Feb 12 notes

2/12/14 Culture • Socially acquired (learned from others), although the capacity for it is biological • Culture enables meaningful behavior, blueprint for behavior • Culture is “out of awareness”. It is invisible unless it is purposefully brought into relief, usually by comparison with different culture or practices • Culture is a complex whole of norms, behavior, cultural production, language, art, adaptations to the environment and others Ethnocentrism vs. Cultural Relativism • Ethnocentrism- tendency to view one’s own culture as superior and to use one’s own standards and values in judging outsiders o Major impediment to understanding and knowledge in anthropology, thus the anthropologist has to attempt to suspend judgment to the degree possible • Cultural relativism- (this is central to anthropology since Franz Boas)- inappropriate to use outside standards to judge behavior in a given society; such behavior should be evaluated in the context of the culture in which it occurs o Ask “It doesn’t make sense to me, but why does it make sense to them?” Ethnocentrism, Cultural Relativism, and Human Rights • Human rights: rights vested in individuals and includes the right to speak freely, to hold religious beliefs without prosecution and not be murdered, injured, enslaved, or imprisoned without charge • Cultural rights: rights vested in religious and ethnocentric minorities and indigenous societies Key characteristics of culture: culture is learned • Cultural learning is unique to humans o Human