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+ | ~~DECKJS~~ | ||
+ | # Putting it all together | ||
+ | ## Putting it all together | ||
+ | |||
+ | Ryan Schram | ||
+ | |||
+ | October 29, 2018 | ||
+ | |||
+ | ryan.schram@sydney.edu.au | ||
+ | |||
+ | Social Sciences Building 410 (A02) | ||
+ | |||
+ | Available at http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ## An introduction ## | ||
+ | |||
+ | This class is an introduction to cultural anthropology. Anthropology | ||
+ | is a study of humanity in all of its diversity. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Cultural anthropology examines this diversity through the lens of | ||
+ | culture. | ||
+ | |||
+ | To understand many contemporary issues, you need to understand culture | ||
+ | and how culture influences how people think and act. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ## Thinking about culture ## | ||
+ | |||
+ | Culture is a system of ideas and values which people acquire from | ||
+ | their social environment. It shapes how they see, think, and act. It | ||
+ | surrounds the person. Culture is like water for a fish. | ||
+ | |||
+ | * What is normal for me, is strange for someone from another culture. | ||
+ | * To understand someone' | ||
+ | their viewpoint, not ours. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ## Learning to see culture is hard ## | ||
+ | |||
+ | Many people make a few big mistakes about the concept of culture | ||
+ | |||
+ | * " | ||
+ | * "Most cultures of the world have already died out, for better or worse." | ||
+ | * "Every culture eventually loses its distinctive traditions and | ||
+ | becomes modern." | ||
+ | |||
+ | ## Cultures act on the world | ||
+ | |||
+ | When we put people' | ||
+ | |||
+ | * **[[: | ||
+ | |||
+ | * **Societies are not fixed or inflexible.** Social rules are not simply constraints on individual choices. | ||
+ | |||
+ | * **Cultural differences are not accidents**; | ||
+ | |||
+ | * **Cultures don't die.** All cultures change, but changes in a culture do not mean that the culture is being lost. Many kinds of change help a culture to adapt to new kinds of situations, and find new ways to reproduce itself and continue to pursue its goals. | ||
+ | |||
+ | * **Dichotomous categories often mislead us.** Real situations cannot be understood in either-or terms. [[: | ||
+ | |||
+ | ## Anthropology is a mirror, not a museum | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{ : | ||
+ | |||
+ | Many people want to study anthropology so they can learn about **other people**. The point of studying anthropology is to learn about yourself **through** other people. We want insight into our own cultures and how they affect each of us. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ## Anthropology is a conversation, | ||
+ | |||
+ | A symmetrical conception of cultural difference says that if Ryan is different than Auhelawa people, then the Auhelawa people are different from Ryan. Both Ryan and Auhelawa people have their own culture. | ||
+ | |||
+ | There is a limit to this way of thinking about difference, though: We assume that cultural differences exist in isolation. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Differences are more complex than this. No culture exists in isolation. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ## Global forces and cultural differences | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Capitalism | ||
+ | * Colonialism | ||
+ | * Global religions, e.g. Christianity and Islam | ||
+ | * transcultural discourses of conservation and sustainability | ||
+ | * global warming and its effects on local environments | ||
+ | |||
+ | These things don't just happen to local cultures. They are the products of particular cultures. Local cultures influence and determine how people relate to them. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ## Everything is mixed ## | ||
+ | |||
+ | Categories are not dichotomous; | ||
+ | |||
+ | * Tradition / modernity | ||
+ | * Developed / undeveloped | ||
+ | * Custom / rationality | ||
+ | * Gift / commodity | ||
+ | * Love / money | ||
+ | |||
+ | ## The snake and the mongoose ## | ||
+ | |||
+ | Once upon a time there was a snake and a mongoose... | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | |||
+ | Many opposites - values, ideas, institutions - are not binary, | ||
+ | either-or. They are contradictions and they exist in an ambiguous | ||
+ | tension which is both a source of conflict but also creativity. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ## Over to you ## | ||
+ | |||
+ | What questions do you have for me? | ||
+ | |||
+ | What items do you want me to present on Wednesday? | ||
+ | |||
+ | ## Reference ## | ||
+ | |||
+ | Lacock, Hennie. 2013. Cobra and Mongoose. Caters New Agency. http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | ## A guide to the unit ## | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{page> |
1002/2018/13.1.txt · Last modified: 2020/01/25 15:28 by 127.0.0.1