Anthropology: what does it mean to be human? [Third ed] 9780190210847, 5375105195, 0190210842

Table of contents :
Cover......Page 1
Half Title Page......Page 2
Title Page......Page 4
Copyright......Page 5
Dedication......Page 6
Brief Contents......Page 8
Contents......Page 9
Boxes......Page 21
Preface......Page 22
CHAPTER 1: What Is Anthropology?......Page 30
What Is Anthropology?......Page 32
What Is the Concept of Culture?......Page 33
What Makes Anthropology a Cross-Disciplinary Discipline?......Page 34
Biological Anthropology......Page 35
In Their Own Words: Anthropology as a Vocation: Listening to Voices......Page 36
Cultural Anthropology......Page 38
Linguistic Anthropology......Page 40
Archaeology......Page 41
Applied Anthropology......Page 42
Medical Anthropology......Page 43
The Uses of Anthropology......Page 44
In Their Own Words: What Can You Learn from an Anthropology Major?......Page 45
For Review......Page 46
Suggested Readings......Page 47
Scientific and Nonscientific Explanations......Page 48
Some Key Scientific Concepts......Page 50
Key Terms......Page 56
CHAPTER 2: Why Is Evolution Important to Anthropologists?......Page 58
What Is Evolutionary Theory?......Page 59
Essentialism......Page 60
The Great Chain of Being......Page 61
Catastrophism and Uniformitarianism......Page 62
Transformational Evolution......Page 64
What Is Natural Selection?......Page 65
Population Thinking......Page 66
Natural Selection in Action......Page 67
How Did Biologists Learn about Genes?......Page 68
Mendel’s Experiments......Page 69
What Are the Basics of Contemporary Genetics?......Page 70
Genes and Traits......Page 71
Anthropology in Everyday Life: Investigating Human-Rights Violations and Identifying Remains......Page 73
Mutation......Page 75
DNA and the Genome......Page 76
Genotype, Phenotype, and the Norm of Reaction......Page 78
In Their Own Words: How Living Organisms Construct Their Environments......Page 80
What Does Evolution Mean?......Page 81
Chapter Summary......Page 82
For Review......Page 83
Suggested Readings......Page 84
CHAPTER 3: What Can Evolutionary Theory Tell Us about Human Variation?......Page 86
The Modern Evolutionary Synthesis and Its Legacy......Page 87
The Molecularization of Race?......Page 90
The Four Evolutionary Processes......Page 93
In Their Own Words: DN A Tests Find Branches but Few Roots......Page 94
Microevolution and Patterns of Human Variation......Page 97
Adaptation and Human Variation......Page 99
Phenotype, Environment, and Culture......Page 104
What Is Macroevolution?......Page 105
Can We Predict the Future of Human Evolution?......Page 109
For Review......Page 110
Suggested Readings......Page 111
Relative Dating Methods......Page 112
Numerical (or Absolute) Dating Methods......Page 115
Modeling Prehistoric Climates......Page 120
Key Terms......Page 122
CHAPTER 4: What Can the Study of Primates Tell Us about Human Beings?......Page 124
How Do Biologists Classify Primates?......Page 125
Strepsirrhines......Page 127
Haplorhines......Page 128
In Their Own Words: The Future of Primate Biodiversity......Page 133
What Is Ethnoprimatology?......Page 135
Are There Patterns in Primate Evolution?......Page 136
In Their Own Words: Chimpanzee Tourism......Page 137
Primates of the Eocene......Page 139
Primates of the Oligocene......Page 140
Primates of the Miocene......Page 141
Chapter Summary......Page 142
Suggested Readings......Page 143
CHAPTER 5: What Can the Fossil Record Tell Us about Human Origins?......Page 146
The Origin of Bipedalism......Page 147
In Their Own Words: Finding Fossils......Page 151
Changes in Hominin Dentition......Page 153
How Many Species of Australopith Were There?......Page 154
How Can Anthropologists Explain the Human Transition?......Page 155
Earliest Evidence of Culture: Stone Tools of the Oldowan Tradition......Page 157
Who Was Homo erectus (1.8–1.7 mya to 0.5–0.4 mya)?......Page 160
Morphological Traits of H. erectus......Page 161
The Culture of H. erectus......Page 162
H. erectus the Hunter?......Page 163
What Happened to H. erectus?......Page 164
What Is the Fossil Evidence for the Transition to Modern H. sapiens?......Page 165
Where Did Modern H. sapiens Come From?......Page 166
Who Were the Neandertals (130,000–35,000 Years Ago)?......Page 167
What Do We Know about Middle Paleolithic/Middle Stone Age Culture?......Page 169
In Their Own Words: Bad Hair Days in the Paleolithic: Modern (Re)Constructions of the Cave Man......Page 170
What Do We Know about Anatomically Modern Humans (200,000 Years Ago to Present)?......Page 172
What Can Genetics Tell Us about Modern Human Origins?......Page 173
What Do We Know about the Upper Paleolithic/Late Stone Age (40,000?–12,000 Years Ago)?......Page 175
What Happened to the Neandertals?......Page 177
How Many Kinds of Upper Paleolithic/Late Stone Age Cultures Were There?......Page 178
Where Did Modern H. sapiens Migrate in Late Pleistocene Times?......Page 179
In Their Own Words: Women’s Art in the Upper Paleolithic?......Page 180
The Americas......Page 182
Two Million Years of Human Evolution......Page 184
Chapter Summary......Page 185
For Review......Page 187
Suggested Readings......Page 188
CHAPTER 6: How Do We Know about the Human Past?......Page 190
What Is Archaeology?......Page 191
Surveys......Page 193
Archaeological Excavation......Page 196
Archaeology and Digital Heritage......Page 198
Subsistence Strategies......Page 199
Bands, Tribes, Chiefdoms, and States......Page 200
Whose Past Is It?......Page 203
How Is the Past Being Plundered?......Page 206
In Their Own Words: Rescue Archaeology in Europe......Page 208
Archaeology and Gender......Page 210
Collaborative Approaches to Studying the Past......Page 212
Anthropology in Everyday Life: Archaeology as a Tool of Civic Engagement......Page 213
Cosmopolitan Archaeologies......Page 214
Chapter Summary......Page 216
For Review......Page 217
Suggested Readings......Page 218
CHAPTER 7: Why Did Humans Settle Down, Build Cities, and Establish States?......Page 220
How Is the Human Imagination Entangled with the Material World?......Page 221
Is Plant Cultivation a Form of Niche Construction?......Page 223
How Do Anthropologists Explain the Origins of Animal Domestication?......Page 226
Was There Only One Motor of Domestication?......Page 230
Natufian Social Organization......Page 231
Natufian Subsistence......Page 232
Anthropology in Everyday Life: Çatalhöyük in the Twenty-First Century......Page 233
Domestication Elsewhere in the World......Page 235
What Were the Consequences of Domestication and Sedentism?......Page 237
In Their Own Words: The Food Revolution......Page 239
How Do Anthropologists Define Social Complexity?......Page 240
Why Is It Incorrect to Describe Foraging Societies as “Simple”?......Page 241
What Is the Archaeological Evidence for Social Complexity?......Page 242
Why Did Stratification Begin?......Page 244
How Can Anthropologists Explain the Rise of Complex Societies?......Page 245
In Their Own Words: The Ecological Consequences of Social Complexity......Page 247
Andean Civilization......Page 248
Chapter Summary......Page 252
Suggested Readings......Page 254
CHAPTER 8: Why Is the Concept of Culture Important?......Page 256
How Do Anthropologists Define Culture?......Page 257
In Their Own Words: The Paradox of Ethnocentrism......Page 258
In Their Own Words: Culture and Freedom......Page 260
Culture, History, and Human Agency......Page 261
In Their Own Words: Human-Rights Law and the Demonization of Culture......Page 262
What Is Ethnocentrism?......Page 264
Is It Possible to Avoid Ethnocentric Bias?......Page 265
How Can Cultural Relativity Improve Our Understanding of Controversial Cultural Practices?......Page 266
Genital Cutting as a Valued Ritual......Page 267
Culture and Moral Reasoning......Page 268
Did Their Culture Make Them Do It?......Page 269
Does Culture Explain Everything?......Page 270
Culture Change and Cultural Authenticity......Page 271
Chapter Summary......Page 272
Suggested Readings......Page 273
Single-Sited Fieldwork......Page 274
Multisited Fieldwork......Page 276
Collecting and Interpreting Data......Page 277
Interpreting Actions and Ideas......Page 278
The Dialectic of Fieldwork: An Example......Page 280
The Effects of Fieldwork......Page 281
The Production of Anthropological Knowledge......Page 283
Anthropological Knowledge as Open-Ended......Page 284
Key Terms......Page 285
Suggested Readings......Page 286
CHAPTER 9: Why Is Understanding Human Language Important?......Page 288
How Are Language and Culture Related?......Page 289
How Do People Talk about Experience?......Page 290
What Makes Human Language Distinctive?......Page 293
How Does Context Affect Language?......Page 295
How Does Language Affect How We See the World?......Page 296
Ethnopragmatics......Page 298
What Happens When Languages Come into Contact?......Page 299
How Is Meaning Negotiated?......Page 300
What Are Language Habits of African Americans?......Page 301
In Their Own Words: Varieties of African American English......Page 302
What Is Language Ideology?......Page 303
What Is Lost If a Language Dies?......Page 304
Anthropology in Everyday Life: Language Revitalization......Page 306
How Are Language and Truth Connected?......Page 308
Chapter Summary......Page 309
Key Terms......Page 310
Suggested Readings......Page 311
Morphology: Word Structure......Page 312
Syntax: Sentence Structure......Page 313
Key Terms......Page 314
CHAPTER 10: How Do We Make Meaning?......Page 316
What Are Some Effects of Play?......Page 317
Is There a Definition of Art?......Page 318
“But Is It Art?”......Page 322
In Their Own Words: Tango......Page 324
“She’s Fake”: Art and Authenticity......Page 325
How Does Hip-Hop Become Japanese?......Page 326
What Is Myth?......Page 327
How Does Myth Reflect—and Shape—Society?......Page 328
Do Myths Help Us Think?......Page 329
How Is Ritual Expressed in Action?......Page 330
What Are Rites of Passage?......Page 331
In Their Own Words: Video in the Villages......Page 332
How Are Play and Ritual Complementary?......Page 333
What Are Symbols?......Page 334
What Is Religion?......Page 335
How Are Religion and Social Organization Related?......Page 338
Coping with Misfortune: Witchcraft, Oracles, and Magic among the Azande......Page 339
Are There Patterns of Witchcraft Accusation?......Page 341
In Their Own Words: For All Those Who Were Indian in a Former Life......Page 342
Maintaining and Changing a Worldview......Page 343
How Do People Cope with Change?......Page 344
How Are Worldviews Used as Instruments of Power?......Page 345
Chapter Summary......Page 347
Suggested Readings......Page 348
CHAPTER 11: Why Do Anthropologists Study Economic Relations?......Page 350
Self-Interest, Institutions, and Morals......Page 351
How Do Anthropologists Study Production, Distribution, and Consumption?......Page 352
What Are Modes of Exchange?......Page 356
Does Production Drive Economic Activities?......Page 358
Modes of Production......Page 359
In Their Own Words: Solidarity Forever......Page 361
Why Do People Consume What They Do?......Page 362
In Their Own Words: Questioning Collapse......Page 363
How Is Consumption Culturally Patterned?......Page 365
In Their Own Words: Fake Masks and Faux Modernity......Page 368
How Is Consumption Being Studied Today?......Page 369
The Anthropology of Food and Nutrition......Page 370
Chapter Summary......Page 372
Suggested Readings......Page 373
CHAPTER 12: How Do Anthropologists Study Political Relations?......Page 376
How Are Culture and Politics Related?......Page 377
Coercion......Page 379
Power and National Identity: A Case Study......Page 381
Can Governmentality Be Eluded?......Page 383
In Their Own Words: Reforming the Crow Constitution......Page 384
Anthropology in Everyday Life: Anthropology and Advertising......Page 385
How Are Politics, Gender, and Kinship Related?......Page 386
How Are Immigration and Politics Related in the New Europe?......Page 387
Hidden Transcripts and the Power of Reflection......Page 391
In Their Own Words: Protesters Gird for Long Fight over Opening Peru’s Amazon......Page 392
Anthropology in Everyday Life: Human Terrain Teams and Anthropological Ethics......Page 395
Chapter Summary......Page 396
Sugested Readings......Page 397
CHAPTER 13: Where Do Our Relatives Come From and Why Do They Matter?......Page 400
What Is Kinship?......Page 401
Sex, Gender, and Kinship......Page 402
What Is the Role of Descent in Kinship?......Page 405
Lineage Membership......Page 406
Patrilineages......Page 407
What Are Matrilineages?......Page 409
In Their Own Words: Outside Work, Women, and Bridewealth......Page 410
What Criteria Are Used for Making Kinship Distinctions?......Page 411
Adoption in Highland Ecuador......Page 412
European American Kinship and New Reproductive Technologies......Page 413
Marriage......Page 415
Woman Marriage and Ghost Marriage among the Nuer......Page 416
Patterns of Residence after Marriage......Page 417
Single and Plural Spouses......Page 418
In Their Own Words: Two Cheers for Gay Marriage......Page 419
How Is Marriage an Economic Exchange?......Page 422
What Is a Family?......Page 423
In Their Own Words: Dowry Too High. Lose Bride and Go to Jail......Page 424
What Is the Polygynous Family?......Page 425
Extended and Joint Families......Page 426
Divorce and Remarriage......Page 427
How Does International Migration Affect the Family?......Page 428
Families by Choice......Page 429
In Their Own Words: Why Migrant Women Feed Their Husbands Tamales......Page 430
Anthropology in Everyday Life: Caring for Infibulated Women Giving Birth in Norway......Page 431
How Are Sexual Practices Organized?......Page 433
Other Sexual Practices......Page 434
Chapter Summary......Page 438
For Review......Page 439
Suggested Readings......Page 440
CHAPTER 14: What Can Anthropology Tell Us about Social Inequality?......Page 442
Gender......Page 443
In Their Own Words: The Consequences of Being a Woman......Page 444
Class......Page 446
Class and Caste in the United States?......Page 447
Caste......Page 448
In Their Own Words: Burakumin: Overcoming Hidden Discrimination in Japan......Page 449
In Their Own Words: As Economic Turmoil Mounts, So Do Attacks on Hungary’s Gypsies......Page 451
Race......Page 453
Colorism in Nicaragua......Page 455
In Their Own Words: On the Butt Size of Barbie and Shani: Dolls and Race in the United States......Page 456
Ethnicity......Page 457
In Their Own Words: The Politics of Ethnicity......Page 458
Nation and Nationalism......Page 461
Australian Nationalism......Page 462
Anthropology in Everyday Life: Anthropology and Democracy......Page 463
The Paradox of Essentialized Identities......Page 466
Nation Building in a Postcolonial World: The Example of Fiji......Page 467
Nationalism and Its Dangers......Page 469
Chapter Summary......Page 470
Key Terms......Page 471
Suggested Readings......Page 472
CHAPTER 15: How Is Anthropology Applied in the Field of Medicine?......Page 474
What Makes Medical Anthropology “Biocultural”?......Page 475
In Their Own Words: American Premenstrual Syndrome......Page 476
In Their Own Words: The Madness of Hunger......Page 478
Kinds of Selves......Page 479
Decentered Selves on the Internet......Page 480
Anthropology in Everyday Life: Lead Poisoning among Mexican American Children......Page 481
Self and Subjectivity......Page 482
Subjectivity, Trauma, and Structural Violence......Page 484
How Are Human Sickness and Health Shaped by the Global Capitalist Economy?......Page 487
In Their Own Words: Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions......Page 488
Health, Human Reproduction, and Global Capitalism......Page 491
Medical Anthropology and HIV/AIDS......Page 493
CHAPTER SUMMARY......Page 497
SUGGESTED READINGS......Page 500
What Happened to the Global Economy after the Cold War?......Page 502
Cultural Processes in a Global World......Page 503
CHAPTER 16: What Can Anthropology Tell Us about Globalization?......Page 506
What Is Cultural Imperialism?......Page 507
What Is Cultural Hybridity?......Page 508
Are There Limits to Cultural Hybridity?......Page 509
Are Global Flows Undermining Nation-States?......Page 510
In Their Own Words: Slumdog Tourism......Page 511
Migration, Transborder Identities, and Long-Distance Nationalism......Page 512
How Can Citizenship Be Flexible?......Page 514
What Is Territorial Citizenship?......Page 516
Human-Rights Discourse as the Global Language of Social Justice......Page 517
Rights versus Culture?......Page 518
Rights to Culture?......Page 519
How Can Culture Help in Thinking about Rights?......Page 520
Anthropology in Everyday Life: Anthropology and Indigenous Rights......Page 521
What Is the Relationship between Human Rights and Humanitarianism?......Page 525
In Their Own Words: How Sushi Went Global......Page 526
What Is Friction?......Page 528
In Their Own Words: Cofan: Story of the Forest People and the Outsiders......Page 530
What Is Border Thinking?......Page 532
In Their Own Words: The Anthropological Voice......Page 533
Chapter Summary......Page 534
Suggested Readings......Page 536
Glossary......Page 537
References......Page 546
Credits......Page 559
Index......Page 564