ANTH 2100 Study Guide - Midterm Guide: Biphasic And Polyphasic Sleep, Cultural Relativism, Social Constructionism
20 Mar 2016
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Document Summary
Holism means understanding parts within a whole. In order to do cross-cultural comparison, ethnocentrism must be avoided: you cannot judge other cultures in terms of your own culture, ex: foot-binding in china, similar to high heels here. The realization that something is not natural/preordained: ex: in the united states, we tend to think that the right way to sleep after a full day"s work is getting a good solid 8 hours of sleep. However, until the industrial revolution people slept in segmented sleep with breaks during the work day. Aspects of social life-like traditions and customs that are learned and shared with others that shape behavior and beliefs: not homogenous, many subcultures, no strict boundaries, people can identify with multiple cultural groups. Using cultural relativism helps avoid ethnocentrism: cultural relativism: understanding other cultures on their own terms, in their own context (a way of thinking and understanding cultural differences, ethnocentrism: judging other cultures in terms of your own culture.
