Anthropologists Should Put More Emphasis On Individual...

Anthropologists should put more emphasis on individual differences and meanings that are not shared. Culture is composed of individuals. We know that the individual is an important part of any culture because cultures are not uniform – they differ from one another and they differ from themselves over time. This difference is a product of the inherent uniqueness of the individuals who compose a culture and no science that claims to â€Å"study culture† could be considered a true science if it ignored the building blocks of the subject it is studying. Clifford Geertz shares his views on culture in his essay, â€Å"Thick Description: Toward an Interpretive Theory of Culture† (1973), – he views culture in a sort of public act in which people express themselves using various signs and symbols which have suggested cultural meaning – far from an abstract psychological construct. Culture is embodied in the person who acts in a certain context and culture is revealed in this person’s actions and his interpretation of their meaning. Culture in this sense is concrete and public, and not something which exists in people’s individual minds. In my opinion, how each individual perceives their history is an art of construction. History by definition is â€Å"the whole series of past events connected with a particular person† or â€Å"a past characterized by a particular thing† (Dictionary.com n.d.). History is what it is at this present time because of people, the actions and decisions each individual has madeShow MoreRelatedCultural Anthropology6441 Words   |  26 Pages* Low art= graffiti Who decides: What is Art? Emic/etic confusions regarding art * Emic: insider (member) view or members of culture * Etic: outsider (observer) view or anthropologist based on observation Modern Art? North America, Western Europe, Folk Art= woven bowl - as anthropologists what sort of meanings does this art have? Ethno-aesthetics- refers to local cultural definitions of what is art and what is good art. - (ex. Wood carving standards in West Africa, Graffiti Banksy) Read MoreSimilarities And Differences Between The Primordialist And Anthony Smith s Book Ethnicity And Race For My Class Lecture On2002 Words   |  9 Pagesvarious social bonds-personal, primordial, sacred and civil ties and to demonstrate how even in contemporary, civic societies other types of social bonding existed (Hutchinson and Smith ). After Shils coined the concept of primordialist, late anthropologist, Clifford Greetz advanced the subject and spoke of the ‘overpowering’ and ineffable quality attaching to certain kinds of tie, which the participants tended to see as exterior, coercive, and given. Greetz further emphasized that the catalyst toRead MoreInfluence of Culture on Consumer Behaviour6641 Words   |  27 PagesInfluence of Culture on Consumer Behavior LEARNING OBJECTIVES After studying this chapter students should be able to understand: 1. What culture is and how it impacts consumer behaviors. 2. How culture acts as an â€Å"invisible hand† that guides consumption-related attitudes, values and behavior. 3. How culture sets standards for what satisfies consumers’ needs. 4. How culture is learned and expressed in language, symbols, and rituals. 5. How consumers are always adapting to culture-related experiencesRead MoreCritically Evaluating the Relationship Between Language and Social Processes and Analysing the Significance of Language Change and Variety for Literacy Learning and Development.2446 Words   |  10 Pagessocial processes, how language and literacy is influenced by personal, social and cultural factors also relating to the effects that barriers to learning have as well as shared contextual knowledge of language that learners’ have. Various other reasons for language change and development such as accents and dialect, differences between spoken and written English and the influences the internet has from social networking sites, the use of text messaging as a form of communication and the effect itRead MoreThe Importance of Demography to Development11868 Words   |  48 Pagesprocesses that bind and separate people not only as individuals, but as members of associations, groups, and institutions, and i ncludes the examination of the organization and development of human social life. The sociological field of interest ranges from the analysis of short contacts between anonymous individuals on the street to the study of global social processes. Most sociologists work in one or more specialties or subfields. The meaning of the word comes from the suffix -logy which meansRead MoreIntercultural Communication21031 Words   |  85 Pagesinterdependence of people and cultures in the global society of the twenty-first century has forced us to pay more attention to intercultural issues. In order to live and function in this multicultural environment as effectively and meaningfully as possible, people must be competent in intercultural communication. Therefore, demands for intercultural communication skills are increasing as more and more businesses go global or international. We realize that there are barriers and limitations when enteringRead MoreThe Differences Between Chinese and Western Food5179 Words   |  21 PageséÆ'‘å ·Å¾Ã¥ ¤ §Ã¥ ­ ¦Ã¦ ¯â€¢Ã¤ ¸Å¡Ã¨ ® ºÃ¦â€"‡ é ¢Ëœ ç› ®Ã¯ ¼Å¡The Differences Between Chinese and Western Food Cultures ä ¸ ­Ã¨ ¥ ¿Ã© ¥ ®Ã© £Å¸Ã¦â€"‡åÅ'â€"Ã¥ · ®Ã¥ ¼â€š Ã¥ ­ ¦Ã§â€Å¸Ã¥ §â€œÃ¥  Ã¯ ¼Å¡ 刘æâ€" °Ã¦â€" ­ Ã¥ ­ ¦Ã¥  ·Ã¯ ¼Å¡ 20060130220 æÅ'‡å ¯ ¼Ã¦â€¢â„¢Ã¥ ¸Ë†Ã¯ ¼Å¡ èÆ' ¡Ã¥ ¤ ©Ã¦  © è Å'ç § °Ã¯ ¼Å¡ è ® ²Ã¥ ¸Ë† Ã¥ ¹ ´ ç º §Ã¯ ¼Å¡ 2006 é™ ¢Ã§ ³ »Ã¯ ¼Å¡Ã¦Å" ºÃ¦ ¢ °Ã¥ · ¥Ã§ ¨â€¹Ã¥ ­ ¦Ã©â„¢ ¢ ä ¸â€œ ä ¸Å¡Ã¯ ¼Å¡ è‹ ±Ã¨ ¯ ­Ã¯ ¼Ë†Ã¥ Å'Ã¥ ­ ¦Ã¤ ½ Ã¯ ¼â€° ç  ­Ã§ º §Ã¯ ¼Å¡ 1 2010Ã¥ ¹ ´5æÅ"ˆ The Differences Between Chinese and Western Food Cultures Liu Xinxu As Partial Requirements For the Bachelor’s Degree of Arts in English Supervised by Hu Tian-en School of Foreign Languages Zhengzhou University MayRead MoreIntroduction to Urban Design and Community Planning3820 Words   |  16 Pagesarrangement, appearance and functionality of towns and cities, and in particular the shaping and uses of urban public space. It has traditionally been regarded as a disciplinary subset of urban planning, landscape architecture, or architecture and in more recent times has been linked to emergent disciplines such as landscape urbanism. However, with its increasing prominence in the activities of these disciplines, it is better conceptualized as a design practice that operates at the intersection of allRead MoreInfluence of Culture in Marketing7448 Words   |  30 PagesI. Culture I.1 How to define culture? Culture is a system of shared beliefs, values, customs, behaviors and artifacts that the members of society use to interact with their world and with one another. It is a combination of thoughts, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, values, and behavior pattern that are shared by racial, religious, ethnic or social group of people. Anthropologist James Spradley believes culture to be :†the acquired knowledge people use to interpret experience and generate behavior†Read MoreManagement and Page Ref11976 Words   |  48 Pageswould not be considered an organization? A) a church B) a university C) a military unit D) all adults in a given community E) an elementary school Answer: D Explanation: An organization is a consciously coordinated social unit, composed of two or more people, that functions on a relatively continuous basis to achieve a common goal or set of goals. The adults in a community are not representative of an organization. Diff: 2 Page Ref: 5 Topic: What Managers Do Skill: AACSB: Analytic Skills Objective: