of earea
rrlier ones
s. Each ececonomic
illi off years, hunting
h i andd gathering h i off nature’s ’ revolution
l i has h had h d social i l andd cultural
l l repercussions.
bounty—foraging—was the sole basis of human Today’s global economy and communications link
subsistence. However, it took only a few thousand all contemporary people, directly or indirectly, in
years for food production (the cultivation of plants the modern world system. Nowadays, even remote food production
and domestication of animals), which originated villagers experience world forces and events. (See An economy based on
some 12,000–10,000 years ago, to replace foraging “Focus on Globalization” on p. 8.) The study of plant cultivation and/or
in most areas. Between 6000 and 5000 b.p. (before how local people adapt to global forces poses new animal domestication.
the present), the first civilizations arose. These were challenges for anthropology: “The cultures of world
large, powerful, and complex societies, such as peoples need to be constantly rediscovered as these
ancient Egypt, that conquered and governed large people reinvent them in changing historical circum-
geographic areas. stances” (Marcus and Fischer 1986, p. 24).

Chapter 1 What Is Anthropology? 5

been associated with the origin of tool use or lan-
GENERAL ANTHROPOLOGY guage. Linguistic anthropologists may reconstruct
The academic discipline of anthropology, also known the basics of ancient languages by studying modern
general as general anthropology or “four-field” anthropol- ones.
anthropology ogy, includes four main subdisciplines or subfields. The subdisciplines influence each other as mem-
Anthropology as a They are sociocultural, archaeological, biological,
whole: cultural,
bers of the different subfields talk to each other,
and linguistic anthropology. (From here on, the share books and journals, and associate in depart-
shorter term cultural anthropology will be used as a ments and at professional meetings. General anthro-
biological, and linguistic
synonym for “sociocultural anthropology.”) Cul- pology explores the basics of human biology,
tural anthropology focuses on societies of the pres- society, and culture and considers their interrelations.
ent and recent past. Anthropological archaeology Anthropologists share certain key assumptions. Per-
reconstructs lifeways of ancient and more recent haps the most fundamental is the idea that sound
societies through analysis of material remains. Bio- conclusions about “human nature” cannot be derived
logical anthropology studies human biological vari- from studying a single nation, society, or cultural
ation through time and across geographic space. tradition. A comparative, cross-cultural approach is
Linguistic anthropology examines language in its essential.
social and cultural contexts. Of the four subfields,
cultural anthropology has the largest membership.
Most departments of anthropology teach courses in Cultural Forces Shape
all four subfields. (Note that general anthropology
did not develop as a comparable field of study in Human Biology
most European countries, where the subdisciplines Anthropology’s comparative, biocultural perspec-
tend to exist separately.) tive recognizes that cultural forces constantly mold
biocultural There are historical reasons for the inclusion of human biology. (Biocultural refers to using and
Combining biological the four subfields in a single discipline in North combining both biological and cultural perspectives
and cultural approaches America. The origin of anthropology as a scientific and approaches to analyze and understand a particu-
to a given problem. field, and of American anthropology in particular, lar issue or problem.) As we saw in “Understanding
can be traced back to the 19th century. Early American Ourselves,” culture is a key environmental force in
anthropologists were concerned especially with the determining how human bodies grow and develop.
history and cultures of the native peoples of North Cultural traditions promote certain activities and
America. Interest in the origins and diversity of abilities, discourage others, and set standards of
Native Americans brought together studies of cus- physical well-being and attractiveness. Physical
toms, social life, language, and physical traits. activities, including sports, which are influenced by
Anthropologists still are pondering such questions culture, help build the body. For example, North
as these: Where did Native Americans come from? American girls are encouraged to pursue, and there-
How many waves of migration brought them to fore do well in, competition involving figure
the New World? What are the linguistic, skating, gymnastics, track and field, swim-
cultural, and biological links among ming, diving, and many other sports.
Native Americans and between them Brazilian girls, although excelling in
and Asia? the team sports of basketball and vol-
There also are logical reasons for leyball, haven’t fared nearly as well
including anthropology’s four sub- in individual sports as have their
fields in the same academic disci- American and Canadian counter-
pline. Answers to key questions in parts. Why are people encouraged
anthropology often require an to excel as athletes in some nations
understanding of both human biol- but not others? Why do people in
ogy and culture and of both the past some countries invest so much time
and the present. Each subfield and effort in competitive sports that
considers variation in time and their bodies change significantly as a
space (that is, in different geographic result?
areas). Cultural and archaeological Cultural standards of attractive-
anthropologists study (among many ness and propriety influence par-
other topics) changes in social life Early American anthropology was ticipation and achievement in sports.
and customs. Archaeologists have Americans run or swim not just to
especially concerned with the history
used studies of living societies and compete but to keep trim and fit.
behavior patterns to imagine what and cultures of Native North Americans. Brazil’s beauty standards tradi-
life might have been like in the Ely S. Parker, or Ha-sa-noan-da, was a tionally have accepted more fat,
past. Biological anthropologists Seneca Indian who made important especially in female buttocks and
examine evolutionary changes in contributions to early anthropology. hips. Brazilian men have had sig-
physical form, for example, ana- Parker also served as Commissioner of nificant international success in
tomical changes that might have Indian Affairs for the United States. swimming and running, but Brazil

6 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

American swimmer
Allison Schmitt takes
off in the final of the
Women’s 200-meter
freestyle at the 2012
London Olympics.
Schmitt won the event
and a gold medal,
setting an Olympic
record. How might years
of competitive swimming
affect the human body?

rarely sends female swimmers or runners to the comparison). Ethnography provides an account of ethnography
Olympics. One reason Brazilian women avoid a particular group, community, society, or culture. Fieldwork in a particular
competitive swimming in particular may be that During ethnographic fieldwork, the ethnographer cultural setting.
sport’s effects on the body. Years of swimming gathers data that he or she organizes, describes,
sculpt a distinctive physique: an enlarged upper analyzes, and interprets to build and present that
torso, a massive neck, and powerful shoulders and account, which may be in the form of a book, an
back. Successful female swimmers tend to be big, article, or a film. Traditionally, ethnographers lived
strong, and bulky. The countries that have pro- in small communities, where they studied local
duced them most consistently are the United States, behavior, beliefs, customs, social life, economic
Canada, Australia, Germany, the Scandinavian activities, politics, and religion. Today, any ethnog-
nations, the Netherlands, and the former Soviet rapher will recognize that such settings are increas-
Union, where this body type isn’t as stigmatized as ingly exposed to and influenced by external forces
it is in Latin countries. For women, Brazilian cul- and events.
ture prefers ample hips and buttocks to a muscled An anthropological perspective derived from
upper body. Many young female swimmers in ethnographic fieldwork often differs radically from
Brazil choose to abandon the sport rather than their that of economics or political science. Those fields
culture’s “feminine” body ideal. focus on national and official organizations and
policies and often on elites. However, the groups
that anthropologists traditionally have studied usu-
THE SUBDISCIPLINES ally have been relatively poor and powerless. Eth-
nographers often observe discriminatory practices
OF ANTHROPOLOGY directed toward such people, who experience food
and water shortages, dietary deficiencies, and other
Cultural Anthropology aspects of poverty. Political scientists tend to study
Cultural anthropology, the study of human soci- programs that national planners develop, while cultural
ety and culture, is the subfield that describes, ana- anthropologists discover how these programs work anthropology
lyzes, interprets, and explains social and cultural on the local level. The comparative,
similarities and differences. To study and interpret Communities and cultures are less isolated today cross-cultural study of
human society and
cultural diversity, cultural anthropologists engage than ever before. In fact, as the anthropologist Franz
in two kinds of activity: ethnography (based on Boas noted many years ago (1966, orig. 1940), con-
fieldwork) and ethnology (based on cross-cultural tact between neighboring tribes has always existed

Chapter 1 What Is Anthropology? 7

and modern transportation. City, nation, and world
increasingly invade local communities with the
arrival of tourists, development agents, government
focus on GLOBALIZATION and religious officials, and political candidates.
Such linkages are prominent components of regional,
national, and global systems of politics, economics,
World Events and information. These larger systems increasingly
affect the people and places anthropology tradition-

eople everywhere—even remote villagers—now participate in world
events, especially through the mass media. The study of global-local ally has studied. The study of such linkages and sys-
linkages is a prominent part of modern anthropology. What kinds of tems is part of the subject matter of modern
events generate global interest? Disasters provide one example. Think of anthropology. (See “Focus on Globalization: World
Bhopal, Chernobyl, Chilean miners, and the earthquakes and tsunamis Events” for a discussion of world events familiar to
that have ravaged Thailand, Indonesia, and Japan. And there has been millions of people.)
space—the ﬁnal frontier: As many as 600 million people may have Ethnology examines, interprets, and analyzes
watched the ﬁrst (Apollo 11) moon landing in 1969—a huge audience in the the results of ethnography—the data gathered in dif-
early days of global television. And consider the British royal family, espe- ferent societies. It uses such data to compare and
cially the photogenic ones. The wedding of Prince William and Catherine contrast and to make generalizations about society
Middleton attracted 161 million viewers—twice the population of the and culture. Looking beyond the particular to the
United Kingdom. The birth, public presentation, and naming of their new- more general, ethnologists attempt to identify and
born son in 2013 generated international interest. A generation earlier, explain cultural differences and similarities, to test
millions of people had watched Lady Diana Spencer marry England’s hypotheses, and to build theory to enhance our
Prince Charles. Princess Diana’s funeral also attracted a global audience. understanding of how social and cultural systems
And, of course, sports: Billions of people watched at least some of the work. (See the section “The Scientific Method” later
2012 London Summer Olympics. Consider the FIFA World Cup (soccer), in this chapter.) Ethnology gets its data for com-
held every four years. In 2006, an estimated 320 million people tuned in; parison not just from ethnography but also from
this ﬁgure more than doubled to 700 million viewers in 2010 and may well the other subfields, particularly from archaeology,
exceed 2 billion in 2014, when hosted in Brazil. The World Cup generates which reconstructs social systems of the past.
huge global interest because it truly is a “world series,” with 32 countries (Recap 1.2 summarizes the main contrasts between
and ﬁve continents competing. Similarly, the Cricket World Cup, held every ethnography and ethnology.)
four years (most recently in 2011), is the world’s third most watched event:
Only the Summer Olympics and the FIFA World Cup exceed it. The Cricket
World Cup is televised in over 200 countries, to over 2.2 billion viewers. Anthropological Archaeology
Isn’t it arrogant to call American baseball’s ultimate championship Anthropological archaeology (also known as archae-
“The World Series” when only one non-U.S. team, the Toronto Blue Jays, ological anthropology or, most simply, “archaeology”)
can play in it? (The title dates back to 1903, a time of less globalization and reconstructs, describes, and interprets human behav-
more American provincialism.) Baseball is popular in the United States ior and cultural patterns through material remains.
(including Puerto Rico), Canada, Japan, Cuba, Mexico, Venezuela, and At sites where people live or have lived, archaeolo-
the Dominican Republic. South Korea, Taiwan, and China have profes- gists find artifacts, material items that humans have
sional leagues. Elsewhere the sport has little mass appeal. made, used, or modified, such as tools, weapons,
On the other hand, when we focus on the players in American baseball campsites, buildings, and garbage. Plant and animal
we see a multiethnic world in miniature. With its prominent Latino and remains and garbage tell stories about consumption
Japanese players, American baseball appears to be more ethnically di- and activities. Wild and domesticated grains have
verse than American football or basketball. Consider the ﬁnalists for the different characteristics, which allow archaeologists
2012 American League MVP (Most Valuable Player) award, won by to distinguish between the gathering and the cultiva-
Venezuelan Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers. In second place was New tion of plants. Animal bones reveal the age and sex
Jersey–born and non-Hispanic Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels). Third and of slaughtered animals, providing other information
fourth were two more Latinos, Adrian Beltré (Texas Rangers) and Robinson useful in determining whether species were wild or
Cano (New York Yankees). In ﬁfth place came Josh Hamilton, a North domesticated.
Carolinian playing that year for Texas. The previous year’s top ﬁve included Analyzing such data, archaeologists answer sev-
Jacoby Ellsbury, a registered Native American, and Curtis Granderson, an eral questions about ancient economies. Did the
African American New York Yankee. Can you think of a sport as ethnically group get its meat from hunting, or did it domesti-
diverse as baseball? What’s the last world event that drew your attention? cate and breed animals, killing only those of a cer-
tain age and sex? Did plant food come from wild
plants or from sowing, tending, and harvesting
crops? Did the residents make, trade for, or buy par-
and has extended over enormous areas. “Human ticular items? Were raw materials available locally?
populations construct their cultures in interaction If not, where did they come from? From such infor-
with one another, and not in isolation” (Wolf 1982, mation, archaeologists reconstruct patterns of pro-
p. ix). Villagers increasingly participate in regional, duction, trade, and consumption.
national, and world events. Exposure to external Archaeologists have spent much time studying
forces comes through the mass media, migration, potsherds, fragments of earthenware. Potsherds are

8 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

RECAP 1.2 Ethnography and Ethnology—Two Dimensions of Cultural Anthropology


Requires ﬁeldwork to collect data Uses data collected by a series of researchers

Often descriptive Usually synthetic
Group/community speciﬁc Comparative/cross-cultural

more durable than many other artifacts, such as tex- have been able to verify the living conditions on the ethnology
tiles and wood. The quantity of pottery fragments vessels that brought ancestral African Americans to The study of
allows estimates of population size and density. The the New World as enslaved people. In a research sociocultural
discovery that potters used materials unavailable project begun in 1973 in Tucson, Arizona, archae- differences and
locally suggests systems of trade. Similarities in ologist William Rathje has learned about contempo-
manufacture and decoration at different sites may be rary life by studying modern garbage. The value of anthropological
proof of cultural connections. Groups with similar “garbology,” as Rathje calls it, is that it provides archaeology
pots might be historically related. Perhaps they “evidence of what people did, not what they think The study of human
shared common cultural ancestors, traded with each they did, what they think they should have done, or behavior through
other, or belonged to the same political system. what the interviewer thinks they should have done” material remains.
Many archaeologists examine paleoecology. (Harrison, Rathje, and Hughes 1994, p. 108). What
Ecology is the study of interrelations among living people report may contrast strongly with their real
things in an environment. The organisms and envi- behavior as revealed by garbology. For example, the
ronment together constitute an ecosystem, a patterned garbologists discovered that the three Tucson neigh-
arrangement of energy flows and exchanges. Human borhoods that reported the lowest beer consumption
ecology studies ecosystems that include people, actually had the highest number of discarded beer
focusing on the ways in which human use “of nature cans per household (Podolefsky and Brown 1992, p.
influences and is influenced by social organization 100)! Findings from garbology also have challenged
and cultural values” (Bennett 1969, pp. 10–11). common misconceptions about the kinds and quan-
Paleoecology looks at the ecosystems of the past. tities of trash found in landfills: While most people
In addition to reconstructing ecological patterns, thought that fast-food containers and disposable dia-
archaeologists may infer cultural transformations, pers were major waste problems, they were actually
for example, by observing changes in the size and relatively insignificant compared with paper (Rathje
type of sites and the distance between them. A city and Murphy 2001; Zimring 2012).
develops in a region where only towns, villages, and
hamlets existed a few centuries earlier. The number Biological, or Physical,
of settlement levels (city, town, village, hamlet) in a
society is a measure of social complexity. Buildings Anthropology
offer clues about political and religious features. The subject matter of biological, or physical, biological
Temples and pyramids suggest that an ancient soci- anthropology is human biological diversity in time anthropology
ety had an authority structure capable of marshaling and space. A common interest in biological varia- The study of human
the labor needed to build such monuments. The tion unites five specialties within biological biological variation in
time and space.
presence or absence of certain structures, like the anthropology:
pyramids of ancient Egypt and Mexico, reveals dif-
1. Human evolution as revealed by the fossil rec- physical
ferences in function between settlements. For exam- anthropology
ord (paleoanthropology).
ple, some towns were places where people came to Same as biological
attend ceremonies. Others were burial sites; still 2. Human genetics. anthropology.
others were farming communities.
3. Human growth and development.
Archaeologists also reconstruct behavior patterns
and lifestyles of the past by excavating. This involves 4. Human biological plasticity (the living body’s
digging through a succession of levels at a particular ability to change as it copes with stresses,
site. In a given area, through time, settlements may such as heat, cold, and altitude).
change in form and purpose, as may the connections
5. Primatology (the biology, evolution, behav-
between settlements. Excavation can document
ior, and social life of monkeys, apes, and other
changes in economic, social, and political activities.
nonhuman primates).
Although archaeologists are best known for
studying prehistory, that is, the period before the These interests link biological anthropology to
invention of writing, they also study the cultures of other fields: biology, zoology, geology, anatomy,
historical and even living peoples. Studying sunken physiology, medicine, and public health. Osteology—
ships off the Florida coast, underwater archaeologists the study of bones—helps paleoanthropologists,

Chapter 1 What Is Anthropology? 9

archaeologists from
the University of
Pennsylvania work to
stabilize the original
plaster at an Anasazi
(Native American) site in
Colorado’s Mesa Verde
National Park.

who examine skulls, teeth, and bones, to identify closest relatives—apes and monkeys. Primatolo-
human ancestors and to chart changes in anatomy gists study their biology, evolution, behavior, and
over time. A paleontologist is a scientist who studies social life, often in their natural environments.
fossils. A paleoanthropologist is one sort of paleon- Primatology assists paleoanthropology, because
tologist, one who studies the fossil record of human primate behavior may shed light on early human
evolution. Paleoanthropologists often collaborate behavior and human nature.
with archaeologists, who study artifacts, in recon-
structing biological and cultural aspects of human
evolution. Fossils and tools often are found together. Linguistic Anthropology
Different types of tools provide information about We don’t know (and probably never will know)
the habits, customs, and lifestyles of the ancestral when our ancestors started speaking, although bio-
humans who used them. logical anthropologists have looked to the anatomy
More than a century ago, Charles Darwin noticed of the face and the skull to speculate about the origin
that the variety that exists within any population of language. As well, primatologists have described
permits some individuals (those with the favored the communication systems of monkeys and apes.
characteristics) to do better than others at surviving We do know that well-developed, grammatically
and reproducing. Genetics, which developed later, complex languages have existed for thousands of
enlightens us about the causes and transmission of years. Linguistic anthropology offers further illus-
this variety. However, it isn’t just genes that cause tration of anthropology’s interest in comparison,
linguistic variety. During any individual’s lifetime, the envi- variation, and change. Linguistic anthropology
anthropology ronment works along with heredity to determine studies language in its social and cultural context,
The study of language biological features. For example, people with a across space and over time. Some linguistic anthro-
and linguistic diversity genetic tendency to be tall will be shorter if they are pologists also make inferences about universal fea-
in time, space, and
poorly nourished during childhood. Thus, biological tures of language, linked perhaps to uniformities in
anthropology also investigates the influence of envi- the human brain. Others reconstruct ancient lan-
ronment on the body as it grows and matures. guages by comparing their contemporary descen-
Among the environmental factors that influence the dants and in so doing make discoveries about
body as it develops are nutrition, altitude, tempera- history. Still others study linguistic differences to
ture, and disease, as well as cultural factors, such as discover varied perceptions and patterns of thought
the standards of attractiveness that were discussed in different cultures.
previously. Historical linguistics considers variation over
Biological anthropology (along with zoology) time, such as the changes in sounds, grammar, and
also includes primatology. The primates include our vocabulary between Middle English (spoken from

10 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

approximately 1050 to 1550 c.e.) and modern worldwide basis, is especially closely related to
English. Sociolinguistics investigates relationships anthropology. Also linked is folklore, the systematic sociolinguistics
between social and linguistic variation. No language study of tales, myths, and legends from a variety of The study of language
is a homogeneous system in which everyone speaks cultures. Anthropology, it may be argued, is one of in society.
just like everyone else. How do different speakers the most humanistic of all academic fields because of
use a given language? How do linguistic features its fundamental respect for human diversity. Anthro-
correlate with social factors, including class and pologists listen to, record, and represent voices from
gender differences? One reason for variation is a multitude of nations, cultures, times, and places.
geography, as in regional dialects and accents. Anthropology values local knowledge, diverse
Linguistic variation also is expressed in the bilin- worldviews, and alternative philosophies. Cultural
gualism of ethnic groups. Linguistic and cultural anthropology and linguistic anthropology in particu-
anthropologists collaborate in studying links lar bring a comparative and nonelitist perspective to
between language and many other aspects of cul- forms of creative expression, including language, art,
ture, such as how people reckon kinship and how narratives, music, and dance, viewed in their social
they perceive and classify colors. and cultural context.

Cultural Anthropology
OTHER ACADEMIC FIELDS Cultural anthropology and sociology share an inter-
As mentioned previously, one of the main differences est in social relations, organization, and behavior.
between anthropology and the other fields that study However, important differences between these dis-
people is holism, anthropology’s unique blend of ciplines arose from the kinds of societies each tradi-
biological, social, cultural, linguistic, historical, and tionally studied. Initially sociologists focused on the
contemporary perspectives. Paradoxically, while dis- industrial West; anthropologists, on nonindustrial
tinguishing anthropology, this breadth also is what societies. Different methods of data collection and
links it to many other disciplines. Techniques used to analysis emerged to deal with those different kinds
date fossils and artifacts have come to anthropology of societies. To study large-scale, complex nations,
from physics, chemistry, and geology. Because plant sociologists came to rely on surveys and other
and animal remains often are found with human means of gathering masses of quantifiable data.
bones and artifacts, anthropologists collaborate with Sampling and statistical techniques are fundamental
botanists, zoologists, and paleontologists. in sociology, whereas statistical training has been
Anthropology is a science—a “systematic field less common in anthropology (although this is science
of study or body of knowledge that aims, through changing as anthropologists increasingly work in Field of study that
experiment, observation, and deduction, to produce seeks reliable
modern nations).
reliable explanations of phenomena, with reference explanations, with
Traditional ethnographers studied small and nonlit-
reference to the
to the material and physical world” (Webster’s New erate (without writing) populations and relied on material and physical
World Encyclopedia 1993, p. 937). This book pre- methods appropriate to that context. “Ethnography is world.
sents anthropology as a humanistic science devoted a research process in which the anthropologist closely
to discovering, describing, understanding, appreci- observes, records, and engages in the daily life of
ating, and explaining similarities and differences in another culture—an experience labeled as the field-
time and space among humans and our ancestors. work method—and then writes accounts of this cul-
Clyde Kluckhohn (1944) described anthropology as ture, emphasizing descriptive detail” (Marcus and
“the science of human similarities and differences” Fischer 1986, p. 18). One key method described in this
(p. 9). His statement of the need for such a field still quote is participant observation—taking part in the
stands: “Anthropology provides a scientific basis for events one is observing, describing, and analyzing.
dealing with the crucial dilemma of the world today: In many areas and topics, anthropology and soci-
how can peoples of different appearance, mutually ology are converging. Sociologists now do research
unintelligible languages, and dissimilar ways of life in developing countries and other places that used to
get along peaceably together?” (p. 9). Anthropology be mainly within the anthropological orbit. As
has compiled an impressive body of knowledge, industrialization spreads, many anthropologists now
which this textbook attempts to encapsulate. work in industrial nations, where they study diverse
Besides its links to the natural sciences (e.g., geol- topics, including rural decline, inner-city life, and
ogy, zoology) and social sciences (e.g., sociology, the role of the mass media in creating national cul-
psychology), anthropology also has strong links to tural patterns.
the humanities. The humanities include English,
comparative literature, classics, folklore, philosophy,
and the arts. These fields study languages, texts, phi- Anthropology and Psychology
losophies, arts, music, performances, and other Psychologists, like sociologists, typically do their
forms of creative expression. Ethnomusicology, research in only one—their own—society.
which studies forms of musical expression on a Anthropologists know, however, that statements

Chapter 1 What Is Anthropology? 11

about “human” psychology can’t rely solely on backgrounds and fit diagnoses and treatments
observations made in a single society. Cross-cultural accordingly (Munoz et al. 2007).
comparison suggests that certain psychological pat- Globalization has also been spreading Western
terns may indeed be universal. Others are merely psychological concepts, and even Western psychiat-
found in some but not all societies, while still others ric maladies, across national borders (Watters 2010).
are confined to one or very few cultures. Psycho- Characteristic Western disorders, including post-
logical anthropology studies cross-cultural similari- traumatic stress and anorexia, are spreading transna-
ties and differences in psychological traits and tionally, and Western symptom clusters are replacing
conditions (see LeVine 2010). During the 1920s, indigenous forms and expressions of mental illness.
1930s, and 1940s several prominent anthropolo- The following case illustrates how a characteristic
gists, including Bronislaw Malinowski (1927) and Western condition, including its distinctive symp-
Margaret Mead (1935/1950; 1928/1961) described toms, is displacing indigenous patterns.
how particular cultures create distinctive adult per- In the late 1980s and early 1990s (as reported by
sonality types by inculcating in their children spe- Watters 2010), Dr. Sing Lee, a Hong Kong–based
cific values, beliefs, and behavior patterns (see also psychiatrist and researcher, documented what was,
Montgomery 2008). Anthropologists have provided at that time, a culturally specific, and very rare,
needed cross-cultural perspectives on aspects of form of anorexia nervosa in Hong Kong. Unlike
developmental and cognitive psychology (Kronenfeld American anorexics, Lee’s patients weren’t wor-
et al. 2011; Shore 1996), psychoanalytic proposi- ried about getting fat. Instead, they reduced their
tions (Gijswijt-Hofstra et al. 2005; Paul 1989), and food intake in an attempt to fend off unwanted
psychiatric conditions (Gijswijt-Hofstra et al. 2005; bodily symptoms—most frequently, bloated stom-
Kleinman 1991). achs. Just as Lee started publishing his findings,
Anthropologists are familiar, for example, with however, the understanding of anorexia in Hong
an array of culturally specific syndromes. These Kong suddenly shifted, after a teenage anorexic
are patterns of unusual, aberrant, or abnormal girl collapsed and died on a busy downtown street.
behavior confined to a single culture or a group of Her death was featured prominently in local news-
related cultures (see Goleman 1995). One example papers, with such headlines as “Anorexia Made
is koro, the East Asian term for intense anxiety Her All Skin and Bones.”
arising from the fear that one’s sexual organs will In interpreting the girl’s symptoms, many local
recede into one’s body and cause death. A distinc- reporters simply copied from American diagnostic
tive Latin American syndrome is susto, or soul manuals, thus spreading the idea that anorexia in
loss, whose symptoms are extreme sadness, leth- Hong Kong was the same disorder that existed in
argy, and listlessness. The victim typically falls the United States and Europe. As the general pub-
prey to susto after experiencing a personal trag- lic became familiar with the American diagnosis
edy, such as the death of a loved one. A milder of anorexia, Lee’s patients started mimicking the
malady is mal de ojo (“evil eye”), most typically American symptoms, and the incidence of anorexia
found in Mediterranean countries. Symptoms of increased. Lee’s anorexic patient load rose rap-
evil eye, which mainly affects children, include idly, from two to three per year to two to three per
fitful sleep, crying, sickness, and fever (Goleman month. Occurring throughout Hong Kong, that
1995). Western cultures, too, have distinctive psy- increase sparked another series of media reports,
chiatric syndromes, some of which appear now to such as “Children as Young as 10 Starving Them-
be spreading internationally as a result of global- selves as Eating Ailments Rise.” By the year 2000,
ization. One such syndrome is anorexia nervosa Lee concluded, between 3 and 10 percent of young
(food refusal or extreme dieting, resulting in self- women in Hong Kong had eating disorders. Unlike
starvation), which originated in Western industri- Lee’s earlier patients, these women now cited a
alized societies, where it once was as culturally fear of getting fat as the key reason for their food
confined and specific as susto is to Latin America refusal. By 2007, about 90 percent of Lee’s
(Banks 1992). anorexic patients were reporting a fat phobia
As ethnic diversity increases within the United (Watters 2010).
States and other Western nations, so, too, does the Disorders, both physical and mental, and their
proportion of psychiatric patients with varied, includ- symptom clusters, easily cross national borders in
ing non-Western, cultural backgrounds. How has today’s globalized and socially networked world.
American psychiatry (sometimes informed by The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental
anthropological knowledge) reacted to this diver- Disorders, whose fifth edition was published in
sity? The influential Diagnostic and Statistical Man- 2013, serves as an increasingly transnational refer-
ual of Mental Disorders (2013), published by the ence and standard. Imagine as well the role of social
American Psychiatric Association, now recognizes media, available through computers, tablets, and
“culture-bound syndromes,” another term for the cell phones, in transmitting news and images of var-
culturally specific syndromes just described. Guide- ious conditions that affect, or might affect, their
lines published by the American Journal of Psychia- users. The Western form of anorexia surely wouldn’t
try now direct attention to patients’ cultural-ethnic have spread so quickly in Hong Kong without

12 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

(2) practicing, or applied, anthropology. The latter applied
refers to the application of anthropological data, per- anthropology
spectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess, Using anthropology to
and solve contemporary social problems. As Erve solve contemporary
Chambers (1987, p. 309) has stated, applied anthro-
pology is “concerned with the relationships between
anthropological knowledge and the uses of that
knowledge in the world beyond anthropology.” More
and more anthropologists from the four subfields
now work in such “applied” areas as public health,
family planning, business, market research, eco-
nomic development, and cultural resource manage-
ment. (This chapter’s “Appreciating Anthropology”
on pp.  14–15 discusses the career of President
Barack Obama’s mother, a sociocultural and applied
Because of anthropology’s breadth, applied
anthropology has many applications. For example,
applied medical anthropologists consider both the
sociocultural and the biological contexts and impli-
cations of disease and illness. Perceptions of good
and bad health, along with actual health threats and
problems, differ among societies. Various ethnic
groups recognize different illnesses, symptoms, and
causes and have developed different health care sys-
tems and treatment strategies.
Applied archaeology, usually called public
In Rome, a poster featuring an emaciated woman (in an archaeology, includes such activities as cultural
advertisement for an Italian fashion house) bears the headline resource management, contract archaeology, pub-
“No anorexia.” How does anorexia illustrate a culturally specific
lic educational programs, and historic preserva-
tion. An important role for public archaeology has
been created by legislation requiring evaluation of
sites threatened by dams, highways, and other con-
struction activities. To decide what needs saving,
modern media. After all, it took more than a half
and to preserve significant information about the
century for Western mental health professionals to
past when sites cannot be saved, is the work of
name, codify, and establish their definition of
cultural resource management (CRM). CRM cultural resource
anorexia. By contrast, after one widely reported
involves not only preserving sites but also allowing management
death on a busy downtown street, it took just hours Deciding what needs
their destruction if they are not significant. The
for the people of Hong Kong to learn about anorexia saving when entire
“management” part of the term refers to the evalua-
and its “Western” symptoms (Watters 2010). Like archaeological sites
tion and decision-making process. Cultural resource
any other cultural anthropologist working in the cannot be saved.
managers work for federal, state, and county agen-
21st century, the student of psychological anthro-
cies and other clients. Applied cultural anthropolo-
pology must recognize how local, indigenous pat-
gists sometimes work with the public archaeologists,
terns (psychological-psychiatric in this case) interact
assessing the human problems generated by the
with the forces of globalization, including the con-
proposed change and determining how they can be
cepts and conditions it is spreading.

What sort of man or woman do you envision when THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
you hear the word “anthropologist”? Although Anthropology, remember, is a science, although a
anthropologists have been portrayed as quirky and very humanistic one. Within sociocultural anthro-
eccentric, bearded and bespectacled, anthropology is pology, ethnology is the comparative science that
not a science of the exotic carried on by quaint schol- attempts to identify and explain cultural differences
ars in ivory towers. Rather, anthropology has a lot to and similarities, test hypotheses, and build theory to
tell the public. Anthropology’s foremost professional enhance our understanding of how social and cul-
organization, the American Anthropological Associ- tural systems work. The data for ethnology come
ation (AAA), has formally acknowledged a public from societies located in various times and places.
service role by recognizing that anthropology has Ethnologists compare, contrast, and make general-
two dimensions: (1) academic anthropology and izations about societies and cultures.

Chapter 1 What Is Anthropology? 13

appreciating ANTHROPOLOGY
His Mother, the Anthropologist
It is widely known that President Barack Kansas. . . . On the campaign trail, he has called selves and to do our best to ﬁnd kinship and
Obama is the son of a Kenyan father and a her his “single mom.” But neither description be- beauty in unexpected places.” . . .
white American mother. Less recognized is gins to capture the unconventional life of Stanley Mr. Obama . . . barely saw his father after the
the fact that the 44th president of the United Ann Dunham Soetoro, the parent who most age of 2. Though it is impossible to pinpoint the
States is the son of an anthropologist—Dr. shaped Mr. Obama. . . . imprint of a parent on the life of a grown child,
Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro (usually called In Hawaii, she married an African student at people who knew Ms. Soetoro well say they see
simply Ann Dunham). This account focuses on age 18. Then she married an Indonesian, moved to her inﬂuence unmistakably in Mr. Obama. . . .
her life and her appreciation of human diver- Jakarta, became an anthropologist, wrote an 800- “She was a very, very big thinker,” said Nancy
sity, which led her to a career in anthropology. page dissertation on peasant blacksmithing in Barry, a former president of Women’s World Bank-
A sociocultural anthropologist by training, Java, worked for the Ford Foundation, champi- ing, an international network of microﬁnance pro-
Dunham focused her attention on issues of mi- oned women’s work and helped bring microcredit viders, where Ms. Soetoro worked in New York
croﬁnance and socioeconomic problems faced to the world’s poor. City in the early 1990s. . . .
by Indonesian women. She used her knowl- She had high expectations for her children. In a Russian class at the University of Hawaii,
edge to identify and solve contemporary prob- In Indonesia, she would wake her son at 4 A.M. she met the college’s ﬁrst African student, Barack
lems. She was both a cultural and an applied for correspondence courses in English before Obama. They married and had a son in August
anthropologist. A fuller account of Dr. Dunham’s school; she brought home recordings of Mahalia 1961, in an era when interracial marriage was rare
life appears in Janny Scott’s book A Singular Jackson, speeches by the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther in the United States. . . .
Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama’s King Jr., and when Mr. Obama asked to stay in The marriage was brief. In 1963, Mr. Obama
Mother (2011). Hawaii for high school rather than return to left for Harvard, leaving his wife and child. She
Anthropologists study humanity in varied Asia, she accepted living apart—a decision her then married Lolo Soetoro, an Indonesian student.
times and places and in a rapidly changing daughter says was one of the hardest in When he was summoned home in 1966 after the
world. By virtue of his parentage, his encultura- Ms. Soetoro’s life. turmoil surrounding the rise of Suharto, Ms.
tion, and his experience abroad, Barack Obama “She felt that somehow, wandering through Soetoro and Barack followed. . . .
provides an excellent symbol of the diversity uncharted territory, we might stumble upon some- Her second marriage faded, too, in the 1970s.
and interconnections that characterize such a thing that will, in an instant, seem to represent Ms. Soetoro wanted to work, one friend said, and
world. who we are at the core,” said Maya Soetoro-Ng, Mr. Soetoro wanted more children. He became
Mr. Obama’s half-sister. “That was very much her more American, she once said, as she became
In the capsule version of the Barack Obama story, philosophy of life—to not be limited by fear or nar- more Javanese. “There’s a Javanese belief that if
his mother is simply the white woman from row deﬁnitions, to not build walls around our- you’re married to someone and it doesn’t work, it

hypothesis Theories
s Associations,
s, an
d of the world
of wooorrld
rl byy testing
ingg hypotheses—sugges
y hes
yp hese
h eses
— tted
A suggested but as yet bbut
buu as yet un
ut uunverifi
v iifi
fied eexplanations.
xp ns. An explanat
iionns explanation
xp nat
unveriﬁed explanation. Explanations
an tions
ttiions must
mu uust
st show
w how and aan
ndd why
whhy the th
hiinng to bee explain
hi eexplained
ex ned
A science
Any i aims
i for
f reliable
li bl
bl explanations
l i h pre-
that (the dependent variable) is caused by, related to,
association dict future occurrences. Accurate predictions stand or associated with something else, a predictor
An observed
up to tests designed to disprove (falsify) them. Sci- variable. An association is an observed relation-
relationship between
two or more variables.
entific explanations rely on data, which can come ship of covariation between two or more vari-
from experiments, observation, and other systematic ables: When one variable changes, the other one
theory procedures. Scientific causes are material, physical, changes as well. Theories provide explanations for
A set of ideas or natural (e.g., viruses) rather than supernatural associations (Ember and Ember 1997). A theory
formulated to explain (e.g., ghosts). is a set of logically connected ideas formulated to
something. In their 1997 article “Science in Anthropol- explain something. An effective theory offers an
ogy,” Melvin Ember and Carol R. Ember describe explanatory framework that can be applied to mul-
how scientists strive to improve our understanding tiple cases.

14 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

will make you sick,” said Alice G. Dewey, an an- organizations, representatives of community
thropologist and friend. “It’s just stupid to stay groups doing grass-roots development. . . .
married.” . . . Ms. Soetoro-Ng . . . remembers conversa-
By 1974, Ms. Soetoro was back in Honolulu, a tions with her mother about philosophy or poli-
graduate student and raising Barack and Maya, tics, books, esoteric Indonesian woodworking
nine years younger. . . . When Ms. Soetoro decided motifs. . . .
to return to Indonesia three years later for her “She gave us a very broad understanding of
ﬁeldwork, Barack chose not to go. . . . the world,” her daughter said. “She hated bigotry.
Fluent in Indonesian, Ms. Soetoro moved with She was very determined to be remembered for a
Maya ﬁrst to Yogyakarta, the center of Javanese life of service and thought that service was really
handicrafts. A weaver in college, she was fasci- the true measure of a life.” Many of her friends see
nated with what Ms. Soetoro-Ng calls “life’s gor- her legacy in Mr. Obama—in his self-assurance
geous minutiae.” That interest inspired her study and drive, his boundary bridging, even his appar-
of village industries, which became the basis of ent comfort with strong women.
her 1992 doctoral dissertation. She died in November 1995, as Mr. Obama
“She loved living in Java,” said Dr. Dewey, who was starting his ﬁrst campaign for public office.
recalled accompanying Ms. Soetoro to a metalwork- After a memorial service at the University of
ing village. “People said: ‘Hi! How are you?’ She Hawaii, one friend said, a small group of friends
said: ‘How’s your wife? Did your daughter have the drove to the South Shore in Oahu. With the wind
President Barack Obama and his mother, Ann Dunham, who
baby?’ They were friends. Then she’d whip out her whipping the waves onto the rocks, Mr. Obama
was a cultural and applied anthropologist, in an undated
notebook and she’d say: ‘How many of you have photo from the 1960s. Dunham met Obama’s father, Barack and Ms. Soetoro-Ng placed their mother’s ashes
electricity? Are you having trouble getting iron?’” Obama Sr. from Kenya, when both were students at the in the Paciﬁc, sending them off in the direction of
University of Hawaii at Manoa; they married in 1960.
She became a consultant for the United States Indonesia.
Agency for International Development on setting
up a village credit program, then a Ford Founda- Visitors ﬂowed constantly through her Ford
tion program officer in Jakarta specializing in Foundation office in downtown Jakarta and
SOURCE: Janny Scott, “A Free-Spirited Wanderer Who
women’s work. Later, she was a consultant in through her house in a neighborhood to the south, Set Obama’s Path.” From The New York Times, March
Pakistan, then joined Indonesia’s oldest bank to where papaya and banana trees grew in the front 14, 2008. © 2008 The New York Times. All rights
reserved. Used by permission and protected by the
work on what is described as the world’s largest yard and Javanese dishes . . . were served for din- Copyright Laws of the United States. The printing,
sustainable microﬁnance program, creating ser- ner. Her guests were leaders in the Indonesian copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this
Content without express written permission is
vices like credit and savings for the poor. human rights movement, people from women’s prohibited.

One eexplanat
One explanation
ti for thetthhhe occurrence
re nce off aann asso
nce associa-
cia but th
here are exceptions
onnss (Ember
ons ((E
berr andd Ember
berr 1997).
tion iss th
tti that
h iti iil
llustrates s a geggen
ne prin
nneral pprinciple.
lee. T
Th Forr example,
e , we
we can c hypothesize
hy esiz
sizzze that
att cross

“water fr
ez att 328F”
ezes 32
3 F”” sta
t an n asso
ooccciation be
et culturally
cultur allly (that
aally (that
at is, inn most
at m
mos stt ssocieties)) there
t is aan
n asso-
two variables:
i bbl the h state off the h water andd the h air i tem- ciation
i i between
b gender
d andd hunting,
h i suchh that
h men
perature. The truth of the statement is confirmed by are much more likely than women to hunt animals.
repeated observations of freezing and the fact that We expect, however, to find exceptions, that is, soci-
water does not solidify at higher temperatures. Such eties in which women hunt.
general relationships are called laws. Explanations One classic cross-cultural study revealed a strong
based on such laws allow us to understand the past (but not 100 percent) association, or correlation,
and predict the future. Yesterday ice formed at 328F, between a sexual custom and a type of diet. A long
and tomorrow it will still form at 328F. postpartum sex taboo (a ban on sexual intercourse
In the social sciences, associations usually are between husband and wife for a year or more after
probable, rather than absolute. The variables of the birth of a child) tended to be found in societies
interest tend to be associated in a predictable way, where the diet was low in protein (Whiting 1964).

Chapter 1 What Is Anthropology? 15

related to the predictor variable (a low-protein diet).
A likely explanation is that, when there is too little
protein in their diets, babies can develop and die
from a protein-deficiency disease called kwashior-
kor. If the mother delays her next pregnancy, her
current baby gets to breast-feed longer, thereby
ingesting protein from the mother and enhancing its
survival chances. Having another baby too soon—
forcing early weaning—would jeopardize the sur-
vival of the previous one. The postpartum taboo thus
enhances infant survival. When the taboo becomes
institutionalized as a cultural expectation, people
are more likely to comply, and less likely to suc-
cumb to momentary temptation.
Theories suggest patterns and relationships, and
they generate additional hypotheses. Based, for
example, on the theory that the postpartum taboo
exists because it reduces infant mortality when the
diet is low in protein, one could hypothesize that
changes in the conditions that favor the taboo might
cause it to disappear. By adopting birth control, for
instance, families could space births without avoid-
ing intercourse. So, too, could the taboo disappear if
babies started receiving protein supplements, which
would reduce the threat of kwashiorkor.
Recap 1.3 summarizes the main steps in using the
The name kwashiorkor, for a condition caused by severe protein
scientific method. In hypothesis testing, the relevant
deficiency, comes from a West African word meaning “one-two.”
variables should be clearly defined (e.g., “height in
Some cultures abruptly wean one infant when a second one is born. centimeters” or “weight in kilograms” rather than
In today’s world, refugees from civil wars, including the Angolan girl “body size”) and measured reliably. The strength and
shown here, are among the most common victims of malnutrition. significance of the results should be evaluated using
legitimate statistical methods (Bernard 2011). Scholars
This association was confirmed by cross-cultural should be careful to avoid a common mistake in gener-
data (ethnographic information from a randomly alizing—citing only cases that confirm their hypothe-
chosen sample of several societies). How might one sis, while ignoring negative ones. The best procedure is
explain why the dependent variable (the thing to be random selection of cases from a wide sample of soci-
explained, in this case the postpartum sex taboo) is eties, not all of which are likely to fit the hypothesis.

RECAP 1.3 Steps in the Scientific Method

Have a research question. Why do some societies have long postpartum taboos?
Construct a hypothesis. Delaying marital sex reduces infant mortality when diets are low in protein.
Posit a mechanism. Babies get more protein when they nurse longer; nursing is not a reliable
method of contraception.
Get data to test your Use a (random) sample of cross-cultural data (data from several societies;
hypothesis. such data sets exist for cross-cultural research).
Devise a way of measuring. Code societies 1 when they have a postpartum taboo of one year or longer, 0
when they do not; code 1 when diet is low in protein, 0 when it is not.
Analyze your data. Notice patterns in the data: Long postpartum taboos generally are found in
societies with low-protein diets, whereas societies with better diets tend to
lack those taboos. Use appropriate statistical methods to evaluate the
strength of these associations.
Draw a conclusion. In most cases, the hypothesis is conﬁrmed.
Derive implications. Such taboos tend to disappear when diets get better or new reproductive
technologies become available.
Contribute to larger theory. Cultural practices can have adaptive value by enhancing the survival of

16 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

Family and friends
watching a soccer game
on TV in Brazil. Soccer
and telenovelas are key
features of Brazilian
popular culture.

When Multiple Variables Predict Having gathered detailed quantitative data, we

The scientific method, as shown in Recap 1.3, is not could use a statistical method that measures the sep-
limited to ethnology but also applies to any anthro- arate (as well as the combined) effects of several
pological endeavor that formulates research ques- “potential predictors” on a series of dependent vari-
tions and gathers or uses systematic data to test ables. To use a more general example, to predict
hypotheses. Nor does there have to be a single “risk of heart attack” (the dependent variable),
research question. Often anthropologists gather data potential predictors would include sex (gender),
that enable them to pose and test a number of sepa- age, family history, weight, blood pressure, choles-
rate hypotheses about attitudes and behavior. For terol level, exercise, and cigarette smoking. Each
example, in our research in Brazil, my colleagues one would make a separate contribution, and some
and I have used a combination of methods to study would have more impact than others. However,
media effects in that country (see Kottak 2009). someone with many “risk factors” (particularly the
Our most general research question is this one: most significant ones) would have a greater risk of
How has variable exposure to media affected Brazil- heart attack than someone with few predictors.
ians? Originally, starting in the 1980s, we focused Returning to television in Brazil, we used a stan-
on the effects of television. Our current research has dard set of nine potential predictor variables and
expanded to include all new media. Twice, first in examined their effects on hundreds of dependent
the mid-1980s and again in 2013, we gathered data variables (Kottak 2009). Our potential predictors
from more than 1,000 Brazilians living in several included gender, age, skin color, social class, educa-
communities to explore media effects. tion, income, religious involvement, years of home
Our research design permitted us to distinguish TV exposure, and current televiewing level. We
between two key measures of individual exposure to could measure the separate (as well as the com-
television. First was current viewing level (average bined) influence of each predictor on each depen-
daily hours spent watching TV). Such a measure is dent variable.
used routinely to assess the impact of television in One of our strongest statistical measures of tele-
the United States. Our second, and far more signifi- vision’s impact on attitudes was the association
cant, variable was length of home TV exposure. between TV exposure and liberal views on sex-
Unlike us, researchers in the United States tend to gender issues. TV exposure had a stronger effect on
rely almost solely on current viewing level to mea- sex-gender views than did such other predictor vari-
sure TV’s influence, because there is little variation ables as gender, education, and income. The heavier
in length of home exposure, except for variation and longer-exposed viewers were strikingly more
based on age. Americans aged 70 and younger never liberal—less traditional in their opinions on such
have known a world without TV. matters as whether women “belong at home,” should

Chapter 1 What Is Anthropology? 17

work when their husbands have good incomes, predictor and its influence over time to education and
should work when pregnant, should go to bars, its long-term effects. If the cumulative effects of for-
should leave a husband when they no longer love mal education increase with years of schooling, then it
him, and should pursue men they like; whether men seems reasonable to assume a similar influence as a
should cook and wash clothes; and whether parents result of years of home exposure to television.
should talk to their children about sex. All these Heavy viewers in Brazil probably are predis-
questions produced TV-biased answers, in that posed to liberal views. However, content, entering
Brazilian television depicts an urban-modern soci- homes each day, reinforces those views over time.
ety in which sex-gender roles are less traditional TV-biased and TV-reinforced attitudes spread as
than in small communities. viewers take courage from the daily validation of
Are these effects or just correlations? That is, does their unorthodox (local) views in (national) pro-
Brazilian TV make people more liberal, or do already gramming. More and more townsfolk encounter
liberal people, seeking reinforcement for their views, nontraditional views and come to see them as nor-
simply watch more television? Do they look to TV mal. In this case, we measured and confirmed an
and its urban-elite world for moral options that are association and then offered explanations for why
missing, suppressed, or disapproved of in their own, that association is an effect as well as a correla-
more traditional towns? We concluded that this liber- tion. Our original study suggested hypotheses for
alization is both a correlation and an effect. There is a future research on how people use television and
strong correlation between liberal social views and how it affects them in other ways, places, and
current viewing hours. Liberal small-town Brazilians times. Indeed, recent research in a Michigan town
appear to watch more TV to validate personal views (Descartes and Kottak 2009) has revealed forms of
that the local setting discourages or suppresses. How- use and impact similar to those we discovered in
ever, confirming that long-term TV exposure also has Brazil. Think about how these findings might
an effect on Brazilians’ attitudes, there is an even apply to the political views of contemporary
stronger correlation between years of home viewing Americans who habitually watch either Fox News
by individuals and their liberal social views. It is dif- or MSNBC.
ficult to separate effects of televiewing from mere Let me close this section with one very impor-
correlations when we use current viewing tant caveat. Science is one way—an excellent
level as a predictor variable. Questions way—of understanding the world, but it certainly
like the following always arise: isn’t the only way. The work of many prominent
Does television create fears anthropologists has more in common with the
about the outside world—or humanities than with a strictly scientific approach.
do already fearful people It is not unusual, for example, for cultural anthro-
tend to stay home and pologists to prefer to analyze and interpret, rather
watch more TV? Effects than to explain scientifically, aspects of culture.
are clearer when length Anthropological approaches that are interpretive,
of home exposure can qualitative, and humanistic are considered in this
be measured. Logically, book along with those that are more quantitative
we can compare this and scientific.

summary 1. Anthropology is the holistic and comparative study
of humanity. It is the systematic exploration of hu-
adaptation—the process by which organisms cope
with environmental stresses.
man biological and cultural diversity. Examining
the origins of, and changes in, human biology and 2. Cultural forces mold human biology, including our
culture, anthropology provides explanations for body types and images. Societies have particular
similarities and differences. The four subfields of standards of physical attractiveness. They also have
general anthropology are sociocultural, archaeo- specific ideas about what activities—for example,
logical, biological, and linguistic. All consider various sports—are appropriate for males and fe-
variation in time and space. Each also examines males.

18 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

3. Cultural anthropology explores the cultural diversity 5. Anthropology has two dimensions: academic and
of the present and the recent past. Archaeology re- applied. Applied anthropology is the use of anthro-
constructs cultural patterns, often of prehistoric pological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to
populations. Biological anthropology documents identify, assess, and solve contemporary social
diversity, involving fossils, genetics, growth and de- problems.
velopment, bodily responses, and nonhuman pri-
6. Ethnologists attempt to identify and explain cul-
mates. Linguistic anthropology considers diversity
tural differences and similarities and to build theo-
among languages. It also studies how speech
ries about how social and cultural systems work.
changes in social situations and over time.
Scientists strive to improve understanding by test-
4. Concerns with biology, society, culture, and lan- ing hypotheses—suggested explanations. Explana-
guage link anthropology to many other fields—sci- tions rely on associations and theories. An
ences and humanities. Anthropologists study art, association is an observed relationship between
music, and literature across cultures. But their con- variables. A theory is more general, suggesting or
cern is more with the creative expressions of com- implying associations and attempting to explain
mon people than with arts designed for elites. them. The scientific method characterizes any an-
Anthropologists examine creators and products in thropological endeavor that formulates research
their social context. Sociologists traditionally study questions and gathers or uses systematic data to test
urban and industrial populations, whereas anthro- hypotheses. Often anthropologists gather data that
pologists have focused on rural, nonindustrial peo- enable them to pose and test a number of separate
ples. Psychological anthropology views human hypotheses.
psychology in the context of social and cultural

anthropological archaeology 8
anthropology 3
ethnology 8
food production 5 key terms
applied anthropology 13 general anthropology 6
association 14 holistic 3
biocultural 6 hypothesis 14
biological anthropology 9 linguistic anthropology 10
cultural anthropology 7 physical anthropology 9
cultural resource management 13 science 11
culture 3 sociolinguistics 11
ethnography 7 theory 14

1. What is culture? How is it distinct from what this chapter describes as a biocultural approach? How do these concepts
help us understand the complex ways that human populations adapt to their environments? critical
2. What themes and interests unify the subdisciplines of anthropology? In your answer, refer to historical reasons
for the unity of anthropology. Are these historical reasons similar in all places where anthropology developed thinking
as a discipline?
3. If, as Franz Boas illustrated early on in American anthropology, cultures are not isolated, how can ethnography
provide an account of a particular community, society, or culture? Note: There is no easy answer to this ques-
tion! Anthropologists continue to deal with it as they define their research questions and projects.
4. The American Anthropological Association has formally acknowledged a public service role by recognizing
that anthropology has two dimensions: (1) academic anthropology and (2) practicing, or applied, anthropology.
What is applied anthropology? Based on your reading of this chapter, identify examples from current events
where an anthropologist could help identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems.
5. In this chapter, we learn that anthropology is a science, although a very humanistic one. What do you think this
means? What role does hypothesis testing play in structuring anthropological research? What are the differ-
ences between theories, laws, and hypotheses?

Chapter 1 What Is Anthropology? 19


What is culture and

why do we study it?

What is the relation

between culture and
the individual?

How does culture

with globalization?

Offerings at a temple in Bali, Indonesia. People learn and share beliefs and behavior as members of cultural groups.
chapter outline
Culture Is Learned
Culture Is Symbolic
Culture Is Shared

Culture and Nature

ow special are you? To what extent are traditions. Middle-class Brazilians teach their Culture Is Integrated

H you “your own person” and to what

extent are you a product of your partic-
ular culture? How much does, and
should, your cultural background inﬂuence your
actions and decisions? Americans may not fully
kids—both boys and girls—to kiss (on the cheek,
two or three times, coming and going) every
adult relative they see. Given the size of Brazilian
extended families, this can mean hundreds of
people. Women continue kissing all those people
Culture Is Instrumental,
Adaptive, and

appreciate the power of culture because of the throughout their lives. Until they are adolescents, What We Share with
value their culture places on “the individual.” boys kiss all adult relatives. Men typically con- Other Primates
Americans like to regard everyone as unique in tinue to kiss female relatives and friends, as How We Differ from
Other Primates
some way. Yet individualism itself is a distinctive well as their fathers and uncles, throughout their
shared value, a feature of American culture, trans- lives. UNIVERSALITY,
mitted constantly in our daily lives. In the media, Do you kiss your father? Your uncle? Your GENERALITY, AND
count how many stories focus on individuals ver- grandfather? How about your mother, aunt, or PARTICULARITY
sus groups. From the late Mr. (Fred) Rogers of grandmother? The answers to these questions Universals and
daytime TV to “real-life” parents, grandparents, may differ between men and women, and for
Particularity: Patterns
and teachers, our enculturative agents insist we male and female relatives. Culture can help us to
of Culture
all are “someone special.” That we are individuals make sense of these differences. In America, a
ﬁrst and members of groups second is the oppo- cultural homophobia (fear of homosexuality) may CULTURE AND THE
site of this chapter’s lesson about culture. Cer- prevent American men from engaging in displays INDIVIDUAL: AGENCY AND
tainly we have distinctive features because we of affection with other men; similarly, American
Levels of Culture
are individuals, but we have other distinct attri- girls typically are encouraged to show affection,
Ethnocentrism, Cultural
butes because we belong to cultural groups. while American boys typically aren’t. It’s impor-
Relativism, and Human
For example, as we saw in “Appreciating tant to note that these cultural explanations rely Rights
Diversity” in Chapter 1 (pp. 4–5), a comparison upon example and expectation, and that no cul-
of the United States with Brazil, Italy, or virtually tural trait exists because it is natural or right. MECHANISMS OF
any Latin nation reveals striking contrasts Ethnocentrism is the error of viewing one’s own
between a national culture (American) that dis- culture as superior and applying one’s own cul- GLOBALIZATION
courages physical affection and national cultures tural values in judging people from other Globalization: Its
in which the opposite is true. Brazilians touch, cultures. How easy is it for you to see beyond the Meaning and Its Nature
embrace, and kiss one another much more fre- ethnocentric blinders of your own experience?
quently than North Americans do. Such behavior Do you have an ethnocentric position regarding
reﬂects years of exposure to particular cultural displays of affection?

thought—obey natural laws and therefore

WHAT IS CULTURE? can be studied scientifically. Tylor’s defini-
The concept of culture is fundamental in tion of culture still offers an overview of the
anthropology. Well over a century ago, in his subject matter of anthropology and is widely
book Primitive Culture, the British anthro- quoted: “Culture . . . is that complex whole
pologist Sir Edward Tylor proposed that which includes knowledge, belief, arts, mor-
cultures—systems of human behavior and als, law, custom, and any other capabilities

and habits acquired by man as a member of society” than North Americans do, but they learn to do so
(Tylor 1871/1958, p. 1). The crucial phrase here is anyway as part of their cultural tradition.
“acquired . . . as a member of society.” Tylor’s defi- Anthropologists agree that cultural learning is
nition focuses on attributes that people acquire not uniquely elaborated among humans and that all
through biological inheritance but by growing up in humans have culture. Anthropologists also accept a
a particular society where they are exposed to a spe- doctrine named in the 19th century as “the psychic
enculturation cific cultural tradition. Enculturation is the process unity of man.” This means that although individuals
The process by which by which a child learns his or her culture. differ in their emotional and intellectual tendencies
culture is learned and and capacities, all human populations have equiva-
transmitted across the lent capacities for culture. Regardless of their genes
generations. Culture Is Learned or their physical appearance, people can learn any
The ease with which children absorb any cultural cultural tradition.
tradition rests on the uniquely elaborated human To understand this point, consider that contempo-
capacity to learn. Other animals may learn from rary Americans and Canadians are the genetically
experience; for example, they avoid fire after dis- mixed descendants of people from all over the world.
covering that it hurts. Social animals also learn from Our ancestors were biologically varied, lived in dif-
other members of their group. Wolves, for instance, ferent countries and continents, and participated in
learn hunting strategies from other pack members. hundreds of cultural traditions. However, early colo-
Such social learning is particularly important among nists, later immigrants, and their descendants have
monkeys and apes, our closest biological relatives. all become active participants in American and
But our own cultural learning depends on the Canadian life. All now share a national culture.
symbol uniquely developed human capacity to use symbols,
Something, verbal or signs that have no necessary or natural connection to
nonverbal, that stands the things they signify or for which they stand. Culture Is Symbolic
for something else. On the basis of cultural learning, people create, Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans
remember, and deal with ideas. They grasp and and to cultural learning. Anthropologist Leslie
apply specific systems of symbolic meaning. White defined culture as
Anthropologist Clifford Geertz defines culture as
dependent upon symbolling. . . . Culture con-
ideas based on cultural learning and symbols. Cul-
sists of tools, implements, utensils, clothing,
tures have been characterized as sets of “control
ornaments, customs, institutions, beliefs, ritu-
mechanisms—plans, recipes, rules, instructions,
als, games, works of art, language, etc. (White
what computer engineers call programs for the gov-
1959, p. 3)
erning of behavior” (Geertz 1973, p. 44). These pro-
grams are absorbed by people through enculturation For White, culture originated when our ancestors
in particular traditions. People gradually internalize acquired the ability to use symbols, that is, to origi-
a previously established system of meanings and nate and bestow meaning on a thing or an event,
symbols. They use this cultural system to define and, correspondingly, to grasp and appreciate such
their world, express their feelings, and make their meanings (White 1959, p. 3).
judgments. This system helps guide their behavior A symbol is something verbal or nonverbal,
and perceptions throughout their lives. within a particular language or culture, that comes
Every person begins immediately, through a pro- to stand for something else. There is no obvious,
cess of conscious and unconscious learning and natural, or necessary connection between the sym-
interaction with others, to internalize, or incorpo- bol and what it symbolizes. A pet that barks is no
rate, a cultural tradition through the process of more naturally a dog than a chien, Hund, or mbwa,
enculturation. Sometimes culture is taught directly, to use the words for the animal we call “dog” in
as when parents tell their children to say “thank you” French, German, and Swahili. Language is one of
when someone gives them something or does them the distinctive possessions of Homo sapiens. No
a favor. other animal has developed anything approaching
Culture also is transmitted through observation. the complexity of language.
Children pay attention to the things that go on Symbols are usually linguistic. But there are
around them. They modify their behavior not just also nonverbal symbols, such as flags, that stand for
because other people tell them to but as a result of countries, as arches do for a hamburger chain. Holy
their own observations and growing awareness of water is a potent symbol in Roman Catholicism. As
what their culture considers right and wrong. Cul- is true of all symbols, the association between a
ture also is absorbed unconsciously. North Ameri- symbol (water) and what is symbolized (holiness)
cans acquire their culture’s notions about how far is arbitrary and conventional. Water is not intrinsi-
apart people should stand when they talk not by cally holier than milk, blood, or other natural liq-
being told directly to maintain a certain distance but uids. Nor is holy water chemically different from
through a gradual process of observation, experi- ordinary water. Holy water is a symbol within
ence, and conscious and unconscious behavior mod- Roman Catholicism, which is part of an interna-
ification. No one tells Latins to stand closer together tional cultural system. A natural thing has been

22 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

Some symbols are
linguistic. Others are
nonverbal, such as
flags, which stand for
countries. Here, colorful
flags of several nations
wave in front of the
United Nations building in
New York City.

arbitrarily associated with a particular meaning for of their children, just as their parents were for
Catholics, who share common beliefs and experi- them. Although a culture constantly changes, cer-
ences that are based on learning and that are trans- tain fundamental beliefs, values, worldviews, and
mitted across the generations. child-rearing practices endure. Consider a simple
For hundreds of thousands of years, humans have American example of enduring shared encultura-
possessed the abilities on which culture rests. These tion. As children, when we didn’t finish a meal, our
abilities are to learn, to think symbolically, to manip- parents may have reminded us of starving children
ulate language, and to use tools and other cultural in some foreign country, just as our grandparents
products in organizing their lives and coping with might have done a generation earlier. The specific
their environments. Every contemporary human locale changes (China, India, Bangladesh, Ethiopia,
population has the ability to use symbols and thus to Somalia, Darfur—what was it in your home?).
create and maintain culture. Our nearest relatives— Still, American culture goes on transmitting the
chimpanzees and gorillas—have rudimentary cultural idea that by eating all our brussels sprouts or broc-
abilities. No other animal, however, has elaborated coli we can justify our own good fortune, com-
cultural abilities—to learn, to communicate, and to pared to a hungry child in an impoverished or
store, process, and use information—to the extent war-ravaged country.
that Homo has. Despite characteristic American notions that peo-
ple should “make up their own minds” and “have a
right to their opinion,” little of what we think is orig-
Culture Is Shared inal or unique. We share our opinions and beliefs
Culture is an attribute not of individuals per se but of with many other people—nowadays not just in per-
individuals as members of groups. Culture is trans- son but also via new media. Think about how often
mitted in society. Don’t we learn our culture by (and with whom) you share information or an opin-
observing, listening, talking, and interacting with ion via texting, Facebook, and Twitter. Illustrating
many other people? Shared beliefs, values, memo- the power of shared cultural background, we are
ries, and expectations link people who grow up in most likely to agree with and feel comfortable with
the same culture. Enculturation unifies people by people who are socially, economically, and cultur-
providing us with common experiences. ally similar to ourselves. This is one reason Americans
Today’s parents were yesterday’s children. If abroad tend to socialize with each other, just as
they grew up in North America, they absorbed cer- French and British colonials did in their overseas
tain values and beliefs transmitted over the genera- empires. Birds of a feather flock together, but for
tions. People become agents in the enculturation people, the familiar plumage is culture.

Chapter 2 Culture 23
Culture and Nature squatting, while others tell them to do it sitting down.
A generation ago, in Paris and other French cities, it
Culture takes the natural biological urges we share
was customary for men to urinate almost publicly,
with other animals and teaches us how to express
and seemingly without embarrassment, in barely
them in particular ways. People have to eat, but cul-
shielded pissoirs located on city streets. Our “bath-
ture teaches us what, when, and how. In many cul-
room” habits, including waste elimination, bathing,
tures people have their main meal at noon, but most
and dental care, are parts of cultural traditions that
North Americans prefer a large dinner. English peo-
have converted natural acts into cultural customs.
ple may eat fish for breakfast, while North Americans
Our culture—and cultural changes—affect the
may prefer hot cakes and cold cereals. Brazilians put
ways in which we perceive nature, human nature,
hot milk into strong coffee, whereas North Americans
and “the natural.” Through science, invention, and
pour cold milk into a weaker brew. Midwesterners
discovery, cultural advances have overcome many
dine at 5 or 6 p.m., Spaniards at 10 p.m.
“natural” limitations. We prevent and cure diseases,
Culture molds “human nature” in many direc-
such as polio and smallpox, that felled our ances-
tions. People have to eliminate wastes from their
tors. We use Viagra to restore and enhance sexual
bodies. But some cultures teach people to defecate
potency. Through cloning, scientists have altered the
way we think about biological identity and the
meaning of life itself. Culture, of course, has not
freed us from natural threats. Hurricanes, floods,
earthquakes, and other natural forces regularly chal-
lenge our wishes to modify the environment through
building, development, and expansion. Can you
think of other ways in which nature strikes back at
people and their products?

Culture Is All-Encompassing
For anthropologists, culture includes much more
than refinement, taste, sophistication, education, and
appreciation of the fine arts. Not only college gradu-
ates but all people are “cultured.” The most interest-
ing and significant cultural forces are those that
affect people every day of their lives, particularly
those that influence children during enculturation.
Culture, as defined anthropologically, encompasses
features that are sometimes regarded as trivial or
unworthy of serious study, such as “popular” culture.
To understand contemporary North American cul-
ture, we must consider social media, cell phones, the
Internet, television, fast-food restaurants, sports, and
games. As a cultural manifestation, a rock star may
be as interesting as a symphony conductor, a comic
book as significant as a book-award winner.

Culture Is Integrated
Cultures are not haphazard collections of customs
and beliefs. Cultures are integrated, patterned sys-
tems. If one part of the system (e.g., the economy)
changes, other parts change as well. For example,
during the 1950s, most American women planned
domestic careers as homemakers and mothers. Most
of today’s college women, by contrast, expect to get
paid jobs when they graduate.
Economic changes have social repercussions.
Cultures are integrated systems, so that when one behavior pattern changes, others also
Attitudes and behavior about marriage, family, and
change. During the 1950s, most American women expected to have careers as wives, children have changed. Late marriage, “living
mothers, and domestic managers. As millions of women entered the workforce, attitudes together,” and divorce have become commonplace.
toward work and family changed. Compare the 1950s mom and kids doing dishes with the Work competes with marriage and family responsi-
contemporary physician entering data on a laptop computer. What do you imagine the bilities and reduces the time available to invest in
physician will do when she gets home? child care.

24 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

Cultures are integrated not simply by their domi- archaeological record (and most probably even far-
nant economic activities and related social patterns but ther back, based on observation of tool use and
also by sets of values, ideas, symbols, and judgments. manufacture by apes).
Cultures train their individual members to share cer- Similarities between humans and apes, our
tain personality traits. A set of core values (key, basic, closest relatives, are evident in anatomy, brain core values
or central values) integrates each culture and helps structure, genetics, and biochemistry. Most closely Key, basic, or central
distinguish it from others. For instance, the work ethic related to us are the African great apes: chimpan- values that integrate a
and individualism are core values that have integrated zees and gorillas. Hominidae is the zoological culture.
American culture for generations. Different sets of family that includes fossil and living humans. Also
dominant values exist in other cultures. included as hominids are chimps and gorillas. The Member of hominid
term hominins is used for the group that leads to family; any fossil or
humans but not to chimps and gorillas and that
Culture Is Instrumental, Adaptive, encompasses all the human species that ever have
living human, chimp, or
and Maladaptive existed.
Culture is the main reason for human adaptability Many human traits reflect the fact that our pri- hominins
and success. Other animals rely on biological means mate ancestors lived in the trees. These traits Hominids excluding the
of adaptation (such as fur or blubber, which are adap- include grasping ability and manual dexterity African apes; all the
(especially opposable thumbs), depth and color human species that
tations to cold). Humans also adapt biologically—
ever have existed.
for example, by shivering when we get cold or vision, learning ability based on a large brain, sub-
sweating when we get hot. But people also have cul- stantial parental investment in a limited number of
tural ways of adapting. To cope with environmental offspring, and tendencies toward sociality and
stresses we habitually use technology, or tools. We cooperation. Like other primates, humans have
hunt cold-adapted animals and use their fur coats as flexible, five-fingered hands and opposable
our own. We turn the thermostat up in the winter and thumbs: Each thumb can touch all the other fingers
down in the summer. Or we plan action to increase on the same hand. Like monkeys and apes, humans
our comfort. We have a cold drink, jump in a pool, or also have excellent depth and color vision. Our
travel to someplace cooler in the summer or warmer eyes are placed forward in the skull and look
in the winter. People use culture instrumentally, that directly ahead, so that their fields of vision overlap.
is, to fulfill their basic biological needs for food, Depth perception, impossible without overlapping
drink, shelter, comfort, and reproduction. visual fields, proved adaptive—for judging dis-
People also use culture to fulfill psychological tance, for example—in the trees. Having color and
and emotional needs, such as friendship, compan- depth vision also facilitates the identification of
ionship, approval, and sexual desirability. People various food sources, as well as mutual grooming,
seek informal support—help from people who care picking out burrs, insects, and other small objects
about them—as well as formal support from asso- from hair. Such grooming is one way of forming
ciations and institutions. To these ends, individuals and maintaining social bonds.
cultivate ties with others on the basis of common The combination of manual dexterity and depth
experiences, political interests, aesthetic sensibili- perception allows monkeys, apes, and humans to
ties, or personal attraction. Increasingly, such Inter- pick up small objects, hold them in front of their
net platforms as Facebook, Google 1, and LinkedIn eyes, and appraise them. Our ability to thread a
are used to create and maintain social or profes- needle reflects an intricate interplay of hands and
sional connections. eyes that took millions of years of primate evolution
On one level, cultural traits (e.g., air condition- to achieve. Such dexterity, including the opposable
ing) may be called adaptive if they help individuals thumb, confers a tremendous advantage in manipu-
cope with environmental stresses. But on a different lating objects and is essential to a major human
level, such traits can also be maladaptive. For exam- adaptive capacity: toolmaking. In primates, and
ple, emissions from our machines have environmen- especially in humans, the ratio of brain size to
tal effects that can harm humans and other life. body size exceeds that of most mammals. Even
Many modern cultural patterns may be maladaptive more important, the brain’s outer layer—concerned
in the long run. Examples of maladaptive aspects of with memory, association, and integration—is rel-
culture include policies that encourage overpopula- atively larger. Monkeys, apes, and humans store an
tion, poor food-distribution systems, overconsump- array of images in their memories, which permits
tion, and industrial pollution. them to learn more. Such a capacity for learning is
a tremendous adaptive advantage. Like most other
primates, humans usually give birth to a single off-
CULTURE’S EVOLUTIONARY spring rather than a litter. Receiving more parental
attention, that one infant has enhanced learning
BASIS opportunities. The need for longer and more atten-
The human capacity for culture has an evolutionary tive care of offspring places a selective value on
basis that extends back at least 2.6 million years—to support by a social group. Humans have developed
early toolmakers whose products survive in the considerably the primate tendency to be social

Chapter 2 Culture 25
animals, living and interacting regularly with other twigs to termite hills, dig holes with their fingers,
members of their species. and insert the twigs. Finally, they pull out the twigs
and dine on termites that were attracted to the sticky
surface. Given what is known about ape tool use and
What We Share with manufacture, it is almost certain that early hominins
shared this ability, although the first evidence for
Other Primates hominin stone toolmaking dates back only 2.6 mil-
There is a substantial gap between primate society lion years. Upright bipedalism would have permit-
(organized life in groups) and fully developed ted the carrying and use of tools and weapons
human culture, which is based on symbolic thought. against predators and competitors.
Nevertheless, studies of nonhuman primates reveal The apes have other abilities essential to culture.
many similarities with humans, such as the ability to Wild chimps and orangs aim and throw objects.
learn from experience and change behavior as a Gorillas build nests, and they throw branches, grass,
result. Apes and monkeys, like humans, learn vines, and other objects. Hominins have elaborated
throughout their lives. In one group of Japanese the capacity to aim and throw, without which we
macaques (land-dwelling monkeys), for example, a never would have developed projectile technology
3-year-old female started washing sweet potatoes and weaponry—or baseball.
before she ate them. First her mother, then her age Like toolmaking, hunting once was cited as a
Primates have five- peers, and finally the entire troop began washing distinctive human activity not shared with the
digited feet and hands, sweet potatoes as well. The ability to benefit from apes. Again, however, primate research shows that
well suited for grasping. experience confers a tremendous adaptive advan- other primates, especially chimpanzees, are habit-
Flexible hands and feet tage, permitting the avoidance of fatal mistakes. ual hunters. For example, in Uganda’s Kibale
that could encircle
Faced with environmental change, humans and National Park chimps form large hunting parties,
other primates don’t have to wait for a genetic or including an average of 26 individuals (almost
branches were
physiological response. They can modify learned always adult and adolescent males). Most hunts
important features in the
behavior and social patterns instead. (78 percent) result in at least one prey item’s being
early primates’ arboreal Although humans do employ tools much more caught—a much higher success rate than that
life. In adapting to than any other animal does, tool use also turns up among lions (26 percent), hyenas (34 percent), or
bipedal (two-footed) among several nonhuman species, including birds, cheetahs (30 percent). Chimps’ favored prey there
locomotion, hominids beavers, sea otters, and especially apes (see is the red colobus monkey (Mitani and Watts 1999;
eliminated most of the Campbell 2011; Mayell 2003). Nor are humans the Mitani et al. 2012).
foot’s grasping ability— only animals that make tools with a specific purpose Archaeological evidence suggests that humans
illustrated here by the in mind. Chimpanzees living in the Tai forest of were hunting by at least 2.6 million years ago, based
chimpanzee. Ivory Coast make and use stostone tools to break open on stone meat-cutting tools found at Olduvai Gorge
hard, golf-ball-sized nuts
har in Tanzania. Given our current understanding of
(Mercader, Panger, and
(M chimp hunting and toolmaking, we can infer that
Boesch 2002). At spe- hominids may have been hunting much earlier than
cific sites, the chimps the first archaeological evidence attests. Because
ggather nuts, place them chimps typically devour the monkeys they kill, leav-
oon stumps or flat rocks, ing few remains, we may never find archaeological
which are used as
w evidence for the first hominin hunt, especially if it
anvils, and pound the
an was done without stone tools.
nuts with heavy stones.
The chimps must select
Th How We Differ from
hammer stones suited to
smashing the nuts and
sma Other Primates
carry them to where the nut Although chimps often share meat from a hunt, apes
trees grow.
gr Nut cracking is a and monkeys (except for nursing infants) tend to
learned skill,
skill with mothers show- feed themselves individually. Cooperation and shar-
ing their young
youn how to do it. ing are much more developed among humans. Until
In 1960, Jane J Goodall (1996) fairly recently (12,000 to 10,000 years ago), all
began observing
observ wild chimps— humans were hunter-gatherers who lived in small
including their tool use and hunting groups called bands. In some world areas, the
behavior—at Gombe
Go Stream National hunter-gatherer way of life persisted into recent
Park in Tanzania, E East Africa. The most times, permitting study by ethnographers. In such
studied form of ape toolmaking involves societies, men and women take resources back to
“termiting,” in which chimps
ch make tools to the camp and share them. Everyone shares the meat
probe termite hills. They cho
choose twigs, which they from a large animal. Nourished and protected by
modify by removing leaves and a peeling off bark to younger band members, elders live past reproduc-
expose the sticky surface beneath.
be They carry the tive age and are respected for their knowledge and

26 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

These two photos show different forms of tool use by chimps. Liberian chimps, like the one on the left, use hammer stones to crack
palm nuts. On the right, chimps used prepared twigs to “fish” for termites from an ant hill.

experience. Humans are among the most coopera-

tive of the primates—in the food quest and other
social activities. In addition, the amount of informa- GENERALITY, AND
tion stored in a human band is far greater than that in PARTICULARITY
any other primate group.
Another difference between humans and other In studying human diversity in time and space,
primates involves mating. Among baboons and anthropologists distinguish among the universal, the
chimps, most mating occurs when females enter generalized, and the particular. Certain biological,
estrus, during which they ovulate. In estrus, the vag- psychological, social, and cultural features are uni- universal
inal area swells and reddens, and receptive females versal, found in every culture. Others are merely Something that exists in
generalities, common to several but not all human every culture.
form temporary bonds with, and mate with, males.
Human females, by contrast, lack a visible estrus groups. Still other traits are particularities, unique
cycle, and their ovulation is concealed. Not knowing to certain cultural traditions.
Culture pattern or trait
when ovulation is occurring, humans maximize that exists in some but
their reproductive success by mating throughout the not all societies.
year. Human pair bonds for mating are more exclu- Universals and Generalities
sive and more durable than are those of chimps. Biologically based universals include a long period particularity
Related to our more constant sexuality, all human of infant dependency, year-round (rather than sea- Distinctive or unique
societies have some form of marriage. Marriage sonal) sexuality, and a complex brain that enables us culture trait, pattern, or
gives mating a reliable basis and grants to each to use symbols, languages, and tools. Among the
spouse special, though not always exclusive, sexual social universals is life in groups and in some kind
rights to the other. of family (see Brown 1991). Generalities occur in
Marriage creates another major contrast certain times and places but not in all cultures. They
between humans and nonhuman primates: exog- may be widespread, but they are not universal. One
amy and kinship systems. Most cultures have rules cultural generality that is present in many but not all
of exogamy requiring marriage outside one’s kin or societies is the nuclear family, a kinship group con-
local group. Coupled with the recognition of kin- sisting of parents and children. Although many
ship, exogamy confers adaptive advantages. It cre- middle-class Americans ethnocentrically view the
ates ties between the spouses’ different groups of nuclear family as a proper and “natural” group, it is
origin. Their children have relatives, and therefore not universal. It was absent, for example, among the
allies, in two kin groups rather than just one. The Nayars, who live on the Malabar Coast of India.
key point here is that ties of affection and mutual Traditionally, the Nayars lived in female-headed
support between members of different local groups households, and husbands and wives did not live
tend to be absent among primates other than Homo. together. In many other societies, the nuclear family
Other primates tend to disperse at adolescence. is submerged in larger kin groups, such as extended
Among chimps and gorillas, females tend to families, lineages, and clans.
migrate, seeking mates in other groups. Humans Societies can share the same beliefs and customs
also choose mates from outside the natal group, because of borrowing or through (cultural) inheri-
and usually at least one spouse moves. However, tance from a common cultural ancestor. Speaking
humans maintain lifelong ties with sons and English is a generality shared by North Americans
daughters. The systems of kinship and marriage and Australians because both countries had English
that preserve these links provide a major contrast settlers. Another reason for generalities is domina-
between humans and other primates. tion, as in colonial rule, when customs and

Chapter 2 Culture 27
procedures are imposed on one culture by another confined to a single place, culture, or society. Yet
one that is more powerful. In many countries, use of because of cultural borrowing and exchanges, which
the English language reflects colonial history. More have accelerated with globalization, traits that once
recently, English has spread through diffusion (cul- were limited in their distribution have become more
tural borrowing) to many other countries, as it has widespread. Traits that are useful, that have the
become the world’s foremost language for business, capacity to please large audiences, and that don’t
travel, and the Internet. clash with the cultural values of potential adopters are
more likely to spread than others are. Still, certain cul-
Particularity: Patterns of Culture tural particularities persist. One example is a particu-
lar food dish (e.g., pork barbeque with a mustard-based
A cultural particularity is a trait or feature of culture
sauce available in South Carolina, or the pastie—beef
that is not generalized or widespread; rather, it is
stew baked in pie dough—characteristic of Michigan’s
upper peninsula). Besides diffusion, which, for
example, has spread McDonald’s food outlets, once
confined to San Bernardino, California, across the
globe, there are other reasons cultural particularities
are increasingly rare. Many cultural traits are shared
as cultural universals and as a result of independent
invention. Facing similar problems, people in differ-
ent places have come up with similar solutions.
Again and again, similar cultural causes have
produced similar cultural results.
At the level of the individual cultural trait or
element (e.g., bow and arrow, hot dog, MTV), par-
ticularities may be getting rarer. But at a higher
level, particularity is more obvious. Different cul-
tures emphasize different things. Cultures are inte-
grated and patterned differently and display
tremendous variation and diversity. When cultural
traits are borrowed, they are modified to fit the cul-
ture that adopts them. They are reintegrated—
patterned anew—to fit their new setting. MTV in
Germany or Brazil isn’t at all the same thing as
MTV in the United States. As was stated in the
earlier section “Culture Is Integrated,” patterned
beliefs, customs, and practices lend distinctiveness
to particular cultural traditions.
Consider universal life-cycle events, such as
birth, puberty, marriage, parenthood, and death,
which many cultures observe and celebrate. The
and universal, but the patterns of ceremonial obser-
vance may be dramatically different. Cultures vary
in just which events merit special celebration.
Americans, for example, regard expensive weddings
as more socially appropriate than lavish funerals.
However, the Betsileo of Madagascar take the oppo-
site view. The marriage ceremony there is a minor
event that brings together just the couple and a few
close relatives. However, a funeral is a measure of
the deceased person’s social position and lifetime
achievement, and it may attract a thousand people.
Why use money on a house, the Betsileo say, when
one can use it on the tomb where one will spend
eternity in the company of dead relatives? How
unlike contemporary Americans’ dreams of home
Cultures use rituals to mark such universal life-cycle events as birth, puberty, marriage, ownership and preference for quick and inexpensive
parenthood, and death. But particular cultures differ as to which events merit special funerals. Cremation, an increasingly common
celebration and in the emotions expressed during their rituals. Compare the wedding party option in the United States (see Sack 2011), would
(top) in Bali, Indonesia, with the funeral (bottom) among the Tanala of eastern Madagascar. horrify the Betsileo, for whom ancestral bones and
How would you describe the emotions suggested by the photos? relics are important ritual objects.

28 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

Cultures vary tremendously in their beliefs, prac- Conventionally, culture has been seen as social
tices, integration, and patterning. By focusing on glue transmitted across the generations, binding
and trying to explain alternative customs, anthropol- people through their common past, rather than as
ogy forces us to reappraise our familiar ways of something being continually created and reworked
thinking. In a world full of cultural diversity, con- in the present. The tendency to view culture as an
temporary American culture is just one cultural vari- entity rather than a process is changing. Contempo-
ant, more powerful perhaps, but no more natural, rary anthropologists now emphasize how day-to-
than the others. day action, practice, or resistance can make and
remake culture (Gupta and Ferguson 1997b). Agency
refers to the actions that individuals take, both alone
CULTURE AND THE and in groups, in forming and transforming cultural
The approach to culture known as practice the-
AND PRACTICE ory (Ortner 1984) recognizes that individuals within
Generations of anthropologists have theorized about a society or culture have diverse motives and inten-
the relationship between the “system,” on the one tions and different degrees of power and influence.
hand, and the “person” or “individual,” on the other. Such contrasts may be associated with gender, age,
The “system” can refer to various concepts, includ- ethnicity, class, and other social variables. Practice
ing culture, society, social relations, and social theory focuses on how such varied individuals—
structure. Individual human beings always make up, through their ordinary and extraordinary actions and
or constitute, the system. But, living within that sys- practices—manage to influence, create, and trans-
tem, humans also are constrained (to some extent, at form the world they live in. Practice theory appro-
least) by its rules and by the actions of other indi- priately recognizes a reciprocal relation between
viduals. Cultural rules provide guidance about what culture (the system—see above) and the individual.
to do and how to do it, but people don’t always do The system shapes the way individuals experience
what the rules say should be done. People use their and respond to external events, but individuals also
culture actively and creatively, rather than blindly play an active role in the way society functions and
following its dictates. Humans aren’t passive beings changes. Practice theory recognizes both constraints
who are doomed to follow their cultural traditions on individuals and the flexibility and changeability
like programmed robots. Instead, people learn, of cultures and social systems.
interpret, and manipulate the same rules in different
ways—or they emphasize different rules that better
suit their interests. Culture is contested: Different Levels of Culture
groups in society struggle with one another over We can distinguish levels of culture, which vary in
whose ideas, values, goals, and beliefs will prevail. their membership and geographic extent. National national culture
Even common symbols may have radically different culture refers to those beliefs, learned behavior pat- Cultural features shared
meanings to different individuals and groups in the terns, values, and institutions that are shared by citi- by citizens of the same
same culture. Golden arches may cause one person zens of the same nation. International culture is nation.
to salivate, while another person plots a vegetarian the term for cultural traditions that extend beyond
international culture
protest. The same flag may be waved to support or and across national boundaries. Because culture is Cultural traditions that
oppose a given war. transmitted through learning rather than genetically, extend beyond national
Even when they agree about what should and cultural traits can spread through borrowing, or dif- boundaries.
shouldn’t be done, people don’t always do as their fusion, from one group to another.
culture directs or as other people expect. Many rules Many cultural traits and patterns have become
are violated, some very often (e.g., automobile speed international in scope. For example, Roman Catho-
limits). Some anthropologists find it useful to distin- lics in many different countries share beliefs, sym-
guish between ideal culture and real culture. The ideal bols, experiences, and values transmitted by their
culture consists of what people say they should do and church. The contemporary United States, Canada,
what they say they do. Real culture refers to their Great Britain, and Australia share cultural traits
actual behavior as observed by the anthropologist. they have inherited from their common linguistic
Culture is both public and individual, both in the and cultural ancestors in Great Britain. The World
world and in people’s minds. Anthropologists are Cup is an international cultural event, as people in
interested not only in public and collective behavior many countries know the rules of, play, and follow
but also in how individuals think, feel, and act. As soccer.
Roy D’Andrade (1984) has noted, the individual Cultures also can be smaller than nations (see
and culture are linked because human social life is a Jenks 2005). Although people who live in the same
process in which individuals internalize the mean- country partake in a national cultural tradition, all subcultures
ings of public (i.e., cultural) messages. Then, alone nations also contain diversity. Individuals, families, Different cultural
and in groups, people influence culture by convert- communities, regions, classes, and other groups traditions associated
ing their private (and often divergent) understand- within a culture have different learning experiences with subgroups in the
ings into public expressions. as well as shared ones. Subcultures are different same complex society.

Chapter 2 Culture 29
subculture. Soccer and basketball are
played internationally. Monster-truck ral-
lies are held throughout the United States.
Bocci is a bowling-like sport from Italy
still played in some Italian American
Nowadays, many anthropologists are
reluctant to use the term subculture.
They feel that the prefix “sub-” is offensive
because it means “below.” “Subcultures”
may thus be perceived as “less than” or
somehow inferior to a dominant, elite, or
national culture. In this discussion of
levels of culture, I intend no such impli-
cation. My point is simply that nations
may contain many different culturally
defined groups. As mentioned earlier,
culture is contested. Various groups may
strive to promote the correctness and
value of their own practices, values, and
beliefs in comparison with those of other
Illustrating the international level of culture, Roman Catholics in different nations share groups or of the nation as a whole. (This
knowledge, symbols, beliefs, and behavior associated with their religion. Shown here,
chapter’s “Appreciating Diversity” on pp. 32–33
demonstrates how contemporary indigenous groups
Chinese Catholics at an Easter mass in Beijing. In China, worship is allowed only in
have to grapple with multiple levels of culture,
government-controlled churches, but an estimated 12 million Chinese Catholics belong
contestation, and political regulation.)
to unofficial congregations loyal to Rome.

symbol-based patterns and traditions associated Ethnocentrism, Cultural

with particular groups in the same complex society. Relativism, and Human Rights
In a large nation like the United States or Canada,
subcultures originate in region, ethnicity, language, Ethnocentrism is the tendency to view one’s own
Judging other cultures
class, and religion. The backgrounds of Christians, culture as superior and to use one’s own standards
using one’s own cultural and values in judging outsiders. We witness ethno-
standards. Jews, and Muslims—and the diverse branches of
those religions, create subcultural differences centrism when people consider their own cultural
among them. While sharing a common national cul- beliefs to be truer, more proper, or more moral than
ture, U.S. northerners and southerners also differ in those of other groups. However, fundamental to
aspects of their beliefs, values, and customary anthropology, as the study of human diversity, is
behavior. French-speaking Canadians contrast with the fact that what is alien (even disgusting) to us
English-speaking people in the same country. may be normal, proper, and prized elsewhere (see
Italian Americans have ethnic traditions different the previous discussion of cultural particularities,
from those of Irish, Polish, and African Americans. including burial customs). The fact of cultural
Using sports and foods, Table 2.1 gives some exam- diversity calls ethnocentrism into question, as
ples of international culture, national culture, and anthropologists have shown all kinds of reasons for
unfamiliar practices. During a course like this,
anthropology students often reexamine their own
ethnocentric beliefs. Sometimes as the strange
TABLE 2.1 Levels of Culture, with Examples becomes familiar, the familiar seems a bit stranger
from Sports and Foods and less comfortable. One goal of anthropology is
to show the value in the lives of others. But how far
is too far? What happens when cultural practices,
values, and rights come into conflict with human
International Soccer, Pizza Several societies in Africa and the Middle East
basketball have customs requiring female genital modification.
National Monster-truck Apple pie Clitoridectomy is the removal of a girl’s clitoris.
rallies Infibulation involves sewing the lips (labia) of the
vagina to constrict the vaginal opening. Both proce-
Subculture Bocci Big Joe Pork
dures reduce female sexual pleasure and, it is
believed in some societies, the likelihood of adultery.
(South Carolina)
Although traditional in the societies where they

30 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

occur, such practices, characterized as female geni- United Nations documents describe nearly all the
tal mutilation (FGM), have been opposed by human human rights that have been internationally recog-
rights advocates, especially women’s rights groups. nized. Those documents are the UN Charter; the
The idea is that the custom infringes on a basic Universal Declaration of Human Rights; the Cov-
human right: disposition over one’s body and one’s enant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
sexuality. Indeed, such practices are fading as a and the Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.
result of worldwide attention to the problem and Alongside the human rights movement has arisen
changing sex/gender roles. Some African countries an awareness of the need to preserve cultural rights.
have banned or otherwise discouraged the proce- Unlike human rights, cultural rights are vested not cultural rights
dures, as have Western nations that receive immigra- in individuals but in groups, including indigenous Rights vested in
tion from such cultures. Similar issues arise with peoples and religious and ethnic minorities. Cultural religious and ethnic
circumcision and other male genital operations. Is it rights include a group’s ability to raise its children in minorities and
indigenous societies.
right to require adolescent boys to undergo collec- the ways of its forebears, to continue its language,
tive circumcision to fulfill cultural traditions, as has and not to be deprived of its economic base by cultural relativism
been done traditionally in parts of Africa and Aus- the nation in which it is located (Greaves 1995). Idea that behavior
tralia? Is it right for a baby boy to be circumcised Many countries have signed pacts endorsing, for should be evaluated
without his permission, as has been done routinely cultural minorities within nations, such rights as not by outside
in the United States and as is customary among Jews self-determination; some degree of home rule; and standards but in the
and Muslims? (A 2011 initiative aimed at banning the right to practice the group’s religion, culture, context of the culture in
circumcision in San Francisco, California, failed to and language. The related notion of indigenous which it occurs.
make it to the ballot.) intellectual property rights (IPR) has arisen in an
According to an idea known as cultural relativ- attempt to conserve each society’s cultural base—its IPR
Intellectual property
ism, it is inappropriate to use outside standards to core beliefs and principles. IPR are claimed as a cul-
rights; an indigenous
judge behavior in a given society; such behavior tural right, allowing indigenous groups to control group’s collective
should be evaluated in the context of the culture in who may know and use their collective knowledge knowledge and its
which it occurs. Anthropologists employ cultural and its applications. Much traditional cultural applications.
relativism not as a moral belief but as a method- knowledge has commercial value. Examples include
ological position: In order to understand another ethnomedicine (traditional medical knowledge and
culture fully, we must try to understand how the techniques), cosmetics, cultivated plants, foods,
people in that culture see things. What motivates folklore, arts, crafts, songs, dances, costumes, and
them—what are they thinking—when they do those rituals. According to the IPR concept, a particular
things? Such an approach does not preclude making group may determine how its indigenous knowledge
moral judgments. In the FGM example, one can and the products of that knowledge are used and
understand the motivations for the practice only by distributed, and the level of compensation required.
looking at things from the point of view of the peo- (This chapter’s “Appreciating Diversity” discusses
ple who engage in it. Having done this, one then how notions of human, cultural, and animal rights
faces the moral question of what, if anything, to do may come into conflict.)
about it. The notion of cultural rights recalls the previous
We also should recognize that different people discussion of cultural relativism, and the issue raised
and groups within the same society—for example, there arises again. What does one do about cultural
women versus men or old versus young—can have rights that interfere with human rights? I believe that
very different opinions about what is proper, neces- anthropology, as the scientific study of human diver-
sary, and moral. When there are power differentials sity, should strive to present accurate accounts and
in a society, a particular practice may be supported explanations of cultural phenomena. Most ethnogra-
by some people more than others (e.g., old men ver- phers try to be objective, accurate, and sensitive in
sus young women). In trying to understand the their accounts of other cultures. However, objectiv-
meaning of a practice or belief within any cultural ity, sensitivity, and a cross-cultural perspective don’t
context, we should ask who is relatively advantaged mean that anthropologists have to ignore interna-
and disadvantaged by that custom. tional standards of justice and morality. The anthro-
The idea of human rights invokes a realm of pologist doesn’t have to approve customs such as human rights
justice and morality beyond and superior to par- infanticide, cannibalism, and torture to recognize Rights based on justice
ticular countries, cultures, and religions. Human their existence and determine their causes and the and morality beyond
rights, usually seen as vested in individuals, include motivations behind them. Each anthropologist has a and superior to
particular countries,
the right to speak freely, to hold religious beliefs choice about where he or she will do fieldwork.
cultures, and religions.
without persecution, and not to be murdered, Some anthropologists choose not to study a particu-
injured, enslaved, or imprisoned without charge. lar culture because they discover in advance or early
These rights are not ordinary laws that particular in fieldwork that behavior they consider morally
governments make and enforce. Human rights are repugnant is practiced there. When confronted with
seen as inalienable (nations cannot abridge or ter- such behavior, each anthropologist must make a
minate them) and international (larger than and judgment about what, if anything, to do about it.
superior to individual nations and cultures). Four What do you think?

Chapter 2 Culture 31
appreciating DIVERSITY
Culture Clash: Makah Seek Return to Whaling Past
Cultures are diverse but not isolated. Throughout On May 17, 1999, a week into the hunt, the meat, hearing only stories passed down through
human history links between groups have been Makah killed a 30-ton gray whale, striking it with the generations. They learned that the whale was a
provided by cultural practices such as marriage, harpoons and then killing it with a gunshot to the touchstone of Makah culture—the tribe’s logo today
kinship, religion, trade, travel, exploration, and back of the head. pictures an eagle perched on a whale—and that the
conquest. For centuries, indigenous peoples That rainy spring day remains etched in the tribe’s economy was built around the lucrative trade
have been exposed to a world system. Contem- minds of many Makah as a deﬁning moment in with Europeans in whale oil, used for heating and
porary forces and events make even the illusion their efforts to reach back to their cultural and his- lighting, during the 18th and early 19th centuries.
of autonomy hard to maintain. Nowadays, as is torical roots. It was their ﬁrst kill in seven decades, For a year before the 1999 hunt, the new Makah
described here, members of local cultures and and it was their last since they were stopped by whale hunters prepared for their sacramental pur-
communities must heed not only their own cus- court rulings. They have asked the federal govern- suit, training in canoes on the cold and choppy wa-
toms but also agencies, laws, and lawsuits oper- ment for permission to resume hunting. . . . ters of the Paciﬁc Ocean, praying on the beach in
ating at the national and international levels. The Makah, a tribe of about 1,500 near the the mornings and at the dock in the evenings.
As you read this account and this chapter on mouth of the Strait of Juan de Fuca on the Olympic Animal rights groups were preparing, too.
culture, pay attention to the various kinds of Peninsula, see themselves as whalers and con- When the hunt began, the small reservation and
rights being asserted—animal rights, cultural tinue to identify themselves spiritually with whales. its surrounding waters were teeming with news
rights, economic rights, legal rights, and human “Everybody felt like it was a part of making helicopters and protest groups. On that May after-
rights—and how those rights might clash. Also history,” Micah L. McCarty, a tribal council mem- noon, when the protesters were somewhere off
consider the different levels of culture and of po- ber, said of the 1999 hunt. “It’s inspired a cul- the reservation, the Makah killed their whale. They
litical representation (local, regional, national, tural renaissance, so to speak. It inspired a lot of held a huge celebration on the beach, where
and global) that determine how contemporary people to learn artwork and become more active 15 men were waiting to butcher the animal, its
people such as the Makah live their lives and in building canoes; the younger generation took meat later kippered and stewed.
maintain their traditions. Think, too, about the a more keen interest in singing and dancing.” But the protests and the television cameras
minimal impact on whale populations of the The Makah, a tribe of mostly ﬁshermen that “took a lot of the spirituality out of it,” said Dave
Makah hunt compared with commercial whaling. faces serious poverty and high unemployment, Sones, vice chairman of the tribal council.
Today, cultural connections come increasingly were guaranteed the right to hunt whales in an Mr. McCarty said, “I equate it with interrupting
through the Internet, as indigenous groups, in- 1855 treaty with the United States, the only tribe High Mass.”
cluding the Makah, maintain their own web- with such a treaty provision. Whaling had been the The Makah went whale hunting, largely unno-
sites—forums for discussions of whaling and tribe’s mainstay for thousands of years. ticed, again in 2000, paddling out on a 32-foot
other issues of interest to them. Check out http:// But the tribe decided to stop hunting whales cedar whaling canoe, but they did not catch any- for the latest on the issues early in the 20th century, when commercial har- thing. Soon after, animal rights groups, including
discussed here. vesting had depleted the species. Whale hunting the Humane Society of the United States, sued to
was later strictly regulated nationally and interna- stop the hunting. In 2002, an appeals court de-
The whaling canoes are stored in a wooden shed, tionally, and the United States listed the Northern clared the hunting illegal, saying the National Oce-
idle for [several] years. They were last used when Paciﬁc gray whale, the one most available to the anic and Atmospheric Administration had not
the Makah Indians were allowed to take their har- Makah, as endangered. adequately studied the impact of Makah hunting
poons and a .50-caliber riﬂe and set out on their The protections helped the whales rebound, on the survival of the whale species.
ﬁrst whale hunt since the late 1920s. and they were taken off the endangered list in Despite the strict national and international
There were eight young men in a canoe with a 1994. Several years later, the Makah won permis- regulations on whale hunting, several tribes of
red hummingbird, a symbol of speed, painted on sion to hunt again, along with a $100,000 federal Alaska Natives, subsistence whale hunters for
the tip. There were motorboats ferrying other grant to set up a whaling commission. centuries, are exempt from provisions of the 1972
hunters, news helicopters, and animal rights activ- By the time they were ready, none of the Makah Marine Mammal Protection Act, allowing them to
ists in speedboats and even a submarine. had witnessed a whale hunt or even tasted the hunt the bowhead whale. That species, unlike the

T 1 Introduc
ducction to Anthropolog
d Ant
gray whale, is listed as endangered, said Brian
Gorman, a spokesman for the oceanic agency.
Despite their treaty rights, the Makah were not
granted an exemption under the 1972 act. The
tribe [has requested] a waiver that would grant
them permanent rights to kill up to 20 gray whales
in any ﬁve-year period, which they insist they
already have under their 1855 treaty.
The Makah’s request is “setting a dangerous
precedent,” said Naomi Rose, a marine mammal
scientist for the Humane Society.
The Alaska hunting, Ms. Rose said, “is a true
subsistence hunt,” whereas the Makah . . . are
pursuing “cultural whaling” that is not essential to
their diet. . . .
The Makah “have a treaty right, but we’re ask-
ing them not to exercise it,” she said. But other
environmental groups, including Greenpeace,
which is adamantly opposed to the commercial
harvesting of whales, have remained neutral on
the Makah’s quest.
“No indigenous hunt has ever destroyed
whale populations,” said John Hocevar, an
oceans specialist with Greenpeace. “And look-
ing at the enormous other threats to whales and
putting the Makah whaling in context, it’s pretty
Mr. Gorman, of the federal ﬁsheries agency,
said: “They have a treaty right that the U.S. gov-
ernment signed. It doesn’t take an international
lawyer to ﬁgure out that they do have this treaty.”

2014 Update: The situation remains unresolved.

The Makah petition to resume whaling continues
to be considered by the Marine Fisheries division
of NOAA—the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration. For the latest on the Makah see

SOURCE: Sarah Kershaw, “In Petition to Government,

Tribe Hopes for Return to Whaling Past.” From The
New York Times, September 19, 2005. © 2005 The
New York Times. All rights reserved. Used by permis-
Dewey Johnson and his son Michael (top) show their support for fellow Makah tribe members at Neah Bay, Washington, in sion and protected by the Copyright Laws of the
their quest to hunt gray whales for the first time in 70 years. Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson stands at Neah Bay beside United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or
a 25-foot submarine painted to look like an orca whale (below). This ship emits orca sounds that can scare away gray retransmission of this Content without express written
whales. Watson leads the opposition against Makah whaling, which was declared illegal in 2002. permission is prohibited.

r 2 Culture
Culturre 33
The notion of indigenous property rights has arisen in an attempt to conserve each society’s cultural base, including its medicinal
plants. The hoodia plant, shown on the left in Botswana, is a Kalahari Desert cactus traditionally used by the San people to stave
off hunger. On the right we see HoodiaThin, a commercial appetite suppressant made from imported hoodia and distributed by
Los Angeles–based Prime Life Nutritionals. Hoodia is grown today on a few commercial farms in southern Africa (including the
San-owned farm on the left).

It blends English grammar with the grammar of a

MECHANISMS OF native language. Pidgin English was first used for
CULTURAL CHANGE commerce in Chinese ports. Similar pidgins devel-
diffusion Why and how do cultures change? One way is dif- oped later in Papua New Guinea and West Africa.
Borrowing of cultural fusion, or the borrowing of traits between cultures. Independent invention—the process by which
traits between societies. Such exchange of information and products has humans innovate, creatively finding solutions to
gone on throughout human history because cultures problems—is a third mechanism of cultural change.
independent Faced with comparable problems and challenges,
never have been truly isolated. Contact between
invention people in different societies have innovated and
The independent
neighboring groups has always existed and has
extended over vast areas (Boas 1940/1966). Diffu- changed in similar ways, which is one reason cul-
development of a
cultural feature in sion is direct when two cultures trade, intermarry, or tural generalities exist. One example is the indepen-
different societies. wage war on one another. Diffusion is forced when dent invention of agriculture in the Middle East and
one culture subjugates another and imposes its cus- Mexico. Over the course of human history, major
toms on the dominated group. Diffusion is indirect innovations have spread at the expense of earlier
when items move from group A to group C via ones. Often a major invention, such as agriculture,
group B without any firsthand contact between A triggers a series of subsequent interrelated changes.
and C. In this case, group B might consist of traders These economic revolutions have social and cultural
or merchants who take products from a variety of repercussions. Thus, in both Mexico and the Middle
places to new markets. Or group B might be geo- East, agriculture led to many social, political, and
graphically situated between A and C, so that what legal changes, including notions of property and dis-
it gets from A eventually winds up in C, and vice tinctions in wealth, class, and power.
versa. In today’s world, much transnational diffu-
sion is due to the spread of the mass media and
advanced information technology. GLOBALIZATION
acculturation Acculturation, a second mechanism of cultural The term globalization encompasses a series of
An exchange of cultural change, is the exchange of cultural features that processes that work transnationally to promote
features between results when groups have continuous firsthand con- change in a world in which nations and people are
groups in ﬁrsthand tact. The cultures of either group or both groups may increasingly interlinked and mutually dependent.
contact. be changed by this contact (Redfield, Linton, and Promoting globalization are economic and political
Herskovits 1936). With acculturation, parts of the forces, along with modern systems of transportation
globalization cultures change, but each group remains distinct. In and digital communication. The forces of globaliza-
The accelerating
situations of continuous contact, cultures may tion include international commerce and finance,
interdependence of
nations in the world
exchange and blend foods, recipes, music, dances, travel and tourism, transnational migration, and the
system today.
clothing, tools, technologies, and languages. media—including the Internet and other high-tech
One example of acculturation is a pidgin, a mixed information flows (see Appadurai, 2001; Friedman
language that develops to ease communication between and Friedman 2008; Haugerud, Stone, and Little
members of different societies in contact. This usually 2011; Kjaerulff 2010; Scholte 2000). New economic
happens in situations of trade or colonialism. Pidgin unions (which have met considerable resistance in
English, for example, is a simplified form of English. their member nations) have been created through the

34 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

World Trade Organization (WTO), the
International Monetary Fund (IMF), and
the European Union (EU).
The media, including the Internet and
satellite and digital transmissions, play a
key role in globalization. Long-distance
communication is faster and easier than
ever, and now it covers most of the globe. I
can now e-mail, call, or Facebook friends
in Arembepe, Brazil, which lacked phones
and even postal service when I first began
to study the community. Information about
Arembepe, including YouTube videos
made by locals, is now available to anyone,
including potential tourists, on hundreds of
websites. Anything can be googled. The
media help propel a transnational culture of
consumption, as they spread information
about products, services, rights, institu-
tions, lifestyles, and the perceived costs and
benefits of globalization. Emigrants trans-
mit information and resources transnation-
ally, as they maintain their ties with home
(phoning, Skyping, Facebooking and Globalization in its current form would not exist without the Internet. Shown here, Chinese youth in an Internet
-timing, tweeting, videoconferencing, tex- café in Beijing. Using cameras and ID card scanners, the Chinese government monitors activity in each of
ting, e-mailing, visiting, sending money). Beijing’s more than 1,500 Internet cafés. Users must be 18 or older. Who monitors Internet use in your country?
In a sense such people live multilocally—
in different places and cultures at once.
the World Bank, and other international
They learn to play various social roles and to change
financial powers to create a global free market
behavior and identity depending on the situation and
for goods and services. In this second sense,
context (see Cresswell 2006).
for its advocates, globalization is the way the
The effects of globalization are broad and not
world should go. For their opponents, it’s the
always welcome. Local people must deal increas-
way the world should not go (Lewellen 2010).
ingly with forces generated by larger systems—
region, nation, and world. An army of outsiders and The first meaning is more neutral. Globalization as
potential change agents now intrudes on people systemic connectedness reflects the relentless and
everywhere. Tourism has become the world’s number ongoing growth of the world system. In its current
one industry (see Holden 2005). Economic develop- form, that system, which has existed for centuries,
ment agents and the media promote the idea that has some radical new aspects. Especially notewor-
work should be for cash rather than mainly for subsis- thy are the speed of global communication, the scale
tence. Indigenous peoples and traditional societies (size and complexity) of global networks, and the
have devised various strategies to deal with threats to volume of international transactions.
their autonomy, identity, and livelihood (Maybury- The fall of the Soviet Empire (in 1989–1990)
Lewis 2002). New forms of cultural expression and allowed a truly global economy to emerge (Lewellen
political mobilization, including the rights move- 2010). Consider three key features of this new econ-
ments discussed previously, are emerging from the omy: (1) It is based on knowledge and information;
interplay of local, regional, national, and international (2) its networks are transnational; and (3) its core
cultural forces (see Ong and Collier 2005). activities, no matter where they take place, can pro-
ceed as a unit in real time (Castells 2001).
Globalization: Its Meaning The Internet and cell phones have made possible
the very rapid global transmission of money,
and Its Nature resources, and information. Tasks that are spatially
Mark Smith and Michele Doyle (2002) distinguish dispersed can now be coordinated in real time.
between two meanings of globalization: Transactions that once involved face-to-face contact
are now processed across vast distances. For exam-
1. Globalization as fact: the spread and connect-
ple, when you order something from the Internet,
edness of production, communication, and
the only human being you might speak to is the
technologies across the world. This is the
delivery driver (Smith and Doyle 2002). The com-
principal meaning for this book.
puters that process your order from Amazon can be
2. Globalization as ideology and policy: efforts on different continents, and the products you order
by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), can come from a warehouse anywhere. The average

Chapter 2 Culture 35
nation-state (see Lugo 1997). Examples of such
“multiplaced” people include business and intellec-
tual leaders, development workers, and members of
multinational corporations, as well as migratory
domestic, agricultural, and construction workers
(see Lewellen 2010).
Multinational corporations move their operations
to places where labor and materials are cheap. This
globalization of labor creates unemployment “back
home” as industries relocate and outsource abroad.
Multinationals also seek out new markets. They strive
to create new needs among specific target groups,
especially young people, who increasingly construct
their identities around consumption, especially of
brand-name products. Successful multinationals,
including Nike, Apple, Coca-Cola, and Hugo Boss,
invest huge sums in promoting their brands. The goal
is to make a particular brand an integral part of the
way people see themselves. Savvy branders try to “get
them young” (Klein 2000; Smith and Doyle 2002).
Multinational corporations ally themselves with,
and influence, politicians and government officials,
especially those who are most concerned with world
Advertising Coca-Cola, trade. Financial globalization means that nations
a powerful global brand,
have less control over their own economies. Such
institutions as the World Bank, the International
in Xi’an, China. Savvy
Monetary Fund, the European Union, and the
branders try to “get
European Central Bank routinely constrain and dic-
them young.” tate the national economic policies of countries like
Greece and Spain.
As capitalism has spread globally, the gap
food product now travels 1,300 miles and changes between rich and poor has widened both within and
hands a dozen times before it reaches an American between nations. David Landes (1999) calculated
consumer (Lewellen 2010). the difference in per capita income between the
In such a world, Michael Burawoy suggests that world’s richest and poorest nations (Switzerland and
anthropologists should shift “from studying ‘sites’ Mozambique at that time) as 400 to 1, versus around
to studying ‘fields,’ that is, the relations 5 to 1 when the Industrial Revolution began about
between sites” (Burawoy 2000, 250 years ago. The key role of knowledge in today’s
p. xii). People increasingly global economy has accelerated this gap, because
live their lives across bor- knowledge tends to be concentrated in industrial
ders, maintaining social, nations and certain regions within them. Knowledge
financial, cultural, and has commercial value, as new ideas are converted
political connections into the products and services that consumers want
with more than one (Leadbeater 1999).

summary 1. Culture, which is distinctive to humanity, refers to
customary behavior and beliefs that are passed on
which lead them to think and act in characteristic
through enculturation. Culture rests on the human
capacity for cultural learning. Culture encompasses 2. Although other animals learn, only humans have
rules for conduct internalized in human beings, cultural learning, dependent on symbols. Humans

36 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

think symbolically—arbitrarily bestowing meaning permit us to maintain lifelong ties with relatives in
on things and events. By convention, a symbol different local groups.
stands for something with which it has no necessary
6. Using a comparative perspective, anthropology ex-
or natural relation. Symbols have special meaning
amines biological, psychological, social, and cultural
for people who share memories, values, and beliefs
universals and generalities. There also are unique
because of common enculturation. People absorb
and distinctive aspects of the human condition (cul-
cultural lessons consciously and unconsciously.
tural particularities). North American cultural tradi-
3. Cultural traditions mold biologically based desires tions are no more natural than any others. Levels of
and needs in particular directions. Everyone is cul- culture can be larger or smaller than a nation. Cul-
tured, not just people with elite educations. Cultures tural traits may be shared across national boundaries.
may be integrated and patterned through economic Nations also include cultural differences associated
and social forces, key symbols, and core values. with ethnicity, region, and social class.
Cultural rules don’t rigidly dictate our behavior.
7. Ethnocentrism describes judging other cultures by
There is room for creativity, flexibility, diversity,
using one’s own cultural standards. Cultural relativ-
and disagreement within societies. Cultural means
ism, which anthropologists may use as a method-
of adaptation have been crucial in human evolution.
ological position rather than a moral stance, is the
Aspects of culture also can be maladaptive.
idea of avoiding the use of outside standards to
4. The human capacity for culture has an evolutionary judge behavior in a given society. Human rights are
basis that extends back at least 2.6 million years— those based on justice and morality beyond and su-
to early toolmakers whose products survive in the perior to particular countries, cultures, and religions.
archaeological record (and most probably even far- Cultural rights are vested in religious and ethnic mi-
ther back—based on observation of tool use and norities and indigenous societies, and IPR, or intel-
manufacture by apes). Humans share with monkeys lectual property rights, apply to an indigenous
and apes such traits as manual dexterity (especially group’s collective knowledge and its applications.
opposable thumbs), depth and color vision, learning
8. Diffusion, migration, and colonialism have carried
ability based on a large brain, substantial parental
cultural traits and patterns to different world areas.
investment in a limited number of offspring, and
Mechanisms of cultural change include diffusion,
tendencies toward sociality and cooperation.
acculturation, and independent invention.
5. Many hominin traits are foreshadowed in other pri-
9. Globalization describes a series of processes that
mates, particularly in the African apes, which, like
promote change in a world in which nations and
us, belong to the hominid family. The ability to
people are interlinked and mutually dependent.
learn, basic to culture, is an adaptive advantage
There is a distinction between globalization as fact
available to monkeys and apes. Chimpanzees make
(the primary meaning of globalization in this book)
tools for several purposes. They also hunt and share
and globalization as contested ideology and policy
meat. Sharing and cooperation are more developed
(international efforts to create a global free market
among humans than among the apes, and only hu-
for goods and services).
mans have systems of kinship and marriage that

acculturation 34
core values 25
hominins 25
human rights 31 key terms
cultural relativism 31 independent invention 34
cultural rights 31 international culture 29
diffusion 34 IPR 31
enculturation 22 national culture 29
ethnocentrism 30 particularity 27
generality 27 subcultures 29
globalization 34 symbol 22
hominid 25 universal 27

1. This chapter includes various authors’ definitions of culture (e.g., those of Tylor, Geertz, and Kottak). How are
these definitions similar? How are they different? How has reading this chapter altered your own understanding critical
of what culture is?
2. Our culture—and cultural changes—affects how we perceive nature, human nature, and “the natural.” This thinking
theme continues to fascinate science fiction writers. Recall a recent science fiction book, movie, or TV program

Chapter 2 Culture 37
that creatively explores the boundaries between nature and culture. How does the story develop the tension
between nature and culture to craft a plot?
3. In American culture today, the term diversity is used in many contexts, usually referring to some positive
attribute of our human experience, something to appreciate, to maintain, and even to increase. In what contexts
have you heard the term used? To what precisely does the term refer?
4. What are some issues about which you find it hard to be culturally relativistic? If you were an anthropologist
with the task of investigating these issues in real life, can you think of a series of steps that you would take to
design a project that would, to the best of your ability, practice methodological cultural relativism? (You may
want to review the use of the scientific method in an anthropological project presented in Chapter 1.)
5. What are the mechanisms of cultural change described in this chapter? Can you come up with additional
examples of each mechanism? Also, recall the relationship between culture and the individual. Can individuals
be agents of cultural change?

38 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology


Method and Theory in

Cultural Anthropology

Where and how

do cultural
do ﬁeldwork?

What are some ways

of studying modern

What theories
have guided
anthropologists over
the years?

A French anthropologist (left) converses with villagers in the Aru Islands, eastern Indonesia.
chapter outline ETHNOGRAPHY:
Observation and
Participant Observation
Interviewing, and
understanding OURSELVES
o many, the word “anthropology” may under the label “ethnography,” were developed

Interview Schedules
The Genealogical
evoke an image of archaeological digs. to deal with small populations. Even when work-
Method Remember, however, that anthropology ing in modern nations, anthropologists still con-
Key Cultural Consultants has four subﬁelds, only two of which sider ethnography with small groups to be an
Life Histories (archaeology and biological anthropology) require excellent way of learning about how people live
Problem-Oriented much digging—in the ground, at least. To be their lives and make decisions.
Ethnography sure, cultural anthropologists “dig out” informa- For the general public, biological anthropolo-
Longitudinal Research
tion about lifestyles, just as linguistic anthropolo- gists and archaeologists tend to be better known
Team Research
gists do about the features of unwritten languages. than cultural anthropologists because of what
ETHNOGRAPHIC Traditionally, cultural anthropologists have done a they study. One cultural anthropologist was an
variant on the Star Trek theme of seeking out if extremely important public ﬁgure when (and
Emic and Etic
Expansion in Analytic not new, at least different “life” and “civiliza- before and after) I was in college. Margaret
Scale tions,” sometimes boldly going where no scien- Mead, famed for her work on teen sexuality in
Online Ethnography tist has gone before. Samoa and gender roles in New Guinea, may
SURVEY RESEARCH Despite globalization, the cultural diversity well be the most famous anthropologist who
DOING ANTHROPOLOGY under anthropological scrutiny right now may be ever lived. Mead, one of my own professors at
RIGHT AND WRONG: as great as ever before, because the anthropo- Columbia University, appeared regularly on
ETHICAL ISSUES logical universe has expanded to modern NBC’s The Tonight Show. In all her venues,
The Code of Ethics nations. Today’s cultural anthropologists are as including teaching, museum work, TV, anthropo-
Anthropologists and likely to be studying artists in Miami or bankers in logical ﬁlms, popular books, and magazines,
Beirut as Trobriand sailors in the South Paciﬁc. Mead helped Americans appreciate the rele-
Still, we can’t forget that anthropology did origi- vance of anthropology to understanding their
nate in non-Western, nonindustrial societies. Its daily lives. Her work is featured here and else-
Unilinear Evolutionism
research techniques, especially those subsumed where in this book.
Historical Particularism
Neoevolutionism entiation than is found in large, modern,
Cultural Materialism
ETHNOGRAPHY: industrial nations (see Moore 2009). Tradi-
Science and Determinism ANTHROPOLOGY’S tionally, ethnographers have tried to under-
stand the whole of a particular culture (or,
Culture versus the DISTINCTIVE STRATEGY more realistically, as much as they can,
Individual Anthropology emerged as a distinctive field given limitations of time and perception). To
Symbolic and of inquiry as its early scholars focused on pursue this goal, ethnographers adopt a free-
Interpretive Native Americans or traveled to distant lands ranging strategy. The ethnographer moves
Anthropology to study small groups of foragers (hunters from setting to setting, place to place, and
and gatherers) and cultivators. Traditionally, subject to subject to discover the totality and
the process of becoming a cultural anthro- interconnectedness of social life. Ethnogra-
Processual Approaches pologist has required a field experience in phers draw on varied techniques to piece
World-System Theory another society. Early ethnographers studied together a picture of otherwise alien life-
and Political Economy small-scale, relatively isolated societies with styles. Anthropologists usually employ sev-
Culture, History, Power simple technologies and economies. eral (but rarely all) of the techniques
Ethnography thus emerged as a research discussed next (see also Bernard 2011;
ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY strategy in societies with less social differ- Wolcott 2010).

ETHNOGRAPHIC and of typical behavior” (Malinowski 1922/1961,
p. 20). These aspects of culture are so fundamental
TECHNIQUES that natives take them for granted. They are too
The characteristic field techniques of the ethnogra- basic even to talk about, but the unaccustomed eye
pher include the following: of the fledgling ethnographer picks them up. There-
after, becoming familiar, they fade to the edge of
1. Direct, firsthand observation of behavior, in- consciousness. I mention my initial impressions of
cluding participant observation. some such imponderabilia of northeastern Brazilian
2. Conversation with varying degrees of formal- culture in this chapter’s “Appreciating Diversity.”
ity, from the daily chitchat that helps maintain Ethnographers strive to establish rapport, a good,
rapport and provides knowledge about what is friendly working relationship based on personal
going on to prolonged interviews, which can contact, with their hosts. One of ethnography’s most
be unstructured or structured. characteristic procedures is participant observation,
which means that we take part in community life as
3. The genealogical method. we study it. As human beings living among others,
4. Detailed work with key consultants, or infor- we cannot be totally impartial and detached observ-
mants, about particular areas of community ers. We take part in many events and processes we
life. are observing and trying to comprehend. By partici-
pating, we may learn why people find such events
5. In-depth interviewing, often leading to the meaningful, as we see how they are organized and
collection of life histories of particular people conducted.
(narrators). In Arembepe, Brazil, I learned about fishing by
6. Problem-oriented research of many sorts. sailing on the Atlantic with local fishers. I gave Jeep
rides to malnourished babies, to pregnant mothers,
7. Longitudinal research—the continuous long- and once to a teenage girl possessed by a spirit. All
term study of an area or a site. those people needed to consult specialists outside
8. Team research—coordinated research by mul- the village. I danced on Arembepe’s festive occa-
tiple ethnographers. sions, drank libations commemorating new births,
and became a godfather to a village girl. Most
anthropologists have similar field experiences. The
Observation and Participant common humanity of the student and the studied,
the ethnographer and the research community,
Observation makes participant observation inevitable.
Ethnographers must pay attention to hundreds of
details of daily life, seasonal events, and unusual Conversation, Interviewing,
happenings. They should record what they see as
they see it. Things never again will seem quite and Interview Schedules
as  strange as they do during the first few weeks Participating in local life means that ethnogra-
in  the field. Often anthropologists experience phers constantly talk to people and ask questions.
culture shock—a creepy and profound feeling of As their knowledge of the local language and cul-
alienation—on arrival at a new field site. Although ture increases, they understand more. There are
anthropologists study human diversity, the actual several stages in learning a field language. First is
field experience of diversity takes some getting used the naming phase—asking name after name of the
to, as we see in this chapter’s “Appreciating Diver- objects around us. Later we are able to pose more
sity.” The ethnographer eventually grows accus- complex questions and understand the replies. We
tomed to, and accepts as normal, cultural patterns begin to understand simple conversations between
that initially were alien. Staying a bit more than a two villagers. If our language expertise proceeds
year in the field allows the ethnographer to repeat far enough, we eventually become able to compre-
the season of his or her arrival, when certain events hend rapid-fire public discussions and group
and processes may have been missed because of ini- conversations.
tial unfamiliarity and culture shock. One data-gathering technique I have used in both
Many ethnographers record their impressions in Arembepe and Madagascar involves an ethno-
a personal diary, which is kept separate from more graphic survey that includes an interview schedule.
formal field notes. Later, this record of early impres- During my second summer of fieldwork in Arem-
sions will help point out some of the most basic bepe, my fellow field workers and I attempted to com-
aspects of cultural diversity. Such aspects include plete an interview schedule in each of that community’s
distinctive smells, noises people make, how they 160 households. We entered almost every household
cover their mouths when they eat, and how they (fewer than 5 percent refused to participate) to ask a
gaze at others. These patterns, which are so basic as set of questions on a printed form. Our results pro-
to seem almost trivial, are part of what Bronislaw vided us with a census and basic information about
Malinowski called “the imponderabilia of native life the  village. We wrote down the name, age, and

Chapter 3 Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology 41

appreciating DIVERSITY
Even Anthropologists Get Culture Shock
My ﬁrst ﬁeld experience in Arembepe (Brazil) took visit would be a reward at the end of ﬁeldwork. As bananas, and passion fruit—and of swatting the
place between my junior and senior years at New our prop jet approached tropical Salvador, I ubiquitous fruit ﬂies I had never seen before, al-
York City’s Columbia College, where I was major- couldn’t believe the whiteness of the sand. “That’s though I had read extensively about their repro-
ing in anthropology. I went to Arembepe as a par- not snow, is it?” I remarked to a fellow ﬁeld team ductive behavior in genetics classes. There were
ticipant in a now defunct program designed to member. . . . strange concoctions of rice, black beans, and ge-
provide undergraduates with experience doing My ﬁrst impressions of Bahia were of smells— latinous gobs of unidentiﬁable meats and ﬂoating
ethnography—ﬁrsthand study of an alien society’s alien odors of ripe and decaying mangoes, pieces of skin. Coffee was strong and sugar crude,
culture and social life.
Brought up in one culture, intensely curious
about others, anthropologists nevertheless expe-
rience culture shock, particularly on their ﬁrst ﬁeld
trip. Culture shock refers to the whole set of feel-
ings about being in an alien setting, and the ensu- BAHIA

Jacuipe Ri
ing reactions. It is a chilly, creepy feeling of
ve 12°30"S
alienation, of being without some of the most ordi- r

Pa r Dom João
agu a ç u River
nary, trivial (and therefore basic) cues of one’s Sugar Mill
Praia Do Forte
culture of origin. São Francisco
As I planned my departure for Brazil that year, Do Conde Camacari

I could not know just how naked I would feel with- Mataripe

out the cloak of my own language and culture. My

Bay of Arembepe ATLANTIC
sojourn in Arembepe would be my ﬁrst trip outside
All Saints Jauá OCEAN
the United States. I was an urban boy who had
grown up in Atlanta, Georgia, and New York City. I
Salvador Itapoan
had little experience with rural life in my own 13°00"S
country, none with Latin America, and I had re- Island 0 10 20 mi

ceived only minimal training in the Portuguese 0 10 20 km

language. 38°30"W 38°00"W

New York City direct to Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
Just a brief stopover in Rio de Janeiro; a longer FIGURE 3.1 Location of Arembepe, Bahia, Brazil.

deerr off eeac
h household
ldd member.
meeember. We
m W gathered
tth reeedd nographer
nno ogr
er talks
talkkss face-to-face
ta fa
ffaceee---to-facee with
thh people,
p pple,
pllleee,, asks
aaskks the th
st ionn
nn e
nnaire dataa oon fam
data family
m i type,
typee, religi
gio on, present
on present
ppr nt aand pprev
eviou qquestions,
quue ti
uestions, and
aan writes
ess down
do n the
the answers.
wers Question-
weers.. Questio
Quest ttiooon-
Foo m used by by jobs,
s, income,
incom mee,
m e expenditures,
dit itur
s diet,
diettt,, possessions,
ons, and
anndd naire
naaaire proc
res tend to to be more
ree impersonal;
onal ooften
of f
stss to obtain many
man nyy other
oth it
othe iite
e s onn oour eig
ems eight-page
g t-pa
paage form.
pa thee respondent
d fill fills
lllls inn ththe
thhe form.
comp parabl
pa able
ab le information
e informatio
nfo on
n Although
Allh h we were doing d i a survey, our approachh Our goall off getting
O i a totall sample l allowed
lll d us to
from respondents.
differed from the survey research done by sociolo- meet almost everyone in the village and helped us
gists and other social scientists working in large, establish rapport. Decades later, Arembepeiros still
industrial nations. That survey research, discussed talk warmly about how we were interested enough
on pp. 47–48, involves sampling (choosing a in them to visit their homes and ask them questions.
small, manageable study group from a larger popu- We stood in sharp contrast to the other outsiders the
lation). We did not select a partial sample from villagers had known, who considered them too poor
interview schedule Arembepe’s total population. Instead, we tried to and backward to be taken seriously.
Form (guide) used to interview in all households (i.e., to have a total sam- Like other survey research, however, our inter-
structure a formal, but ple). We used an interview schedule rather than a view schedule did gather comparable quantifiable
personal, interview. questionnaire. With the interview schedule, the eth- information. It gave us a basis for assessing patterns

42 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

and every tabletop had containers for toothpicks studied remote tribes in the tropical forests of inte- tracks left by automobiles that had passed
and for manioc (cassava) ﬂour to sprinkle, like Par- rior South America or the highlands of Papua New previously. A crowd of children had heard us com-
mesan cheese, on anything one might eat. I re- Guinea, I did not have to hike or ride a canoe for ing, and they pursued our car through the village
member oatmeal soup and a slimy stew of beef days to arrive at my ﬁeld site. Arembepe was not streets until we parked in front of our house, near
tongue in tomatoes. At one meal a disintegrating isolated relative to such places, only relative to the central square. Our ﬁrst few days in Arembepe
ﬁsh head, eyes still attached, but barely, stared up every other place I had ever been. . . . were spent with children following us everywhere.
at me as the rest of its body ﬂoated in a bowl of I do recall what happened when we arrived. For weeks we had few moments of privacy. Chil-
bright orange palm oil. . . . There was no formal road into the village. Entering dren watched our every move through our living
I only vaguely remember my ﬁrst day in Arem- through southern Arembepe, vehicles simply room window. Occasionally one made an incompre-
bepe [Figure 3.1]. Unlike ethnographers who have threaded their way around coconut trees, following hensible remark. Usually they just stood there. . . .
The sounds, sensations, sights, smells, and
tastes of life in northeastern Brazil, and in Arem-
bepe, slowly grew familiar. . . . I grew accustomed to
this world without Kleenex, in which globs of mucus
habitually drooped from the noses of village chil-
dren whenever a cold passed through Arembepe. A
world where, seemingly without effort, women . . .
carried 18-liter kerosene cans of water on their
heads, where boys sailed kites and sported at catch-
ing houseﬂies in their bare hands, where old women
smoked pipes, storekeepers offered cachaça (com-
mon rum) at nine in the morning, and men played
dominoes on lazy afternoons when there was no
ﬁshing. I was visiting a world where human life was
oriented toward water—the sea, where men ﬁshed,
and the lagoon, where women communally washed
clothing, dishes, and their own bodies.

This description is adapted from my ethnographic

study Assault on Paradise: The Globalization of a Lit-
tle Community in Brazil, 4th ed. (New York: McGraw-
Conrad Kottak, with his Brazilian nephew, Guilherme Roxo, on a revisit to Arembepe in 2004. Hill, 2006).

andnd exexceptio
pt onss iin
on n vill
aagee lli
i e. Our sschedu
l It enabled
It enab
en ble
ed our
o r ethnography
g ap
apphy to be
be both
othth quanti
c ude
ded d a coreree set of questions
qu ue onns ns thathat were
tth eree posed
wer sed
edd toto and qualitative.
alit tiiv
vvee. Th
he quantitative
he qu
tiive parppa
a t cco
art consisted
on ed
e How
How weever, som
me interesting
me intterestiiinnng sidee issues
in iss
issues of  the
the basic information
mationn we
m w gatgathered
ered anand
ndd lalater
often ca
me uup du
me during
g the
thhee iinterv
ieww,, w
which we w would analyzed
an lyzzzed
e statistically.
i llly
yy. The
Thhe qualitative
qualitaaattive dimension
ensn i
pursue then h or later.l We
W followed
f ll d suchh leads
l d intoi came fromf our follow-up
f ll questions,
i open-ended d d
many dimensions of village life. One woman, for discussions, pauses for gossip, and work with key
instance, a midwife, became the key cultural consul- consultants.
tant we sought out later when we wanted detailed
information about local childbirth. Another woman
had done an internship in an Afro-Brazilian cult The Genealogical Method
(candomblé) in the city. She still went there regu- Many of us learn about our ancestry and relatives by genealogical
larly to study, dance, and get possessed. She became tracing our genealogies. Computer programs and method
our candomblé expert. websites allow us to fill in our “family trees.” The Using diagrams and
Thus, our interview schedule provided a structure genealogical method is a well-established ethno- symbols to record kin
that directed but did not confine us as researchers. graphic technique. Extended kinship is a prominent connections.

Chapter 3 Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology 43

organizing such societies, because strategic mar-
riages between villages, tribes, and clans create
political alliances.

Key Cultural Consultants

The term cultural consultants, or informants, refers
to individuals the ethnographer gets to know in the
field, the people who teach him or her about their
culture. Every community has people who by acci-
dent, experience, talent, or training can provide the
most complete or useful information about particular
aspects of life. These people are key cultural con-
sultants, also called key informants. In Ivato, the
Betsileo village in Madagascar where I spent most of
my time, a man named Rakoto was particularly
knowledgeable about village history. However, when
I asked him to work with me on a genealogy of the
50 to 60 people buried in the village tomb, he called
in his cousin Tuesdaysfather, who knew more about
that subject. Tuesdaysfather had survived an epi-
Kinship and descent are vital social building blocks in nonindustrial cultures. Without writing, demic of influenza that ravaged Madagascar, along
genealogical information may be preserved in material culture, such as this totem pole being with much of the world, around 1919. Immune to the
raised in Metlakatla, Alaska. disease himself, Tuesdaysfather had the grim job of
burying his kin as they died. He kept track of every-
one buried in the tomb. Tuesdaysfather helped me
cultural consultants building block in the social organization of nonin- with the tomb genealogy. Rakoto joined him in tell-
People who teach an dustrial societies, where people live and work each ing me personal details about the deceased villagers.
ethnographer about day with their close kin. Anthropologists need to
their culture. collect genealogical data to understand current
key cultural
social relations and to reconstruct history. In many Life Histories
nonindustrial societies, links through kinship and In nonindustrial societies as in our own, individual
Experts on a particular
marriage form the core of social life. Anthropolo- personalities, interests, and abilities vary. Some vil-
aspect of local life. gists even call such cultures “kin-based societies.” lagers prove to be more interested in the ethnogra-
Everyone is related and spends most of his or her pher’s work and are more helpful, interesting, and
life history time with relatives. Rules of behavior associated
Of a key consultant; a
pleasant than others are. Anthropologists develop
with particular kin relations are basic to everyday likes and dislikes in the field as we do at home.
personal portrait of
someone’s life in a
life (see Carsten 2004). Marriage also is crucial in Often, when we find someone unusually interesting,
culture. we collect his or her life history. This recollection
of a lifetime of experiences provides a more inti-
mate and personal cultural portrait than would be
possible otherwise. Life histories, which may be
recorded or videoed for later review and analysis,
reveal how specific people perceive, react to, and
contribute to changes that affect their lives. Such
accounts can illustrate diversity, which exists within
any community, because the focus is on how differ-
ent people interpret and deal with some of the same
problems. Many ethnographers include the collec-
tion of life histories as an important part of their
research strategy.

Problem-Oriented Ethnography
Although anthropologists are interested in the whole
context of human behavior, it is impossible to study
everything. Most ethnographers now enter the field
with a specific problem to investigate, and they collect
data relevant to that problem (see Murchison 2010;
Anthropologists such as Christie Kiefer typically form personal relationships with their cultural Sunstein and Chiseri-Strater 2012). Local people’s
consultants, such as this Guatemalan weaver. answers to questions are not the only data source.

44 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

Anthropologists also gather information on factors
such as population density, climate, diet, and land use.
Sometimes this involves direct measurement—of
rainfall, temperature, fields, yields, dietary quanti-
ties, or time allocation. Often it means that we
consult government records or archives.
The information of interest to ethnographers is
not limited to what local people can and do tell us.
In an increasingly interconnected and complicated
world, local people lack knowledge about many fac- 30°W
L. Tanganyika
tors that affect their lives. Our local consultants may Luv
be as mystified as we are by the exercise of power

L. Rukwa
from regional, national, and international centers.

L. Mweru
Longitudinal Research Nchelenge Mporokoso Mbeya


Geography limits anthropologists less now than in 10°S OF THE CONGO LUAPULA Kasama 10°S
shi Isoka
the past, when it could take months to reach a field be
Dilolo am


Kolwezi C

site and return visits were rare. New systems of

L L. Bangweulu


L. Nyasa
transportation allow anthropologists to widen the Lubumbashi Mpika (Malawi)
area of their research and to return repeatedly. Eth- Mwinilunga

ANGOLA Chililabombwe


nographic reports now routinely include data from Mufulira Lundazi


ng po
Kitwe Ndola
two or more field stays. Longitudinal research is w

ng Serenje

the long-term study of a community, region, society,


culture, or other unit. Kabwe Petauke Lilongwe
One example of such research is the ongoing Kaoma
15°S LUSAKA 15°S
study of Gwembe District, Zambia (see Figure 3.2). C Mongu
e Lusaka Luangwa MOZAMBIQUE

This study, planned in 1956 as a longitudinal project


WESTERN Kafue zi
Namwala Mazabuka mbe

by Elizabeth Colson and Thayer Scudder, continues Za
SOUTHERN Gwembe Tete

with Colson, Scudder, and their associates of various Choma


L. Kariba
nationalities. Thus, as is often the case with longitu- Sesheke
dinal research, the Gwembe study also illustrates Ok Caprivi St
team research—coordinated research by multiple Hwange

0 100 200 mi


ethnographers (Colson and Scudder 1975; Scudder 0 100 200 km

and Colson 1980). The researchers have studied four 25°E 30°E
villages, in different areas, for over 50 years. Peri-
odic village censuses provide basic data on popula- FIGURE 3.2 Location of Gwembe in Zambia.
tion, economy, kinship, and religious behavior.
Censused people who have moved are traced and
interviewed to see how their lives compare with
those of people who have stayed in the villages. Team Research
Over time new research questions have emerged, As mentioned, longitudinal research often is team longitudinal
although basic data on communities and individuals research. My own field site of Arembepe, Brazil, for research
continue to be collected. The first focus of study was example, first entered the world of anthropology Long-term study, usually
the impact of a large hydroelectric dam, which sub- as a field-team village in the 1960s. It was one of based on repeated
jected the Gwembe people to forced resettlement. four sites for the now defunct Columbia-Cornell-
The dam also spurred road building and other activi- Harvard-Illinois Summer Field Studies Program in
ties that brought the people of Gwembe more closely Anthropology. For at least three years, that program
in touch with the rest of Zambia. In subsequent sent a total of about 20 undergraduates annually, the
research Scudder and Colson (1980) examined how author included, to do summer research abroad. We
education provided access to new opportunities as it were stationed in rural communities in four coun-
also widened a social gap between people with dif- tries: Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. See this
ferent educational levels. A third study examined a chapter’s “Appreciating Diversity” on pp. 42–43
change in brewing and drinking patterns, including a for information on how a novice undergraduate eth-
rise in alcoholism, in relation to changing markets, nographer perceived Arembepe.
transportation, and exposure to town values (Colson Since my wife, Isabel Wagley Kottak, and I first
and Scudder 1988). Retired from the University of studied it in the 1960s, Arembepe has become a
California at Berkeley, where she holds the title of longitudinal field site. Multiple researchers have
Professor Emerita, Colson, now in her nineties, cur- monitored various aspects of change and develop-
rently resides in Gwembe district, where the project ment there. Arembepe, now a small city, illustrates
continues. the process of globalization at the local level. Its

Chapter 3 Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology 45

economy, religion, and social life have been trans- What has meaning for them? The ethnographer seeks
formed (see Kottak 2006). to understand the “native viewpoint,” relying on
Brazilian and American researchers worked with local people to explain things and to say whether
us on team research projects during the 1980s (on something is significant or not.
etic television’s impact) and the 1990s (on ecological With the etic perspective, the focus shifts from
Research strategy awareness and environmental risk perception). Stu- local observations, categories, explanations, and inter-
emphasizing the dents from various universities have drawn on our pretations to those of the anthropologist. Members of
ethnographer’s baseline information from the 1960s in their recent a culture often are too involved in what they are
explanations and studies in Arembepe. Their topics have included stan- doing to interpret their culture impartially. Operat-
dards of physical attractiveness, family planning and ing etically, the ethnographer emphasizes what he or
changing female reproductive strategies, conversion she (the observer) notices and considers important.
to Protestantism, and changing food habits in relation As a trained scientist, the ethnographer should try to
to globalization. Arembepe is thus a site where vari- bring an objective and comprehensive viewpoint to
ous field workers have worked as members of a lon- the study of other cultures. Of course, the ethnogra-
gitudinal, multigenerational team. The more recent pher, like any other scientist, is also a human being
researchers have built on prior contacts and findings with cultural blinders that prevent complete objec-
to increase knowledge about how local people meet tivity. As in other sciences, proper training can
and manage new circumstances. As of this writing reduce, but not totally eliminate, the observer’s bias.
(2013), new researchers are at work in Arembepe and But anthropologists do have special training to com-
other Brazilian communities, updating our study of pare behavior in different societies.
media, which began during the 1980s. What are some examples of emic versus etic
perspectives? Consider our holidays. For North
Americans, Thanksgiving Day has special signifi-
ETHNOGRAPHIC cance. In our view (emically) it is a unique cultural
celebration that commemorates particular historical
PERSPECTIVES themes. But a wider, etic, perspective sees Thanks-
Emic and Etic giving as just one more example of the postharvest
One goal of ethnography is to discover local (native) festivals held in many societies. Another example:
views, beliefs, and perceptions, which may be com- Local people (including many Americans) may
pared with the ethnographer’s own observations and believe that chills and drafts cause colds, which sci-
conclusions. In the field, ethnographers typically entists know are caused by germs. In cultures that
combine two perspectives, the emic (native-oriented) lack the germ theory of disease, illnesses are emi-
and the etic (scientist-oriented). These terms, derived cally explained by various causes, ranging from spir-
from linguistics, have been applied to ethnography its to ancestors to witches. Illness refers to a culture’s
by various anthropologists. Marvin Harris (1968/ (emic) perception and explanation of bad health,
emic whereas disease refers to the scientific (etic) expla-
Research strategy 2001b) popularized the following meanings of the
terms: An emic perspective is concerned with how nation of poor health, involving known pathogens.
focusing on local
local people think. How do they perceive, categorize, Ethnographers typically combine emic and etic
explanations and
and explain things? What are their rules for behavior? perspectives in their fieldwork. The statements, per-
ceptions, categories, and opinions of local people
help ethnographers understand how cultures work.
Local beliefs also are interesting and valuable in
themselves. However, people often fail to admit, or
even recognize, certain causes and consequences of
their behavior. This is as true of North Americans as
it is of people in other societies.

Expansion in Analytic Scale

Janet Dunn, one of The previous sections on longitudinal and team
many anthropologists research illustrate an important shift in cultural
who have worked in anthropology. Traditional ethnographic research
Arembepe. Her study
focused on a single community or “culture,” which
was treated as more or less isolated and unique in
focused on family
time and space. The shift has been toward a wider and
planning and female
larger scale of analysis that includes flows (now
reproductive strategies. global in scope) of people, technology, images, and
Where is Arembepe, information. The study of such flows and linkages is
and what kinds of now an important part of anthropological analysis.
research have been And reflecting today’s world—in which people,
done there? images, and information move about as never

46 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

before—fieldwork must be more flexible and on a
larger scale. Ethnography is increasingly multitimed
and multisited. Malinowski could focus on Trobriand
culture and spend most of his field time in a particular
community. Nowadays we cannot afford to ignore, as
Malinowski did, the “outsiders” who increasingly
impinge on the places we study (e.g., migrants, refu-
gees, terrorists, warriors, tourists, developers). Inte-
gral to our analyses now are the external organizations
and forces (e.g., governments, businesses, nongov- A teen plays computer
ernmental organizations) laying claim to land, peo- games in his bedroom.
ple, and resources throughout the world. To what extent is this
Anthropologists increasingly study people in kind of gaming a social
motion. Examples include people living on or near experience?
national borders, nomads, seasonal migrants, home-
less and displaced people, immigrants, and refugees
(see Lugo 1997). As fieldwork changes, with less
owed a debt to the imaginary world of Middle Earth
and less of a spatially set field, what can we take
created by J. R. R. Tolkien, of The Hobbit and The
from traditional ethnography? Gupta and Ferguson
Lord of the Rings fame. Online worlds are sophisti-
correctly cite the “characteristically anthropological
cated places of imagination with their own species,
emphasis on daily routine and lived experience”
artifacts, characters, and customs. The avatar is the
(1997a, p. 5). The treatment of communities as dis-
representation of self in a virtual world. People in
crete entities may be a thing of the past. However,
cyberspace can have multiple identities, which often
“anthropology’s traditional attention to the close
contrast—in gender, for example—with their real-
observation of particular lives in particular places”
world identities. A person’s multiple avatars are
has an enduring importance (Gupta and Ferguson,
known as alts—alternative identities or personalities.
eds., 1997b, p. 25). The method of close observation
The online ethnographer sometimes moves
helps distinguish cultural anthropology from sociol-
offline to visit players in their real-world setting
ogy and survey research (see pp. 47–48).
(e.g., a home or an Internet café). In some cases,
ethnographers have traveled abroad to see how a
Online Ethnography given game is played in different countries and how
real-world culture influences participation in the vir-
The relatively recent creation of virtual worlds has
tual world. There are virtual world fan conventions,
attracted contemporary ethnographers to venture
which the ethnographer may attend. Interviews can
into online communities. Tom Boellstorff, Bonnie
be conducted either or both on- and offline in a par-
Nardi, Celia Pearce, and T. L. Taylor offer a hand-
ticipant’s virtual or real-world home. Informal con-
book for fieldwork in virtual worlds (Boellstorff et
versations online reveal what players are thinking
al. 2012). All four have researched gaming-oriented
about as they play. To understand the social organi-
online environments, including Second Life, World
zation of their virtual field site, ethnographers may
of Warcraft, Dreamscape,, and Myst
draw diagrams of social relations, similar to gene-
Online: Uru Live. Various techniques have been
alogies drawn during real-world fieldwork. Time-
used to study these virtual worlds. Most important is
lines are useful for understanding the succession of
participant observation; the ethnographic research-
virtual events such as dances, festivals, or auctions.
ers became skilled players as they observed the
Brief site drop-ins can be used to respond to instant
online environment and the interactions within it.
messages, keep up with announcements, and find
Each virtual world has developed its own culture,
out when players typically log in. Virtual research
which includes rules and governance, customary
offers various means of record keeping, note taking,
practices and events, social roles and modes of inter-
and recording typical of the online environment.
action, and power differentials. When Uru Live was
These include chat logs and screenshots, as well as
discontinued in 2008, Uru refugees moved on to
audio and video recording.
other virtual worlds, where they have created and
This section has summarized some features of
retain a strong ethnic Uru identity. Although virtual
online research as discussed by Boellstorff and his
environments are created by software designers,
coauthors (2012). Readers interested in doing vir-
those who enter and thrive in these worlds can
tual world fieldwork should consult that handbook.
innovate within the constraints set by “the system”—
either the software program or other participants.
Within these worlds, the online ethnographers have
observed and described various forms of play, per- SURVEY RESEARCH
formance, creativity, and ritual. As anthropologists work increasingly in large-
Virtual worlds have been heavily influenced by scale societies, they have developed innovative
works of science fiction and fantasy. Early games ways of blending ethnography and survey research

Chapter 3 Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology 47

(Fricke 1994). Before examining such combina- voted for which candidates. During sampling, research-
tions of field methods, let’s consider survey ers gather information about age, gender, religion,
research and the main differences between survey occupation, income, and political party preference.
research and ethnography. Working mainly in These characteristics (variables—attributes that vary
large, populous nations, sociologists, political sci- among members of a sample or population) are known
entists, and economists have developed and refined to influence political decisions.
survey research the survey research design, which involves sam- Many more variables affect social identities,
The study of society pling, impersonal data collection, and statistical experiences, and activities in a modern nation than
through sampling, analysis. Survey research usually draws a sample in the small communities where ethnography grew
statistical analysis, and (a manageable study group) from a much larger up. In contemporary North America, hundreds of
impersonal data
population. By studying a properly selected and factors influence our behavior and attitudes. These
representative sample, social scientists can make social predictors include our religion; where we grew
sample accurate inferences, or at least good guesses, about up; and our parents’ professions, ethnic origins, polit-
A smaller study group the larger population. ical leanings, and income levels.
chosen to represent a In smaller-scale societies and communities, eth- Ethnography can be used to supplement and fine-
larger population. nographers get to know most of the people. Given tune survey research. Anthropologists can transfer the
the greater size and complexity of nations, survey personal, firsthand techniques of ethnography to vir-
random sample research can’t help being more impersonal. Survey tually any setting. A combination of survey research
A sample in which all researchers call the people they study respondents. and ethnography can provide new perspectives on life
population members These are people who respond to questions during a in complex societies (large and populous societies
have an equal statistical
survey. Sometimes survey researchers interview with social stratification and central governments).
chance of inclusion.
their respondents directly—in person or by phone. Preliminary ethnography also can help develop cul-
variables Respondents may be asked to fill out a question- turally appropriate questions for inclusion in surveys.
Attributes that differ naire, written or online. A survey may be mailed or Recap 3.1 contrasts traditional ethnography with
from one person or e-mailed to randomly selected sample members. In elements of survey research.
case to the next. a random sample, all members of the population In any complex society, many predictor variables
have an equal statistical chance of being chosen for (social indicators) influence behavior and opinions.
complex societies inclusion. A random sample is selected by random- Because we must be able to detect, measure, and
Large, populous izing procedures, such as tables of random numbers, compare the influence of social indicators, many
societies (e.g., nations) which are found in many statistics textbooks. contemporary anthropological studies have a statis-
with social stratiﬁcation
Probably the most familiar example of sampling is tical foundation. Even in rural fieldwork, anthropol-
and central
political polling. An ever increasing number of orga- ogists increasingly use samples, gather quantitative
nizations now gather information designed to esti- data, and use statistics to interpret them (see Bernard
mate outcomes and to determine what kinds of people 1998, 2011). Quantifiable information may permit a
more precise assessment of similarities and differ-
ences among communities. Statistical analysis can
support and round out an ethnographic account of
local social life.
However, in the best studies, the hallmark of eth-
nography remains: Anthropologists enter the com-
munity and get to know the people. They participate
in local activities, networks, and associations. They
watch the effects of national and international poli-
cies on local life. The ethnographic method and the
emphasis on personal relationships in social research
are valuable gifts that cultural anthropology brings
to the study of any society.

The anthropologist Clyde Kluckhohn (1944) saw a
key public service role for anthropology. It could pro-
vide a “scientific basis for dealing with the crucial
dilemma of the world today: how can peoples of dif-
On November 1, 2010, in China’s Shandong Province, census takers gathered personal information ferent appearance, mutually unintelligible languages,
from a family during the Sixth National Population Census. From November 1 to November 10, and dissimilar ways of life get along peaceably
more than six million census takers visited over 400 million households across the country. together?” Many anthropologists never would have

48 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

RECAP 3.1 Ethnography and Survey Research Contrasted


Studies whole, functioning communities Studies a small sample of a larger population

Usually is based on ﬁrsthand ﬁeldwork, during Often is conducted with little or no personal
which information is collected after rapport, contact between study subjects and researchers,
based on personal contact, is established as interviews are frequently conducted by
between researcher and hosts assistants over the phone or in printed form
Traditionally is interested in all aspects of Usually focuses on a small number of variables
local life (holistic) (e.g., factors that inﬂuence voting) rather than
on the totality of people’s lives
Traditionally has been conducted in nonindustrial, Normally is carried out in modern nations, where
small-scale societies, where people often do not most people are literate, permitting respondents
read and write to ﬁll in their own questionnaires
Makes little use of statistics, because the Depends heavily on statistical analyses to make
communities being studied tend to be small, inferences regarding a large and diverse population,
with little diversity besides that based on age, based on data collected from a small subset of
gender, and individual personality variation that population

chosen their profession had they doubted that anthro- species, and the environment. The anthropologist’s
pology had the capacity to enhance human welfare. primary obligation is to do no harm to the people
Because we live in a world full of failed states, unrest, being studied. The stated aim of the AAA code is to
war, and terrorism, we must consider the proper role offer guidelines and to promote discussion and edu-
of anthropologists in studying such phenomena. cation, rather than to investigate possible misconduct.
Anthropologists can’t study things simply because Some of the code’s main points may be reviewed.
they happen to be interesting or of value to science— Anthropologists should inform all parties affected
or even because they may benefit the public. Ethical by their research about its nature, goals, proce-
issues must also be a prime consideration. Working dures,  potential impacts, and source(s) of funding.
internationally and in the context of cultural diversity, Researchers should establish proper relationships
different ethical codes and value systems will meet, with the countries and communities where they
and often challenge one another (see Whiteford and work. The full AAA Code of Ethics, as revised in
Trotter 2008). 2012, can be found at the following website: http://
Anthropologists must be sensitive to cultural differ-
ences and aware of procedures and standards in the
host country (the place where the research takes place). Anthropologists and Terrorism
Researchers must inform officials and colleagues
about the purpose, funding, and likely results, prod- The AAA has deemed it of “paramount importance”
ucts, and impacts of their research. Informed consent that anthropologists study the roots of terrorism and informed consent
should be obtained from anyone who provides infor- violence. How should such studies be conducted? Agreement to take part
mation or who might be affected by the research. What ethical issues might arise? in research—after
Anthropologists should try to (1) include host Consider a Pentagon program, Project Minerva, having been informed
country colleagues in their research planning, initiated late in the (George W.) Bush administra- about its purpose,
(2)  establish collaborative relationships with host tion, designed to draw on social science expertise in nature, procedures, and

country institutions, (3) include host country col- dealing with national security threats. Project possible impacts.

leagues in dissemination, including publication, of Minerva sought scholars to translate original docu-
the research results, and (4) ensure that something ments captured in Iraq, study political shifts in
is  “given back” to the host country. For example, China, and explain the resurgence of the Taliban in
research equipment stays in the host country, or Afghanistan (Cohen 2008). Project Minerva and
funding is sought for host country colleagues to do related programs raised concerns that governments
research, attend international meetings, or visit for- might use anthropological knowledge in ethically
eign institutions. problematic ways. Government policies and mili-
tary operations have the potential to harm the people
anthropologists study.
The Code of Ethics More recently, anthropologists have been espe-
The Code of Ethics of the American Anthropologi- cially critical of the Pentagon’s Human Terrain Sys-
cal Association (AAA) recognizes that anthropolo- tem (HTS) program. Launched in February 2007,
gists have obligations to their scholarly field, to the HTS has embedded anthropologists and other social
wider society, and to the human species, other scientists in military teams in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Chapter 3 Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology 49

A member of a
U.S. Army Human
Terrain Team, left,
talks (through an
interpreter) to local
people at a market
in Basra, Iraq, in
June 2009. What’s
problematic about
participation in such

On October 31, 2007, the AAA Executive Board specific groups for military action. Such use
issued a statement of disapproval of HTS—outlining of fieldwork-derived information would vio-
how HTS violates the AAA Code of Ethics. (See late the AAA Code of Ethics stipulation to do no harm to people.
human-terrain-system-statement.cfm.) The board
5. The identification of anthropology and an-
noted that HTS places anthropologists, as contrac-
thropologists with the U.S. military may in-
tors with the U.S. military, in war zones, where they
directly (through suspicion of guilt by
are charged with collecting cultural and social data
association) endanger the research, and even
for use by the military. The ethical concerns raised
the personal safety, of other anthropologists
by these activities include the following:
and their consultants throughout the world.
1. It may be impossible for anthropologists in
What do you think about anthropologists’ proper
war zones to identify themselves as anthro-
role in studying terrorism and war?
pologists, as distinct from military personnel.
This constrains their ethical responsibility as
anthropologists to disclose who they are and
what they are doing. THEORY IN ANTHROPOLOGY
2. HTS anthropologists are asked to negotiate re- OVER TIME
lations among several groups, including local Anthropology has various fathers and mothers. The
populations and the military units in which fathers include Lewis Henry Morgan, Sir Edward
they are embedded. Their responsibilities to Burnett Tylor, Franz Boas, and Bronislaw Malinowski.
their units may conflict with their obligations to The mothers include Ruth Benedict and Margaret
the local people they study or consult. This Mead. Some of the fathers might be classified better
may interfere with the obligation, stipulated in as grandfathers, since one, Franz Boas, was the
the AAA Code of Ethics, to do no harm. intellectual father of Mead and Benedict, and since
what is known now as Boasian anthropology arose
3. In an active war zone, it is difficult for local
mainly in opposition to the 19th-century evolution-
people to give informed consent without feeling
ism of Morgan and Tylor.
coerced to provide information. As a result,
My goal in the remainder of this chapter is to sur-
“voluntary informed consent” (as stipulated in
vey the major theoretical perspectives that have char-
the AAA Code of Ethics) is compromised.
acterized anthropology since its emergence in  the
4. Information supplied by HTS anthropologists second half of the 19th century (see also Erickson and
to military field commanders could help target Murphy 2013; McGee and Warms 2012; Moore

50 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

2009). Evolutionary perspectives, especially those
associated with Morgan and Tylor, dominated 19th-
century anthropology. The early 20th century wit-
nessed various reactions to 19th-century evolutionism.
In Great Britain, functionalists such as Malinowski
and Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown abandoned the
speculative historicism of the evolutionists and
instead did studies of living societies. In the United
States, Boas and his followers rejected the search for
evolutionary stages in favor of a historical approach
that traced borrowing and the spread of culture traits
across geographic areas. Functionalists and Boasians
alike saw cultures as integrated and patterned.

Unilinear Evolutionism
Let’s begin this survey of anthropology’s history
with Tylor and Morgan, both of whom wrote classic
books during the 19th century. Tylor (1871/1958)
offered a definition of culture and proposed it as a
topic that could be studied scientifically. Morgan’s
The early American anthropologist Lewis Henry Morgan described lacrosse (shown here) as
influential books included Ancient Society (1877/
1963), League of the Ho-dé-no-sau-nee or Iroquois one of the six games played by the tribes of the Iroquois nation, whose League he described
(1851/1966), and Systems of Consanguinity and in a famous book (1851).
Affinity of the Human Family (1870/1997). The first
was a key work in cultural evolution. The second
was an early ethnography. The third was the first
systematic compendium of cross-cultural data on each stage. Also, Morgan erred in assuming that soci-
systems of kinship terminology. eties could follow only one evolutionary path. In fact,
Ancient Society is a key example of 19th-century societies have followed multiple developmental paths.
evolutionism applied to society. Morgan assumed that In his book Primitive Culture (1871/1958), Tylor
human society had evolved through a series of stages, took an evolutionary approach to the anthropology of
which he called savagery, barbarism, and civilization. religion. Like Morgan, Tylor proposed a unilinear
He subdivided savagery and barbarism into three sub- path—from animism to polytheism, then monotheism,
stages each: lower, middle, and upper savagery and and finally science. In Tylor’s view, religion would
lower, middle, and upper barbarism. In Morgan’s retreat when science provided better explanations.
scheme, the earliest humans lived in lower savagery, Both Tylor and Morgan were interested in survivals,
with a subsistence based on fruits and nuts. In middle practices that survive in contemporary society from
savagery people started fishing and gained control earlier evolutionary stages. The belief in ghosts today,
over fire. The invention of the bow and arrow ushered for example, would represent a survival from the stage
in upper savagery. Lower barbarism began when of animism—the belief in spiritual beings. Survivals
humans started making pottery. Middle barbarism in were taken as evidence that a particular society had
the Old World depended on the domestication of passed through earlier evolutionary stages.
plants and animals, and in the Americas on irrigated Morgan is well known also for The League of the
agriculture. Iron smelting and the use of iron tools Iroquois, anthropology’s earliest ethnography. It
ushered in upper barbarism. Civilization, finally, came was based on occasional rather than protracted field-
about with the invention of writing. work. Morgan, although one of anthropology’s
Morgan’s evolutionism is known as unilinear founders, was not himself a professionally trained
evolutionism, because he assumed there was one anthropologist. He was a lawyer in upper New York
line or path through which all societies evolved. Any State who was fond of visiting a nearby Seneca res-
society in upper barbarism, for example, had to ervation and learning about their history and cus- unilinear
include in its history, in order, periods of lower, mid- toms. The Seneca were one of six Iroquois tribes. evolutionism
dle, and upper savagery, and then lower and middle Through his fieldwork, and his friendship with Ely Idea (19th-century) of a
Parker, an educated Iroquois man, Morgan was able single line or path of
barbarism. Furthermore, Morgan believed that the
cultural development.
societies of his time could be placed in the various to describe the social, political, religious, and eco-
stages. Some had not advanced beyond upper sav- nomic principles of Iroquois life, including the
agery. Others had made it to middle barbarism, history of their confederation. He laid out the struc-
while others had attained civilization. tural principles on which Iroquois society was
Morgan’s critics have disputed various elements of based. Morgan also used his skills as a lawyer to
his scheme, including such loaded terms as “savagery” help the Iroquois in their fight with the Ogden Land
and “barbarism,” and the particular criteria he used for Company, which was attempting to seize their lands.

Chapter 3 Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology 51

Historical Particularism believed, for all sorts of reasons. Boasian historical
particularism rejected what those scholars called the
Franz Boas is the founder of American four-field
comparative method, which was associated not only
anthropology. His book Race, Language, and Cul-
with Morgan and Tylor but with any anthropologist
ture (1940/1966) is a collection of essays on those
interested in cross-cultural comparison. The evolu-
key topics. Boas contributed to cultural, biological,
tionists had compared societies in attempting to
and linguistic anthropology. His biological studies
reconstruct human evolutionary history. Later anthro-
of European immigrants to the United States
pologists, such as Émile Durkheim and Claude Lévi-
revealed and measured phenotypical plasticity. The
Strauss (see pp. 57–58), also compared societies in
children of immigrants differed physically from
attempting to explain cultural phenomena such as
their parents not because of genetic change but
totemism. Indeed, cross-cultural comparison is alive
because they had grown up in a different environ-
and well in contemporary anthropology.
ment. Boas showed that human biology was plastic.
To explain cultural generalities (cultural traits that
It could be changed by the environment, including
are shared by some but not all societies), the evolu-
cultural forces. Boas and his students worked hard
tionists had stressed independent invention: Eventu-
to demonstrate that biology (including race) did not
ally people in many areas had come up with the same
determine culture. In an important book, Ruth Bene-
cultural solution to a common problem. Agriculture,
dict (1940) stressed the idea that people of many
for example, was invented several times. The Boasians,
races have contributed to major historical advances.
while not denying independent invention, stressed the
In his fieldwork, Boas studied language and culture
importance of diffusion, or borrowing, among cul-
among Native Americans, most notably the Kwakiutl
tures. The analytic units they used to study diffusion
of the North Pacific coast of North America. Boas and
were the culture trait, the trait complex, and the cul-
his many influential students at New York’s Columbia
ture area. A culture trait was something like a bow and
University took issue with 19th-century evolutionism
arrow. A trait complex was the hunting pattern that
on many counts, including the idea of a single, preor-
went along with it. A culture area was based on the
dained evolutionary path. The Boasians argued that a
diffusion of traits and trait complexes across a particu-
given cultural feature, for example, totemism, did not
lar geographic area, such as the Plains, the Southwest,
follow a single path of development but could arise for
or the North Pacific coast. Such areas usually had
historical many reasons. Their position was one of historical
environmental boundaries that could limit the spread
particularism particularism. Because the particular histories of
Idea (Boas) that
of culture traits outside that area. For the Boasians,
totemism in societies A, B, and C had all been differ-
histories are not historical particularism and diffusion were comple-
ent, those forms of totemism had different causes,
comparable; diverse mentary. As culture traits diffused, they developed
which made them incomparable. They might seem to
paths can lead to the their particular histories as they entered and moved
have been the same, but they were really different,
same cultural result. through particular societies. Boasians such as Alfred
because they had different histories. Any cultural
Kroeber, Clark Wissler, and Melville Herskovits
form, from totemism to clans, could develop, they

Franz Boas, founder of American four-field anthropology, studied

the Kwakwaka’wakw, or Kwakiutl, in British Columbia (BC), Canada.
The photo above shows Boas posing for a museum model of a
Kwakiutl dancer. The photo on the right is a still from a film by
anthropologist Aaron Glass titled In Search of the Hamat’sa: A Tale
of Headhunting (DER distributor). It shows a real Kwakiutl dancer,
Marcus Alfred, performing the same Hamat’sa (or “Cannibal
Dance”), which is a vital part of an important Kwakiutl ceremony.
The U’mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay, BC ( owns
the rights to the video clip of the Hamat’sa featuring Marcus Alfred.

52 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

studied the distribution of traits and developed culture
area classifications for Native North America (Wissler
and Kroeber) and Africa (Herskovits).
Historical particularism was based on the idea that
each element of culture, such as the culture trait or
trait complex, had its own distinctive history and that
social forms (such as totemism in different societies)
that might look similar were far from identical
because of their different histories. Historical particu-
larism rejected comparison and generalization in
favor of an individuating historical approach. In this
rejection, historical particularism stands in contrast to
most of the approaches that have followed it.

Another challenge to evolutionism (as well as to his-
torical particularism) came from Great Britain. Bronislaw Malinowski (1884–1942), who was born in Poland but spent most of his professional
Functionalism postponed the search for origins life in England, did fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands from 1914 to 1918. Malinowski is generally
(whether through evolution or through diffusion) considered to be the father of ethnography. Does this photo suggest anything about his
and instead focused on the role of culture traits and relationship with Trobriand villagers?
practices in contemporary society. The two main
strands of functionalism are associated respectively
anthropologists to focus on the role that particular functionalism
with Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown and Broni-
practices play in the life of societies today. In a Approach focusing on
slaw Malinowski, a Polish anthropologist who the role (function) of
famous essay Radcliffe-Brown (1962/1965) exam-
taught mainly in Great Britain. sociocultural practices
ined the prominent role of the mother’s brother
in social systems.
Malinowski among the Ba Thonga of Mozambique. An evolu-
Both Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown focused on tionist priest previously had explained the special
the present rather than on historical reconstruction. role of the mother’s brother in this patrilineal soci-
Malinowski did pioneering fieldwork among living ety as a survival from a time when the descent rule
people. Usually considered the father of ethnogra- had been matrilineal. (In a patrilineal society, people
phy by virtue of his years of fieldwork in the belong to their father’s group, whereas in a matrilin-
Trobriand Islands, Malinowski was a functionalist eal society they belong to their mother’s group. The
in two senses. In the first, rooted in his ethnogra- unilinear evolutionists believed all human societies
phy, he believed that all customs and institutions in had passed through a matrilineal stage before
society were integrated and interrelated, so that if becoming patrilineal.) Because Radcliffe-Brown
one changed, others would change as well. Each, believed that the history of the Ba Thonga could
then, was a function of the others. A corollary of only be conjectural, he explained the special role of
this belief was that an ethnographer could begin the mother’s brother with reference to the institu-
anywhere and eventually get at the rest of the cul- tions of present rather than past Ba Thonga society.
ture. Thus, a study of Trobriand fishing eventually Radcliffe-Brown advocated that social anthropol-
would lead the ethnographer to study the entire ogy be a synchronic rather than a diachronic synchronic
economic system, the role of magic and religion, science, that is, that it study societies as they exist (Studying societies) at
today (synchronic, at one time) rather than across one time.
myth, trade, and kinship. The second strand of
Malinowski’s functionalism is known as needs time (diachronic).
functionalism. Malinowski (1944) believed that (Studying societies)
humans had a set of universal biological needs, and Structural Functionalism across time.
that customs developed to fulfill those needs. The The term structural functionalism is associated
function of any practice was the role it played in with Radcliffe-Brown and Edward Evan Evans-
satisfying those universal biological needs, such as Pritchard, another prominent British social anthro-
the need for food, sex, shelter, and so on. pologist. The latter is famous for many books,
including The Nuer (1940), an ethnographic classic
Radcliffe-Brown that laid out very clearly the structural principles that
According to Radcliffe-Brown (1962/1965), although organized Nuer society in what is now South Sudan.
history is important, social anthropology could never According to functionalism and structural functional-
hope to discover the histories of people without ism, customs (social practices) function to preserve
writing. (Social anthropology is what cultural the social structure. In Radcliffe-Brown’s view, the
anthropology is called in Great Britain.) He trusted function of any practice is the role it plays in main-
neither evolutionary nor diffusionist reconstructions. taining the system of which it is a part. That system
Viewing all historical statements about nonliterate has a structure whose parts work (function) to main-
peoples as merely conjectural, Radcliffe-Brown urged tain the whole. Radcliffe-Brown saw social systems

Chapter 3 Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology 53

as comparable to anatomical and physiological example, that significant economic changes, such as
systems. The function of organs and physiological the increasing cash employment of women, have led
processes is their role in keeping the body running to changes in family and household organization
smoothly. So, too, he thought, did customs, practices, and in related variables such as age at marriage and
social roles, and behavior function to keep the social frequency of divorce. Changes in work and family
system running smoothly. Given this suggestion of arrangements then affect other variables, such as
harmony, some functionalist models have been criti- frequency of church attendance, which has declined
cized as Panglossian, after Dr. Pangloss, a character in the United States and Canada.
in Voltaire’s Candide who was fond of proclaiming
this “the best of all possible worlds.” Panglossian
functionalism means a tendency to see things as func- Configurationalism
tioning not just to maintain the system but to do so in Two of Boas’s students, Benedict and Mead, devel-
the most optimal way possible, so that any deviation oped an approach to culture that has been called
conﬁgurationalism from the norm would only damage the system. configurationalism. This is related to functionalism
View of culture as in the sense that culture is seen as integrated. We’ve
integrated and seen that the Boasians traced the geographic distri-
patterned. The Manchester School
A group of British social anthropologists working at bution of culture traits. But Boas recognized that
the University of Manchester, dubbed the Manches- diffusion wasn’t automatic. Traits might not spread
ter school, are well known for their research in Afri- if they met environmental barriers, or if they were
can societies and their departure from a Panglossian not accepted by a particular culture. There had to be
view of social harmony. Manchester anthropologists a fit between the culture and the trait diffusing in,
Max Gluckman and Victor Turner made conflict an and borrowed traits would be indigenized—modified
important part of their analysis, such as when Gluck- to fit the culture adopting them. Although traits can
man wrote about rituals of rebellion. However, the diffuse in from various directions, Benedict stressed
Manchester school did not abandon functionalism that culture traits—indeed, whole cultures—are
totally. Its members examined how rebellion and uniquely patterned or integrated. Her best-selling
conflict were regulated and dissipated, thus main- book Patterns of Culture (1934/1959) described
taining the system. such culture patterns.
Mead also found patterns in the cultures she stud-
ied, including Samoa, Bali, and Papua New Guinea.
Contemporary Functionalism Mead was particularly interested in how cultures
A form of functionalism persists today in the widely varied in their patterns of enculturation. Stressing
accepted view that there are social and cultural sys- the plasticity of human nature, she saw culture as a
tems and that their elements, or constituent parts, powerful force that created almost endless possibili-
are functionally related (are functions of each other) ties. Even among neighboring societies, different
so that they covary: When one part changes, others enculturation patterns could produce very different
also change. Also enduring is the idea that some personality types and cultural configurations.
elements—often the economic ones—are more Mead’s best-known—albeit controversial—book is
important than others are. Few would deny, for Coming of Age in Samoa (1928/1961). She traveled
to Samoa to study female adolescence there in order
to compare it with the same period of life in the
United States. Suspicious of biologically deter-
mined universals, she assumed that Samoan adoles-
cence would differ from the same period in the
United States and that this would affect adult per-
sonality. Using her Samoan ethnographic findings,
Mead contrasted the apparent sexual freedom there
with the repression of adolescent sexuality in the
United States. Her findings supported the Boasian
view that culture, not biology, determines variation
in human behavior and personality. Mead’s later
fieldwork among the Arapesh, Mundugumor, and
Tchambuli of New Guinea resulted in Sex and
Temperament in Three Primitive Societies (1935/
1950). That book documented variation in male and
female personality traits and behavior across cul-
tures. She offered it as further support for cultural
determinism. Like Benedict, Mead was more inter-
ested in describing how cultures were uniquely pat-
Max Gluckman, one of the founders of anthropology’s “Manchester school,” taught at the terned or configured than in explaining how they got
University of Manchester (shown here in a more recent shot) from 1949 until his death in 1975. to be that way.

54 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

Two U.S. stamps commemorating anthropologists. The 46-cent stamp, issued in 1995, honors Ruth Fulton Benedict (1887–1948),
best known for her widely read book Patterns of Culture. In 1998, the U.S. Postal Service issued this 32-cent Margaret Mead
(1901–1978) stamp as part of its “Celebrate the Century” commemorative series. The stamp shows a young Dr. Mead against a
Samoan background.

Neoevolutionism different evolutionary paths. For example, he recog-

nized different paths to statehood (e.g., those followed
Around 1950, with the end of World War II and a
by irrigated versus nonirrigated societies). Steward
growing anticolonial movement, anthropologists
was also a pioneer in a field of anthropology he called
renewed their interest in culture change and even
cultural ecology, today generally known as ecologi-
evolution. The American anthropologists Leslie
cal anthropology, which considers the relationships
White and Julian Steward complained that the
between cultures and environmental variables.
Boasians had thrown the baby (evolution) out with
Unlike Mead and Benedict, who were not inter-
the bath water (the particular flaws of 19th-century
ested in causes, White and Steward were. For White,
evolutionary schemes). There was a need, the neo-
energy capture was the main measure and cause of
evolutionists contended, to reintroduce within the
cultural advance: Cultures advanced in proportion to
study of culture a powerful concept—evolution
the amount of energy harnessed per capita per year.
itself. This concept, after all, remains basic to
In this view, the United States is one of the world’s
biology. Why should it not apply to culture as well?
In his book The Evolution of Culture (1959),
White claimed to be returning to the same concept
of cultural evolution used by Tylor and Morgan, but
now better informed by a century of archaeological
discoveries and a much larger ethnographic record.
White’s approach has been called general evolution,
the idea that over time and through the archaeologi-
cal, historical, and ethnographic records, we can see
the evolution of culture as a whole. For example,
human economies have evolved from Paleolithic
foraging, through early farming and herding, to
intensive forms of agriculture, to industrialism.
Sociopolitically, too, there has been evolution, from
bands and tribes to chiefdoms and states. There can
be no doubt, White argued, that culture has evolved.
But unlike the unilinear evolutionists of the 19th
century, White realized that particular cultures
might not evolve in the same direction.
Julian Steward, in his influential book Theory of
Culture Change (1955), proposed a different evolu-
tionary model, which he called multilinear evolu-
tion. He showed how cultures have followed several Margaret Mead in the field in Bali, Indonesia, in 1957.

Chapter 3 Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology 55

which uncovers relations of cause and effect; and
that the role of science is to discover causes, to find
determinants. One of White’s two influential books
was The Science of Culture (1949). Malinowski set
forth his theory of needs functionalism in a book
titled A Scientific Theory of Culture and Other
Essays (1944). Mead viewed anthropology as a
humanistic science of unique value in understanding
and improving the human condition.
Marvin Harris (1927– Like Harris, White, and Steward, all of whom
2001), chief advocate looked to infrastructural factors as determinants,
of the approach Mead was a determinist, but of a very different sort.
known as cultural Mead’s cultural determinism viewed human nature as
materialism. Harris more or less a blank slate on which culture could write
taught anthropology at almost any lesson. Culture was so powerful that it
Columbia University and could change drastically the expression of a biological
the University of Florida.
stage—adolescence—in Samoa and the United States.
Mead stressed the role of culture rather than economy,
environment, or material factors in this difference.
most advanced societies because of all the energy it
harnesses and uses. White’s formulation is ironic in
viewing societies that deplete nature’s bounty as Culture versus the Individual
being more advanced than those that conserve it. White’s Culturology
Steward was equally interested in causality, and Interestingly, Leslie White, the avowed evolutionist
he looked to technology and the environment as the and champion of energy as a measure of cultural
main causes of culture change. The environment and progress, was, like Mead, a strong advocate of the
the technology available to exploit it were seen as importance of culture. White saw cultural anthropol-
part of what he called the culture core—the combi- ogy as a science, and he named that science culturol-
nation of environmental and economic factors that ogy. Cultural forces, which rested on the unique
determined the overall configuration of any culture. human capacity for symbolic thought, were so pow-
erful, White believed, that individuals made little dif-
ference. White disputed what was then called the
Cultural Materialism “great man theory of history,” the idea that particular
cultural materialism In proposing cultural materialism as a theoretical individuals were responsible for great discoveries and
Idea (Harris) that cultural paradigm, Marvin Harris drew on models of deter- epochal changes. White looked instead to the constel-
infrastructure determines minism associated with White and Steward. For Harris lation of cultural forces that produced great individu-
structure and (1979/2001a) all societies had an infrastructure, cor- als. During certain historical periods, such as the
responding to Steward’s culture core, consisting of Renaissance, conditions were right for the expression
technology, economics, and demography—the sys- of creativity and greatness, and individual genius
tems of production and reproduction without which blossomed. At other times and places, there may have
societies could not survive. Growing out of infrastruc- been just as many great minds, but the culture did not
ture was structure—social relations, forms of kinship encourage their expression. As proof of this theory,
and descent, patterns of distribution and consumption. White pointed to the simultaneity of discovery. Sev-
The third layer was superstructure: religion, ideology, eral times in human history, when culture was ready,
play—aspects of culture farthest away from the meat people working independently in different places
and bones that enable cultures to survive. Harris’s key have come up with the same revolutionary idea or
belief, shared with White, Steward, and Karl Marx, achievement at the same time. Examples include the
was that in the final analysis infrastructure determines formulation of the theory of evolution through natural
structure and superstructure. Harris therefore took selection by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel
issue with theorists (he called them “idealists”), such Wallace, the independent rediscovery of Mendelian
as Max Weber, who argued for the prominent role of genetics by three scientists in 1917, and the indepen-
religion in changing society. dent invention of flight by the Wright brothers in the
United States and Santos Dumont in Brazil.
Science and Determinism Kroeber’s Superorganic
Harris’s influential books include The Rise of Much of the history of anthropology has been about
Anthropological Theory (1968/2001b) and Cultural the roles and relative prominence of culture and the
(Kroeber) The special Materialism: The Struggle for a Science of Culture individual. Like Mead and White, the prolific Boasian
domain of culture, (1979/2001a). Like most of the anthropologists anthropologist Alfred Kroeber stressed the power of
beyond the organic and discussed so far, Harris insisted that anthropology is culture. Kroeber (1952/1987) described the realm of
inorganic realms. a science; that science is based on explanation, culture as superorganic. Its study, he thought, was

56 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

just as important as the study of the organic (life— The Forest of Symbols, Turner examines how symbols
without which there could be no superorganic) and and rituals are used to regulate, anticipate, and avoid
the inorganic (chemistry and physics—the basis of conflict. He also examines a hierarchy of meanings of
the organic). Like White (and long before him Tylor, symbols, from their social meanings and functions to
who first proposed a science of culture), Kroeber their internalization within individuals.
saw culture as the basis of a new science, which Turner recognized links between symbolic symbolic
became cultural anthropology. Kroeber (1923) laid anthropology (the study of symbols in their social anthropology
out the basis of this science in anthropology’s first and cultural context), a school he pioneered along The study of symbols in
textbook. He attempted to demonstrate the power of with Mary Douglas (1970a), and such other fields as their social and cultural
culture over the individual by focusing on the rise social psychology, psychology, and psychoanalysis. context.
and fall of particular styles and fashions, such as The study of symbols is all-important in psychoanal-
those involving women’s hem lengths. Kroeber ysis, whose founder, Sigmund Freud, also recognized
(1944) thought that individuals had little choice but a hierarchy of symbols, from potentially universal
to follow the trends of their times. Unlike White, ones to those that had meaning for particular indi-
Steward, and Harris, however, Kroeber did not viduals and emerged during the analysis and interpre-
attempt to explain cultural forces; he simply used tation of their dreams. Turner’s symbolic anthropology
them to show the power of culture over the individ- flourished at the University of Chicago, where another
ual. Like Mead, he was a cultural determinist. major advocate, David Schneider (1968), developed a
symbolic approach to American culture in his book
Durkheim’s Conscience Collectif American Kinship: A Cultural Account (1968). interpretive
In France, Émile Durkheim had taken a similar Related to symbolic anthropology, and associated anthropology
approach, calling for a new social science to be based with the University of Chicago (and later with Princ- (Geertz) The study of a
in what he called, in French, the conscience collectif. eton University), is interpretive anthropology. A pri- culture as a system of
The usual translation of this as “collective conscious- mary advocate of this approach was Clifford Geertz, meaning.
ness” does not convey adequately the similarity of who defined culture as ideas based on
this notion to Kroeber’s superorganic and White’s cultural learning and symbols.
culturology. This new science, Durkheim proposed, During enculturation, indi-
would be based on the study of social facts, which viduals internalize a previ-
were analytically distinct from facts about individu- ously established system of
als. Psychologists study individuals; anthropologists meanings and symbols. They use
study individuals as representative of something this cultural system to define their
more. It is those larger systems, which consist of world, express their feelings, and
social positions—statuses and roles—and which are make their judgments.
perpetuated across the generations through encul- Interpretive anthropology (Geertz
turation, that anthropologists should study. 1973, 1983) approaches cultures as
Of course, sociologists also study such social texts whose meanings must be
systems, and Durkheim was a prominent early fig- deciphered in particular cul-
ure in both anthropology and sociology. Durkheim tural and historical settings.
wrote of religion in Native Australia as readily as of Geertz’s approach recalls
suicide rates in modern societies. As analyzed by Malinowski’s belief that
Durkheim, suicide rates (1897/1951) and religion the ethnographer’s pri-
(1912/2001) are collective phenomena. Individuals mary task is “to grasp
commit suicide for all sorts of reasons, but the varia- the native’s point of
tion in rates (which apply only to collectivities) can view, his relation to
and should be linked to social phenomena, such as a life, to realize his
sense of anomie, malaise, or alienation at particular vision of his world”
times and in particular places. (1922/1961, p.  25—
Malinowski’s italics).
Symbolic and Interpretive Since the 1970s, inter-
pretive anthropology
Anthropology has considered the task
Victor Turner was a colleague of Max Gluckman in of describing and inter-
the Department of Social Anthropology at the Univer- preting that which is
sity of Manchester, and thus a member of the meaningful to natives.
Manchester school, previously described, before mov- According to Geertz
ing to the United States, where he taught at the Uni- (1973), anthropologists
versity of Chicago and the University of Virginia. may choose anything Mary Douglas (1921–2007), a prominent symbolic
Turner wrote several important works on ritual and in a culture that inter- anthropologist, who taught at University College, London,
symbols. The Forest of Symbols (1967) is a collection ests or engages them England, and Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois. This
of essays about symbols and rituals among the Nbembu (such as a Balinese photo shows her at an awards ceremony celebrating her
of Zambia, where Turner did his major fieldwork. In cockfight he interprets receipt in 2003 of an honorary degree from Oxford.

Chapter 3 Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology 57

in a famous essay), fill in details, and elaborate to 1. Converting the positive element of a myth
inform their readers about meanings in that culture. into its negative.
Meanings are carried by public symbolic forms,
2. Reversing the order of the elements.
including words, rituals, and customs.
3. Replacing a male hero with a female hero.
Structuralism 4. Preserving or repeating certain key elements.
In anthropology, structuralism mainly is associated Through such operations, two apparently dissimi-
with Claude Lévi-Strauss, a renowned and prolific lar myths can be shown to be variations on a common
French anthropologist, who died in 2009 at the age structure—that is, to be transformations of each other.
of 100. Lévi-Strauss’s structuralism evolved over One example is Lévi-Strauss’s (1967) analysis of
time, from his early interest in the structures of kin- “Cinderella,” a widespread tale whose elements vary
ship and marriage systems to his later interest in the between neighboring cultures. Through reversals,
structure of the human mind. In this latter sense, oppositions, and negations, as the tale is told, retold,
Lévi-Straussian structuralism (1967) aims not at diffused, and incorporated within the traditions of
explaining relations, themes, and connections successive societies, “Cinderella” becomes “Ash
among aspects of culture but at discovering them. Boy,” along with a series of other oppositions (e.g.,
Structuralism rests on Lévi-Strauss’s belief that stepfather versus stepmother) related to the change in
human minds have certain universal characteristics, gender from female to male.
which originate in common features of the Homo
sapiens brain. These common mental structures lead
people everywhere to think similarly regardless of Processual Approaches
their society or cultural background. Among these Agency
universal mental characteristics are the need to clas- Anthropologists traditionally have viewed culture as
sify: to impose order on aspects of nature, on people’s a kind of social glue transmitted across the genera-
relation to nature, and on relations between people. tions, binding people through their common past.
According to Lévi-Strauss, a universal aspect of More recently, anthropologists have come to see
classification is opposition, or contrast. Although culture as something continually created and
many phenomena are continuous rather than discrete, reworked in the present. Contemporary anthropolo-
the mind, because of its need to impose order, treats gists now emphasize how day-to-day action, prac-
them as being more different than they are. One of the tice, or resistance can make and remake culture
agency most common means of classifying is by using binary (Gupta and Ferguson 1997). Agency refers to the
The actions of opposition. Good and evil, white and black, old and actions that individuals take, both alone and in
individuals, alone and in young, high and low are oppositions that, according to groups, in forming and transforming culture.
groups, that create and Lévi-Strauss, reflect the universal human need to con-
transform culture. vert differences of degree into differences of kind. Practice Theory
Lévi-Strauss applied his assumptions about The approach to culture known as practice theory
classification and binary opposition to myths and (Ortner 1984) recognizes that individuals within a
folk tales. He showed that these narratives have society vary in their motives and intentions and in
simple building blocks—elementary structures or the amount of power and influence they have. Such
“mythemes.” Examining the myths of different contrasts may be associated with gender, age, eth-
cultures, Lévi-Strauss shows that one tale can be nicity, class, and other social variables. Practice
converted into another through a series of simple theory focuses on how these varied individuals—
operations—for example, by doing the following: through their actions and practices—influence and
(a) Three books by the
prominent and prolific
anthropologist Clifford
Geertz (1926–2006):
The Interpretation of
Cultures (the book
that established the
field of interpretive
anthropology); After the
Fact: Two Countries,
Four Decades, One
Anthropologist; and Islam
Observed: Religious
Development in Morocco
and Indonesia. (b) Geertz
himself in 1998. (a) (b)

58 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

transform the world they live in. Practice theory island’s history. The approach emphasized eco-
appropriately recognizes a reciprocal relation nomics, politics, and history.
between culture and the individual. Culture shapes Wolf and Mintz retained their interest in history
how individuals experience and respond to events, throughout their careers. Wolf wrote the modern
but individuals also play an active role in how soci- classic Europe and the People without History
ety functions and changes. Practice theory recog- (1982), which viewed local people, such as Native
nizes both constraints on individuals and the Americans, in the context of world-system events,
flexibility and changeability of cultures and social such as the fur trade. Wolf focused on how such
systems. Well-known practice theorists include “people without history”—that is, nonliterate peo-
Sherry Ortner, an American anthropologist, and ple, those who lacked written histories of their
Pierre Bourdieu and Anthony Giddens, French and own—participated in and were transformed by the
British social theorists, respectively. world system and the spread of capitalism. Mintz’s
Sweetness and Power (1985) is another example of
Leach historical anthropology that focuses on political political economy
Some of the germs of practice theory, sometimes economy (the web of interrelated economic and The web of interrelated
also called action theory (Vincent 1990), can be power relations). Mintz traces the domestication and economic and power
traced to the British anthropologist Edmund Leach, spread of sugar, its transformative role in England, relations in society.
who wrote the influential book Political Systems of and its impact on the New World, where it became
Highland Burma (1954/1970). Leach focused on the basis for slave-based plantation economies in the
how individuals work to achieve power and how Caribbean and Brazil. Such works in political econ-
their actions can transform society. In the Kachin omy illustrate a movement of anthropology toward
Hills of Burma, now Myanmar, Leach identified interdisciplinarity, drawing on other academic
three forms of sociopolitical organization, which he fields, such as history and sociology. Such approaches
called gumlao, gumsa, and Shan. Leach made a tre- have been criticized, however, for overstressing the
mendously important point by taking a regional influence of outsiders, and for paying insufficient
rather than a local perspective. The Kachins partici- attention to the transformative actions of “the people
pated in a regional system that included all three without history” themselves. Recap 3.2 summa-
forms of organization. Leach showed how the three rizes anthropology’s major theoretical perspectives
coexist and interact, as forms and possibilities known and key works associated with them.
to everyone, in the same region. He also showed how
Kachins creatively use power struggles—for exam-
ple, to convert gumlao into gumsa organization— Culture, History, Power
and how they negotiate their own identities within More recent approaches in historical anthropology,
the regional system. Leach brought process into the while sharing an interest in power with the world-
formal models of structural functionalism. By system theorists, have focused more on local agency,
focusing on power and how individuals get and use the transformative actions of individuals and groups
it, he showed the creative role of the individual in within colonized societies. Archival work has been
transforming culture. prominent in recent historical anthropology, particu-
larly in areas, such as Indonesia, for which colonial
World-System Theory and postcolonial archives contain valuable informa-
tion on relations between colonizers and colonized.
and Political Economy Studies of culture, history, and power have drawn
Leach’s regional perspective was not all that heavily on the work of European social theorists
different from another development at the same such as Antonio Gramsci and Michel Foucault.
time. Julian Steward, discussed previously as a Gramsci (1971) developed the concept of hege-
neoevolutionist, joined the faculty of Columbia mony for a stratified social order in which subordi-
University in 1946, where he worked with several nates comply with domination by internalizing their
graduate students, including Eric Wolf and Sidney rulers’ values and accepting domination as “natu-
Mintz. Steward, Mintz, Wolf, and others planned ral.” Both Pierre Bourdieu (1977) and Foucault
and conducted a team research project in Puerto (1979) contend that it is easier to dominate people in
Rico, described in Steward’s volume The People their minds than to try to control their bodies. Con-
of Puerto Rico (1956). This project exemplified a temporary societies have devised various forms of
post–World War II turn of anthropology away social control in addition to physical violence. These
from “primitive” and nonindustrial societies, include techniques of persuading, coercing, and
assumed to be somewhat isolated and autono- managing people and of monitoring and recording
mous, to contemporary societies recognized as their beliefs, behavior, movements, and contacts.
forged by colonialism and participating fully in Anthropologists interested in culture, history, and
the modern world system. The team studied power, such as Ann Stoler (1995, 2002), have exam-
communities in different parts of Puerto Rico. The ined systems of power, domination, accommoda-
field sites were chosen to sample major events and tion, and resistance in various contexts, including
adaptations, such as the sugar plantation, in the colonies, postcolonies, and other stratified contexts.

Chapter 3 Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology 59

RECAP 3.2 Timeline and Key Works in Anthropological Theory


Culture, history, power Ann Stoler, Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power (2002);
Frederick Cooper and Ann Stoler, Tensions of Empire (1997)
Crisis of representation/ Jean-François Lyotard, The Postmodern Explained (1993);
postmodernism George Marcus and Michael Fischer, Anthropology as
Cultural Critique (1986)
Practice theory Sherry Ortner, “Theory in Anthropology Since the Sixties” (1984);
Pierre Bourdieu, Outline of a Theory of Practice (1977)
World-system theory/ Sidney Mintz, Sweetness and Power (1985);
political economy Eric Wolf, Europe and the People without History (1982)
Feminist anthropology Rayna Reiter, Toward an Anthropology of Women (1975);
(see the chapter “Gender”) Michelle Rosaldo and Louise Lamphere, Women, Culture,
and Society (1974)
Cultural materialism Marvin Harris, Cultural Materialism (1979),
The Rise of Anthropological Theory (1968)
Interpretive anthropology Clifford Geertz, The Interpretation of Cultures (1973)*
Symbolic anthropology Mary Douglas, Purity and Danger (1970b);
Victor Turner, The Forest of Symbols (1967)*
Structuralism Claude Lévi-Strauss, Structural Anthropology (1967)*
Neoevolutionism Leslie White, The Evolution of Culture (1959);
Julian Steward, Theory of Culture Change (1955)
Manchester school and Leach Victor Turner, Schism and Continuity in an African Society (1957);
Edmund Leach, Political Systems of Highland Burma (1954)
Culturology Leslie White, The Science of Culture (1949)*
Conﬁgurationalism Alfred Kroeber, Conﬁgurations of Cultural Growth (1944);
Margaret Mead, Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive
Societies (1935); Ruth Benedict, Patterns of Culture (1934)
Structural functionalism A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, Structure and Function in Primitive
Society (1962)*; E. E. Evans-Pritchard, The Nuer (1940)
Functionalism Bronislaw Malinowski, A Scientiﬁc Theory of Culture (1944)*,
Argonauts of the Western Paciﬁc (1922)
Historical particularism Franz Boas, Race, Language, and Culture (1940)*
Unilinear evolutionism Lewis Henry Morgan, Ancient Society (1877);
Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, Primitive Culture (1871)
*Includes essays written at earlier dates.

students are expected to specialize in a particular

ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY subfield. In Boasian anthropology, all four subfields
Early American anthropologists, such as Morgan, shared a single theoretical assumption about human
Boas, and Kroeber, were interested in, and made plasticity. Today, following specialization, the theo-
contributions to, more than a single subfield. If there ries that guide the subfields differ. Evolutionary
has been a single dominant trend in anthropology paradigms of various sorts still dominate biological
since the 1960s, it has been one of increasing spe- anthropology and remain strong in archaeology as
cialization. During the 1960s, when this author well. Within cultural anthropology, it has been many
attended graduate school at Columbia University, decades since evolutionary approaches dominated.
one had to study and take qualifying exams in all Ethnography, too, has grown more specialized.
four subfields. This has changed. There are still Cultural anthropologists now head for the field with
strong four-field anthropology departments, but a specific problem in mind, rather than with the goal
many excellent departments lack one or more of the of producing a holistic ethnography—a complete
subfields. Four-field departments such as the Uni- account of a given culture—as Morgan and
versity of Michigan’s still require courses and teach- Malinowski intended when they studied, respec-
ing expertise across the subfields, but graduate tively, the Iroquois and the Trobriand Islanders.

60 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

Boas, Malinowski, and Mead went somewhere and particular interests (e.g., psychological anthropology,
stayed there for a while, studying the local culture. urban anthropology, culture and agriculture) and
Today “the field” that anthropologists study has identities (e.g., midwestern or southeastern anthro-
expanded—inevitably and appropriately—to include pologists, anthropologists in community colleges or
regional and national systems and the movement of small programs). The AAA also includes units repre-
people, such as immigrants and diasporas, across senting senior anthropologists, LGBT anthropolo-
national boundaries. Border theory (Lugo 1997) is gists, Latino/a anthropologists, and so on.
an emerging field that examines social relations at Anthropology also has witnessed a crisis in repre-
the margins of a society, contexts in which members sentation, including questions about the ethnogra-
of different groups increasingly meet and interact. pher’s impartiality and the validity of ethnographic
Border research can occur on the boundaries of accounts. Science itself may be challenged, because
nation-states, such as the U.S–Mexican border, as all scientists come from particular individual and
well as in places within a nation where diverse cultural backgrounds that prevent complete
groups come into regular contact. Many anthro- and absolute objectivity. What are we to
pologists now follow the flows of people, informa- do if we, as I do, continue to share
tion, finance, and media to multiple sites. Such Margaret Mead’s view of anthropol-
movement—and the anthropologist’s ability to study ogy as a humanistic science of
it—has been made possible by advances in transpor- unique value in understanding
tation and communication. and improving the human condi-
Reflecting the trend toward specialization, the tion? We must try, I think, to
American Anthropological Association (AAA) now stay aware of our biases and our
has all sorts of active and vital subgroups. In its inability totally to escape them.
early years, there were just anthropologists within The best scientific choice would
the AAA. Now there are groups based on specializa- seem to be to combine the per-
tion in biological anthropology, archaeology, and petual goal of objectivity with
linguistic, cultural, and applied anthropology. The skepticism about our capacity to
AAA includes dozens of groups formed around achieve it.

1. Ethnographic methods include observation,
rapport building, participant observation, inter-
approaches give priority to the ethnographer’s own
observations and conclusions. Longitudinal re-
viewing, genealogies, work with key consultants, search is the systematic study of an area or a site
life histories, and longitudinal research. Ethnog- over time. Anthropological research may be done
raphers do not systematically manipulate their by teams and at multiple sites. Outsiders, flows,
subjects or conduct experiments. Rather, they linkages, and people in motion are now included in
work in actual communities and form personal ethnographic analyses. Anthropologists also have
relationships with local people as they study their developed techniques of doing online ethnography
lives. in studying virtual worlds.
2. An interview schedule is a form that an ethnogra- 3. Traditionally, anthropologists worked in small-
pher completes as he or she visits a series of house- scale societies; sociologists, in modern nations.
holds. The schedule organizes and guides each Different techniques were developed to study such
interview, ensuring that comparable information is different kinds of societies. Social scientists work-
collected from everyone. Key cultural consultants ing in complex societies use survey research to
teach about particular areas of local life. Life histo- sample variation. Anthropologists do their field-
ries dramatize the fact that culture bearers are indi- work in communities and study the totality of social
viduals. Such case studies document personal life. Sociologists study samples to make inferences
experiences with culture and culture change. Gene- about a larger population. The diversity of social
alogical information is particularly useful in societ- life in modern nations and cities requires social sur-
ies in which principles of kinship and marriage vey procedures. However, anthropologists add the
organize social and political life. Emic approaches intimacy and direct investigation characteristic of
focus on native perceptions and explanations. Etic ethnography.

Chapter 3 Method and Theory in Cultural Anthropology 61

4. Because science exists in society, and in the con- functionalism persists in the widely accepted view
text of law and ethics, anthropologists can’t study that there are social and cultural systems whose
things simply because they happen to be interest- constituent parts are functionally related, so that
ing or of scientific value. Anthropologists have ob- when one part changes, others change as well.
ligations to their scholarly field, to the wider
6. In the mid-20th century, following World War II
society and culture (including that of the host coun-
and as colonialism was ending, there was a revived
try), and to the human species, other species, and
interest in change, including new evolutionary ap-
the environment. The AAA Code of Ethics offers
proaches. Some anthropologists developed sym-
ethical guidelines for anthropologists. Ethical
bolic and interpretive approaches to uncover
problems often arise when anthropologists work
patterned symbols and meanings within cultures.
for governments, especially the military.
By the 1980s, anthropologists had grown more in-
5. Evolutionary perspectives, especially those of Mor- terested in the relation between culture and the indi-
gan and Tylor, dominated early anthropology, vidual, as well as the role of human action (agency)
which emerged during the latter half of the 19th in transforming culture. There also was a resur-
century. The early 20th century witnessed various gence of historical approaches, including those that
reactions to 19th-century evolutionism. In the viewed local cultures in relation to colonialism and
United States, Boas and his followers rejected the the world system.
search for evolutionary stages in favor of a histori-
7. Contemporary anthropology is marked by increas-
cal approach that traced borrowing between cul-
ing specialization, based on special topics and
tures and the spread of culture traits across
identities. Reflecting this specialization, some uni-
geographic areas. In Great Britain, functionalists
versities have moved away from the holistic, bio-
such as Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown aban-
cultural view of anthropology that is reflected in
doned conjectural history in favor of studies of
this book. However, this Boasian view of anthro-
present-day living societies. Functionalists and
pology as a four-subfield discipline—including bio-
Boasians alike saw cultures as integrated and
logical, archaeological, cultural, and linguistic
patterned. The functionalists especially viewed so-
anthropology—continues to thrive at many univer-
cieties as systems in which various parts worked
sities as well.
together to maintain the whole. A form of

key terms agency 58

complex societies 48
key cultural consultants 44
life history 44
conﬁgurationalism 54 longitudinal research 45
cultural materialism 56 political economy 59
cultural consultants 44 questionnaire 42
diachronic 53 random sample 48
emic 46 sample 48
etic 46 superorganic 56
functionalism 53 survey research 48
genealogical method 43 symbolic anthropology 57
historical particularism 52 synchronic 53
informed consent 49 unilinear evolutionism 51
interpretive anthropology 57 variables 48
interview schedule 42

1. What do you see as the strengths and weaknesses of ethnography compared with survey research? Which pro-
critical vides more accurate data? Might one be better for finding questions, while the other is better for finding an-
swers? Or does it depend on the context of research?
thinking 2. In what sense is anthropological research comparative? How have anthropologists approached the issue of
comparison? What do they compare (what are their units of analysis)?
3. In your view, is anthropology a science? How have anthropologists historically addressed this question? Should
anthropology be a science?
4. Historically, how have anthropologists studied culture? What are some contemporary trends in the study of
culture, and how have they changed the way anthropologists carry out their research?
5. Do the theories examined in this chapter relate to ones you have studied in other courses? Which courses and
theories? Are those theories more scientific or humanistic, or somewhere in between?

62 PART 1 Introduction to Anthropology

Applying Anthropology

Can change be bad

and, if so, how?

How can
anthropology be
applied to medicine,
education, and

How does the study

of anthropology ﬁt
into a career path?

Shown here is Dr. Morgan Gerard, VP and Chief Resident Anthropologist at Idea Couture, a global ﬁrm based in
Toronto, Canada. In a project for Kraft Foods, Gerard guided research designed to suggest future consumption
patterns (see
chapter outline THE ROLE OF THE APPLIED
Early Applications
Academic and Applied
Applied Anthropology
Today understanding OURSELVES
DEVELOPMENT an change be bad? The idea that inno- is based on the need to appreciate what actual

vation is desirable is almost axiomatic and potential customers do, think, and want.
and unquestioned in American culture— Smart planners study and listen to people to try
STRATEGIES FOR especially in advertising. “New and to determine locally based demand. In general,
INNOVATION improved” is a slogan we hear all the time—a lot what’s working well (assuming it’s not discrimina-
Overinnovation more often than “old reliable.” Which do you tory or illegal) should be maintained, encour-
Underdifferentiation think is best—change or the status quo? aged, tweaked, and strengthened. If something’s
Indigenous Models That “new” isn’t always “improved” is a pain- wrong, how can it best be ﬁxed? What changes
ful lesson learned by the Coca-Cola Company do the people—and which people—want? How
ANTHROPOLOGY AND (TCCC) in 1985 when it changed the formula of its can conﬂicting wishes and needs be accommo-
premier soft drink and introduced “New Coke.” dated? Applied anthropologists help answer
URBAN ANTHROPOLOGY After a national brouhaha, with hordes of cus- these questions, which are crucial in understand-
Urban versus Rural tomers protesting, TCCC brought back old, famil- ing whether change is needed, and how it will
iar, reliable Coke under the name “Coca-Cola work.
MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Classic,” which thrives today. New Coke, now his- Innovation succeeds best when it is culturally
tory, offers a classic case of how not to treat con- appropriate. This axiom of applied anthropology
BUSINESS sumers. TCCC tried a top-down change (a change could guide the international spread of programs
initiated at the top of a hierarchy rather than aimed at social and economic change as well as of
PUBLIC AND APPLIED inspired by the people most affected by the businesses. Each time an organization expands to
change). Customers didn’t ask TCCC to change a new nation, it must devise a culturally appropri-
CAREERS AND its product; executives made that decision. ate strategy for ﬁtting into the new setting. In their
ANTHROPOLOGY Business executives, like public policy mak- international expansion, companies as diverse as
ers, run organizations that provide goods and McDonald’s, Starbucks, and Ford have learned
services to people. The ﬁeld of market research, that more money can be made by ﬁtting in with,
which employs a good number of anthropologists, rather than trying to Americanize, local habits.

Anthropology has two dimensions: academic development agencies, such as the World
and applied. Applied anthropology is the Bank and the United States Agency for Inter-
use of anthropological data, perspectives, national Development (USAID). The findings
theory, and methods to identify, assess, and of garbology, the archaeological  study of
solve contemporary problems (see Ervin 2005; waste, are relevant to the Environmental Pro-
Pelto 2013; Wasson, Butler, and Copeland- tection Agency, the paper industry, and pack-
Carson 2012). Applied anthropologists help aging and trade associations. Archaeology
make anthropology relevant and useful to the also is applied in cultural resource manage-
world beyond anthropology (see Beck and ment and historic preservation. Biological
Maida 2013). Medical anthropologists, for anthropologists apply their expertise in pro-
example, have worked as cultural interpreters grams aimed at public health, nutrition, genetic
in public health programs, helping such pro- counseling, aging, substance abuse, and men-
grams fit into local culture. Development tal health. Forensic anthropologists work with
anthropologists work for or with international the police, medical examiners, the courts, and

RECAP 4.1 The Four Subfields and Two Dimensions of Anthropology



Cultural anthropology Development anthropology

Archaeological anthropology Cultural resource management (CRM)
Biological, or physical, anthropology Forensic anthropology
Linguistic anthropology Study of linguistic diversity in classrooms

changes that affect them and that “the people” have applied
information that “the experts” lack. anthropology
Anthropological theory, the body of findings and Using anthropology to
generalizations of the four subfields, also guides solve contemporary
applied anthropology. Just as theory aids practice,
application fuels theory (see Rylko-Bauer, Singer,
and Van Willigen 2006). As we compare social-
change programs, our understanding of cause and
effect increases. We add new generalizations about
culture change to those discovered in traditional and
ancient cultures.


Early Applications
Application was a central concern of early anthro-
pology in Great Britain (in the context of colonialism)
and the United States (in the context of Native Amer-
ican policy). Before turning to the new, we should
consider some deficiencies and dangers of the old.
Like other forensic anthropologists, Dr. Kathy Reichs (shown here)
For the British empire, specifically its African colo-
nies, Bronislaw Malinowski (1929) proposed that
and her alter ego, Temperance Brennan (played on the TV show
“practical anthropology” (his term for colonial
Bones by Emily Deschanel), work with the police, medical
applied anthropology) should focus on Westerniza-
examiners, the courts, and international organizations to identify tion, the diffusion of European culture into tribal
victims of crimes, accidents, wars, terrorism, and genocide. societies. Malinowski questioned neither the legiti-
macy of colonialism nor the anthropologist’s role in
international organizations to identify victims of making it work. He saw nothing wrong with aiding
crimes, accidents, wars, and terrorism. Linguistic colonial regimes by studying land tenure and land
anthropologists have studied physician–patient speech use, to recommend how much of their land local
interactions and have shown how dialect differences people should be allowed to keep and how much
influence classroom learning. Most applied anthro- Europeans should be permitted to take. Malinowski’s
pologists seek humane and effective ways of helping views exemplify a historical association between
local people. See Recap 4.1 for examples of applied early anthropology, particularly in Europe (espe-
anthropology in the four subdisciplines. cially England, France, and Portugal), and colonial-
The ethnographic method is a particularly valu- ism (see also Duffield and Hewitt 2009; Lange 2009;
able tool in applying anthropology. Remember that Maquet 1964; Rylko-Bauer et al. 2006).
ethnographers study societies firsthand, living with, During World War II, American anthropologists
observing, and learning from ordinary people. Non- studied Japanese and German “culture at a distance”
anthropologists working in social-change programs in an attempt to predict the behavior of the enemies
often are content to converse with officials, read of the United States. Margaret Mead (1977) esti-
reports, and copy statistics. However, the applied mated that during the 1940s, 95 percent of U.S.
anthropologist’s likely early request is some variant anthropologists were engaged in the war effort.
of “take me to the local people.” Anthropologists After that war, applied anthropologists worked on
know that people must play an active role in the Pacific islands to promote local-level cooperation

Chapter 4 Applying Anthropology 65

with American policies in various trust territories. organizations, international policy bodies, and pri-
The American Anthropological Association (AAA) vate entities, such as unions, social movements, and
has raised strong ethical objections to applying increasingly corporations (Rylko-Bauer et al. 2006).
anthropology in war zones and for military intelli- The AAA estimates that well over half of anthropol-
gence. Such concerns were voiced during the ogy PhDs today seek nonacademic employment.
Vietnam War. More recently they have emerged in This shift toward application has benefited the pro-
criticisms of anthropologists’ gathering sociocul- fession. It has forced anthropologists to consider the
tural information for the military in Iraq and wider social value and implications of their research.
Afghanistan. Anthropological research should not
be applied to the potential detriment of the people
anthropologists study. Applied Anthropology Today
Most contemporary applied anthropologists see
Academic and Applied their work as radically removed from the colonial
enterprise. Applied anthropology today usually is
Anthropology seen as a helping profession, devoted to assisting
After World War II, the baby boom, which began in local people. According to Barbara Rylko-Bauer,
1946 and peaked in 1957, fueled a tremendous expan- Merrill Singer, and John van Willigen (2006), mod-
sion of the American educational system. New junior, ern applied anthropology uses theories, concepts,
community, and four-year colleges opened, and and methods from anthropology to confront human
anthropology became a standard part of the college problems that often contribute to profound social
curriculum. During the 1950s and 1960s, most suffering.
American anthropologists were college professors, However, applied anthropologists also have cli-
although some still worked in agencies and museums. ents who are neither poor nor powerless. An applied
Most anthropologists still worked in colleges and anthropologist working as a market researcher may
museums during the 1970s and 1980s. However, be concerned with discovering how to increase sales
an increasing number of anthropologists were of a particular product. Such commercial goals can
employed by international organizations, govern- pose ethical dilemmas, as can work in cultural
ments, businesses, hospitals, and schools. Today, resource management (CRM). The CRM anthropol-
applied anthropologists work in extremely varied ogist helps decide how to preserve significant
contexts, including large development organiza- remains when sites are threatened by development or
tions, communities and cultural groups, public insti- public works. A CRM firm typically is hired by
tutions, government agencies, NGOs and nonprofit someone seeking to build a road or a factory. That

Supervised by
archaeologists from
India, with funding from
the United Nations,
these workers are
cleaning and restoring
the front facade of
Cambodia’s historic
Angkor Wat temple. To
decide what needs
saving, and to preserve
significant information
about the past even
when sites cannot be
saved, is the work of
cultural resource
management (CRM).

66 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

client may have a strong interest in an outcome in local people. Although the stated aim of most devel-
which no sites are found that need protecting. Even if opment projects is to enhance the quality of life,
they don’t work for colonial powers or the military, living standards often decline in the affected area.
applied anthropologists still face ethical questions:
To whom does the researcher owe loyalty? What
problems are involved in holding firm to the truth? Equity
What happens when applied anthropologists don’t A commonly stated goal of recent development pol-
make the policies they have to implement? How does icy is to promote equity. Increased equity means increased equity
one criticize programs in which one has participated? reduced poverty and a more even distribution of Reduction in absolute
Anthropology’s professional organizations have wealth. However, if projects are to increase equity, poverty, with a more
addressed such questions by establishing codes of they must have the support of reform-minded gov- even distribution of
ethics and ethics committees. As Karen Tice (1997) ernments. Wealthy and powerful people typically
has noted, attention to ethical issues has become resist projects that threaten their vested interests.
paramount in the teaching of applied anthropology. Some development projects actually widen wealth
Anthropologists are experts on human problems disparities; that is, they have a negative equity
and social change who study, understand, and impact. An initial uneven distribution of resources
respect diverse cultural values. Given this back- often becomes the basis for even greater socioeco-
ground, anthropologists are highly qualified to sug- nomic inequality after the project. In Bahia, Brazil
gest, plan, and implement policies affecting people. (Kottak 2006), for example, sailboat owners (but not
Proper roles for applied anthropologists include nonowners) got loans to buy motors for their boats.
(1) identifying needs for change that local people To repay the loans, the owners increased the per-
perceive, (2) collaborating with those people to centage of the catch they took from the men who
design culturally appropriate and socially sensitive fished in their boats. Over the years, they used their
change, and (3) working to protect local people from rising profits to buy larger and more expensive
harmful policies and projects that may threaten them. boats. The result was stratification—the creation of
For decades applied anthropologists have col- a group of wealthy people within a formerly more
laborated directly with communities to achieve egalitarian community. These events hampered indi-
community-directed change (Rylko-Bauer et al. vidual initiative and interfered with further develop-
2006). Applied anthropologists not only work col- ment of the fishing industry. New boats became so
laboratively with local people but may even be hired expensive that ambitious young men, who once
by such communities in order to advocate on their would have sought careers in fishing, no longer
behalf. One example is Barbara Rose Johnston’s could afford to buy a boat of their own. They sought anthropology
(2005) research commissioned by communities that wage labor on land instead. To avoid such results, Field that examines
were adversely affected by the construction of the credit-granting agencies must seek out and invest in the sociocultural
Chixoy Dam in Guatemala. Johnston’s reports doc- enterprising young fishers, rather than giving loans dimensions of
ument the dam’s long-term impact on these com- only to owners and established businesspeople. economic development.
munities. She also offered recommendations and a
plan for reparations.

Development anthropology is the branch of applied
anthropology that focuses on social issues in, and
the cultural dimension of, economic development.
Development anthropologists don’t just carry out
development policies planned by others; they also
plan and guide policy. (For more detailed discus-
sions of issues in development anthropology, see
Crewe and Axelby 2013; Edelman and Haugerud
2005; Mosse 2011; Nolan 2002.)
Still, ethical dilemmas often confront development
anthropologists (Escobar 1991, 1995; Venkatesan and
Yarrow 2012). Foreign aid, including funds for eco-
nomic development, usually doesn’t go where need
and suffering are greatest. Rather, such funds are
spent on political, economic, and strategic priorities A mix of boats harbored in Pucasana, a fishing village in Peru. A boat owner gets a loan to
as international donors, political leaders, and power- buy a motor. To repay it, he increases the share of the catch he takes from his crew. Later,
ful interest groups perceive them. Planners’ interests he uses his rising profits to buy a more expensive boat and takes even more from his crew.
don’t always coincide with the best interests of the Can a more equitable solution be found?

Chapter 4 Applying Anthropology 67

appreciating ANTHROPOLOGY
Afghanistan: What the Anthropologists Say
Anthropologists have a lot to say about the his- terviews and administering surveys, learning as a Boston University graduate student, Coburn
tory and culture of, and even recent events in, about land disputes, social networks and how to conducted his anthropological ﬁeldwork in Istalif,
Afghanistan. This anthropological knowledge “operationalize” the Pashtun tribal code. a predominantly Tajik village 20 miles north of
has important applications. One is that success- The military, in short, demands local knowl- Kabul that was hostile to the Taliban and relatively
ful social outcomes are created with the re- edge. . . . Though the chief purveyors of such in- safe for foreigners. . . . Istalif was peaceful and
sources at hand, not from on high or far away. sight, academic ethnographers, have balked at stable despite having been razed to the ground by
Another is the suggestion that innovation working with the military. . . they have not ignored the Taliban in the late 1990s. . . . The continuing
should be tried ﬁrst in urban areas, where it is the country. Noah Coburn’s Bazaar Politics is the stability, in Coburn’s view, owed little to the
most likely to be welcome; after that it can ﬁrst extended study of an Afghan community to ap- Afghan state or to the presence of international
spread to the countryside once prejudices pear since the Taliban fell. It follows an ambitious forces; it resulted from a wary equilibrium among
against change have waned. Other lessons from history of Afghanistan by the Boston University rivals who feared disturbing the status quo. . . .
the anthropological studies reviewed here in- anthropologist Thomas Barﬁeld. . . . No one was truly in charge. Local power bro-
clude the value of understanding local culture Anthropologists who studied Afghanistan be- kers might possess wealth, honor, a reputation for
and politics and the dangers of imposing foreign fore the Soviet invasion of 1979 described a com- piety, abundant weaponry or powerful allies, but
models, and of overreliance on the state and plex country at the crossroads of Persian, Indian they lacked the means or the will to convert those
central authority. and Central Asian civilizations where nomads, gifts into decisive authority. The maliks, or elders,
farmers and traders of disparate cultures jostled made a big show of representing their communi-
Ten years after the Taliban’s leaders ﬂed their against one another. . . . While anthropologists like ties’ interests in meetings with outsiders and
country in apparent defeat, the U.S. war in Fredrik Barth and Charles Lindholm stressed the serving their followers generous meals. . . . But for
Afghanistan has become what one observer calls chronic instability and feuding among Pashtun all their public visibility, the maliks were only as
“a perpetually escalating stalemate.” As in Iraq, mountain clans, they also noted the strong value strong as their communities allowed them to be;
the United States military has responded . . . with placed on equality among all male members of a they were . . . anxious agents of the professions or
counterinsurgency: eliminate troublemakers in the tribe; indeed, the Pakistani scholar Akbar Ahmed neighborhoods or clans they served. . . . The mul-
dark of night, with the most lethal arts, and be- suggested that the Pashtuns opposed the British lahs, for their part, had little ability to intervene
friend tribal elders by day, with cultural sensitivity Empire on certain occasions because it attempted outside the mosque. . . .
and expertise. The Army has gone so far as to em- to introduce unwanted ranks and titles. As for the state’s representatives, their au-
bed credentialed social scientists with front-line In wartime Afghanistan of the 1980s and ’90s, thority was what Coburn calls a “useful ﬁction.”
troops in “Human Terrain Teams” that engage in anthropologists were scarce. But with the The district governor wielded his connections to
“rapid ethnographic assessment,” conducting in- Taliban’s fall, a few returned. . . . Arriving in 2006 Kabul as best he could, but did not possess

O R To maximize
To maximi
maxim miizze
z social
cialiaaall and
annd economic
onnnoomicc benefi
bene fits,
t proj
mustu (1) be
ust be culturally
urallyy compatible,
ble, (2)) respond
ble respon
re ndd to
ON loc cally perceived
locally per
rceivedd needs,
dsss, (3) invo ollvve men aan
involve andndd wommeen
D l
Development anthropologists
h l i should
h ld work k collab-
ll b iin planning
l i andd carrying i out the h changes
h that
h affect
oratively with local people to assess, and help them them, (4) harness traditional organizations, and
realize, their own wishes and needs for change. Too (5) be flexible (see Kottak 1990b, 1991).
many true local needs cry out for a solution to waste Consider a recent example of a development ini-
money funding projects in area A that are inappro- tiative that failed because it ignored local culture.
priate there but needed in area B, or that are unnec- Working in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban,
essary anywhere. Development anthropology can ethnographer Noah Coburn (2011) studied Istalif, a
help sort out the needs of the As and Bs and fit village of potters. During his fieldwork there Coburn
projects accordingly. Projects that put people first by discovered that an NGO had spent $20,000 on an
consulting with them and responding to their electric kiln that could have greatly enhanced the
expressed needs must be identified (Cernea 1991). productivity of local potters. The only problem was

68 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

great inﬂuence, in part because . . . government
aid was mainly distributed by locally elected
committees. . . .
[Coburn] watched in disbelief as [local leaders]
rejected a proposal to pave the main road connect-
ing Istalif with the nearby highway leading to Kabul.
The new road would have beneﬁted the entire vil-
lage . . . ; but one malik objected that its construc-
tion would disproportionately assist another malik’s
sector of the town, and the proposal was quietly
tabled. In other words, to disturb the existing distri-
bution of power was to risk reigniting too many lo-
cal conﬂicts. . . . The quiet the town has enjoyed
since the end of the Taliban regime is . . . largely the
result of tacit agreements among bitter rivals over
what to forget and ignore. Whatever the fragility of
such an arrangement, Coburn implies that it is pref-
erable to the modernizing plans of even the most
Afghan schoolgirls walk through Istalif, a predominantly Tajik village of artisans located about 20 miles north of Kabul and
thoughtful state-builders. The attempt to create im-
studied by ethnographer Noah Coburn.
personal, merit-oriented bureaucracies and to
spread liberal beliefs about gender, religion or system designed for autocrats in a land where au- drawdown of international troops, seem likely to re-
criminal punishment is as likely to exacerbate con- tocracy was no longer politically sustainable.” Simi- duce violence because these measures will remove
ﬂict as to resolve it. Stability is created with the re- larly, Barﬁeld suggests that asking rural Afghans to a signiﬁcant source of political tension.” . . . Quite
sources at hand, not from on high or far away. . . . rethink their beliefs about religion or women’s soon . . . those anthropologists who favor a dimin-
In his skepticism of centralizers, modernizers rights is sure to fail. . . . A better course of action, the ished Western presence are likely to get their wish.
and humanitarians, Coburn echoes other anthropo- record shows, was to pursue “policies of social
SOURCE: Alexander Star, “Afghanistan: What the
logically minded writers. Thomas Barfield’s change in urban areas where they were welcome, Anthropologists Say.” From The New York Times
Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History insists and then let them spread to the countryside only Book Reviews, November 20, 2011. © 2011 The New
York Times. All rights reserved. Used by permission
that Western powers made a serious error by after prejudices against them had waned.” and protected by the Copyright Laws of the United
installing Karzai in a presidency with quasi- Coburn further asserts that “a decrease in the States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retrans-
mission of this Content without express written per-
monarchical powers. They “attempted to restore a amount of money being spent in the country, and a mission is prohibited.

hhaatt the
hat thhe kiln
k wa was
wass donated
donate teed
ed to a women’s
men’s center
cceenter that
hat what
att they already
e have.
avee. Motives
ves forfoorr modifying
mod difying
m could
men cou
l not
not eenter. Thee misguided
guided donors
d ignored
nored behavior
aavvior comee fromf om
fr m the traditional
all culture
ccu e and aan thehe
t fact that
the tth
at IIstal
l f’s men
li meenn did the
hee wor
orkk—pot-m maaking
m sm concerns
small co
n of ord ordinary
d nary
y life. Pea
assants’ va values
es are
andd firing—that
i h a kiln kkill could ld facilitate.
f iilli
li Women’s
W ’ not suchh abstract
b ones as “learning
“l i a better b way,””
role in pottery came later—in glazing and decorat- “progressing,” “increasing technical know-how,”
ing (see this chapter’s “Appreciating Anthropology” “improving efficiency,” or “adopting modern
for more on Afghanistan). techniques.” Rather, their objectives are down-to-
earth and specific. People want to guarantee the
productivity of their crops, amass resources for a
Overinnovation ceremony, get a child through school, or have
Development projects are most likely to succeed enough cash to pay bills. The goals and values of
when they avoid the fallacy of overinnovation (too subsistence producers differ from those of people overinnovation
much change). People usually are willing to change who work for cash, just as they differ from those of Trying to achieve too
just enough to maintain, or slightly improve on, development planners. much change.

Chapter 4 Applying Anthropology 69

Development projects that fail usually are either benefited as extended family members flocked to the
economically or culturally incompatible (or both). project area. Here, settlers modified the project
For example, one South Asian project promoted the design that had been imposed on them by following
cultivation of onions and peppers, expecting this the principles of their traditional society.
practice to fit into a preexisting labor-intensive sys- The second dubious foreign social model that is
tem of rice growing. Cultivation of these cash crops common in development planning is the coopera-
wasn’t traditional in the area. It conflicted with tive. In a comparative study of rural development
existing crop priorities and other interests of farm- projects, new cooperatives tended to succeed only
ers. Also, the labor peaks for pepper and onion pro- when they harnessed preexisting local-level com-
duction coincided with those for rice, to which the munal institutions. This is a corollary of a more gen-
farmers gave priority (see Kottak 1990b, 1991). eral rule: Participants’ groups are most effective
when they are based on traditional social organiza-
tion or on a socioeconomic similarity among mem-
Underdifferentiation bers (Kottak 1990b, 1991).
underdifferentiation The fallacy of underdifferentiation is planners’ An alternative to such foreign models is needed:
Seeing less-developed tendency to view “the less-developed countries” greater use of indigenous social models in economic
countries as all the (LDCs) as more alike than they are. Often develop- development. These are traditional social units, such
same; ignoring cultural ment agencies have ignored huge cultural contrasts as the clans, lineages, and other extended kin groups
(e.g., between Brazil and Burundi) and adopted a of Africa, Oceania, and many other nations, with
uniform approach to deal with very different societ- their communally held estates and resources. The
ies. Planners often try to impose incompatible prop- most humane and productive strategy for change is
erty concepts and social units. Most often, the faulty to base the social design for innovation on tradi-
social design assumes either (1) units of production tional social forms in each target area.
that are privately owned by an individual or a couple
and worked by a nuclear family or (2) cooperatives
that are at least partially based on models from the Indigenous Models
former Eastern bloc and Socialist countries. Many governments are not genuinely, or realistically,
One example of using an inappropriate First committed to improving the lives of their citizens.
World model (the individual and the nuclear family) Interference by major powers also has kept govern-
was a West African project designed for an area ments from enacting needed reforms. Occasionally,
where the extended family was the basic social unit. however, a government does act as an agent of and for
The project succeeded despite its faulty social its people. One historic example is Madagascar,
design because the participants used their traditional whose people, the Malagasy, were organized into
extended family networks to attract additional set- descent groups prior to indigenous state formation
tlers. Eventually, twice as many people as planned in the 18th century. The Merina, creators of the
major precolonial state of Madagascar,
wove descent groups into its structure,
making members of important groups
advisers to the king and thus giving them
authority in government. The Merina state
made provisions for the people it ruled.
It collected taxes and organized labor
for public works projects. In return, it
redistributed resources to peasants in
need. It also granted them some protection
against war and slave raids and allowed
them to cultivate their rice fields in peace.
The government maintained the water
works for rice cultivation. It opened to
ambitious peasant boys the chance of
becoming, through hard work and study,
state bureaucrats.
Throughout the history of the Merina
state—and continuing to some extent in
postcolonial Madagascar—there have
been strong relationships between the
individual, the descent group, and the
state. Local Malagasy communities,
In rural Bangladesh, NGOs (nongovernmental organizations) are working to “empower” local people and to where residence is based on descent, are
improve their livelihoods and incomes. Shown here, an NGO-sponsored women’s cooperative credit group more cohesive and homogeneous than are
meets to discuss the distribution of profits. communities in Latin America or North

70 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

America. Madagascar gained political independence contrast, leaders and followers too often have been
from France in 1960. Its new government had an from different socioeconomic strata, with no con-
economic development policy aimed at increasing nections based on kinship, descent, marriage, or
the ability of the Malagasy to feed themselves. Gov- common background. When elites rule, elites usu-
ernment policy emphasized increased production of ally prosper. Recently, however, Latin America has
rice, a subsistence crop, rather than cash crops. Fur- elected some nonelite leaders. Brazil’s lower class
thermore, local communities, with their traditional (indeed the entire nation) benefited socioeconomi-
cooperative patterns and solidarity based on kinship cally when one of its own was elected president.
and descent, were treated as partners in, not obsta- Luiz Inácio da Silva, aka Lula, a former factory
cles to, the development process. worker with only a fourth-grade education, served
In a sense, the descent group is preadapted to two terms (ending in 2011) as one of the Western
equitable national development. In Madagascar, Hemisphere’s most popular leaders.
descent groups pooled their resources to educate Realistic development policies promote change
their most ambitious members. Once educated, but not overinnovation. Many changes are possible
these men and women gained economically secure if the aim is to preserve things while making them
positions in the nation. They then shared the advan- work better. Successful economic development
tages of their new positions with their kin. For projects respect, or at least don’t attack, local cul-
example, they gave room and board to rural cousins tural patterns. Effective development draws on
attending school and helped them find jobs. indigenous cultural practices and social structures.
This Madagascar example suggests that when As nations become more tied to the world capitalist
government officials are of “the people” (rather than economy, it is not inevitable that indigenous forms
the elites) and have strong personal ties to common of social organization will break down into nuclear
folk, they are more likely to promote democratic family organization, impersonality, and alienation.
economic development. In Latin America, by Descent groups, with their traditional communalism
and solidarity, have important roles to play in eco-
nomic development.

Attention to culture also is fundamental to anthropol- anthropology and
ogy and education, a field whose research extends education
Study of students in
from classrooms into homes, neighborhoods, and
the context of their
communities (see Anderson-Levitt 2012; Levinson
family, peers, and
and Pollock 2011; Spindler and Hammond 2006). In enculturation.
classrooms, anthropologists have observed interac-
tions among teachers, students, parents, and visitors.
Jules Henry’s classic account of the American ele-
mentary school classroom (1955) shows how stu-
dents learn to conform to and compete with their
peers. Anthropologists view children as total cul-
tural creatures whose enculturation and attitudes
toward education belong to a context that includes
family and peers.
Sociolinguists and cultural anthropologists have
worked side by side in education research. In one
classic study of Puerto Rican seventh-graders in the
urban Midwest (Hill-Burnett 1978), anthropologists
uncovered some key misconceptions held by teach-
ers. The teachers mistakenly had assumed that Puerto
Rican parents valued education less than did non-
Hispanics, but in-depth interviews revealed that the
Puerto Rican parents valued it more. The anthropolo-
gists also identified certain practices that were pre-
A teacher displays flashcards to students in a Spanish language
venting Hispanics from being adequately educated.
class. In educational anthropology, fieldwork occurs not only in
For example, the teachers’ union and the board of
schools and classrooms but also in communities. Educational education had agreed to teach “English as a foreign
anthropologists study the backgrounds, behavior, beliefs, and language.” However, they had provided no bilingual
attitudes of teachers, students, parents, and families in their teachers to work with Spanish-speaking students.
cultural context. The school was assigning all students (including

Chapter 4 Applying Anthropology 71

non-Hispanics) with low reading scores and behav- topics such as immigration, ethnicity, poverty, class,
ior problems to the English-as-a-foreign-language and urban violence (Vigil 2010).
classroom. This educational disaster brought together
in the classroom a teacher who spoke no Spanish,
children who barely spoke English, and a group of Urban versus Rural
English-speaking students with reading and behavior In any nation, urban and rural represent different
problems. The Spanish speakers were falling behind social systems. However, cultural diffusion, or bor-
not just in reading but in all subjects. They could at rowing, occurs as people, products, images, and mes-
least have kept up in the other subjects if a Spanish sages move from one to the other. Migrants bring rural
speaker had been teaching them science, social practices and beliefs to cities and take urban patterns
studies, and math until they were ready for English- back home (see this chapter’s “Appreciating Anthro-
language instruction in those areas. pology”). The experiences and social forms of the
rural area affect adaptation to city life. City folk also
develop new institutions to meet specific urban needs.
URBAN ANTHROPOLOGY An applied anthropology approach to urban plan-
For centuries, cities have been influenced by global ning starts by identifying key social groups in spe-
forces. Today, media-transmitted images and informa- cific urban contexts—avoiding the fallacy of
tion play an important role in attracting people to cities. underdifferentiation. After identifying those groups,
People migrate partly for economic reasons, but also the anthropologist might elicit their wishes for
to be where the action is. Rural Brazilians routinely change, convey those needs to funding agencies,
cite movimento, urban activity and excitement, as and work with agencies and local people to realize
something to be valued. International migrants tend to those goals. In Africa relevant groups might include
settle in large cities, where a lot is going on and where ethnic associations, occupational groups, social
they can feel at home in ethnic enclaves. For example, clubs, religious groups, and burial societies. Through
71 percent of immigrants to Canada settle in Toronto, membership in such groups, urban Africans main-
Vancouver, or Montreal. Nearly half of Toronto’s citi- tain wide networks of personal contacts and support.
zens were born outside Canada. The groups provide cash support and urban lodging
The percentage of the world’s population living in for their rural relatives. Members may call one
cities surpassed 50 percent for the first time in 2008 another “brother” and “sister.” As in an extended
and is projected to rise to 70 percent by 2050 family, richer members help their poorer relatives. A
(Handwerk 2008). Only about 3 percent of people member’s improper behavior, however, can lead to
were city dwellers in 1800, compared with 13 percent expulsion—an unhappy fate for a migrant in a large,
in 1900, 40 percent in 1980, and over 50 percent ethnically heterogeneous city.
today (see Handwerk 2008). The degree of urbaniza- One role for the urban applied anthropologist is
tion (29.2 percent) in the less-developed countries to help people deal with urban institutions, such as
(LDCs) is well below the world average (50.5 per- legal and social services, with which recent migrants
cent). By 2030, however, the percentage of city may be unfamiliar. In certain North American cities,
dwellers in the LDCs is projected to rise to 41 per- as in Africa, ethnic associations are relevant urban
cent. The urbanization growth rate is actually much groups. One example comes from Los Angeles,
faster in the LDCs. In Africa and Asia alone, a million which has the largest Samoan immigrant community
people a week migrate to cities (Handwerk 2008). in the United States (over 50,000 people). Samoans
The world had only 16 cities with more than a million in Los Angeles draw on their traditional system of
people in 1900, versus over 400 such cities today. matai (matai means “chief ”; the matai system now
Over one billion people live in urban slums, refers to respect for elders) to deal with modern
mostly without reliable water, sanitation, public urban problems. One example is a white police offi-
services, and legal security (Handwerk 2008; Vidal cer once shot and killed two unarmed Samoan
2003). If current trends continue, urban population brothers. When a judge dismissed charges against
increase and the concentration of people in slums the officer, local leaders used the matai system to
will continue to be accompanied by rising rates of calm angry youths (who have formed gangs, like
crime, along with water, air, and noise pollution (see other ethnic groups in the Los Angeles area). Clan
Dürr and Jaffe 2010). These problems will be most leaders and elders organized a well-attended com-
severe in the LDCs. munity meeting, in which they urged young mem-
As industrialization and urbanization spread bers to be patient. The Samoans then used the
globally, anthropologists increasingly study these American judicial system. They brought a civil case
urban anthropology processes and the social problems they create. Urban against the officer in question and pressed the U.S.
Anthropological study anthropology, which has theoretical (basic research) Justice Department to initiate a civil rights case in
of cities and urban life. and applied dimensions, is the cross-cultural and eth- the matter (Mydans 1992b). Not all conflicts involv-
nographic study of urbanization and life in cities (see ing gangs and law enforcement end so peacefully.
Gmelch, Kemper, and Zenner 2010; Pardo and Prato James Vigil (2003, 2010) examines gang violence
2012). The United States and Canada have become in the context of large-scale immigrant adaptation to
popular arenas for urban anthropological research on American cities. He notes that most gangs prior to the

72 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

1970s were located in white ethnic enclaves in eastern
and midwestern cities. Back then, gang incidents typi-
cally were brawls involving fists, sticks, and knives.
Today, gangs more often are composed of non-white
ethnic groups, and handguns have replaced less lethal
weapons. Gangs still consist mostly of male adoles-
cents who have grown up together, usually in a low-
income neighborhood, where it’s estimated that about
10 percent of young men join gangs. Female gang
members are much rarer. With gangs organized hierar-
chically by age, older members push younger ones
(usually 14- to 18-year-olds) to carry out violent acts
against rivals (Singer 2008; Vigil 2003, 2010). How
might an applied anthropologist approach the problem
of urban violence? Which groups would have to be
involved in the study (see Vigil 2010)?

MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Anthropologists have noted the significance of urban youth groups, including gangs, which now
Medical anthropology is the comparative, biocul-
have transnational scope. This 29-year-old man, lodged in the Denver County jail, was one of
tural study of disease, health problems, and health
several jailed gang members who discussed their lives on a 2010 History Channel special.
care systems (see Wiley and Allen 2013). Both aca-
demic and applied, medical anthropology includes Members look to gangs for social support and physical protection. How might this man’s
anthropologists from all four subfields (see Brown tattoos have social significance?
and Barrett 2010; Joralemon 2010; Singer and Baer
2012; Trevathan, Smith, and McKenna 2008). Medi- Hurtado and her colleagues (2005) note very medical
cal anthropology emerged out of applied work done in high rates of early mortality among South America’s anthropology
public health and international development (Foster indigenous populations, whose life expectancy at The comparative,
and Anderson 1978). Current medical anthropology birth is at least 20 years shorter than that of other biocultural study of
disease, health
continues to have clear policy applications, partly South Americans (Hurtado et al. 2005). How can
problems, and health
because it so often deals with pressing human prob- applied anthropologists help improve the health of care systems.
lems that cry out for solutions (Rylko-Bauer et al. 2006). indigenous peoples? Hurtado and colleagues (2005)
Medical anthropologists examine such questions as suggest three steps: (1) Identify their most pressing
which diseases and health conditions affect particular health problems; (2) gather information on possible
populations (and why) and how illness is socially con- solutions; and (3) implement solutions in partner-
structed, diagnosed, managed, and treated in various ship with the agencies that are in charge of public
societies (Lupton 2012; Singer and Erickson 2011). health programs for indigenous populations.
Disease refers to a scientifically identified health In many areas, the world system and colonialism disease
threat caused genetically or by a bacterium, virus, worsened the health of indigenous peoples by spread- A scientiﬁcally identiﬁed
fungus, parasite, or other pathogen. Illness is a con- ing diseases, warfare, servitude, and other stressors. health threat caused by
dition of poor health perceived or felt by an indi- Traditionally and in ancient times, hunter-gatherers, a known pathogen.
vidual within a particular culture. Various cultures because of their small numbers, mobility, and relative
and ethnic groups recognize different illnesses, isolation from other groups, lacked most of the epi-
A condition of poor
symptoms, and causes and have developed different demic infectious diseases that affect agrarian and health perceived or felt
health care systems and treatment strategies. urban societies (Cohen and Armelagos 1984; Inhorn by an individual.
The incidence and severity of disease vary as and Brown 1990). Epidemic diseases such as cholera,
well (see Baer, Singer, and Susser 2013; Barnes typhoid, and bubonic plague thrive in dense popula-
2005). Group differences are evident in the United tions, and thus among farmers and city dwellers. The
States. Consider, for example, health status indica- spread of malaria has been linked to population growth
tors in relation to U.S. census categories: white, and deforestation associated with food production.
black, Hispanic, American Indian or Alaska Native, Certain diseases, and physical conditions such as
and Asian or Pacific Islander. Black Americans’ obesity, have spread with economic development
rates for six indicators (total mortality, heart disease, and globalization (Inhorn and Wentzell 2012;
lung cancer, breast cancer, stroke, and homicide) Ulijaszek and Lofink 2006). Schistosomiasis, or bil-
range from 2.5 to 10 times greater than those of the harzia (liver flukes), is probably the fastest-spreading
other groups (Keppel, Pearch, and Wagener 2002). and most dangerous parasitic infection now known.
Other ethnic groups have higher rates for suicide It is propagated by snails that live in ponds, lakes,
(white Americans) and motor vehicle accidents and waterways, usually ones created by irrigation
(American Indians and Alaskan Natives). Overall, projects. The applied anthropology approach to
Asians have the longest lifespans (see Dressler, reducing such diseases is to see if local people per-
Oths, and Gravlee, 2005). ceive a connection between the vector (e.g., snails in

Chapter 4 Applying Anthropology 73

The Deadliest Global Pandemic
of Our Time

pandemic is an infectious disease that crosses national ture accomplishment of the George W. Bush administration
boundaries and affects millions. In the case of HIV/AIDS, (2001–2009). In 2003, President Bush launched a ﬁve-year pro-
the pandemic has been global. HIV is the virus that gram aimed at ﬁghting HIV/AIDS (and tuberculosis) in 15 high-risk
causes the disease known as AIDS, which has killed about countries. Congress extended the program in 2008, and it has
25 million people since its discovery in 1981. Globally the num- continued under President Obama. American funding for HIV/
ber of people living with HIV has risen from about 8 million in AIDS increased from $2.3 billion in 2003 to $6 billion in 2008, and
1990 to over 33 million today. In many countries, however, the to $6.8 billion in 2011 (Ezekiel 2011). Although the United States
number of new HIV infections and AIDS cases has declined was spending only 12 percent more on ﬁghting HIV in 2011 than in
because millions of people now take antiretroviral drugs. (HIV is 2008, twice as many people were beneﬁting because of reduced
classiﬁed as a retrovirus—a virus whose genes are encoded in drug costs and streamlined program management (Ezekiel 2011).
RNA instead of DNA.) As Bono of U2 fame, a prominent cam- Cultural practices play a clear role in HIV transmission. Sex-
paigner against AIDS, notes, it’s amazing what a difference ual abstinence and condom use slow the spread of HIV. Infec-
“two little pills a day” can make (see Bono 2011). tion rates are lower when men are circumcised (as is customary
Although HIV/AIDS is a global threat, some world areas are among Muslims) and there is little prostitution. It’s estimated
more infected than others are. About 68 percent of all HIV infec- that male circumcision cuts HIV transmission by 60 percent.
tions are in Africa, especially southern Africa. The following indicate Since 2007, a million men worldwide have been circumcised;
the percentages of adults (ages 15–49) living with HIV in the nine three-fourths of those procedures were paid for by the U.S.
contiguous southern Africa countries of Swaziland (26.1 percent), government.
Botswana (23.9), Lesotho (23.2), South Africa (18.1), Namibia (15.3),
Zimbabwe (15.3), Zambia (15.2), Mozambique (12.5), and Malawi
(11.9). These are the highest rates in the world; in no other country
does the ﬁgure rise above 10 percent. In these countries, HIV has
spread through prostitution (mainly involving female sex workers
and their clients). The infection rate is especially high among truck-
ers, miners, and young rural men seeking wage work in cities and
labor camps. Returning to their villages, these men infect their
wives and the babies they bear.
Overall in Africa the adult infection rate is 5 percent. This is
signiﬁcantly higher than the rates of 1 percent in the Caribbean;
0.8 percent in Eastern Europe; 0.5 percent in North, Central,
and South America; and 0.2 percent in Western and Central
Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The rate in East Asia
is minuscule—less than 0.1 percent. The HIV infection rates are
below 1 percent in these populous countries: United States,
0.6 percent; Brazil, 0.4 percent; India, 0.3 percent; and China,
0.1 percent ( 2010).
American foreign aid has been instrumental in slowing the This tapestry by South African artist Jane Makhubele promotes condom use as a
AIDS pandemic. Progress against HIV/AIDS is considered a signa- method of AIDS prevention.

the water) and the disease. If not, such information return home, they infect their wives (see Baer et al.
may be provided by enlisting active local groups, 2013). Cultural factors affect the spread of HIV, which
schools, and the media. is less likely to be transmitted when men are circum-
The highest global rates of HIV infection and cised. (For more on the AIDS pandemic, see this chap-
AIDS-related deaths are in Africa, especially southern ter’s “Focus on Globalization.”)
Africa (Mazzeo, Rödlach, and Brenton 2011). As it The kinds and incidence of disease vary among
kills productive adults, AIDS leaves behind dependent societies, and cultures perceive and treat illness
children and seniors (Baro and Deubel 2006). Sexu- differently (see Lupton 2012). Still, all societies have
ally transmitted diseases (STDs) are spread through what George Foster and Barbara Anderson call
prostitution as young men from rural areas seek wage “disease-theory systems” to identify, classify, and
work in cities, labor camps, and mines. When the men explain illness. Foster and Anderson (1978) identified

74 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

three basic theories about the causes of illness: per-
sonalistic, naturalistic, and emotionalistic. Personal-
istic disease theories blame illness on agents, such as
sorcerers, witches, ghosts, or ancestral spirits.
Naturalistic disease theories explain illness in
impersonal terms. One example is Western medi-
cine, or biomedicine, which aims to link illness to
scientifically demonstrated agents that bear no per-
sonal malice toward their victims. Thus, Western
medicine attributes illness to organisms (e.g.,
bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites), accidents,
toxic materials, or genes. Other naturalistic systems
blame poor health on unbalanced body fluids. Many
Latin cultures classify food, drink, and environmen-
tal conditions as “hot” or “cold.” People believe
their health suffers when they eat or drink hot or
cold substances together or under inappropriate con-
ditions. For example, one shouldn’t drink something
cold after a hot bath or eat a pineapple (a “cold”
fruit) when one is menstruating (a “hot” condition).
Emotionalistic disease theories assume that emo-
tional experiences cause illness. For example, Latin
Merina women plant paddy rice in the highlands south of Antsirabe, Madagascar.
Americans may develop susto, an illness brought on
Schistosomiasis, of which all known varieties are found in Madagascar, is among the fastest-
by anxiety, fright, or tragic news. Its symptoms
(lethargy, vagueness, distraction) are similar to spreading and most dangerous parasitic infections now known. It is propagated by snails that
those of “soul loss,” a diagnosis of similar symptoms live in ponds, lakes, and waterways (often ones created by irrigation systems, such as those
made by people in Madagascar. associated with paddy rice cultivation).
All societies have health care systems consist-
ing of beliefs, customs, specialists, and techniques relationship are among the questionable features of health care systems
aimed at ensuring health and diagnosing and curing Western medical systems (see Briggs 2005). Also, Beliefs, customs, and
illness. A society’s illness-causation theory is impor- overuse of antibiotics seems to be triggering an specialists concerned
tant for treatment. When illness has a personalistic explosion of resistant microorganisms. with preventing and
cause, magicoreligious specialists may be effective curing illness.
Still, biomedicine surpasses tribal treatment in
curers. They draw on varied techniques (occult and many ways. Although medicines such as quinine,
practical), which constitute their special expertise. A coca, opium, ephedrine, and rauwolfia were discov-
shaman may cure soul loss by enticing the spirit ered in nonindustrial societies, thousands of effective
back into the body. Shamans may ease difficult drugs are available today to treat myriad diseases.
childbirths by asking spirits to travel up the birth Today’s surgical procedures are much safer and more
canal to guide the baby out (Lévi-Strauss 1967). A effective than those of traditional societies.
shaman may cure a cough by counteracting a curse But industrialization and globalization have
or removing a substance introduced by a sorcerer. spawned their own health problems. Modern stress-
If there is a “world’s oldest profession” besides ors include poor nutrition, dangerous machinery,
hunter and gatherer, it is curer, often a shaman. The impersonal work, isolation, poverty, homelessness, curer
curer’s role has some universal features (Foster and substance abuse, and noise, air, and water pollution One who diagnoses
Anderson 1978). Thus, a curer emerges through a (see McElroy and Townsend 2009). Health prob- and treats illness.
culturally defined process of selection (parental lems in industrial nations may be caused as much by
prodding, inheritance of the role, visions, dream economic, social, political, and cultural factors as by
instructions) and training (apprentice shamanship, pathogens. Poverty contributes to many illnesses,
medical school). Eventually, the curer is certified by including arthritis, heart conditions, back problems,
older practitioners and acquires a professional and hearing and vision impairment.
image. Patients believe in the skills of the curer, In the United States and other developed coun-
whom they consult and compensate. tries, good health has become something of an
We should not lose sight, ethnocentrically, of the ethical imperative (Foucault 1990). Individuals are
difference between scientific medicine and Western expected to regulate their behavior and shape them- scientiﬁc medicine
medicine per se. To be sure, there have been scientific selves in keeping with new medical knowledge. A health care system
advances in technology, genomics, molecular biology, Those who do so acquire the status of sanitary based on scientiﬁc
pathology, surgery, diagnostics, and applications. citizens—people with modern understanding of the knowledge and
However, many Western medical procedures have procedures.
body, health, and illness. Such citizens practice
little justification in science, logic, or fact. Overpre- hygiene and look to health care professionals when
scription of drugs, unnecessary surgeries, and the they are sick. People who act differently (e.g.,
impersonality and inequality of the physician–patient smokers, overeaters, those who avoid doctors) are

Chapter 4 Applying Anthropology 75

poor health has intertwined physical, emotional, and
social causes (see also Brown and Barrett 2010;
Helman 2007; Joralemon 2010; Strathern and
Stewart 2010).
Medical anthropology also considers the impact
of new scientific and medical techniques on ideas
about life, death, and personhood (what it means to
be a person). For decades, disagreements about per-
sonhood—such as about when life begins and
ends—have been part of political and religious dis-
cussions of contraception, abortion, and assisted
suicide. More recent additions to such discussions
include stem cells, “harvested” embryos, assisted
At a market in Yangshuo, China, a woman undergoes a moxibustion reproduction, genetic screening, cloning, and life-
treatment, in which mugwort, a small, spongy herb, is burned to prolonging medical treatments.
facilitate healing. Kaufman and Morgan (2005) emphasize the con-
trast between what they call low-tech and high-tech
stigmatized as unsanitary and blamed for their own births and deaths. A desperately poor young mother
health problems (Briggs 2005; Foucault 1990). dies of AIDS in Africa, while half a world away an
Even getting an epidemic disease such as cholera American child of privilege is born as the result of a
may be interpreted today as a moral failure. It’s $50,000 in vitro fertilization procedure. Medical
assumed that people who act rationally can avoid anthropologists increasingly are concerned with
“preventable” diseases. Individuals are expected to how the boundaries of life and death are being ques-
follow scientifically based imperatives (e.g., “boil tioned and negotiated in the 21st century.
water,” “don’t smoke”). People (e.g., gay men, smok-
ers, veterans) can become objects of avoidance and ANTHROPOLOGY
discrimination simply by belonging to a group seen
as having a greater risk of poor health (Briggs 2005). AND BUSINESS
Health interventions always have to fit into local As David Price (2000) has noted, activities encom-
cultures. When Western medicine is introduced, passed under the label “applied anthropology”
people usually preserve many of their old methods are extremely diverse, ranging from research for
while also accepting new ones. Native curers may activist NGOs to producing ethnographies and time-
go on treating certain conditions (spirit possession), allocation studies of workplaces commissioned by
while physicians deal with others. The native curer and for management. For decades anthropologists
may get as much credit as the physician for a cure. have used ethnography to understand corporate set-
More personal treatment strategies that emulate tings and business (Arensberg 1987; Jordan 2013).
the non-Western curer–patient–community relation- Ethnographic research in a factory, for example, may
ship might benefit Western systems. Western medi- view workers, managers, and executives as different
cine tends to draw a rigid line between biomedical social categories participating in a common system.
and psychological causation. Non-Western theories Each group has characteristic attitudes and behavior
usually lack this sharp distinction, recognizing that patterns. These are transmitted through microencul-
turation, the process by which people learn particular
roles within a limited social system. The free-ranging
nature of ethnography can take the anthropologist
back and forth from worker to executive. Each
employee is both an individual with a personal view-
point and a cultural creature whose perspective is, to
some extent, shared with other members of his or her
group. Applied anthropologists have acted as “cultural
brokers,” translating managers’ goals or workers’
concerns to the other group (see Ferraro 2010).
Carol Taylor (1987) has stressed the value of an
“anthropologist-in-residence” in a large, complex
organization, such as a hospital or corporation. A
free-ranging ethnographer can be a perceptive odd-
ball when information and decisions typically move
Business anthropologist Crysta Metcalf, right, and her team through a rigid hierarchy. If allowed to observe and
demonstrate a new (in 2008) technology at Motorola in converse freely with all types and levels of person-
Schaumburg, Illinois. The technology allows people in different nel, the anthropologist may acquire a unique per-
locations to communicate while watching the same televised spective on organizational conditions and problems
show or event. (see Caulkins and Jordan 2013; Cefkin 2009).

76 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

appreciating DIVERSITY
Culturally Appropriate Marketing
Innovation succeeds best when it is culturally ap- people were trying to adapt to Brazilian middle- city. However, these settings have not proved es-
propriate. This axiom of applied anthropology class culture, but they were making some mistakes. pecially inviting to hamburgers or ﬁsh ﬁlets.
could guide the international spread not only of “When you go out in the car with the kids” trans- The homes of Brazilians who can afford
development projects but also of businesses, in- ferred the uniquely developed North American cul- McDonald’s products have cooks and maids to do
cluding fast food. Each time McDonald’s or Burger tural combination of highways, affordable cars, and many of the things that fast-food restaurants do in
King expands to a new nation, it must devise a suburban living to the very different context of the United States. The suggestion that McDonald’s
culturally appropriate strategy for ﬁtting into the urban Brazil. A similar suggestion was “traveling to products be eaten “while watching your favorite
new setting. the country place.” Even Brazilians who owned television program” is culturally appropriate, be-
McDonald’s has been very successful interna- country places could not ﬁnd McDonald’s, still con- cause Brazilians watch TV a lot. However, Brazil’s
tionally. Over 60 percent of its current annual rev- ﬁned to the cities, on the road. The ad creator had consuming classes can ask the cook to make a
enue comes from sales outside the United States. apparently never attempted to drive up to a fast- snack when hunger strikes. Indeed, much tele-
One place where McDonald’s has expanded suc- food restaurant in a neighborhood with no parking viewing occurs during the light dinner served
cessfully is Brazil, where 90 million middle-class spaces. when the husband gets home from the office.
people, most living in densely packed cities, pro- Several other suggestions pointed customers Most appropriate to the Brazilian lifestyle was the
vide a concentrated market for a fast-food chain. toward the beach, where cariocas (Rio natives) do suggestion to enjoy McDonald’s “on the cook’s day
Still, it took McDonald’s some time to ﬁnd the right spend much of their leisure time. One could eat off.” Throughout Brazil, Sunday is that day. The Sun-
marketing strategy for Brazil. McDonald’s products “after a dip in the ocean,” day pattern for middle-class families who live on the
In 1980 when I visited Brazil after a seven-year “at a picnic at the beach,” or “watching the surf- coast is a trip to the beach, liters of beer, a full midday
absence, I ﬁrst noticed, as a manifestation of ers.” These suggestions ignored the Brazilian cus- meal around 3 P.M., and a light evening snack.
Brazil’s growing participation in the world economy, tom of consuming cold things, such as beer, soft McDonald’s found its niche in the Sunday evening
the appearance of two McDonald’s restaurants in drinks, ice cream, and ham and cheese sand- meal, when families ﬂock to the fast-food restaurant.
Rio de Janeiro. There wasn’t much difference be- wiches, at the beach. Brazilians don’t consider a McDonald’s has expanded rapidly in Brazil,
tween Brazilian and North American McDonald’s. hot, greasy hamburger proper beach food. They where, as in North America, teenage appetites have
The restaurants looked alike. The menus were more view the sea as “cold” and hamburgers as “hot”; fueled the fast-food explosion. As McDonald’s out-
or less the same, as was the taste of the quarter- they avoid “hot” foods at the beach. Also culturally lets appeared in urban neighborhoods, Brazilian
pounders. I picked up an artifact, a white paper bag dubious was the suggestion to eat McDonald’s teenagers used them for after-school snacks, while
with yellow lettering, exactly like the take-out bags hamburgers “lunching at the office.” Brazilians families had evening meals there. As an anthropolo-
then used in American McDonald’s. An advertising prefer their main meal at midday, often eating at a gist could have predicted, the fast-food industry has
device, it carried several messages about how leisurely pace with business associates. Many not revolutionized Brazilian food and meal customs.
Brazilians could bring McDonald’s into their lives. ﬁrms serve ample lunches to their employees. Rather, McDonald’s is succeeding because it has
However, it seemed to me that McDonald’s Other workers take advantage of a two-hour lunch adapted to preexisting Brazilian cultural patterns.
Brazilian ad campaign was missing some important break to go home to eat with the spouse and chil- The main contrast with North America is that
points about how fast food should be marketed in a dren. Nor did it make sense to suggest that chil- the Brazilian evening meal is lighter. McDonald’s
culture that values large, leisurely lunches. dren should eat hamburgers for lunch, since most now caters to the evening meal rather than to
The bag proclaimed, “You’re going to enjoy the kids attend school for half-day sessions and have lunch. Once McDonald’s realized that more money
[McDonald’s] difference,” and listed several “favor- lunch at home. Two other suggestions—”waiting could be made by ﬁtting in with, rather than trying
ite places where you can enjoy McDonald’s for the bus” and “in the beauty parlor”—did de- to Americanize, Brazilian meal habits, it started
products.” This list conﬁrmed that the marketing scribe common aspects of daily life in a Brazilian aiming its advertising at that goal.

Xerox, IBM, and Apple are among the companies Key features of anthropology that are of value to
that employ anthropologists. Closely observing how business include (1) ethnography and observation as
people actually use IT products, anthropologists ways of gathering data, (2) a focus on diversity, and
have worked with engineers to design products that (3) cross-cultural expertise (see this chapter’s
are more user friendly. “Appreciating Diversity”). Businesses have heard

Chapter 4 Applying Anthropology 77

that anthropologists are specialists on cultural Anthropologists participate as well in various
diversity and the observation of behavior. Hallmark listservs and networking groups (e.g., on LinkedIn
Cards has hired anthropologists to observe parties, and Research Gate). A bit of googling on your part
holidays, and celebrations of ethnic groups to will take you to anthropologists’ personal websites,
improve its ability to design cards for targeted audi- as well as research project websites.
ences. Applied anthropologists routinely go into
people’s homes to see how they actually use prod-
ucts (see Sunderland and Denny 2007). CAREERS AND
Many college students find anthropology interesting
PUBLIC AND APPLIED and consider majoring in it. However, their parents
ANTHROPOLOGY or friends may discourage them by asking, “What
kind of job are you going to get with an anthropol-
Many academic anthropologists, myself included,
ogy degree?” The first step in answering that ques-
occasionally work as applied anthropologists.
tion is to consider the more general question “What
Most typically, we are asked to advise and consult
do you do with any college major?” The answer is
about the direction of change in nations, regions,
“Not much, without a good bit of effort, thought,
and communities where we originally did “aca-
and planning.” A survey of graduates of the Univer-
demic” research. In my case, this has meant policy-
sity of Michigan’s literary college showed that few
relevant work on environmental preservation in
had jobs that were clearly linked to their majors.
Madagascar and poverty reduction in northeastern
Most professions, including medicine and law,
require advanced degrees. Although many colleges
Other academics, while not doing applied anthro-
offer bachelor’s degrees in engineering, business,
pology per se, have urged the field of anthropology
accounting, and social work, master’s degrees often
public anthropology as a whole to engage more in what they call public
are needed to get the best jobs in those fields.
Efforts to extend anthropology (Borofsky 2000) or public interest
anthropology’s visibility Anthropologists, too, need an advanced degree,
anthropology (Sanday 2003). Suggested ways of
beyond academia and almost always a PhD, to find gainful employment.
making anthropology more visible and relevant to
to demonstrate its A broad college education, and even a major in
the public include nonacademic publishing, testify-
public policy relevance. anthropology, can be an excellent foundation for
ing at government hearings, consulting, acting as an
success in many fields (see Stephens 2002). One
expert witness, and engaging in citizen activism,
survey of women executives showed that most had
electoral campaigns, and political administrations
majored not in business but in the social sciences or
(Sanjek 2004). The stated goals of public anthropol-
humanities. Only after graduating from college did
ogy are to engage with public issues by opposing
they study business, leading to an MBA, a master’s
policies that promote injustice and by working to
degree in business administration. These executives
reframe discussions of key social issues in the media
felt that the breadth of their college educations had
and by public officials. As Rylko-Bauer and her col-
contributed to their business careers. Anthropology
leagues (2006) point out, there is, as well, a long
majors go on to medical, law, and business schools
tradition of work guided by such goals in applied
and find success in many professions that often have
little explicit connection to anthropology.
New media are helping to disseminate anthropo-
Anthropology’s breadth provides knowledge and
logical knowledge to a wider public. The complete
an outlook on the world that are useful in many
world of cyberspace, including the blogosphere,
kinds of work. For example, an anthropology major
constantly grows richer in the resources and com-
combined with a master’s degree in business is
munication opportunities available to anthropolo-
excellent preparation for work in international busi-
gists. Some of the most widely read anthropological
ness. Breadth is anthropology’s hallmark. Anthro-
blogs include:
pologists study people biologically, culturally,
Savage Minds, a group blog socially, and linguistically, across time and space, in various countries, in simple and complex settings.
Most colleges offer anthropology courses that com-
Living Anthropologically, by Jason Antrosio
pare cultures, along with others that focus on par-
ticular world areas, such as Latin America, Asia, and
Neuroanthropology, by Greg Downey and Native North America. The knowledge of foreign
Daniel Lende areas acquired in such courses can be useful in many jobs. Anthropology’s comparative outlook and its
focus on diverse lifestyles combine to provide an
Also see this detailed list of anthropology blogs, as
excellent foundation for overseas employment (see
updated for 2013:
Omohundro 2001; Stephens 2002). For work in modern North America, anthropolo-
anthropology-blogs-2013-list/ gy’s focus on culture is increasingly relevant. Every

78 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

day we hear about cultural differences and about proper social study should
uld be done before a
problems whose solutions require a multicultural project or policy is implemented.
lemented. When
viewpoint—an ability to recognize and reconcile local people want the change
ange and it fits
ethnic differences. Government, schools, hospitals, their lifestyle and traditions,
ions, it has a
and businesses constantly deal with people from dif- better chance of being successful,
ferent social classes, ethnic groups, and cultural beneficial, and cost effective.
backgrounds. Physicians, attorneys, social workers, People with anthropology
police officers, judges, teachers, and students can all backgrounds do well in n many
do a better job if they understand cultural differ- fields. Even if one’s job has lit-
ences in a nation that is one of the most ethnically tle or nothing to do with anthro-
diverse in history. pology in a formal or obvious
Knowledge of the traditions and beliefs of the sense, a background in anthro-
groups that make up a modern nation is important in pology provides a useful orien-
planning and carrying out programs that affect those tation when we work with ith our
groups. Experience in planned social change— fellow human beings. For or most
whether community organization in North America of us, this means every day of
or economic development overseas—shows that a our lives.

1. Anthropology has two dimensions: academic and
applied. Applied anthropology uses anthropological
popular arena for urban anthropological research on
migration, ethnicity, poverty, and related topics. Al-
perspectives, theory, methods, and data to identify, though rural and urban are different social systems,
assess, and solve problems. Applied anthropologists there is cultural diffusion from one to the other.
have a range of employers. Examples are govern-
4. Medical anthropology is the cross-cultural, biocul-
ment agencies; development organizations; NGOs;
tural study of health problems and conditions, dis-
tribal, ethnic, and interest groups; businesses; social
ease, illness, disease theories, and health care
service and educational agencies. Applied anthro-
systems. Medical anthropology includes anthro-
pologists come from all four subfields. Ethnogra-
pologists from all four subfields and has theoreti-
phy is one of applied anthropology’s most valuable
cal (academic) and applied dimensions. In a given
research tools.
setting, the characteristic diseases reflect diet,
2. Development anthropology focuses on social issues population density, the economy, and social com-
in, and the cultural dimension of, economic develop- plexity. Native theories of illness may be person-
ment. Development projects typically promote cash alistic, naturalistic, or emotionalistic. In applying
employment and new technology at the expense of anthropology to business, the key features are
subsistence economies. Not all governments seek to (1) ethnography and observation as ways of gath-
increase equality and end poverty. Resistance by ering data, (2) cross-cultural expertise, and (3) a fo-
elites to reform is typical and hard to combat. At the cus on cultural diversity. Public anthropology
same time, local people rarely cooperate with proj- describes efforts to extend anthropological knowl-
ects requiring major and risky changes in their daily edge of social problems and issues to a wider and
lives. Many projects seek to impose inappropriate more influential audience.
property notions and incompatible social units on
5. A broad college education, including anthropology
their intended beneficiaries. The best strategy for
and foreign-area courses, offers excellent back-
change is to base the social design for innovation on
ground for many fields. Anthropology’s compara-
traditional social forms in each target area.
tive outlook and cultural relativism provide an
3. Anthropology and education researchers work in excellent basis for overseas employment. Even for
classrooms, homes, and other settings relevant to edu- work in North America, a focus on culture and cul-
cation. Such studies may lead to policy recommenda- tural diversity is valuable. Anthropology majors at-
tions. Both academic and applied anthropologists tend medical, law, and business schools and succeed
study migration from rural areas to cities and across in many fields, some of which have little explicit
national boundaries. North America has become a connection with anthropology.

Chapter 4 Applying Anthropology 79

key terms anthropology and education 71
applied anthropology 64
increased equity 67
medical anthropology 73
curer 75 overinnovation 69
development anthropology 67 public anthropology 78
disease 73 scientiﬁc medicine 75
health care systems 75 underdifferentiation 70
illness 73 urban anthropology 72

1. This chapter uses the association between early anthropology and colonialism to illustrate some of the dangers
critical of early applied anthropology. We also learn how American anthropologists studied Japanese and German
“culture at a distance” in an attempt to predict the behavior of the enemies of the United States during World
thinking War II. Political and military conflicts with other nations and cultures continue today. What role, if any, could
and/or should applied anthropologists play in these conflicts?
2. What roles could applied anthropologists play in the design and implementation of development projects?
Based on past experience and research on this topic, what could an applied anthropologist focus on avoiding
and/or promoting?
3. This chapter describes some of the applications of anthropology in educational settings. Think back to your
grade school or high school classroom. Were there any social issues that might have interested an anthropolo-
gist? Were there any problems that an applied anthropologist might have been able to solve? How so?
4. Our culture—and cultural changes—affects how we perceive nature, human nature, and the “natural.” Give
examples of how medical anthropologists examine the shifting boundaries between culture and nature.
5. Indicate your career plans, if known, and describe how you might apply the knowledge learned through intro-
ductory anthropology in your future vocation. If you have not yet chosen a career, pick one of the following:
economist, engineer, diplomat, architect, or elementary schoolteacher. Why is it important to understand the
culture and social organization of the people who will be affected by your work?

80 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

Language and Communication

What makes
language different
from other forms of

How do
and linguists study
language in general
and speciﬁc
languages in

How does language

change over short
and long time

Schoolgirls wearing traditional Punjabi attire laugh as they wait to take part in a national celebration in the northern
Indian city of Amritsar. Republic Day, celebrated annually on January 26, commemorates the transition of India from
British domination to a republic on January 26, 1950.
chapter outline WHAT IS LANGUAGE?

Call Systems
Sign Language
The Origin of Language understanding OURSELVES
NONVERBAL an you appreciate anything distinctive are associated with, and tell us a lot about, social

or unusual in the way you talk? If you’re variation, such as region, education, ethnic back-
THE STRUCTURE from Canada, Virginia, or Savannah, ground, and gender. Men and women talk differ-
OF LANGUAGE you may say “oot” instead of “out.” A ently. I’m sure you can think of examples based
Speech Sounds southerner may request a “soft drink” rather than on your own experience, although you probably
the New Yorker’s “soda.” How might a “Valley never realized that women tend to peripheralize
AND CULTURE girl” or “surfer dude” talk? Usually when we pay their vowels (think of “aiiee”), whereas men tend
attention to how we talk, it’s because someone to centralize them (think of “uh”). Men are more
The Sapir-Whorf
Hypothesis comments on our speech. It may be only when likely to speak “ungrammatically” than women
Focal Vocabulary students move from one state or region to are. Men and women also show differences in
Meaning another that they appreciate how much of a their sports and color terminologies. Men typi-
regional accent they have. I moved as a teenager cally know more terms related to sports, make
SOCIOLINGUISTICS from Atlanta to New York City. Previously I hadn’t more distinctions among them (e.g., “runs” ver-
Linguistic Diversity realized I had a southern accent, but teachers in sus “points”), and try to use the terms more pre-
Gender Speech my new high school did. They put me in a speech cisely than women do.
Contrasts class, pointing out linguistic ﬂaws I never knew I Correspondingly, women use more color terms
Language and Status had. One was my “dull s,” particularly in terminal and attempt to use them more speciﬁcally than
Position consonant clusters, as in the words “tusks” and men do. To make this point when I lecture, I bring
Stratiﬁcation “breakfasts.” Apparently I didn’t pronounce all an off-purple shirt to class. Holding it up, I ﬁrst ask
African American three consonants at the ends of those words. women to say aloud what color the shirt is. The
Vernacular English
Later it occurred to me that these weren’t words women rarely answer with a uniform voice, as they
I used very often. As far as I know, I’ve never try to distinguish the actual shade (mauve, lilac,
HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS conversed about tusks or proclaimed, “I ate lavender, wisteria, or some other purplish hue). I
Language, Culture, and seven breakfasts last week.” then ask the men, who consistently answer as
History Unlike grammarians, linguists and anthropolo- one, “PURPLE.” Rare is the man who on the spur of
Language Loss gists are interested in what people do say, rather the moment can imagine the difference between
than what they should say. Speech differences fuchsia and magenta or grape and aubergine.

WHAT IS LANGUAGE? of language—absent in the communication

Language, which may be spoken (speech) or systems of other animals—allows humans to
written (writing), is our primary means of conjure up elaborate images, to discuss the past
communication. Writing has existed for less and the future, to share our experiences with
than 6,000 years. Language originated thou- others, and to benefit from their experiences.
sands of years before that, but no one can say Anthropologists study language in its
exactly when. Like culture in general, of social and cultural context (see Bonvillain
which language is a part, language is trans- 2012; Salzmann, Stanlaw, and Adachi 2012).
mitted through learning, as part of encul- Linguistic anthropology illustrates anthropol-
turation. Language is based on arbitrary, ogy’s characteristic interest in comparison,
learned associations between words and the variation, and change—but here the focus is
things for which they stand. The complexity on language (see Duranti 2009; Salzmann

2012). A key feature of language is that it is always
changing. Some linguistic anthropologists recon-
struct ancient languages by comparing their contem-
porary descendants and in so doing make discoveries
about history. Others study linguistic differences to
discover the varied worldviews and patterns of
thought in a multitude of cultures. Sociolinguists
examine linguistic diversity in nation-states, ranging
from multilingualism to the varied dialects and
styles used in a single language, to show how speech
reflects social differences (Fasold and Connor-
Linton 2006; Labov 1972a, 2006). Linguistic
anthropologists also explore the role of language in
colonization and in the expansion of the world econ-
omy (Geis 1987; Trudgill 2010). Apes, such as these chimpanzees, use call systems to communicate
in the wild. Their vocal systems consist of a limited number of sounds—
calls—that are produced only when particular environmental stimuli are

NONHUMAN PRIMATE encountered. What might they be signaling here?

The first chimpanzee to learn ASL was Washoe, language
Call Systems a female who died in 2007 at the age of 42. Captured Primary means of
Only humans speak. No other animal has anything in West Africa, Washoe was acquired by R. Allen human communication,
approaching the complexity of language. The natu- Gardner and Beatrice Gardner, scientists at the Uni- spoken and written.
ral communication systems of other primates (mon- versity of Nevada in Reno, in 1966, when she was a
keys and apes) are call systems. These vocal systems year old. Four years later, she moved to Norman, call systems
consist of a limited number of sounds—calls—that Oklahoma, to a converted farm that had become the Communication
are produced only when particular environmental Institute for Primate Studies. Washoe revolutionized systems of nonhuman
stimuli are encountered. Such calls may be varied in the discussion of the language-learning abilities of primates.
intensity and duration, but they are much less flexi- apes (Carey 2007). At first she lived in a trailer and
ble than language because they are automatic and heard no spoken language. The researchers always
can’t be combined. When primates encounter food used ASL to communicate with each other in her
and danger simultaneously, they can make only one presence. The chimp gradually acquired a vocabu-
call. They can’t combine the calls for food and dan- lary of more than 100 signs representing English
ger into a single utterance, indicating that both are words (Gardner, Gardner, and Van Cantfort 1989).
present. At some point in human evolution, how- At the age of 2, Washoe began to combine as many
ever, our ancestors began to combine calls and to as five signs into rudimentary sentences such as
understand the combinations. The number of calls “you, me, go out, hurry.”
also expanded, eventually becoming too great to be The second chimp to learn ASL was Lucy, Wash-
transmitted even partly through the genes. Commu- oe’s junior by one year. Lucy died, or was murdered
nication came to rely almost totally on learning. by poachers, in 1986, after having been introduced
Although wild primates use call systems, the to “the wild” in Africa in 1979 (Carter 1988). From
vocal tract of apes is not suitable for speech. Until her second day of life until her move to Africa, Lucy
the 1960s, attempts to teach spoken language to lived with a family in Norman, Oklahoma. Roger
apes suggested that they lack linguistic abilities. In Fouts, a researcher from the nearby Institute for
the 1950s, a couple raised a chimpanzee, Viki, as a Primate Studies, came two days a week to test and
member of their family and systematically tried to improve Lucy’s knowledge of ASL. During the rest
teach her to speak. However, Viki learned only four of the week, Lucy used ASL to converse with her
words (“mama,” “papa,” “up,” and “cup”). foster parents. After acquiring language, Washoe
and Lucy exhibited several human traits: swearing,
joking, telling lies, and trying to teach language to
Sign Language others (Fouts 1997).
More recent experiments have shown that apes can When irritated, Washoe called her monkey neigh-
learn to use, if not speak, true language. Several apes bors at the institute “dirty monkeys.” Lucy insulted
have learned to converse with people through means her “dirty cat.” On arrival at Lucy’s place, Fouts
other than speech. One such communication system once found a pile of excrement on the floor. When
is American Sign Language, or ASL, which is widely he asked the chimp what it was, she replied, “dirty,
used by hearing-impaired Americans. ASL employs dirty,” her expression for feces. Asked whose “dirty,
a limited number of basic gesture units that are anal- dirty” it was, Lucy named Fouts’s coworker, Sue.
ogous to sounds in spoken language. These units When Fouts refused to believe her about Sue, the
combine to form words and larger units of meaning. chimp blamed the excrement on Fouts himself.

Chapter 5 Language and Communication 83

RECAP 5.1 Language Contrasted with Call Systems


Has the capacity to speak of things and events that Are stimuli-dependent; the food call will be made
are not present (displacement) only in the presence of food; it cannot be faked
Has the capacity to generate new expressions by Consist of a limited number of calls that cannot be
combining other expressions (productivity) combined to produce new calls
Is group speciﬁc in that all humans have the capacity Tend to be species speciﬁc, with little variation among
for language, but each linguistic community has its communities of the same species for each call
own language, which is culturally transmitted

cultural Cultural transmission of a communication sys- guage to produce entirely new expressions that are
transmission tem through learning is a fundamental attribute of comprehensible to other native speakers. I can, for
Transmission through language. Washoe, Lucy, and other chimps have example, create “baboonlet” to refer to a baboon
learning, basic to tried to teach ASL to other animals. Washoe taught infant. I do this by analogy with English words in
gestures to other institute chimps, including her son which the suffix -let designates the young of a spe-
Sequoia, who died in infancy (Gardner, Gardner, cies. Anyone who speaks English immediately
and Van Cantfort 1989). understands the meaning of my new word. Koko,
Because of their size and strength as adults, goril- Washoe, Lucy, and others have shown that apes also
las are less likely subjects than chimps for such are able to use language productively. Lucy used
experiments. Lean adult male gorillas in the wild gestures she already knew to create “drinkfruit” for
weigh 400 pounds (180 kilograms), and full-grown watermelon. Washoe, seeing a swan for the first time,
females can easily reach 250 pounds (110 kilo- coined “waterbird.” Koko, who knew the gestures
grams). Because of this, psychologist Penny Patter- for “finger” and “bracelet,” formed “finger bracelet”
productivity son’s work with gorillas at Stanford University when she was given a ring.
Creating new seems more daring than the chimp experiments. Pat- Chimps and gorillas have a rudimentary capacity
expressions that are terson raised the now full-grown female gorilla, for language. They may never have invented a mean-
comprehensible to
Koko, in a trailer next to a Stanford museum. Koko’s ingful gesture system in the wild. However, given
other speakers.
vocabulary surpasses that of any chimp. She regu- such a system, they can learn and use it. Of course,
displacement larly employs 400 ASL signs and has used about language use by apes is a product of human inter-
Describing things and 700 at least once. vention and teaching. The experiments mentioned
events that are not Koko and the chimps also show that apes share here do not suggest that apes can invent language
present; basic to still another linguistic ability with humans: produc- (nor are human children ever faced with that task).
language. tivity. Speakers routinely use the rules of their lan- However, young apes have managed to learn the
basics of gestural language. They can employ it pro-
ductively and creatively, although not with the
sophistication of human ASL users.
Apes also have demonstrated linguistic displace-
ment. Absent in call systems, this is a key ingredient
in language. Normally, a call is tied to a particular
environmental stimulus and is uttered only when
that stimulus is present. Displacement means that
humans can talk about things that are not present.
We can discuss the past and future, share our experi-
ences with others, and benefit from theirs.
Patterson has described several examples of
Koko’s capacity for displacement (Patterson 1978,
1999). The gorilla once expressed sorrow about hav-
ing bitten Penny three days earlier. Koko has used
the sign “later” to postpone doing things she doesn’t
want to do. Recap 5.1 summarizes the contrasts
between language, whether sign or spoken, and the
call systems that primates use in the wild.
Certain scholars doubt the linguistic abilities of
Kanzi, a male bonobo, identifies an object he has just heard named through headphone chimps and gorillas (Hess 2008; Sebeok and
speakers. At a young age, Kanzi learned to understand simple human speech and to Umiker-Sebeok 1980; Terrace 1979). These people
communicate by using lexigrams, abstract symbols that represent objects and actions. contend that Koko and the chimps are comparable
A keyboard of lexigrams is pictured in the background. to trained circus animals and don’t really have

84 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

linguistic ability. However, in defense of Patterson have the same (genetic) sequence as the KE family
and the other researchers (Hill 1978; Van Cantfort members with the speech deficit. Comparing chimp
and Rimpau 1982), only one of their critics has and human genomes, it appears that the speech-
worked with an ape. This was Herbert Terrace, friendly form of FOXP2 took hold in humans around
whose experience teaching a chimp sign language 150,000 years ago. This mutation conferred selec-
lacked the continuity and personal involvement that tive advantages (linguistic and cultural abilities) that
have contributed so much to Patterson’s success allowed those who had it to spread at the expense of
with Koko. (For more on Terrace and his ill-fated those who did not (Paulson 2005).
chimp, Nim Chimpsky, see Hess [2008] and the Language offered a tremendous adaptive advan-
acclaimed 2011 documentary film Project Nim.) tage to Homo sapiens. Language permits the infor-
No one denies the huge difference between mation stored by a human society to exceed by far
human language and gorilla signs. There is a major that of any nonhuman group. Language is a uniquely
gap between the ability to write a book or say a effective vehicle for learning. Because we can speak
prayer and the few hundred gestures employed by a of things we have never experienced, we can antici-
well-trained chimp. Apes aren’t people, but they pate responses before we encounter the stimuli.
aren’t just animals, either. Let Koko express it: Adaptation can occur more rapidly in Homo than in
When asked by a reporter whether she was a person the other primates because our adaptive means are
or an animal, Koko chose neither. Instead, she much more flexible.
signed “fine animal gorilla” (Patterson 1978).

The Origin of Language NONVERBAL

Although the capacity to remember and combine COMMUNICATION
linguistic symbols may be latent in the apes, human Language is our principal means of communicating,
evolution was needed for this seed to flower into but it isn’t the only one we use. We communicate
language. A mutated gene known as FOXP2 helps when we transmit information about ourselves to
explain why humans speak and chimps don’t (Paul- others and receive such information from them. Our
son 2005). The key role of FOXP2 in speech came facial expressions, bodily stances, gestures, and
to light in a study of a British family, identified only movements, even if unconscious, convey informa-
as KE, half of whose members had an inherited, tion. Deborah Tannen (1990) discusses differences
severe deficit in speech (Trivedi 2001). The same in the communication styles of American men and
variant form of FOXP2 that is found in chimpanzees women. She notes that American girls and women
causes this disorder. Those who have the nonspeech tend to look directly at each other when they talk,
version of the gene cannot make the fine tongue and whereas American boys and men do not. Males are
lip movements that are necessary for clear speech, more likely to look straight ahead rather than turn and
and their speech is unintelligible—even to other make eye contact with someone, especially another
members of the KE family (Trivedi 2001). Chimps man, seated beside them. Also, in conversational

Compare the communication style of these women in a café with that of these men in a fishing boat. Do you think the men would use the same communication style
as the women if they were in a café setting?

Chapter 5 Language and Communication 85

groups, American men tend to relax and sprawl out. THE STRUCTURE
American women may adopt a similar relaxed pos-
ture in all-female groups, but when they are with OF LANGUAGE
men, they tend to draw in their limbs and adopt a The scientific study of a spoken language (descrip-
tighter stance. tive linguistics) involves several interrelated areas of
kinesics Kinesics is the study of communication through analysis: phonology, morphology, lexicon, and syn-
Study of communication body movements, stances, gestures, and facial tax. Phonology, the study of speech sounds, consid-
through body expressions. Linguists pay attention not only to ers which sounds are present and significant in a
movements and what is said but to how it is said, and to features given language. Morphology studies how sounds
facial expressions.
besides language itself that convey meaning. A combine to form morphemes—words and their
speaker’s enthusiasm is conveyed not only through meaningful parts. Thus, the word cats would be ana-
Study of sounds used in
words but also through facial expressions, gestures, lyzed as containing two morphemes: cat, the name
speech in a particular and other signs of animation. We use gestures, such for a kind of animal, and -s, a morpheme indicat-
language. as a jab of the hand, for emphasis. We use verbal and ing plurality. A language’s lexicon is a dictionary
nonverbal ways of communicating our moods: containing all its morphemes and their meanings.
morphology enthusiasm, sadness, joy, regret. We vary our intona- Syntax refers to the arrangement and order of words
(Linguistic) study of tion and the pitch or loudness of our voices. We in phrases and sentences. Syntactic questions
morphemes and word communicate through strategic pauses, and even by include whether nouns usually come before or after
construction. being silent. An effective communication strategy verbs, and whether adjectives normally precede or
may be to alter pitch, voice level, and grammatical follow the nouns they modify.
Vocabulary; all the
forms, such as declaratives (“I am . . .”), imperatives
(“Go forth . . .”), and questions (“Are you . . . ?”).
morphemes in a
language and their Culture teaches us that certain manners and styles Speech Sounds
meanings. should accompany certain kinds of speech. Our From the movies and TV, and from actually meeting
demeanor, verbal and nonverbal, when our favorite foreigners, we know something about foreign
syntax team is winning would be out of place at a funeral. accents and mispronunciations. We know that some-
Arrangement and order Much of what we communicate is nonverbal and one with a marked French accent doesn’t pronounce
of words in phrases and reflects our emotional states and intentions. This can r the same way an American does. But at least some-
sentences. create problems when we use contemporary means one from France can distinguish between “craw”
of communication such as texting and online mes- and “claw,” which someone from Japan may not be
saging. People can use emoticons ( , , :~/ [con- able to do. The difference between r and l makes a
fused], :~0 [“hah!” no way!]) and abbreviations difference in English and in French, but it doesn’t in
(lol—laugh out loud; lmao—laugh my a** off; Japanese. In linguistics, we say that the difference
wtf—what the f**; omg—oh my gosh) to fill in between r and l is phonemic in English and French
what would otherwise be communicated by tone of but not in Japanese; that is, r and l are phonemes in
phoneme voice, laughter, and facial expression (see Baron English and French but not in Japanese. A phoneme
Smallest sound contrast 2009; Tannen and Trester 2012). is a sound contrast that makes a difference, that dif-
that distinguishes Culture always plays a role in shaping how peo- ferentiates meaning.
meaning. ple communicate. Cross-culturally, nodding does We find the phonemes in a given language by
not always mean affirmative, nor does head shaking comparing minimal pairs, words that resemble each
from side to side always mean negative. Brazilians other in all but one sound. The words have totally
wag a finger to mean no. Americans say “uh huh” to different meanings, but they differ in just one sound.
affirm; in Madagascar a similar sound is used to The contrasting sounds are therefore phonemes in
deny. Americans point with their fingers; the people that language. An example in English is the minimal
of Madagascar point with their lips. pair pit/bit. These two words are distinguished by a
Body movements communicate social differ- single sound contrast between /p/ and /b/ (we
ences. In Japan, bowing is a regular part of social enclose phonemes in slashes). Thus /p/ and /b/ are
interaction, but different bows are used depending phonemes in English. Another example is the differ-
on the social status of the people who are interact- ent vowel sounds of bit and beat (see Figure 5.1).
ing. In Madagascar and Polynesia, people of lower This contrast serves to distinguish these two words
status should not hold their heads above those of peo- and the two vowel phonemes written /I/ and /i/ in
ple of higher status. When one approaches someone English.
older or of higher status, one bends one’s knees and Standard (American) English (SE), the “region-
lowers one’s head as a sign of respect. In Madagascar, free” dialect of TV network newscasters, has about
one always does this, for politeness, when passing 35 phonemes: at least 11 vowels and 24 consonants.
between two people. Although our gestures, facial The number of phonemes varies from language to
expressions, and body stances have roots in our language—from 15 to 60, averaging between 30
primate heritage, they have not escaped cultural and 40. The number of phonemes also varies
shaping. Language, which is so highly dependent on between dialects of a given language. In American
the use of symbols, is the domain of communication, English, for example, vowel phonemes vary notice-
in which culture plays the strongest role. ably from dialect to dialect. Readers should pronounce

86 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

[ph] and [p] is phonemic in some languages, such as
Tongue high Hindi (spoken in India). That is, there are words
whose meaning is distinguished only by the contrast
between an aspirated and an unaspirated [p].
i u Native speakers vary in their pronunciation of
Ω Mid certain phonemes. This variation is important in the
evolution of language. With no shifts in pronuncia-
o tion, there can be no linguistic change. The section
c on sociolinguistics below considers phonetic varia-
Tongue low tion and its relationship to social divisions and the
æ a evolution of language.
Tongue Tongue
front back

High front (spread)
Lower high front (spread)
as in beat
as in bit
Mid front (spread) [e] as in bait The well-known linguist Noam Chomsky (1955)
Lower mid front (spread) [ ] as in bet has argued that the human brain contains a limited
Low front [æ] as in bat set of rules for organizing language, so that all lan-
Central [ ] as in butt
Low back [a] as in pot
guages have a common structural basis. (Chomsky
Lower mid back (rounded) [ ]
as in bought calls this set of rules universal grammar.) The fact
Mid back (rounded) [o] as in boat that people can learn foreign languages and that
Lower high back (rounded) [ ] as in put words and ideas can be translated from one lan-
High back (rounded) [u] as in boot guage into another tends to support Chomsky’s
position that all humans have similar linguistic abil-
ities and thought processes. Another line of support
FIGURE 5.1 Vowel Phonemes in Standard comes from creole languages. Such languages
American English. develop from pidgins, languages that form in situa-
The phonemes are shown according to height of tongue and tions of acculturation, when different societies
tongue position at front, center, or back of mouth. Phonetic
symbols are identified by English words that include them; note come into contact and must devise a system of com-
that most are minimal pairs. munication. Pidgins based on English and native
SOURCE: Adaptation of excerpt and Figure 2-1 from Dwight Bolinger languages developed in the context of trade and
and Donald A. Sears, Aspects of Language, 3rd ed. © 1981 Heinle/ colonialism in China, Papua New Guinea, and West
Arts & Sciences, a part of Cengage Learning, Inc. Reproduced by
Africa (see Gu 2012). Eventually, after generations
of being spoken, pidgins may develop into creole
languages. These are more mature languages, with
the words in Figure 5.1, paying attention to (or ask- developed grammatical rules and native speakers
ing someone else) whether they distinguish each of (i.e., people who learn the language as their pri-
the vowel sounds. Most Americans don’t pronounce mary means of communication during encultura-
them all. tion). Creoles are spoken in several Caribbean
Phonetics is the study of speech sounds in gen- societies. Gullah, which is spoken by African phonetics
eral, what people actually say in various languages. Americans on coastal islands in South Carolina and Study of speech
Phonemics studies only the significant sound con- Georgia, is a creole language. Supporting the idea sounds—what people
trasts (phonemes) of a given language. In English, that creoles are based on universal grammar is the actually say.
like /r/ and /l/ (remember craw and claw), /b/ and /v/ fact that they all share certain features. Syntacti-
are also phonemes, occurring in minimal pairs like cally, all creole languages use particles (e.g., will,
Study of signiﬁcant
bat and vat. In Spanish, however, the contrast was) to form future and past tenses and multiple sound contrasts
between [b] and [v] doesn’t distinguish meaning, negation to deny or negate (e.g., he don’t got none). (phonemes) in a
and they therefore are not phonemes (we enclose Also, all form questions by changing inflection language.
sounds that are not phonemic in brackets). Spanish rather than by changing word order—for example,
speakers normally use the [b] sound to pronounce “You’re going home for the holidays?” (with a ris-
words spelled with either b or v. ing tone at the end) rather than “Are you going
In any language, a given phoneme extends over a home for the holidays?”
phonetic range. In English, the phoneme /p/ ignores
the phonetic contrast between the [ph] in pin and the
[p] in spin. Most English speakers don’t even notice The Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis
that there is a phonetic difference: [ph] is aspirated, Other linguists and anthropologists take a different
so that a puff of air follows the [p]; the [p] in spin is approach to the relation between language and
not. (To see the difference, light a match, hold it in thought. Rather than seeking universal linguistic
front of your mouth, and watch the flame as you structures and processes, they believe that different
pronounce the two words.) The contrast between languages produce different ways of thinking. This

Chapter 5 Language and Communication 87

Hopi speakers to think about time and reality in dif-
ferent ways than English speakers do. A similar
example comes from Portuguese, which employs a
future subjunctive verb form, introducing a degree
of uncertainty into discussions of the future. In
English, we routinely use the future tense to talk
about something we think will happen. We don’t feel
the need to qualify “The sun’ll come out tomorrow”
by adding “if it doesn’t go supernova.” We don’t
hesitate to proclaim “I’ll see you next year,” even
when we can’t be absolutely sure we will. The
Portuguese future subjunctive qualifies the future
event, recognizing that the future can’t be certain.
Our way of expressing the future as certain is so
ingrained that we don’t even think about it, just as the
Hopi don’t see the need to distinguish between pres-
ent and past, both of which are real, while the future
remains hypothetical. It would seem, however, that
language does not tightly restrict thought, because
cultural changes can produce changes in thought and
in language, as we shall see in the next section.

Focal Vocabulary
A lexicon (vocabulary) is a language’s dictionary, its
set of names for things, events, actions, and quali-
ties. Lexicon influences perception. Thus, Eskimos
recognize, and have several distinct words for, types
At the top, Lee Wayne Lomayestewa of the Hopi Cultural of snow that in English are all called snow. Most
Preservation Office points out the site of the ancient Tutuveni English speakers never notice the differences
petroglyphs near Tuba City, Arizona. This site, whose name between these types of snow and might have trouble
means “newspaper rock,” contains some 5,000 petroglyphs of seeing them even if someone pointed them out. Sim-
Hopi clan symbols. The photo on the bottom shows the ilarly, the Nuer of South Sudan have an elaborate
petroglyphs (rock engravings) up close.
vocabulary to describe cattle. Eskimos have several
Sapir-Whorf words for snow and Nuer have dozens for cattle
hypothesis position is sometimes known as the Sapir-Whorf because of their particular histories, economies, and
Theory that different hypothesis after Edward Sapir (1931) and his stu- environments (Robson 2013). When the need arises,
languages produce dent Benjamin Lee Whorf (1956), its prominent English speakers also can elaborate their snow and
different patterns of early advocates. Sapir and Whorf argued that the cattle vocabularies. For example, skiers name vari-
grammatical categories of different languages lead eties of snow with words that are missing from the
their speakers to think about things in particular
ways. For example, the third-person singular pro-
nouns of English (he, she; him, her; his, hers) distin-
guish gender, whereas those of the Palaung, a small
tribe in Burma, do not (Burling 1970). Gender exists
in English, although a fully developed noun-gender
and adjective-agreement system, as in French and
other Romance languages (la belle fille, le beau fils),
does not. The Sapir-Whorf hypothesis therefore
might suggest that English speakers can’t help pay-
ing more attention to differences between males and
females than do the Palaung and less than do French
or Spanish speakers.
English divides time into past, present, and
future. Hopi, a language of the Pueblo region of
the Native American Southwest, does not. Rather,
Hopi distinguishes between events that exist or
have existed (what we use present and past to dis-
cuss) and those that don’t or don’t yet (our future Spices galore, but what kinds? Merchants at this spice market in
events, along with imaginary and hypothetical Istanbul, Turkey, have a much more elaborate focal vocabulary
events). Whorf argued that this difference causes for what they sell than you or I do.

88 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

lexicons of Florida retirees. Similarly, the cattle
vocabulary of a Texas rancher is much ampler than
that of a salesperson in a New York City department
store. Such specialized sets of terms and distinctions
that are particularly important to certain groups
(those with particular foci of experience or activity)
are known as focal vocabulary.
Vocabulary is the area of language that changes
most readily. New words and distinctions, when
needed, appear and spread. For example, who would
have texted or e-mailed anything a generation ago?
Names for items get simpler as they become com-
mon and important. A television has become a TV,
an automobile a car, and a digital video disc a DVD.
Language, culture, and thought are interrelated.
However, and in opposition to the Sapir-Whorf In the final game of the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs, the Chicago Blackhawks
hypothesis, it might be more reasonable to say that won the Cup by scoring a pair of goals in the final minutes. How might an
changes in culture produce changes in language and avid fan describe this photo?
thought than the reverse. Consider differences
between female and male Americans in regard to the
color terms they use (Lakoff 2004). Distinctions (embody) differences in meaning that people per- focal vocabulary
implied by such terms as salmon, rust, peach, beige, ceive. Ethnosemantics studies such classifica- Set of words describing
teal, mauve, cranberry, and dusky orange aren’t in tion  systems in various languages. Well-studied particular domains (foci)
the vocabularies of most American men. However, ethnosemantic domains (sets of related things, per- of experience.
many of them weren’t even in American women’s ceptions, or concepts named in a language) include
lexicons 70 years ago. Color terms and distinctions ethnosemantics
kinship terminology and color terminology. When Study of lexical
have increased with the growth of the fashion and we study such domains, we are examining how
cosmetic industries. A similar contrast (and growth) (vocabulary) categories
those people perceive and distinguish between kin and contrasts.
in Americans’ lexicons shows up in football, basket- relationships or colors. Other such domains include
ball, and hockey vocabularies. Sports fans, more ethnomedicine—the terminology for the causes,
often males than females, use more terms in refer- symptoms, and cures of disease; ethnobotany—
ence to, and make more elaborate distinctions native classification of plant life; and ethnoastronomy.
between, the games they watch, such as hockey (see Anthropologists have discovered that certain
Table 5.1). Thus, cultural contrasts and changes lexical domains and vocabulary items evolve in a
affect lexical distinctions (for instance, “peach” ver- determined order. For example, after studying
sus “salmon”) within semantic domains (for instance, color terminology in more than 100 languages,
color terminology). Semantics refers to a language’s Berlin and Kay (1991, 1999) discovered 10 basic semantics
meaning system. color terms: white, black, red, yellow, blue, green, A language’s meaning
brown, pink, orange, and purple (they evolved in system.

Meaning more or less that order). The number of terms var-

ied with cultural complexity. Representing one
Speakers of particular languages use sets of terms to extreme were Papua New Guinea cultivators and
organize, or categorize, their experiences and per- Australian hunters and gatherers, who used only
ceptions. Linguistic terms and contrasts encode two basic terms, which translate as black and white
or dark and light. At the other end of the contin-
uum were European and Asian languages with all
TABLE 5.1 Focal Vocabulary for Hockey the color terms. Color terminology was most
developed in areas with a history of using dyes and
Insiders have special terms for the major elements of the artificial coloring.


puck biscuit
goal/net pipes
No language is a uniform system in which everyone
talks just like everyone else. Linguistic performance
penalty box sin bin (what people actually say) is the concern of sociolin-
hockey stick twig guists. The field of sociolinguistics investigates rela-
helmet bucket tionships between social and linguistic variation, or
language in its social context. How do different
space between a
speakers use a given language? How do linguistic
goalie’s leg pads ﬁve hole
features correlate with social stratification, including

Chapter 5 Language and Communication 89

appreciating DIVERSITY
Googling Locally
Despite globalization, linguistic diversity is alive, nada on the Web involves computer keyboard local companies like Quillpad beat them to the
well, and thriving in many countries, including maps that even Mr. Ram Prakash ﬁnds challenging punch and the proﬁts. . . .
India, as described here. Despite that nation’s to learn. Nowhere are the obstacles, or the potential
colonial history, only about a tenth of the Indian So in 2006 he developed Quillpad, an online rewards, more apparent than in India. . . . Indians
population speaks English. However, even many service for typing in 10 South Asian languages. Us- may speak one language to their boss, another to
of those English speakers appreciate being able ers spell out words of local languages phonetically their spouse and a third to a parent. In casual
to read, and to seek out Internet content in, their in Roman letters, and Quillpad’s predictive engine speech, words can be drawn from a grab bag of
own regional languages. In this account we see converts them into local-language script. Bloggers tongues. . . .
how local entrepreneurs and global companies, and authors rave about the service, which has at- Yahoo and Google have introduced more than
including Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft, are rush- tracted interest from the cellphone maker Nokia a dozen services to encourage India’s Web users
ing to meet the demand for web content in local and the attention of Google Inc., which has since to search, blog, chat and learn in their mother
languages. This example illustrates one of the introduced its own transliteration tool. tongues. Microsoft has built its Windows Live bun-
main lessons of applied anthropology, that ex- Mr. Ram Prakash said Western technology dle of online consumer services in seven Indian
ternal inputs, including global brands, ﬁt in best companies have misunderstood the linguistic languages. Facebook has enlisted hundreds of
when they are tailored properly to local settings. landscape of India, where English is spoken proﬁ- volunteers to translate its social networking site
ciently by only about a tenth of the population and into Hindi and other regional languages, and
Asia already has [three times] as many Internet us- even many college-educated Indians prefer the Wikipedia now has more entries in Indian local lan-
ers as North America. . . . More than half of the contours of their native tongues for everyday guages than in Korean. Google’s search service
search queries on Google come from outside the speech. “You’ve got to give them an opportunity has lagged behind the local competition in China,
United States. to express themselves correctly, rather than make and that has made providing locally ﬂavored ser-
The globalization of the Web has inspired en- a fool out of themselves and forcing them to use vices a priority for the company in India. Google’s
trepreneurs like Ram Prakash Hanumanthappa, an English,” he said. Only there is a shortage of non- initiatives in India are aimed at opening the coun-
engineer from outside Bangalore, India. Mr. Ram English content and applications. So, American try’s historically slow-growing personal computer
Prakash learned English as a teenager, but he still technology giants are spending hundreds of mil- market, and at developing expertise that Google
prefers to express himself to friends and family lions of dollars each year to build and develop will be able to apply to building services for
members in his native Kannada. But using Kan- foreign-language Web sites and services—before emerging markets worldwide.

class, ethnic, and gender differences (McConnell- Variation within a language at a given time is his-
Ginet 2010; Tannen 1990, 1993)? How is language toric change in progress. The same forces that,
used to gain, express, reinforce, or resist power (Geis working gradually, have produced large-scale lin-
1987; Mooney 2011; Trudgill 2010)? guistic change over the centuries are still at work
Sociolinguists don’t deny that the people who today. Linguistic change occurs not in a vacuum but
speak a given language share knowledge of its basic in society. When new ways of speaking are associ-
rules. Such common knowledge is the basis of ated with social factors, they are imitated, and they
mutually intelligible communication. However, spread. In this way, a language changes.
sociolinguists focus on features that vary systemati-
cally with social position and situation. To study
variation, sociolinguists must observe, define, and Linguistic Diversity
measure variable use of language in real-world situ- As an illustration of the linguistic variation that is
ations. To show that linguistic features correlate encountered in all nations, consider the contempo-
with social, economic, and political differences, the rary United States. Ethnic diversity is revealed by
social attributes of speakers also must be measured the fact that millions of Americans learn first lan-
and related to speech (Fasold and Connor-Linton guages other than English. Spanish is the most com-
2006; Labov 2006; Trudgill 2010). mon. Most of those people eventually become

90 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

“India is a microcosm of the world,” said Dr. list of languages into which to translate their Web nearly three-quarters prefer to read in a local lan-
Prasad Bhaarat Ram, Google India’s head of re- sites. . . . guage, according to a survey by JuxtConsult, an
search and development. “Having 22 languages English simply will not suffice for connecting Indian market research company. . . .
creates a new level of complexity in which you can’t with India’s growing online market, a lesson al- A Microsoft initiative, Project Bhasha, coordi-
take the same approach that you would if you had ready learned by Western television producers nates the efforts of Indian academics, local busi-
one predominant language and applied it 22 times.” and consumer products makers. . . . nesses and solo software developers to expand
Global businesses are spending hundreds of Even among the largely English-speaking base computing in regional languages. The project’s
millions of dollars a year working their way down a of around 50 million Web users in India today, Web site, which counts thousands of registered
members, refers to language as “one of the main
contributors to the digital divide” in India. The
company is also seeing growing demand from In-
dian government agencies and companies creat-
ing online public services in local languages.
“As many of these companies want to push
their services into rural India or tier-two towns or
smaller towns, then it becomes essential they
communicate with their customers in the local lan-
guage,” said Pradeep Parappil, a Microsoft pro-
gram manager. “Localization is the key to success
in countries like India,” said Gopal Krishna, who
oversees consumer services at Yahoo India.

SOURCE: Daniel Sorid, “Writing the Web’s Future in

Numerous Languages.” From The New York Times,
December 31, 2008. © 2008 The New York Times. All
rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by
the Copyright Laws of the United States. The printing,
copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this Con-
Google has been expanding in India, where it offers searches in multiple languages, including Hindi, Gujarati, Tamil, and several tent without express written permission is prohibited.

bilinguals, adding English as a second language. In “low” variants of the same language, for example, in
many multilingual (including colonized) nations, German and Flemish (spoken in Belgium). People
people use two languages on different occasions: employ the “high” variant at universities and in writ-
one in the home, for example, and the other on the ing, professions, and the mass media. They use the
job or in public. This chapter’s “Appreciating Diver- “low” variant for ordinary conversation with family
sity” focuses on India, a multilingual, formerly col- members and friends.
onized nation. Only about one-tenth of India’s Just as social situations influence our speech, so
population speaks English, the colonial language. In do geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic differ-
“Appreciating Diversity” we see how even those ences. Many dialects coexist in the United States style shifts
English speakers appreciate being able to read, and with Standard (American) English (SE). SE itself is Varying one’s speech
in different social
to find Internet content in, their own regional lan- a dialect that differs, say, from “BBC English,”
guages. which is the preferred dialect in Great Britain.
Whether bilingual or not, we all vary our speech According to the principle of linguistic relativity, all diglossia
in different contexts; we engage in style shifts (see dialects are equally effective as systems of commu- Language with “high”
Eckert and Rickford 2001). In certain parts of nication, which is language’s main job. Our ten- (formal) and “low”
Europe, people regularly switch dialects. This phe- dency to think of particular dialects as cruder or (informal, familial)
nomenon, known as diglossia, applies to “high” and more sophisticated than others is a social rather than dialects.

Chapter 5 Language and Communication 91

a linguistic judgment. We rank certain speech pat- between the speaker and the person being referred
terns as better or worse because we recognize that to (“the good doctor”) or addressed (“Professor
they are used by groups that we also rank. People Dumbledore”). Although Americans tend to be less
who say dese, dem, and dere instead of these, them, formal than other nationalities, American English
and there communicate perfectly well with anyone still has its honorifics. They include such terms as
who recognizes that the d sound systematically Mr., Mrs., Ms., Dr., Professor, Dean, Senator, Rever-
replaces the th sound in their speech. However, this end, Honorable, and President. Often these terms
form of speech is stigmatized; it has become an indi- are attached to names, as in “Dr. Wilson,” “President
cator of low social rank. We call it, like the use of Obama,” and “Senator Feinstein,” but some of them
ain’t, “uneducated speech.” The use of dem, dese, can be used to address someone without using his or
and dere is one of many phonological differences her name, such as “Dr.,” “Mr. President,” “Senator,”
that Americans recognize and look down on (see and “Miss.” The British have a more developed set
Labov 2012). of honorifics, corresponding to status distinctions
based in class, nobility (e.g., Lord and Lady Trumble),
and special recognition (e.g., knighthood—“Sir
Gender Speech Contrasts Elton” or “Dame Maggie”).
Comparing men and women, there are differences in In Japanese, several honorifics convey different
phonology, grammar, and vocabulary as well as in degrees of respect. The suffix -sama (added to a
the body stances and movements that accompany name), showing great respect, is used to address
speech (Eckert and McConnell-Ginet 2013; Lakoff someone of higher social status, such as a lord or a
2004; McConnell-Ginet 2010; Tannen 1990). In respected teacher. Women can use it to demonstrate
public contexts, traditional Japanese women tend to love or respect for their husbands. The most com-
adopt an artificially high voice, for the sake of mon Japanese honorific, -san, attached to the last
politeness. In North America and Great Britain, name, is respectful, but it is less formal than “Mr.,”
women’s speech tends to be more similar to the “Mrs.,” or “Ms.” in American English. Attached to a
standard dialect than men’s speech. Consider the first name, -san denotes more familiarity (Free Dic-
data in Table 5.2, gathered in Detroit. In all social tionary 2004; Loveday 1986, 2001).
classes, but particularly in the working class, men Kin terms, too, can be associated with gradations
were more apt to use double negatives (e.g., “I don’t in age, rank, and status. Dad is a more familiar, less
want none”). Women tend to be more careful about formal kin term than Father, but it still shows more
“uneducated speech.” Men may adopt working- respect than would using the father’s first name.
class speech because they associate it with mascu- Outranking their children, parents routinely use
linity. Perhaps women pay more attention to the their kids’ first names, nicknames, or baby names,
media, where standard dialects are employed. rather than addressing them as “son” and “daugh-
According to Robin Lakoff (2004), the use of cer- ter.” Southerners up to (and sometimes long past) a
tain types of words and expressions has been associ- certain age routinely use “ma’am” and “sir” for
ated with women’s traditional lesser power in older or higher-status women and men.
American society (see also Tannen 1990). For exam-
ple, Oh dear, Oh fudge, and Goodness! are less force-
ful than Hell and Damn. Watch the lips of a disgruntled
player in a football game. What’s the likelihood he’s We use and evaluate speech in the context of extralin-
saying “Phooey on you”? Women are more likely to guistic forces—social, political, and economic.
use such adjectives as adorable, charming, sweet, Mainstream Americans evaluate the speech of low-
cute, lovely, and divine than men are. status groups negatively, calling it “uneducated.” This
is not because these ways of speaking are bad in
themselves but because they have come to symbolize
Language and Status Position low status. Consider variation in the pronunciation of
honoriﬁcs Honorifics are terms used with people, often by r. In some parts of the United States, r is regularly
Terms of respect; used being added to their names, to “honor” them. Such pronounced, and in other (rless) areas, it is not. Orig-
to honor people. terms may convey or imply a status difference inally, American rless speech was modeled on the

TABLE 5.2 Multiple Negation (“I don’t want none”) According to Gender and Class (in Percentages)


Male 6.3 32.4 40.0 90.1

Female 0.0 1.4 35.6 58.9

SOURCE: Peter Trudgill, Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society, 5th ed. (London: Penguin Books, 1974, revised editions
1983, 1995, 2000), p. 70. Copyright © Peter Trudgill, 1974, 1983, 1995, 2000, 2010. Reproduced by permission of Penguin Books Ltd.

92 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

fashionable speech of England. Because of its pres- salespeople never counted r’s before offering
tige, rlessness was adopted in many areas and contin- employment. However, they did use speech evalua-
ues as the norm around Boston and in the South. tions to make judgments about how effective certain
New Yorkers sought prestige by dropping their people would be in selling particular kinds of mer-
r’s in the 19th century, after having pronounced chandise. In other words, they practiced sociolin-
them in the 18th. However, contemporary New guistic discrimination, using linguistic features in
Yorkers are going back to the 18th-century pattern deciding who got certain jobs.
of pronouncing r’s. What matters, and what governs Americans have stereotypes about how people
linguistic change, is not the reverberation of a strong from certain regions talk, and some stereotypes are
midwestern r but social evaluation, whether r’s hap- more widespread than others are (see this chapter’s
pen to be “in” or “out.” “Appreciating Anthropology” on pp. 94–95 for ste-
Studies of r pronunciation in New York City have reotypes about, and the reality of, California speech
clarified the mechanisms of phonological change. patterns). Most Americans think they can imitate a
William Labov (1972b) focused on whether r was “southern accent,” and southern speech tends to be
pronounced after vowels in such words as car, floor, devalued outside the South. Americans also stereo-
card, and fourth. To get data on how this linguistic type, without necessarily stigmatizing, speech in
variation correlated with social class, he used a New York City (the pronunciation of coffee, for
series of rapid encounters with employees in three example), Boston (“I pahked the kah in Hahvahd
New York City department stores, each of whose Yahd”), and Canada (“oot” for “out”).
prices and locations attracted a different socioeco- It’s sometimes asserted that midwestern Ameri-
nomic group. Saks Fifth Avenue (68 encounters) cans don’t have accents. This belief stems from the
catered to the upper middle class, Macy’s (125) fact that midwestern dialects don’t have many stig-
attracted middle-class shoppers, and S. Klein’s (71) matized linguistic variants—speech patterns that
had predominantly lower-middle-class and working- people in other regions recognize and look down on,
class customers. The class origins of store personnel such as rlessness and dem, dese, and dere (instead of
tended to reflect those of their customers. them, these, and there).
Having already determined that a certain depart- Far from having no accents, midwesterners,
ment was on the fourth floor, Labov approached even in the same high school, exhibit linguistic
ground-floor salespeople and asked where that diversity (see Eckert 1989, 2000). One of the best
department was. After the salesperson had answered, examples of variable midwestern speech, involving
“Fourth floor,” Labov repeated his “Where?” in order vowels, is pronunciation of the e sound (the /e/
to get a second response. The second reply was more phoneme) in such words as ten, rent, section, lec-
formal and emphatic, the salesperson presumably ture, effect, best, and test. In southeastern Michi-
thinking that Labov hadn’t heard or understood the gan, there are four different ways of pronouncing
first answer. For each salesperson, therefore, Labov this e sound. Speakers of African American Eng-
had two samples of /r/ pronunciation in two words. lish (see below) and immigrants from Appalachia
Labov calculated the percentages of workers who often pronounce ten as “tin,” just as southerners
pronounced /r/ at least once during the interview.
These were 62 percent at Saks, 51 percent at Macy’s,
but only 20 percent at S. Klein’s. He also found that
personnel on upper floors, where he asked “What
floor is this?” (and where more expensive items
were sold), pronounced /r/ more often than ground-
floor salespeople did (see also Labov 2006).
In Labov’s study, summarized in Table 5.3, /r/
pronunciation was clearly associated with prestige.
Certainly the job interviewers who had hired the

TABLE 5.3 Pronunciation of r in New York City

Department Stores

STORE ENCOUNTERS PRONUNCIATION Certain dialects are stigmatized, not because of actual linguistic
Saks Fifth 68 62 deficiencies but because of a symbolic association between a
Avenue certain way of talking and low social status. In this scene from the
movie My Fair Lady, Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison)
Macy’s 125 51
teaches Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), formerly a Cockney flower
S. Klein’s 71 20
girl, how to speak “proper English.”

Chapter 5 Language and Communication 93

appreciating ANTHROPOLOGY
I Wish They All Could Be California Vowels
Is there a “California accent”? Popular stereo- Oklahoma’s Dust Bowl left their mark on California Hispanic whites now represent under 40 percent
types of how Californians talk reﬂect exposure to speech, such as their pronunciation of wash and of the state’s total population, while Latinos
media images of blond surfer boys who say greasy (see King 2012). (Hispanics) constitute 38 percent. California also
things like “dude” and “gnarly” and white Valley We see, then, that one factor in determining has a large and diverse Asian American population
girls who intone “Like, totally!” and “Gag me with how people speak is where their ancestors came and a sizable group of African Americans.
a spoon!” Such stereotypes have some accuracy, from. Another factor is their own attitudes and Representing California’s largest minority, as
as we’ll see. Just as striking, however, is the lin- feelings about the people around them and about well as its earliest nonindigenous settlers, Chica-
guistic diversity that also marks contemporary the outside world. For example, in California’s nos (Mexican Americans) display interesting
California. Central Valley, which is economically depressed, speech patterns. California’s Mexican-derived
To document this diversity, Professor Penel- young people must choose whether to stay put or populations can claim the longest continuous
ope Eckert, a sociolinguist at Stanford University, to move elsewhere, seeking work. When people (nonindigenous) linguistic history in the state, in-
and her graduate students are engaged in an on- are, and want to stay, involved in their home com- cluding Spanish/English bilingualism and the
going, multiyear research project called Voices of munity, they tend to talk like locals. A desire not to source of most important place names. So strong
California (see be perceived as being from a particular place also is the Spanish heritage that Spanish-like vowels
linguistics/VoCal/). Eckert’s team of 10–15 research- affects how people talk (King 2012). even inﬂuence the way English is spoken by His-
ers visits a new site each fall, spending about 10 I know this feeling well, having abandoned my panics who learn English as their ﬁrst, or native,
days interviewing residents who grew up in the original southern accent when I was an adoles- language. For example, among Chicano speakers
area. Recently, their focus has been on inland cent. In fact, my own speech shift wasn’t totally in northern California the vowel in the second syl-
California, which has been less studied than have voluntary: as mentioned previously, I was placed lable of nothing has come to resemble the Spanish
the main coastal cities. In previous years, the in a speech class when I moved from Atlanta to “ee” sound. Not all innovations in Chicano English
group visited Merced and Redding; in 2012, they New York City at the age of 13. The same thing come from Spanish. One widespread speech in-
focused on Bakersﬁeld. The researchers always happened to my college roommate, from Baton novation in Los Angeles has been the lowering of
test certain words that elicit speciﬁc pronuncia- Rouge, Louisiana, when he enrolled at Columbia the vowel in the ﬁrst syllable of elevator, so that it
tions. These words include wash, sometimes pro- University in New York City. By then, my own rhymes with the ﬁrst syllable of alligator. That shift
nounced “warsh,” greasy (“greezy”), and pin and speech had become sufficiently accent free to owes nothing to Spanish (see Eckert and Mendoza-
pen, which some people pronounce the same. In- avoid further speech indoctrination. Denton 2002).
terviews in Merced and Shasta Counties have re- In addition to regional diversity, the speech of Despite the well-documented diversity in Cali-
vealed ways that Depression-era migrants from Californians also reﬂects ethnic contrasts. Non- fornia speech, linguists have detected trends

habitually do. Some Michiganders say “ten,” the In another example of such speech, one of my
correct pronunciation in Standard English. How- students lamented, after an exam, that she had not
ever, two other pronunciations also are common. done her “bust on the tust” (i.e., best on the test).
Instead of “ten,” many Michiganders say “tan,” or The truth is, regional patterns affect the way we all
“tun” (as though they were using the word ton, a speak.
unit of weight). Our speech habits help determine how others
My students often astound me with their pronun- evaluate us and thus our access to employment
ciation. One day I met a Michigan-raised graduate and other material resources. Because of this,
student instructor in the hall. She was deliriously “proper language” itself becomes a strategic
happy. When I asked why, she replied, “I’ve just had resource—and a path to wealth, prestige, and
the best suction.” power (Gal 1989; Mooney 2011). Illustrating this,
“What?” I said. many ethnographers have described the impor-
She finally spoke more precisely. “I’ve just had tance of verbal skill and oratory in politics
the best saction.” She considered this a clearer pro- (Beeman 1986; Brenneis 1988; Geis 1987).
nunciation of the word section. Ronald Reagan, known as a “great communicator,”

94 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

toward uniformity as well, particularly among its features were indeed highlighted in Moon Unit more like block; and bet, like bat (see Eckert and
coastal whites. Since the 1940s, a distinctive “Cal- Zappa’s 1982 recording of “Valley Girl.” Mendoza-Denton 2002).
ifornia accent” has been developing, and some of The accent is most evident in vowels, as we Such coordinated phonological changes are
see in the following examples. First, known as chain shifts. The most extreme versions of
the vowels in hock and hawk, or cot these chain-shifted vowel sounds are found in the
and caught, are pronounced the speech of young white Californians. Young people
same, so that awesome rhymes with tend to be leaders in speech innovations, which is
possum. Second, the vowel sound in why linguists spend a lot of time studying them.
boot and dude has shifted and now California’s communities bring together adolescents
is pronounced as in pure or cute from varied backgrounds. Their linguistic styles, like
(thus, boot becomes “beaut,” and their clothing and behavioral styles, inﬂuence one
dude becomes “dewed,” rather than another. Hostility may cause people to differentiate
“dood”). Third, the vowel sound in and diversify their styles, while curiosity or admira-
but and cut is shifting, so that those tion may cause people to copy, or adopt elements
words sound more like bet and ket. from, other styles. Whose styles, linguistic or other-
Finally, black is being pronounced wise, might you have copied—or avoided?

Stereotypes about regional speech styles show up in mass media, which then reinforce and help spread those stereotypes. Linguistic stereotypes abound in
the movies, Clueless and Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure.

dominated American society in the 1980s as a to desired positions in society. In turn, this reflects
two-term president. Another twice-elected presi- its legitimation by formal institutions: educa-
dent, Bill Clinton, despite his southern accent, is tional institutions, state, church, and prestige
known for his verbal skills. Communications media. Even people who don’t use the prestige
flaws may have helped doom the presidencies dialect accept its authority and correctness,
of Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, and George its “symbolic domination” (Bourdieu 1982, 1984;
Bush (the elder). How do you evaluate the Labov 2012). Thus, linguistic forms, which
linguistic skills of the current leader of your lack power in themselves, take on the power
country? of the groups they symbolize. The education
The French anthropologist Pierre Bourdieu system, however (defending its own worth),
views linguistic practices as symbolic capital that denies linguistic relativity, misrepresenting pres-
people, if trained properly, can convert into tige speech as being inherently better. The lin-
economic and social capital. The value of a dia- guistic insecurity often felt by lower-class and
lect—its standing in a “linguistic market”— minority speakers is a result of this symbolic
depends on the extent to which it provides access domination.

Chapter 5 Language and Communication 95

AAVE may be a nonstandard dialect, but it is not
an ungrammatical hodgepodge. Rather, AAVE is a
complex linguistic system with its own rules, which
linguists have described. The phonology and syntax
of AAVE are similar to those of southern dialects.
This reflects generations of contact between south-
ern whites and blacks, with mutual influence on
each other’s speech patterns. Many features that dis-
tinguish AAVE from SE (Standard English) also
show up in southern white speech, but less fre-
quently than in AAVE.
Linguists disagree about exactly how AAVE
originated (Rickford 1997; Rickford and Rickford
2000). Smitherman (1986) notes certain structural
similarities between West African languages and
AAVE. African linguistic backgrounds no doubt
influenced how early African Americans learned
English. Did they restructure English to fit African
linguistic patterns? Or, possibly, in acquiring Eng-
lish, did African slaves fuse English with African
languages to make a pidgin or creole, which influ-
enced the subsequent development of AAVE? Cre-
ole speech may have been brought to the American
colonies by the many slaves who were brought in
from the Caribbean during the 17th and 18th centu-
ries (Rickford 1997).
Origins aside, there are phonological and gram-
matical differences between AAVE and SE. One
phonological difference is that AAVE speakers are
less likely to pronounce r than SE speakers are.
Actually, many SE speakers don’t pronounce r’s
that come right before a consonant (card) or at the
end of a word (car). But SE speakers do usually
“Proper language” is a strategic resource, correlated with wealth, prestige, and power.
pronounce an r that comes right before a vowel,
How is linguistic (and social) stratification illustrated in the photo above, including the
either at the end of a word (four o’clock) or within
handwritten comments below it? a word (Carol). AAVE speakers, by contrast, are
much more likely to omit such intervocalic
(between vowels) r’s. The result is that speakers of
the two dialects have different homonyms (words
African American Vernacular that sound the same but have different meanings).
AAVE speakers who don’t pronounce intervocalic
English (AAVE) r’s have the following homonyms: Carol/Cal;
No one pays much attention when someone says Paris/pass.
“saction” instead of “section.” But some nonstan- Observing different phonological rules, AAVE
dard speech carries more of a stigma. Sometimes speakers pronounce certain words differently than
stigmatized speech is linked to region, class, or edu- SE speakers do. Particularly in the elementary
cational background; sometimes it is associated school context, the homonyms of AAVE-speaking
with ethnicity or “race.” students typically differ from those of their SE-
Sociolinguists have conducted detailed studies of speaking teachers. To evaluate reading accuracy,
African American what they call African American Vernacular Eng- teachers should determine whether students are rec-
Vernacular English lish (AAVE). (Vernacular means ordinary, casual ognizing the different meanings of such AAVE
(AAVE) speech.) AAVE is the “relatively uniform dialect homonyms as passed, past, and pass. Teachers need
Rule-governed dialect spoken by the majority of black youth in most parts to make sure students understand what they are
spoken by some African of the United States . . . , especially in the inner city reading, which is probably more important than
areas of New York, Boston, Detroit, Philadelphia, whether they are pronouncing words correctly
Washington, Cleveland, . . . and other urban centers. according to the SE norm.
It is also spoken in most rural areas and used in the The phonological contrasts between AAVE and
casual, intimate speech of many adults” (Labov SE speakers often have grammatical consequences.
1972a, p. xiii). This does not imply that all, or even One of these involves copula deletion, which means
most, African Americans speak AAVE. the absence of SE forms of the copula—the verb to

96 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

be. SE habitually uses contractions, as in “you’re
tired” instead of “you are tired.” Where SE shortens
with contractions, AAVE goes one step further and
deletes the copular altogether—thus “you tired.”
AAVE’s copula deletion is a grammatical result of
its phonological rules, which dictate that r’s (as in
you’re, we’re, and they’re) and word-final s’s (as in
he’s) be dropped. However, AAVE speakers do
pronounce m, so that the AAVE first-person singular
is “I’m tired,” just as in SE. In its deletion of the
present tense of the verb to be, AAVE is similar to
many languages, including Russian, Hungarian, and

you are tired you’re tired you tired
he is tired he’s tired he tired
we are tired we’re tired we tired
they are tired they’re tired they tired
Rappers Taboo,, and perform in February, 2013 in Hollywood, California. How
does contemporary music reflect and express ideas about race, ethnicity, and gender?
Also, phonological rules may lead AAVE speak-
ers to omit -ed as a past-tense marker and -s as a
marker of plurality. However, other speech contexts
demonstrate that AAVE speakers do understand the French and Spanish, for example, are daughter lan-
difference between past and present verbs, and guages of Latin, their common protolanguage.
between singular and plural nouns. Confirming this German, English, Dutch, and the Scandinavian lan-
are irregular verbs (e.g., tell, told) and irregular plu- guages are daughter languages of proto-Germanic.
rals (e.g., child, children), in which AAVE works the Latin and proto-Germanic were both Indo-
same as SE. European  (IE) languages (see Figure 5.2). The
SE is not superior to AAVE as a linguistic sys- common protolanguage of Latin, proto-Germanic,
tem, but it does happen to be the prestige dialect— and many other ancient languages is known as
the one used in the mass media, in writing, and in proto-Indo-European (PIE).
most public and professional contexts. SE is the According to one theory, PIE was the language of
dialect that has the most “symbolic capital.” In areas chariot-driving pastoralists who spread out from the
of Germany where there is diglossia, speakers of Eurasian steppes above the Black Sea about 4,000
Plattdeusch (Low German) learn the High German years ago and conquered Europe and Asia (see Wade
dialect to communicate appropriately in the 2012). The main line of evidence for this view is
national context. Similarly, upwardly mobile AAVE- linguistic: PIE had a vocabulary for chariots and
speaking students learn SE. wagons that included words for “wheel,” “axle,”
“harness-pole,” and “to go or convey in a vehicle.”
These PIE words (as reconstructed by historical lin-
guists) have recognizable descendant words in many
HISTORICAL LINGUISTICS IE languages. This suggests that wheeled vehicles
historical linguistics
Study of languages
Sociolinguists study contemporary variation in must have been invented before PIE started diverg- over time.
speech—language change in progress. Historical ing (Wade 2012). The earliest such vehicles date to
linguistics deals with longer-term change. Lan- 3500 b.c.e. subgroups
guage changes over time. It evolves—varies, The main rival theory, first proposed by archae- (Linguistic) closely
spreads, divides into dialects and eventually into ologist Colin Renfrew (1987), is that PIE was spoken related languages.
subgroups (languages within a taxonomy of related and spread by peaceful farmers who lived in Anato-
languages that are most closely related). Historical lia, now Turkey, about 9,000 years ago. Recent stud- daughter languages
Languages sharing a
linguists can reconstruct many features of past lan- ies by the evolutionary biologist Quentin Atkinson
common parent
guages by studying contemporary daughter lan- and his colleagues in New Zealand support the Ana- language, e.g., Latin.
guages. These are languages that descend from the tolian origin of PIE (see Bouckaert et al. 2012).
same parent language and that have been changing Atkinson’s team focused on a set of vocabulary items protolanguage
for hundreds or even thousands of years. We call known to be resistant to linguistic change. These Language ancestral
the original language from which they diverge the include pronouns, parts of the body, and family to several daughter
protolanguage. Romance languages such as relations. For 103 IE languages, the researchers languages.

Chapter 5 Language and Communication 97

FIGURE 5.2 PIE Family Tree.
This is a family tree of the Indo-European languages. All can be traced back to a protolanguage, Proto-Indo-European (PIE). PIE split into
dialects that eventually evolved into separate daughter languages, which, in turn, evolved into granddaughter languages such as Latin and
proto-Germanic, which are ancestral to dozens of modern languages.

compared those words with the PIE ancestral word southern Turkey. This is precisely the region origi-
(as reconstructed by historical linguists). Words that nally proposed by Renfrew, because it was the area
clearly descend from the same ancestral word are from which farming spread to Europe. Atkinson also
known as cognates. For example, “mother” (Eng- ran a computer simulation on a grammar-based IE
lish) is cognate with all these words for the same tree—once again finding Anatolia to be the most
relative: “mutter” (German), “mat” (Russian), likely origin point for PIE (Wade 2012). Although
“madar” (Persian), “matka” (Polish) and “mater” many linguists still support the chariot/steppe ori-
(Latin). All are descendants of the PIE word gin theory, several lines of biological and archaeo-
“mehter.” logical evidence now indicate that the Neolithic
For each language, when the word was a cognate economy spread more through the actual migration
the researchers scored it 1; when it was not (having of farmers than through the diffusion of crops and
been replaced by an unrelated word), it was scored ideas. This would seem to offer support to the
0. With each language represented by a string of 1s Renfrew–Atkinson model of PIE origin and disper-
and 0s, the researchers could establish a family tree sal of Neolithic farmers.
showing the relationships among the 103 languages. Historically oriented linguists suspect that a very
Based on those relationships and the geographic remote protolanguage, spoken perhaps 50,000 years
areas where the daughter languages are spoken, the ago in Africa, gave rise to all contemporary
computer determined the likeliest routes of movement languages. Murray Gell-Mann and Merritt Ruhlen
from an origin. The calculation pointed to Anatolia, (2011), who co-direct the Program on the Evolution

98 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

Modern technology can be a valuable tool for language preservation. Two centuries after a Cherokee silversmith named Sequoyah
developed a system of symbols for Cherokee syllables, students at the Cherokee Nation Immersion School in Oklahoma use computers,
tablets, iPhones, and iPods to learn to read and write the Cherokee language.

of Human Languages at the Sante Fe Institute, have States and Canada spoke many different languages on
reconstructed the syntax (word ordering) of this arrival, but their descendants now speak fluent English.
ancient protolanguage. Their study focused on how Knowledge of linguistic relationships is often
subject (S), object (O), and verb (V) are arranged in valuable to anthropologists interested in history, par-
phrases and sentences in some 2,000 contemporary ticularly events during the past 5,000 years. Cultural
languages. There are six possible word orders: SOV, features may (or may not) correlate with the distribu-
SVO, OSV, OVS, VSO, and VOS. Most common is tion of language families. Groups that speak related
SOV (“I you like,” e.g., Latin), present in more than languages may (or may not) be more culturally simi-
half of all languages. Next comes SVO (“I like you,” lar to each other than they are to groups whose speech
e.g., English). Much rarer are OSV, OVS, VOS, and derives from different linguistic ancestors. Of course,
VSO. Gell-Mann and Ruhlen constructed a family cultural similarities aren’t limited to speakers of
tree of relationships among 2,000 contemporary related languages. Even groups whose members
languages. The directions of change involving the speak unrelated languages have contact through
six word orders were clear. All the languages that trade, intermarriage, and warfare. Ideas and inven-
were SVO, OVS, and OSV derived from SOV tions diffuse widely among human groups. Many
languages—never the other way around. Further-
more, any language with VSO or VOS word order
always came from an SVO language (see Figure 5.3).
The fact that SVO always comes from SOV con- OSV VSO
firms SOV as the original, ancestral word order.

Language, Culture, and History SOV SVO

A close relationship between languages does not nec-
essarily mean that their speakers are closely related
biologically or culturally, because people can adopt OVS VOS
new languages. In the equatorial forests of Africa,
“pygmy” hunters have discarded their ancestral FIGURE 5.3 Evolution of Word Order from
languages and now speak those of the cultivators who Original SVO (Subject, Verb, Object) in Ancient
have migrated to the area. Immigrants to the United Ancestral Protolanguage.

Chapter 5 Language and Communication 99

items of vocabulary in contemporary English come weeks, as its last speakers die. The world’s linguistic
from French. Even without written documentation of diversity has been cut in half (measured by number
France’s influence after the Norman Conquest of of distinct languages) in the past 500 years, and half
England in 1066, linguistic evidence in contemporary of the remaining languages are predicted to disappear
English would reveal a long period of important first- during this century. Colonial languages (e.g., English,
hand contact with France. Similar linguistic evidence Spanish, Portuguese, French, Dutch, Russian) have
may confirm cultural contact and borrowing when expanded at the expense of indigenous ones. Of
written history is lacking. By considering which approximately 7,000 remaining languages, about 20
words have been borrowed, we also can make infer- percent are endangered, compared with 18 percent of
ences about the nature of the contact. mammals, 8 percent of plants, and 5 percent of birds
(Harrison 2010; Maugh 2007). National Geograph-
ic’s Enduring Voices Project (http://national-
Language Loss strives to
One aspect of linguistic history is language loss. preserve endangered languages by identifying the
When languages disappear, cultural diversity is geographic areas with unique, poorly understood, or
reduced as well. According to linguist K. David threatened languages and by documenting those lan-
Harrison, “When we lose a language, we lose centu- guages and cultures. The website shows various lan-
ries of thinking about time, seasons, sea guage hot spots where the endangerment rate ranges
creatures, reindeer, edible flowers, from low to severe. The rate is high in an area encom-
mathematics, landscapes, myths, passing Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico, where
music, the unknown and 40 Native American languages are at risk. The top hot
the everyday” (quoted in spot is northern Australia, where 153 Aboriginal
Maugh 2007). Harri- languages are endangered (Maugh 2007). Other
son’s book When Lan- hot spots are in central South America, the Pacific
guages Die (2007), Northwest of North America, and eastern Siberia. In
notes that an indige- all these areas indigenous tongues have yielded,
nous language goes either voluntarily or through coercion, to a colonial
extinct every two language (see Harrison 2010).

summary 1. Wild primates use call systems to communicate.
Environmental stimuli trigger calls, which cannot
3. Linguistic anthropologists share anthropology’s
general interest in diversity in time and space.
be combined when multiple stimuli are present. Sociolinguistics investigates relationships between
Contrasts between language and call systems in- social and linguistic variation by focusing on the
clude displacement, productivity, and cultural actual use of language. Only when features of
transmission. Over time, our ancestral call systems speech acquire social meaning are they imitated. If
grew too complex for genetic transmission, and they are valued, they will spread. People vary their
hominid communication began to rely on learning. speech, shifting styles, dialects, and languages. As
Humans still use nonverbal communication, such as linguistic systems, all languages and dialects are
facial expressions, gestures, and body stances and equally complex, rule-governed, and effective for
movements. But language is the main system hu- communication. However, speech is used, is evalu-
mans use to communicate. Chimps and gorillas can ated, and changes in the context of political, eco-
understand and manipulate nonverbal symbols nomic, and social forces. Often the linguistic traits
based on language. of a low-status group are negatively evaluated. This
devaluation is not because of linguistic features per
2. No language uses all the sounds the human vocal
se. Rather, it reflects the association of such fea-
tract can make. Phonology—the study of speech
tures with low social status. One dialect, supported
sounds—focuses on sound contrasts (phonemes)
by the dominant institutions of the state, exercises
that distinguish meaning. The grammars and lexi-
symbolic domination over the others.
cons of particular languages can lead their speakers
to perceive and think in certain ways. Studies of 4. Historical linguistics is useful for anthropologists
domains such as kinship, color terminologies, and interested in historic relationships among popula-
pronouns show that speakers of different languages tions. Cultural similarities and differences often
categorize their experiences differently. correlate with linguistic ones. Linguistic clues can

100 PART 2 Appreciating Cultural Diversity

suggest past contacts between cultures. Related 5. One aspect of linguistic history is language loss.
languages—members of the same language family— The world’s linguistic diversity has been cut in half
descend from an original protolanguage. Relation- in the past 500 years, and half of the remaining
ships between languages don’t necessarily mean that 7,000 languages are predicted to disappear during
there are biological ties between their speakers, this century.
because people can learn new languages.

African American Vernacular English (AAVE) 96

call systems 83
morphology 86
phoneme 86
key terms
cultural transmission 84 phonemics 87
daughter languages 97 phonetics 87
diglossia 91 phonology 86
displacement 84 productivity 84
ethnosemantics 89 protolanguage 97
focal vocabulary 89 Sapir-Whorf hypothesis 88
historical linguistics 97 semantics 89
honoriﬁcs 92 style shifts 91
kinesics 86 subgroups 97
language 82 syntax 86
lexicon 86

1. What dialects and languages do you speak? Do you tend to use different dialects, languages, or speech styles in
different contexts? Why or why not? critical
2. Culture always plays a role in shaping what we understand as “natural.” What does this mean? Provide three
examples of the relevance of this fact in the context of human language and communication. thinking
3. Consider how changing technologies are altering the ways you communicate with family, friends, and even
strangers. Suppose your best friend decides to study sociolinguistics in graduate school. What ideas about the
relationship between changing technologies, language, and social relations could you suggest to him or her as
worth studying?
4. List some stereotypes about how different people speak. Are those real differences, or just stereotypes? Are the
stereotypes positive or negative? Why do you think those stereotypes exist?
5. What is language loss? Why are some researchers and communities worldwide so concerned by this growing

Chapter 5 Language and Communication 101

Ethnicity and Race

Why have
rejected the race

How are race and

ethnicity socially
constructed in
various societies?

What are the positive

and negative aspects
of ethnicity?

Racial/ethnic diversity in today’s United States. Might this photo have been taken in your neighborhood? Is baseball
more ethnically diverse than other sports?
chapter outline
Status Shifting
Minority Groups and


hen asked “Who are you?” what might declare: “I’m Jimmy’s mother.” “I’m your

Races Are Not
ﬁrst comes to mind? Think of the boss.” “I’m African American.” “I’m your profes- Biologically Distinct
last person you met, or the person sor.” In face-to-face encounters, other people
Explaining Skin Color
sitting nearest you. What labels see who we are—actually, who they perceive us
The AAA RACE Project
pop into your head to describe that person? What to be. They may expect us to think and act in
kinds of identity cues and clues do people use to certain (stereotypical) ways based on their per- RACE AND ETHNICITY
ﬁgure out the kinds of people they are dealing ception of our identity (e.g., Latina woman, older
with, and how to act in various social situations? white male golfer). Although we can’t know
Part of human adaptive ﬂexibility is our ability to which aspect of identity they’ll focus on (e.g.,
Hypodescent: Race
shift self-presentation in response to context. ethnicity, gender, age, or political affiliation), in the United States
Italians, for example, maintain separate sets of face to face it’s hard to be anonymous or to be Race in the Census
clothing to be worn inside and outside the home. someone else entirely. That’s what masks, cos-
Not Us: Race in Japan
They invest much more in their outside wardrobe tumes, disguises, and hiding are for. Who’s that
Phenotype and Fluidity:
(thus supporting a vibrant Italian fashion industry)— little man behind the curtain? Race in Brazil
and what it says about their public persona—than Unlike our early ancestors, people today don’t
in indoor garb, which is for family and intimates to just interact face to face. We routinely give our ETHNIC GROUPS,
see. Identities and behavior change with context: “I money and our trust to individuals and institu-
may be a Neandertal at the office, but I’m all Homo tions we’ve never laid eyes on. We phone, write,
Nationalities and
sapiens at home.” Many of the social statuses we and—more than ever—use the Internet, where Imagined Communities
occupy, the “hats” we wear, depend on the situa- we must choose which aspects of ourselves to
tion. A person can be both black and Hispanic, or reveal. The Internet allows myriad forms of ETHNIC TOLERANCE AND
both a father and a ballplayer. One identity is cybersocial interaction, and people can create
claimed or perceived in certain settings, another new personas by using different “handles,”
in different ones. Among African Americans a including ﬁctitious names and identities. In anon- The Plural Society
“Hispanic” baseball player might be black; among ymous regions of cyberspace, people can manip- Multiculturalism
Hispanics, Hispanic. ulate (“lie about”) their ages, genders, and Changing Demographics
When our claimed or perceived identity physical attributes and create their own cyber-
varies depending on the context, this is called fantasies. In psychology, multiple personalities CONFLICT
the situational negotiation of social identity. are abnormal, but for anthropologists, multiple Prejudice and
Depending on the situation, the same woman identities are more and more the norm. Discrimination
Chips in the Mosaic
Aftermaths of

Ethnicity is based on cultural similarities Interethnic relations are important in the

(with members of the same ethnic group) and study of any nation or region, especially
differences (between that group and others). because of contemporary and recent interna-
Ethnic groups must deal with other such tional migration. (Table 6.1