1002:4.1.1
Differences
This shows you the differences between two versions of the page.
Both sides previous revisionPrevious revisionNext revision | Previous revisionNext revisionBoth sides next revision | ||
1002:4.1.1 [2019/10/17 18:41] – [Witchcraft and sorcery beliefs are common] Ryan Schram (admin) | 1002:4.1.1 [2019/10/20 20:46] – [The function of witchcraft] Ryan Schram (admin) | ||
---|---|---|---|
Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
~~DECKJS~~ | ~~DECKJS~~ | ||
- | # Death | + | # "No man dies without a reason" |
- | ## Death | + | ## "No man dies without a reason" |
Ryan Schram | Ryan Schram | ||
Line 66: | Line 66: | ||
Other scholars coming later took a similar, but more specific perspective. Their core assumption was: | Other scholars coming later took a similar, but more specific perspective. Their core assumption was: | ||
- | * **Patterns of behavior, institutional rules, and people' | + | * **Patterns of behavior, institutional rules, and people' |
Because they wanted to understand the functional role of specific institutions and rules, this meant that they would **__not__** look for explanations by looking for | Because they wanted to understand the functional role of specific institutions and rules, this meant that they would **__not__** look for explanations by looking for | ||
Line 75: | Line 75: | ||
* the practical benefits of a practice | * the practical benefits of a practice | ||
- | ## Quiz: Where does this idea of function come from? | + | To emphasize that they wanted to look for how things functioned to maintain social structure, |
- | Go to Canvas and take Quiz no. 18: To whom do we owe ' | + | |
+ | ## Quiz: Where does a functionalist perspective take you? | ||
+ | |||
+ | To say that an instituted pattern functions is to say that it fits together with other institutions like the gears in a machine, and the replication of one social pattern in turn maintains the others to which it is connected, and the whole social machine. This kind of theory leads one to draw certain kinds of conclusions. Which of the statements in the quiz question are most consistent with the idea that society is a functionally-integrated system? | ||
+ | |||
+ | Go to Canvas and take //Quiz no. 18: What kind of theory is functionalist?// The code will be announced in class. | ||
+ | |||
+ | ## Functionalist explanations of society—You' | ||
+ | |||
+ | You have already encountered explanations of cultural practices in terms of their function to maintain society. | ||
+ | |||
+ | * The ways Utku people raise their children **function to maintain** a pattern of relationships among adults based on autonomy. | ||
+ | * The expectations of preparing particular kinds of school lunches **function to reinforce** cultural expectations for women as members of nuclear families. | ||
+ | * The competitive reciprocal exchanges between big men **function to support** a distinct system of leadership based on big men's networks of followers. | ||
+ | |||
+ | In each case, we did not consider what the purpose of these practices were. **" | ||
## The function of witchcraft | ## The function of witchcraft | ||
Line 83: | Line 98: | ||
Social anthropologists loved talking about witchcraft and sorcery. It seemed a perfect test case for their ideas about social **function**: | Social anthropologists loved talking about witchcraft and sorcery. It seemed a perfect test case for their ideas about social **function**: | ||
- | * Witchcraft and sorcery | + | * Witchcraft and sorcery |
* Witchcraft is a way of mediating social conflicts (Nadel 1952). | * Witchcraft is a way of mediating social conflicts (Nadel 1952). | ||
* Witchcraft is a collective representation of deviance itself, the " | * Witchcraft is a collective representation of deviance itself, the " | ||
- | Witchcraft exist in an equilibrium, | + | < |
- | maintaining social equilibrium. | + | < |
+ | < | ||
+ | Witchcraft exist in an equilibrium, | ||
+ | <td>maintaining social equilibrium.</ | ||
+ | </ | ||
+ | </ | ||
## Witchcraft has not gone away | ## Witchcraft has not gone away | ||
Line 95: | Line 115: | ||
Some, like Comaroff and Comaroff (1999), argue that they are not a belief in magic at all, but a diagnosis of the real workings of neoliberal global capitalism in Africa. | Some, like Comaroff and Comaroff (1999), argue that they are not a belief in magic at all, but a diagnosis of the real workings of neoliberal global capitalism in Africa. | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ## References | ||
+ | |||
+ | Comaroff, Jean, and John L. Comaroff. 1999. “Occult Economies and the Violence of Abstraction: | ||
+ | |||
+ | Evans-Pritchard, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Fortune, R. F. (1932) 2013. Sorcerers of Dobu: The Social Anthropology of the Dobu Islanders of the Western Pacific. London: Routledge. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Nadel, S. F. 1952. “Witchcraft in Four African Societies: An Essay in Comparison.” American Anthropologist 54 (1): 18–29. doi: | ||
+ | |||
+ | Wilson, Monica Hunter. 1951. “Witch Beliefs and Social Structure.” American Journal of Sociology 56 (4): 307–13. | ||
+ | |||