ANT 2410 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Kongo People, Development Anthropology, Unequal Exchange
4 Jul 2018
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Chapter 5: Module 11: Globalization and Migration
Culture and Film Interpretation
1980s - Walpiri Aborigines watch TV, people were worried that the media would destroy
traditions of storytelling
What happened instead, they took it and kept their norms and interpretations
Example: Due to the nature of their society, they are interested in who “Rambo’s”
grandmother is but Westerners don’t care. It’s so important to the Walpiri that they debate
and try to fill the information in. Movies are shown in socially acceptable kin groups and
tell their own stories using film, which are confusing to Westerners who are used to other
methods of storytelling
World Getting Smaller, Or Not…
Process of globalization affects all
Anthropologists study the differences and similarities between societies and cultures
Globalization: “the widening scale of cross-cultural interactions caused by the rapid
movement of money, people, goods, images, and ideas within nations and across national
boundaries”
Social, Economic and Political Connections
Diffusionists:” early twentieth-century anthropologists who held that cultural
characteristics result from either internal historical dynamism or a spread (diffusion) of
cultural attributes from other societies”
Example: Franz Boas, and students (American)
1950’s Marxists, like Eric Wolf, thought that non-Western societies couldn’t be properly
assessed without their placement in the global capitalist system
Until 1980’s, mainstream anthropologists focused their research locally
Globalization has increase rate, anthropologists now realize that focusing too much is
limiting to understanding their lives, and causes of culture differences
Transnational
Definition: “Relationships that extend beyond nation-state boundaries without assuing
they cover the whole world”
Some anthropologists prefer transnational to globalization because the word globalization
implies all are participating in financial and social interconnections
Not everyone is equal in globalization
Global Communication
Connective devices like phones, internet, allow frequent communication between those
across the world from each other
The tech Americans take for granted are scarcer in places like sub-Saharan Africa (except
South Africa) where 1/5000 people have computer access
Wealth and poverty affect ability to participate in global communication
Humans on the Move
Migrants: people who leave their homes to work for a time in other regions or countries.
Immigrants: people who leave their countries with no expectation of ever returning.
Refugees: people who migrate because of political oppression or war, usually with legal
permission to stay in a different country.
Exiles: people who are expelled by the authorities of their home countries.
Financial Globalization
b. 1870s, interrupted by WWI and WWII, has accelerated over the last 60 years
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
1980s - walpiri aborigines watch tv, people were worried that the media would destroy traditions of storytelling. What happened instead, they took it and kept their norms and interpretations. Example: due to the nature of their society, they are interested in who rambo"s grandmother is but westerners don"t care. It"s so important to the walpiri that they debate and try to fill the information in. Movies are shown in socially acceptable kin groups and tell their own stories using film, which are confusing to westerners who are used to other methods of storytelling. Anthropologists study the differences and similarities between societies and cultures. Globalization: the widening scale of cross-cultural interactions caused by the rapid movement of money, people, goods, images, and ideas within nations and across national boundaries . Diffusionists: early twentieth-century anthropologists who held that cultural characteristics result from either internal historical dynamism or a spread (diffusion) of cultural attributes from other societies .
