Question 1

Discuss the principal effects that the writings of Karl Marx have had on anthropological theory. Do you think that Marxist anthropology is the same as Communist anthropology? Why or why not?

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Question 2

What are some of the weaknesses in the theory that there was only one "hearth" for the development of civilization?

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Question 3

Explain how postmodernism has affected anthropological explanation. What is the postmodern critique of ethnography?

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Question 4

How would a cultural materialist explain why Muslims don't eat pork?

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Question 5

Define historical particularism. Do you think that this approach can be compatible with investigations of cultural evolution? Why or why not?

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Question 6

According to Julian Steward, the environment and the availability of resources has a definite influence on the form of social organization. This approach to studying cultural evolution, called , was exemplified nicely in his study of the social organization of the Shoshone during different seasons of the year.

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Julian Steward's approach is known as cultural ecology, which emphasizes the interaction between a society and the environment, including the availability of resources. This approach rejects the idea of environmental determinism, which suggests that the environment determines the form of social organization without considering human agency. Cultural materialism, on the other hand, emphasizes the role of technology and economic factors in shaping cultural evolution. Diffusion-evolution is a theoretical approach that emphasizes the role of cultural diffusion in shaping cultural change.

Question 7

Symbolic anthropologists argue that human behavior cannot be explained through the use of the scientific method. Do you agree with their standpoint? Why or why not?

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Question 8

Discuss the principal differences between nineteenth-century models for unilineal evolution and twentieth-century neoevolutionary theories. Who were the principal proponents of each?

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Question 9

Explain the major tenets of Feminist anthropology. How does the feminist orientation developed in the 1960s and 1970s differ from earlier work by female anthropologists?

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Question 10

The neo-evolutionists' perspective differed from the nineteenth-century evolutionists' ideas in a number of ways. The neo-evolutionists:

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The neo-evolutionists rejected the idea of progress being equated with complexity and did not assume a unilinear direction of cultural evolution. However, they were not immune to ethnocentrism and racism in their approach to understanding cultural evolution and complexity. They did not necessarily consider civilization as the pinnacle of sociocultural development.

Question 11

Explanations for the differences and similarities among societies have been many and varied throughout the development of anthropology. What are the basic premises, strengths, and weaknesses of the following ideas: unilineal evolution, diffusionism, historical particularism, functionalism, and structural functionalism? What are some of the things that anthropologists have learned by employing these perspectives?

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Question 12

Compare and contrast the perspectives of the symbolic anthropologists with the Marxists and the cultural materialists.

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Question 13

What are some of the criticisms that have been leveled at the cultural ecological approach? Do you think these criticisms are valid? If so, how would you modify the cultural ecological perspective to take into account the criticism?

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Question 14

Can ethnocentrism be an adaptive strategy for a society to take? Or should ethnocentrism be avoided at all costs?

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Question 15

The study of culture through interpretation of the meaning of values, beliefs, and symbols of a society is a theoretical orientation called anthropology.

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The definition provided specifically mentions the interpretation of symbols, which falls under the category of symbolic anthropology.

Question 16

Compare and contrast the perspectives of the neo-evolutionists, cultural ecologists, cultural materialists, and Marxists. Are these theoretical views similar in any manner, or are they mutually exclusive and contradictory in nature?

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