Chapter 1 - Anthropology in Global Age

Chapter 1 - Anthropology in Global Age Understanding Globalization - Anthropology is the study of the full scope of human diversity, past & present, and the application of that knowledge to help people of different backgrounds better understand one another - Anthropos – human - Logos - though, reason, study - Started in 18 & 19 centuries started when colonial europe expanded - Ship building, steam engine, railroads, telegraph - Merchants, missionaries, gov officials - Colonization, communicatitrade, travel expanded - Europeans began to question exotic (unfamiliar) things - Who are these people? - Where did they come from? - Why are they so different from us? - Began modern anthropology with these questions - Anthropology studies everything & anything that is related to people - To understand the richness of human diversity & to challenge us to move beyond ethnocentrism - Ethnocentrism is the strong human tendency to believe that one's own culture or way of life is normal, natural, and superior to the beliefs and practices of others - Anthropology starts with people & their local communities - Anthropologists believe that all humans share connections that are biological, cultural, economic, and ecological - No truly isolated people in the world today - Story of human is story of movement & interaction - 4 Lenses for examining humanity in anthropology In Europe they are more separate In US, these have an approach - 4 Field Approach - Physical (a.k.a. biological) - Study of human from biological perspective, especially how they have evolved overtime & adapted to their environment - modern humans share a common ancestor with other primates like chimpanzees, apes, and monkeys - 97.7% DNA w/ gorillas, 98.7% w/ chimpanzees - 5-6 million years ago is when modern humans became - Homosapiens (first humans) evolved in Africa around 200,000 years ago - Special areas - Paleoanthropology is the study of history of human evolution through fossil records - - Primatology is the study of living, non-human primates and primate fossils like monkey, apes, chimpanzees, and gorillas - Archeology is the investigation of the human past by excavating and analyzing material remains (not bones) - Only source before writing began which was 5500 years ago - Reconstructing human behavior from artifacts that give clues about human life - Historic archeology combines the examination of physical remains and artifacts with the written or oral records - Applied archeology is contemporary - Ex. Garbage project by William Rathje, where people lied about the beer they drink a week - Linguistics studies human language, which include grammar, sounds, words, intonation, etc. - Descriptive linguistics work to describe spoken language & keep them as written language - Historic linguists study how languages change over time within a culture and as it moves to another culture - Sociolinguists study language in its social and cultural contexts - Cultural is the study of people's everyday lives, including behavior, beliefs, and institutions - War, love, sexuality, child bearing - Look for patterns - Ethnographic fieldwork – live and work w/ people they study daily usually more than 1 year - Intensive fieldwork can make it seem very unfamiliar, but then they experience a culture shock when they return - Analyze & compare ethnographic data across cultures in a process called ethnology - Ethnology looks for general patterns in human behavior to how local experience intersects with global dynamics Holism is anthropologies commitment to look at the whole picture Globalization & Its importance - Globalization refers to the worldwide intensification of interactions and increased movement of money, people, goods, and ideas within and across national borders - Due to globalization, economy and travel are affected - Also anthropologists don't have to live with people they are studying, they can do it through the internet, etc. - Keys to Globalization: - Time-Space Compression - Rapid innovation of communication & transformation caused people to think about time & distance differently - - - Flexible Accumulation - Advances in transportation & communication changed the way companies act (search for areas to set up with cheaper labor, lower taxes, & less environmental regs) Increasing Migration - Means the movement of people both within & among countries is in search of better life or work opportunities Uneven Development - Globalization did not bring equal benefits to the world's people Rapid Change - Brough rapid change in human activities, political, social, economic, etc. Adapting to Natural World & Shaping nature - We are adapting ourselves to the environment & its changes - But we are shaping natura around us, ex. Global warming