ANTH 3410 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Primordialism, Origin Myth, Scientific Racism
29 Nov 2016
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SEPTEMBER 27TH
BEING DIFFERENT-HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON RACE AND ETHNICITY
THEMES: PERSPECTIVES ON DIFFERENCE, PRIMORDIALISM VS. CIRCUMSTANTIALISM,
PURITY AND BLOO, RACE, RACISM, RACIALIZATION.
CHAPTER 3-4:
ethnic markers: clothing, food
what is the evidence of a person saying they are a certain race?
why do these identiļ¬ers exist?
why do we designate ourselves as one thing or the other?
Primordialism- Assumptions
ā¢ primitive people
ā¢ āthe ļ¬rstā
ā¢ they were natural human communities
ā¢ they were seen as physiologically different
ā¢ leads us or helps us to learn about our primitive ancestors
ā¢ these kinds of sensibilities seep into theorizing human difference
ā¢ they were considered natural because they displayed characteristics that were similar to the
ones that
ā¢ what was the essence of human society
ā¢ indispensable part of oneās personal identity universal
ā¢ our blood carries things
ā¢ these attachments are proper or given
ā¢ primordial aspects of us cannot be changed
ā¢ they are not learned, that means they are a part of their imprint, it cannot change
ā¢ primordial instincts cannot be defeated
ā¢ certain units are indispensable such as parents have to stay together
ā¢ ascribed vs. achieved
ā¢ naturalist argument: families are natural,
ā¢ origin myth: traces their origins back to where they came from
ā¢ ethnic attachment are a natural form of afļ¬liation rooted in ties of blood
ā¢ **blind loyalty
Primordialist: identity as something intrinsic and inherent (importance of blood and decent,
religion and language, custom and culture) ā>static, non changing perception of identity
-Neoāprimordialims: ethnic consciousness is only realized WHEN THE GROUP IS
THREATENED (CULTURALLY politically, socially by external
BLOOD: the body = a biological component expressed as: blood, ļ¬esh, genes, bones
Tried into common forms of communication (things we do to communicate with people who are
like us)
-language
-shares history
-religion
-nationality
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