ANT204H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Consumerism, Political Anthropology, Postcolonialism
Document Summary
Lecture 2 me and the other : the possibilities and pitfalls of social/cultural anthropology. Class discussion: meaning: what is sociocultural anthropology, anthropological methods. Symbols can have both subtle and obvious differences in meaning from one person to the next: e. g. stop sign discussion. Depends on specific or general circumstances: e. g. drivers vs. non-drivers. Symbols" placement/context also changes meaning: e. g. stop sign on the road vs. stop sign in a dorm room as decoration. Universally accepted meanings actually have multiple layers of depth once looked at more critically. Indigenous tribes dressing in stereotypical outfits and doing stereotypical performances that aren"t true to their day-to-day culture in order to appeal to tourists" pockets. As anthropology students we want to observe, study, and analyze the complexity of this meaning: societies are structured (e. g. political anthropology) Society is patterned and ordered, not crazy, random, and chaotic.
