Deck 8: Why Is the Concept of Culture Important

Question 1

Something that stands for something else is a

A) symbol.
B) habitus.
C) cultural feature.
D) institution.

Answer 1

A

Question 2

The process by which human beings, as material organisms, living together with other similar organisms, cope with the behavioral rules established by their respective societies is called

A) discipline.
B) enculturation.
C) socialization.
D) introspection.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The process by which human beings living with one another must learn to come to terms with the ways of thinking and feeling considered appropriate in their respective cultures

A) discipline.
B) enculturation.
C) socialization.
D) introspection.

Answer 3

B

Question 4

Complex, variable, and enduring forms of cultural practice that organize social life are called

A) cultural universals.
B) social facts.
C) institutions.
D) symbols.

Question 5

The exercise of at least some control over their lives by human beings is called

A) free will.
B) habitus.
C) human agency.
D) historical.

Question 6

The perspective on the human condition that assumes that mind and body, individuals and society, and individuals and the environment interpenetrate and even define one another is called

A) dualism.
B) holism.
C) reductionism.
D) essentialism.

Question 7

The idea that some cultures dominate others, and that domination by one culture leads inevitably to the destruction of subordinated cultures and their replacement by the culture of those in power, is called

A) cultural relativism.
B) colonialism.
C) cultural imperialism.
D) cultural hybridity.

Question 8

Culture…

A) represents a sharp break between human beings and other animals.
B) behavior.
C) is less important than genetics in shaping human behavior.
D) first appeared about 100,000 years ago.

Question 9

According to the chapter, anthropology is guaranteed to

A) decrease your quantitative reasoning skills.
B) complicate your life.
C) confuse your ability to work on a team.
D) make life easier.

Question 10

The concept of habitus is heavily influenced by our interactions with material culture and gives shape and form to the idea that objects make people.

Question 11

Adam Kuper shows how the rulers in apartheid South Africa used the plural concept of culture to liberate themselves from control by the colonial government.

Question 12

The anthropological perspective can give you a broader understanding of human nature and the wider world, of society, culture, and history, and thus help you construct more realistic and authentic ways of coping with those complications.

Question 13

To argue that "their culture made them do it" is to take the position of

A) cultural determinism.
B) cultural relativism.
C) ethnocentrism.
D) environmental determinism.

Question 14

African women who are trying to eliminate female genital cutting from their own societies are often not happy when American outsiders like Mary Daly and Alice Walker denounce the practice as a human rights abuse because outsiders' condemnations of female genital cutting sound too much like the ethnocentric, reductionist critiques of "barbaric" African customs that Europeans once used to justify colonial conquest.

Question 15

Critics identify problems with several assumptions of the traditional plural concept of culture in anthropology because group members uncritically accept the differences between themselves and other groups.

Question 16

At the present time, anthropologists are seeing that the plural definition of culture is used by indigenous groups to define themselves and by other scholarly disciplines.

Question 17

Identify an example of ethnocentrism from recent news and discuss the range of possible perspectives on the practice in question that might be held by members and outsiders of the society where it is found.

Question 18

Discuss how the Kiowa "kiowanized" Christianity using three examples discussed in the text.

Question 19

What did Daniel Miller mean when he said that the concept of habitus "gives shape and form to the idea that objects make people?" Illustrate your answer with examples.

Question 20

The goal of cultural relativism is understanding. However, to understand does not mean to condone. Select a contemporary scenario (such as civil war, genocide) and how an anthropologist, from a relativistic point of view, would explain the cultural practice.

Question 21

Describe the difference between Culture and cultures. Discuss the different ways in which cultures can be used.

Question 22

Discuss cultural imperialism, cultural hybridization, and cosmopolitanism. How do anthropologists define these concepts, how are they related, and why are they important in contemporary anthropological discussions of globalization?

Question 23

Thinking critically about the way one thinks, on one's own experience is called

A) reflexivity
B) culture shock
C) positivism
D) relativism

Question 24

The feeling, akin to panic, that develops in people living in an unfamiliar society when they cannot understand what is happening around them is

A) culture shock
B) ethnocentrism
C) field hysteria
D) adaptation

Question 25

Ethnographic research that is not contained by social, ethnic, religious, or national boundaries is called

A) ethnography
B) multidirectional fieldwork
C) multisited fieldwork
D) unconventional fieldwork

Question 26

When Paul Rabinow found that Malik was hesitant to list his own possessions, he discovered

A) that he could trust no one in Morocco
B) the shock of otherness
C) the correctness of his informants
D) the surprise of pseudofriendship

Question 27

Describe three kinds of preparations anthropologists undertake before going into the field. Why are these preparations important?

Question 28

Compare and contrast the advantages and drawbacks of multisited field research as compared to singlesited field research.

Question 29

Participant observation is the classic method of anthropological research. Many anthropologists would argue that no proper understanding of another culture can be attained without it. Explain why participant-observation is a valuable research methodology. What would be missed if anthropologists did not engage in it during fieldwork?

Question 30

Rabinow writes, "There is no primitive, there are only other [people] leading other lives." Describe what he means by this statement. What are the implications of such a view for the way anthropologists carry out their research?