ANTH 101 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Thick Description, Franz Boas
Document Summary
Textbook: cultural anthropology: a toolkit for a global age, second edition, kenneth guest. Historical particularism: the idea, attributed to franz boas, that cultures develop in specific ways because of their unique histories. Society: the focus of early british anthropological research whose structure and function could be isolated and studied scientifically. Structural functionalism: a conceptual framework positing that each element of society serves a particular function to keep the entire system in equilibrium. Interpretivist approach: a conceptual framework that sees culture primarily as a symbolic system of deep meaning. Thick description: a research strategy that combines detailed description of cultural activity with an analysis of the layers of deep cultural meaning in which those activities are embedded. Power: the ability or potential to bring about change through action or influence. Stratification: the uneven distribution of resources and privileges among participants in a group or culture.
