Introduction

Cross-Cultural Comparison

What is Culture? Is it what you. . .

Get at the Dorothy Chandler?

Absorb when you go to the Getty Center or the De Young Museum?

Or is there more to it than that?

Two Meanings of Culture

To some, culture is about the visual and performing arts

To anthropologists, it carries the same meaning as customs

That is, the study of how people behave different

In different parts of the world

Examples of Culture: Making a Living

Some peoples forage:

They hunt game and gather edible plant foods

These African !Kung foragers are an example

Others grow their food

Like this South American Yanomamö woman

Examples of Culture: Economics

Some peoples buy and sell on the market

Like these Guatemalan Maya vendors

Others make direct trades’

Like these Trobriand islanders about to trade

Valuable kula white armshells for red necklaces

Examples of Culture: Law and War

Many tribes negotiate their differences

As in this bride price haggling in India

Tribal warfare is widespread

As in this expedition setting out in Kenya

So What is Culture?

Culture is the different waysThat people deal with common life issuesHow to people make a living? Answers are diverseHow do people marry—or do they? There are numerous answersHow do people get along—Or do they? Again, there is no one answer

Defining Culture: Edward Burnett Tylor

Edward Burnett Tylor founded anthropology at Oxford University in Britain His definition: “That complex whole which includesKnowledge, beliefs, arts, morals, law, customAnd any other capabilities and habitsAcquired by man (meaning both women and men)As a member of society”

Concept of Culture

All cultures have at least five characteristics in common:

Learned

Shared

Patterned (Integrated)

Adaptive

Symbolic

Culture is Learned

All we do, say, or believe is learned, as these photos show.Yanomamö mother is about to teach her daughter gardeningYanomamö boys learning to hunt by shooting a lizardEnculturation: learning the ways of a culture

So What’s the Big Deal About Learning?

Our behavior is not genetically transmitted, unlike ants/bees

Learning is not just conditioning like trained dogs

We learn the skills and values of our society

And apply them to new situations

Culture is Shared

A group with common language and custom shares a culture

Groups may be as small as 50 (African !Kung band, above)

They may comprise a nation of millions (e.g. Japan, shown by these schoolgirls, below)

There may be subcultures in a culture (e.g. Amish in Pennsylvania)

Culture is Patterned/Integrated

One aspect of culture reflects other aspectsThey all fit into a pattern as a wholeExamples of integrationExtreme example: Mexico’s Teotihuacan pyramid (above) Probably weren’t built by tribesmen (below)But pig feasts did fit in with New Guinea tribal culture. How? See PNG Module.

Culture is Generally Adaptive

Technology generally reflects features of environment

Settled communities: usually indicate stable food supply, such as the Aztec chinampas

Grasslands are best for pastoralism, such as this Mongolian camp

Cultures can become poorly adapted during rapid change

Culture is Based on Symbolism

Definition: Bestowing meaning to a thing or event

Inherently unrelated to the thing or event itself

Examples: Stop, yield traffic signs (above)

Language, such as these Maya

Sign or Signal: Sounds or gestures with self-evident meaning

(Arrow-shaped traffic sign)

Cross-Cultural Comparison: Basic Course Requirement

In this course, you will be comparing selected culturesYou will be read case studies in The Evolution of Human Societies You will watch a series of films on other case studiesYou will write reports on these case studiesYou will also take exams based on your readings and films.

Course Requirements: Nuts and Bolts

To be transferable to a CSUThe course entails all the standard requirementsFor additional details, refer to your syllabus available onlineThe entire course will be conducted through ETUDES-NGFor full instructions, go to the college website

Course: Levels of Sociocultural Integration

Some cultures are more complex than others.

Level of Sociocultural Integration gives a structure for comparison

We will compare cultures that are similar in complexity

There are four basic levels:

Band, tribes, chiefdom, and state

Levels of Sociocultural Integration: Bands

Bands comprise groups of related families

They are usually simple foragers:

They hunt game and gather plant foods

Because their resources are uncertain, they are nomadic

They have little or no formal leadership

Their population is small: 25-100

Examples: Inuit (Eskimo), Australian Aborigines, !Kung San of Southern Africa

Levels of Sociocultural Integration: Tribes

Tribes comprise several extended familiesThese are connected by some other organizationExamples: marriage ties, age grades, secret or warrior societiesThey are pastoralists (herdsmen) or horticulturalists (hand cultivators)They lack political offices and central governmentThey are often warlikeExamples: Yanomamö and Kayapo of Central Asia;Masai and Turkana of East Africa

Levels of Sociocultural Integration: Chiefdoms

Chiefdoms have—a chiefThey comprise permanent offices with rules of successionThere is a centralized governmentBut there is no police or army that exercises absolute rulePeople are ranked: there are fewer positions of power than people able to fill themUsually associated with horticulture, pastoralism, and complex foragingExamples: Kirghiz of Central Asia, Kwakiutl of Northwest Coast,

Level of Sociocultural Integration: States

States have a monopoly over legitimate powerAgencies are army and policeThey are stratified: a minority controls life-sustaining resources (land, water, capital)They are complex, with bureaucracies (public and private) They incorporate both redistribution (taxation) and markets They rely on a system of codified law

Examples of States

Theocratic States: Tibet is a classic example

Aztecs, Maya, and Inca also focused on their gods

Feudal States; Japan, China

Peasant Society

Peasants are part of a stratified system within a state

Both peasants and horticulturalists produce food by cultivation and provide other necessities.

They both have to provide for next year’s crops

They both observe special occasions, such as a wedding, funeral, or celebrations

Defining the Peasant: Rent Fund

The peasant, not the independent horticulturalist has to provide for a fund of rent

In other words: pay taxes with crops or money or labor

Examples: Mexico, Guatemala, China, and all others where states exist

Comparing Cultures

In this course, you will compare two case studies each week

They will involve videos from Netflix or Blockbuster; Where possible, we will use downloadable sources

You may find others from YouTube

They will involve readings from case studies in The Evolution of Human Societies

We will not cover the authors’ theories

Source of Cultural Studies: Fieldwork

The source of all cultural studies is fieldworkThe ethnographer must gather original data firsthandYou can get some idea about a culture from reading a bookBut in the end, you cannot talk authoritatively about a culture without having been thereThe description of a culture is known as an ethnographyThere are several techniques involved in fieldwork: Observation, participant observation and interviews

Ethnographic Techniques

Observation: Watching and listening for important clues to understanding a culture

Participant Observation: Taking part in a ritual at a Obo court in Ghana

Interviews: Here, an economic anthropologist interviews a market woman in Ghana

Other techniques vary according to:

The topic of research

Audiovisual technology

The willingness of informants to participate—or not

The Question of Ethics

There is one last question: How do different peoples react to us?The YouTube presentations raise that very issueThe first video is of an ethnographic tourist operation: is that ethicalThe other two videos reflect the invasion of Western cultures on three different culturesThis is a longstanding question, and corporate enterprises, as you can see, do what they bloody well pleaseLike it or not, we are part of this system and the problems they cause

Putting it All Together

The primary aim is to acquaint you with the cultures around the worldThe level of integration framework will give you some perspectiveFor example, cultures survived for centuries without government or markets or even high techI hope these you may see the implications of the culture you study. . .On your own. Enjoy the course!