The Basics of Cultural Anthropology Flashcards

The flashcards below designed to help you learn the basics of cultural anthropology. Cultures keep on changing by the day, whereas some have been long forgotten by most; others are just getting noticed. Take up this quiz and get an idea of what you may learn about some cultures. Be sure to try out the quiz that follows.

22 cards   |   Total Attempts: 182
  

Cards In This Set

Front Back
Balanced Reciprocity
The direct or immediate exchange of goods with little or no long term social consequences
Barter
The direct negotiated exchange of goods and services, without the use of money
Cargo System
A religious economic institution of Chiapas Maya, where men spend great amounts of money and time for the honor and prestige of holding ceremonial offices
Commensuality
Group meals, or feasting, an element in many rituals
Consumption
The third interest of traditional economics, the use of goods and services
Distribution
One of the basic aspects of economic behavior, the movement of goods and services through some sort of exchange or reciprocity
Exchange
The movement of goods and services between people
Foodways
All the knowledge and behavior that surrounds the goods and of a culture
Forms of Integration
The various forms of exchange in a society viewed in a holistic sense
Generalized Reciprocity
Exchange between relatives or others with close social ties, usually involving sometime lag between on transaction and its reiprocal
Gift
The sort of exchange of goods between people which usually involves a delay between the one gift and the return gift. The people are embedded in a web of social relationships, and the gifts are often said to be "free", but as Marcel Mauss showed, there are strong obligations to repay gifts
Kula Exchange
The great interisland routes along which people of the islands off the eastern tip fo New Guinea, including the Trobriand Islanders, circulated valuable shell and coral ornaments
Leveling Effect
Cultural institutions that function to reduce the distraction between rich and poor people through fear or economic redistribution
Market Exchange
Places where exchange takes place using money rather than through barter
Medical Materialism
The explanation of foodways, including food prohibitions, of a culture in terms of benefits or dangers of those food items