Anthro Key Terms

The ability of individuals to act independently and make their own choices freely.

A division in society based on social and economic status

A group of people sharing similar characteristics, and/or interests (location, language, religion, sports etc.)

Suspending one's own ethnocentric judgement in order to understand and appreciate another culture; interpreting the various aspects of a culture in reference to that culture rather than one's own.

The identification of a group based on a perceived shared cultural distinctiveness, expressed through language, music, religion, values, art, literature, family life, food, ritual, public life and material culture.

Regarding one's own ethnicity as superior to others and/or viewing others only through one's own cultural categories.

Culturally constructed notions of what it means to be male or female, depending on the social context.

A social status granted in various ways to those who meet certain criteria on who can become a person.

One's self-expression as a sexual being

The distinctive, stable arrangement of institutions (such as the government, criminal justice system, education, religious authorities) whereby human beings in a society interact and live together.

Writing about people's cultures, customs, habits and mutual differences, usually based on participant observation.

The ability to stand back and assess aspects of one's own behaviour, society and culture etc.

The recognition and declaration of one's own position in a piece of academic work

The worldwide process of increasing economic, technological, political and cultural interactions, integration and interdependence of nations.

Sets of relationships considered primary in any society, also called family and relations

A system of ideas and ideals, especially one which forms the basis of economic or political theory and policy.

Treating something as if it is something you can buy and sell (a commodity)

The process of classifying the world according to specific cultural values and beliefs

Principles (culturally specific) that define what is right and wrong

The process through which someone learns and internalises their culture's values and beliefs.

The physical and imagined differences between groups and individuals.

A range of behaviours that aim at opposing expectations imposed by different forms of authorities

The enforcement of conformity by society upon its members, either by law or by social pressure.

The lifestyle, values, dispositions and expectations of particular social groups that are acquired through the activities and experiences of everyday life.

The process through which cultural beliefs and values are incorporated in the physical body.

The social process by which culture is learned and transmitted across generations

The adoption of cultural traits, such as language, by one group under the influence of another.

The transmission of existing cultural values and norms and other aspects of society from generation to generation.

The socially constructed understanding of individual and cultural identity that, in people's thinking, distinguishes them from "the Other".

A social group that exists and interacts in an online environment.

Anthropologists use this term "the Other" to describe the way people who are members of a particular social group perceive other people who are not members. For example, non-Muslims may perceive Muslims as "the Other". "Othering" may be negative.

The hybridization or amalgamation of two or more cultural traditions.

The human consequences of war, famine, depression, disease, torture, and other problems that result from how political, economic, and institutional power may impact people negatively.

Refers to social groups that are socially and politically outside of the hegemonic power structure of the society. This term particularly relates to colonial and post-colonial contexts.

The existence of unequal opportunities and rewards for different social positions or statuses within a group or society.

A formalized event, the rules of which are determined by the traditions of a social group, characterized by symbolism and performance. Religion is a significant context for the practice of rituals, but the scope of ritual behaviour extends to other areas.

Anthropologists acknowledge that their own knowledge base, beliefs and perspectives may influence their research and writing.

Mutual exchange or obligation between people: generalized (no expectation of return); balanced (exchange of equal value); negative (one party seeks to benefit at the expense of the other).

The effect an anthropologist's own subjectivity might have on how he or she interprets observations and experience.

The body becomes the topic of political debate, for example, in gender related discourse.

The body may be perceived as a machine consisting of organic parts. Surgical implants of mechanical parts means re-thinking the concept of "the body".

Relegating specific groups of people to the edge of society, economically, politically, culturally and socially; limiting their access to productive resources and avenues for the realization of their productive human potential.

A social group's specific adaptation of the influences of globalization.

Participants in a rite of passage or ritual are temporarily literally and symbolically marginalized from their community. Status becomes ambiguous until they re-join their community and adopt their new status. This term may be more broadly used in the context of cultural change.

The idea that a community is to some extent constructed in the minds of the people who consider themselves to belong to it.

The system of social and moral ideas of a group of people; a commitment to central values.

Multiple cultures mix, bringing together traditions as they negotiate their shared and unshared identities.

The transfer of things between social actors. The things can be human or animal, material or immaterial. It is central to all people's lives, but its consequences and elaborations are more marked in some cultures.

"Otherness". Used in anthropology to describe and comment on the construction and experience of cultural difference.

a practice, often associated with Western medicine, that seeks to apply the principles of biology and the natural sciences to the practice of diagnosing disease and promoting healing

An economic and political system in which a society's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

Assigning common knowledge to describe a large number of people or things as belonging to a recognizable system.

Disagreements between individuals, groups, cultures or societies may result from differences in interests, values or actions. Conflict theory (eg Marxism, Feminism, CRT) presents a lens, or framework, which can give anthropologists insight into the social impact of disharmony.

Theories around the concept of consensus (Functionalism) assume that cultural values and beliefs are learned and shared to a significant extent across a society and that there is a general level of agreement about these values and beliefs.

The meaningful use that people make of the objects that are associated with them. The use can be mental or material; the objects can be things, ideas or relationships.

Social groups perceive the universe and describe their relationship with it in different ways.

The concept of development refers to more economically developed societies providing assistance and resources to less economically developed societies, either directly through bilateral aid or indirectly via other agencies. Development also refers to self-directed industrial, technological and economic improvement.

The dispersal of peoples from homelands to establish new, migrated communities in other places.

Written or spoken intellectual communication or debate in a discipline such as anthropology.

The tendency towards increasing global interconnections in culture, economy and social life. The transmission of ideas, meanings and values around the world in such a way as to extend and intensify social relations.

The human body is deliberately altered for cultural reasons (for example, rites of passage, group membership) or aesthetic reasons (for example, body art, self-expression).

A loosely organized but sustained campaign in support of a social goal, typically either the implementation or the prevention of a change in society's structure or values.

A politically legitimate, bounded geographical area. It is a political and geopolitical entity, while a nation may be considered as a cultural one. The term "nation state" implies that the two coincide, but colonization created many instances where this notion may be disputed.

Relations between former colonial powers and former colonies, which perpetuate to some degree the domination and exploitation that existed under colonialism.

Study of the legacy of the colonial era and the residual political, cultural, socio-economic, and psychological effects.

The transmission of existing cultural values and norms and other aspects of society from generation to generation.

Anthropologists need to consider the inherently problematic nature of representation and description of living people, specifically in ethnography and more generally in anthropological work as a whole.

The dynamic aspect of status: a person's actual behaviour within the context of that status.

Any means used to maintain behavioural norms and regulate conflict.

The position a person has within a social system—this may be ascribed (beyond an individual's control) or achieved (acquired on the basis of merit). Persons' statuses are usually multiple and come with sets of rights, obligations, behaviours and duties that individuals of certain positions are expected to perform.