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According to Bourgois in "Poverty at Work: Office Work and the Crack Alternative,"
the New York City economy
a. has lost tens of thousands of jobs since 1963.
b. is dominated by manufacturing jobs requiring unskilled labor.
c. has the same number of jobs that it did in 1963 but more of these are located in
offices.
d. has gained more jobs in the service sector.
Medical Anthropology: Improving Nutrition in Malawi
SONIA PATTEN
Summary In this article, anthropologist Sonia Patten describes her experience as an
anthropologist on a team of researchers working to improve infant and child nutrition in
rural Malawi, a small nation in Africa. She and colleagues from two American
universities, under the auspices of the University Development Linkages Program,
worked with faculty from a college in the University of Malawi system to develop and
implement a program addressing the mortality rate for children, a rate that at the time
was very nearly one in four.
Patten and her team members developed a plan to provide milk-producing goats to the
women of the villages, teach them how to care for and raise the animals, and show them
how to incorporate the protein- and calorie-rich milk into recipes that they could feed
their malnourished children. The team met with village leaders and elders to convince
them to allow women to own the goats, explain how the plan would work, and ensure
them that this was a worthwhile effort to help combat the malnutrition their children
faced. Once convinced, researchers identified villages that would be the best candidates
for this social researchthose with an animal-theft problem were considered too
problematic to include in the project.
A baseline survey of households that included children under five was conducted, while
scientists from the research team crossbred goats with the necessary characteristics on a
local Malawi farm. Eventually women were provided with a goat and the basic toolsa
bucket, a measuring cup, and a panto get started. Local members of the research team
taught the women how to incorporate the goat's milk into their children's food and made
weekly visits to villages to weigh and measure the children. The children, even those
who were receiving even small amounts of goat's milk, all showed steady height and
weight gains, at least for a time.
The project continued to address food insecurity problems and issues that arose from
the goat-raising efforts. The researchers taught the women how to plant, grow, and
process soybeans into flour that they could use when no goat's milk was available. All
of their efforts were sustainablewomen were asked to return their first baby goat to the
researchers and 5 kg of seed after the first harvest. The research team's efforts worked
within the culture of the Malawi, incorporated indigenous resources, and were
conducted in the native language of the villagers.
The author concludes that the project was highly valued by rural women, as evidenced
by the number who wanted to participate. It proved that the addition of goat's milk to a
child's diet was valuable, and the success of the project is noted by similar projects that
were introduced by Malawi nongovernmental organizations. Additionally, Patten
elaborates on the importance of having an anthropologist on a research team, and
identifies her role and responsibilities. Her expertise proved valuable to the acceptance
of the project and the high level of participation by the Malawian villagers.
Medical anthropology can be defined as the study of human health in a variety of
cultural and environmental contexts.
According to Fish in "Mixed Blood," his daughter can change her race by flying from
New York to Brazil. She can do this because
a. Brazilians don"t know what her North American racial classification is.
b. Brazilians have a different set of racial categories than do North Americans.
c. she can claim to be any race she wants; there are no such things as biological races.
d. although she is classed as white in the United States, she can become loura, preta, or
tipo in Brazil.
According to Patten in "Medical Anthropology: Improving Nutrition in Malawi," the
UDLP planned to provide
a. village elders with goats to collectively raise and milk for the all of the village's
children.
b. the male head of household a milk-producing goat to raise and use for the
nutritional needs of his entire family.
c. the male head of household a goat to raise and slaughter for meat.
d. the woman of each household with a milk-producing goat to raise and use for
her children's nutritional needs.
According to Shandy and Moe in "Negotiating Work and Family in America,"
ethnographic research about the Inuit people of the Arctic indicates that the males
a. share responsibility with the females for providing the animal protein to
the community.
b. provide virtually all of the food needs by hunting seals, walruses, whales, and fish.
c. forage for edible plants in addition to providing the community with necessary
animal protein.
d. and females work to meet their own individual needs for food.
According to Mueller "The Worst Lover: Boyfriend Spirits in Senegal," the traditional
part of Dakar boasts a Senegalese culture of terenga, which makes it difficult to
a. speak to anyone outside of your social class.
b. go anywhere without being invited to share a meal, even with complete strangers.
c. communicate in any language other than the native language of Wolof.
d. practice any religion other than Islam.
According to Cronk in "Reciprocity and the Power of Giving," the Kwakiutl potlatch is
a good example of a way to
a. maintain equal social relationships between different clan members.
b. fight or flatten social rivals.
c. establish alliances between competing political factions.
d. create future material wealth for the giver.
Village Walks: Tourism and Globalization among the Tharu of Nepal
ARJUN GUNERATNE AND KATE BJORK
Summary Arjun Guneratne and Kate Bjork focus on what it was like for an ethnic
group, the Tharu, to become the objects of tourists' curiosity (the "tourist gaze"). The
article describes tourists arriving in Pipariya, a Tharu village located near the Chitwan
National Forest in Nepal's tarai region in 1989. They report on what the tour guide says
and how the tourists and villagers respond. The so-called "village walk" is a good
example of cultural tourism (there is also recreational, medical, religious, eco-, and sex
tourism). It is usually one stop on a more broadly structured tour of Nepal's mountains,
cities, and the Chitwan forest itself. The authors stress the importance of the
anthropological study of tourism as a significant part of globalization research. They
point out that nearly 100 million people go on tour every year and spend billions of
dollars. Their impact on local economies as well as on people's ways of life represents a
significant globalizing force.
From the Tharu's point of view, the way they are characterized by Nepal's tourist
industry is both significant and humiliating. Originally the tarai was a heavily forested
area bordering the foothills and valleys of the Himalayan Mountains. Despite the land
made inhospitable by malaria, the Tharu still managed to settle there, tilling small forest
plots and hunting for their subsistence. All this changed in the 1950s when the
insecticide DDT largely eradicated the mosquitoes that carried malaria. As a result,
settlers from Nepal's hills and India's plains soon infiltrated the area and cleared most of
the land for cultivation. Settlers soon outnumbered the Tharu, who adapted to the
newcomers. Tharu now worked in tourist hotels and farmed in the same way as other
rural Nepalese, and their children attended school. For the tourist industry, however, the
Tharu past seemed like a natural tourist attraction. Tourist brochures claimed that the
Tharu were "a primitive native people" who were "untouched by civilization." Tour
guides echoed this view as they walked tourists through Pipariya. In addition, most
guides belonged to Nepal's two highest-ranked ethnic groups, the Brahmin and Chhetri,
and treated the Tharu as inferiors. They brought tourists into Tharu houses without
permission and treated those inside with disrespect. Tourists themselves were largely
ignorant of the Tharu and occasionally treated villagers like zoo exhibits. From the
Tharu perspective, tourists could usually be tolerated as guests. (There is no word for
"tourist" in their language; they call them "guests.") Their greatest concern was the
negative way they were portrayed by the tourist industry.
In 2009, one of the authors revisited Pipariya and encountered a different picture. The
Tharu had constructed a small museum. Museum exhibits represented how they used to
live, successfully divorcing their past from the present. (The "tourist gaze" often makes
people more aware of their culture and its past.) The museum was the first place that
tourists visited and deflected most of them away from the village's residential
compounds. Globalization had also impacted the Tharu in other ways. Many young men
have gone to work in foreign countries and send money home regularly. A few have
even managed to acquire green cards for work and residence in the United States.
According to Guneratne and Bjork in "Village Walks," Nepalese tourist companies
characterize the Tharu as primitive forest dwellers untouched by civilization.
The manager at UTC spent time learning the warehouse system as an insider views it,
and discovered that inaccurate warehouse inventory numbers resulted from
a. employees throwing away materials.
b. a problem with software that tracked inventory.
c. pressures on employees to work fast, preventing them from accurately counting
and recording what was shipped.
d. employee theft.
The process of discovering and describing a particular culture is called
a. interviewing.
b. ethnocentrism.
c. participant observation.
d. ethnography.
Women who work in the coal mines in the Powder River Basin
a. typically only hold positions in administration and management.
b. operate all of the heavy equipment used to extract the coal.
c. work in all departments except as frontline supervisors in charge of crews.
d. work mostly as mechanics.
According to Patten in "Malawi Versus the World Bank," the effect of the World Bank
loans on the people of Malawi was to
a. stimulate the growth of tourism and local manufacturing.
b. raise agricultural production.
c. lower the amount of maize produced.
d. increase the individual wealth of the farmers of Malawi.
In "How Sushi Went Global," Bestor observes that Tsukiji, Tokyo's wholesale seafood
market,
a. auctions off only Japanese-caught bluefin tuna.
b. handles just 13 percent of the tonnage that New York City's Fulton Fish Market sells
each year.
c. is sent daily information about tuna conditions in such fishing grounds as Montauk,
Cape Cod, and Cartagena by fishermen in return for information about prices.
d. is one of three bluefin tuna auctions; the other two are in Madrid, Spain and Boston,
Massachusetts.
Hindi speakers hear which of the following two English phonemes as a single
phoneme?
a. /t/ and /d/
b. /k/ and /g/
c. /b/ and /d/
d. /v/ and /w/
Rank in the coal pits correlates to
a. a worker's gender.
b. an individual's age.
c. number of years working in the mine.
d. hierarchy of the machines used to expose the coal.
Advice for Developers: Peace Corps Problems in Botswana
HOYT S. ALVERSON
Summary This classic article by Hoyt Alverson provides an excellent example of how
anthropology can be applied to the solution of practical problems. Although written
years ago, its message is equally relevant today as Peace Corps volunteers, USAID
workers, military personnel, and NGO (non-governmental organization) employees
engage in nation building around the world. Alverson's conclusion is clear:
development work in foreign (and even in some domestic) settings requires
cross-cultural understanding.
Alverson was asked by a program director to investigate problems with the Peace
Corps' development efforts in Botswana. Volunteers, he was told, were to introduce
development projects to Tswana farmers but found it difficult to so. The Tswana often
resisted the volunteers' efforts. They would seem to cooperate but eventually nothing
happened. Frustrated, volunteers tended to isolate themselves, failed to learn the local
language, and hung out with other Americans or Europeans. Some gave up. Others
failed to complete their two-year contracts. Many felt spiteful toward the Tswana and
some even experienced nervous breakdowns.
Alverson approached his task by looking at both the culture and perspective of the
Peace Corps volunteers, and the culture and responses of the Tswana. (Alverson had
already spent 15 months doing ethnographic research in a Tswana community.) He
discovered that volunteers had many unstated assumptions, based on culture. Often, for
example, volunteers wished to be respected for their superior knowledge and their ways
of doing things, which they believed were better. Volunteers also believed that the
Tswana had asked them to help impart their Western cultural knowledge and that they,
the volunteers, were different from colonial authorities because they did not force
people to change. The conclusion to draw from this information is simple: the
volunteers' self-perception made it harder for them to learn about the people they were
there to engage.
The remainder of Alverson's paper deals with areas of cross-cultural misunderstandings
between volunteers and the Tswana. One example is the concept of time. The American
volunteer's concept of time is lineal: the Tswana concept sees time as bounded by
events. Volunteers became frustrated when the Tswana did not show up on time.
Another example is that volunteers appreciate candor as they talk. The Tswana like
smooth, non-confrontational discourse. As a result, a Tswana may lie about something
to avoid conflict.
In sum, Alverson sees the discomfort displayed by American Peace Corps volunteers in
Botswana as a consequence of life in a very different, culturally defined Tswana world.
The implied solution is to inform volunteers about their own cultural and
self-perceptions, and teach volunteers as much as possible about the culture of those
with whom they intend to work.
According to Alverson in "Advice for Developers," the Tswana like their privacy and
resent American volunteers when the latter invade their space.
In "The Worst Lover: Boyfriend Spirits in Senegal," Mueller notes that the Lbou
recognize several different kinds of rab; only the __________ are the type that attach
themselves to humans in a troublesome way.
a. Kumba Bang
b. Lumbay
c. Diop
d. Faru rab
In "Village Walks," Guneratne and Bjork report that an angry Tharu household head
once
a. struck a rude tourist with a stick.
b. berated a tourist for smoking marijuana in his compound.
c. threatened a tour guide with a stick for invading his kitchen.
d. blocked a tourist-laden ox cart from entering Pipariya.
According to Nordstrom in "Illegal Economies and the Untold Story of Amputees," the
first step in the informal economy formed by marginalized women in Muleque is
a. making products to sell at a small marketplace.
b. investment in a woman's informal bank.
c. hard labor.
d. begging.
Body Ritual among the Nacirema
HORACE MINER
Summary Miner's classic, satirical article describes the body ritual of a North
American people called the Nacirema. Driven by a cultural value of the fragility and
importance of their bodies, they engage in a series of daily rituals designed to make
their bodies more presentable and long lasting. Underlying body ritual is a cultural
perception that the human body is ugly with a tendency toward debility and disease.
The Nacirema engage in complex rituals to cover up bodily imperfections and slow the
body's deterioration. They have a household shrine with a chest full of magical charms,
and a holy font located below the charm box. Charms come in many forms and are used
for many specific purposes.
There are medicine men to guide the Nacirema in the use of charms, and
"holy-mouth-men" that use various tools to purify and maintain the mouth; this in
addition to the twice-daily mouth rite done at home that involves the use of a special
brush..
More elaborate ceremonies are performed in a local temple, the latipsoalthough that is
often viewed as a place to die. Those entering the latipso are often stripped of their
clothing, handled by vestal virgins, and made to do their bodily functions in a sacred
vessel and in public. Normally, however, excretory functions are ritualized and
relegated to secrecy, as are natural reproductive functions.
There is also another practitioner, called a "listener," who has the power to exorcise the
devils that lodge in the heads of people who have been bewitched. Parents, especially
mothers, are often suspected of putting a curse on their children. For a large gift, a
witch doctor will conduct exorcism sessions, when he or she listens to the other's
troubles and fears from childhood.
Miner concludes that from the evidence above, the Nacirema are a magic-ridden
people.
According to Miner in "Body Ritual among the Nacirema," the Nacirema regularly look
forward to entering a local shrine, called the latipso, to have their bodies renewed.
Mixed Blood
JEFFERSON M. FISH
Summary This article illustrates how the American concept of race is a cultural
construction, not a biological reality. Fish explains how there are no races among
humans, because the concept of race relates to individuals who mate but can bear no
fertile offspring. Clearly, this is not true of present-day humans. Human beings form a
single species.
Our evident variations in physical appearance around the globe has occurred through
the processes of random mutation, natural selection, and genetic drift (accidental
selection). Most traits that Americans think of as racial, such as skin color, are adaptive
to differences in environmental conditions.
If races are not biologically distinguishable groups, what are they? They are what are
known as "folk classifications" of people based on culturally selected criteria. People
everywhere classify things in folk taxonomies, but classifications of the same things
may vary from society to society. For example, Americans classify avocados as
vegetables and eat them in salads. Brazilians classify avocados as fruits and eat them
with lemon and sugar for dessert.
Although there are many ways in which people could classify each other, such as by
body shape for example, many Americans learn to group each other into "races" based
primarily on skin color (largely "white," "Asian," "black," or "Latino") and that these
groups are rooted in biological reality. Yet at the same time, there is a history of
classifying people according to hypo-descent, another social construction that is more
about perceived ancestry. Many Americans still tend to rank races; white is highest,
followed by Asian, Hispanic (Latino), and black. Children are allocated the racial
classification of their lowest- (hypo) ranking parent. If your mother is classified as
black and your father white, you might still be classified as black no matter what you
look like.
This is in stark contrast to Brazilians, for example, who classify people into tipos
(types) on the basis of what they look like. Examples include loura (completely blond),
preta (dark skin, broader nose), sarar (tight curly blond or red hair, blue eyes, broad
nose, and thick lips), and cabo verde (straight black hair, dark skin, brown eyes, narrow
nose, and thin lips). The children of a Brazilian couple could be classified into different
tipos if each child looks different.
The American conception of race is beginning to change as more people of different
"races" intermarry and immigrants whose racial identities are difficult to classify by the
American system enter the country. "Other" is a fast-growing category of racial identity.
According to Fish in "Mixed Blood," an avocado is classified by Brazilians as a fruit
and by North Americans as a vegetable.
How Sushi Went Global
THEODORE C. BESTOR
Summary This article by Theodore Bestor reveals the complex network of
relationships that define a global economic system. Focusing on sushi, a traditional
Japanese cuisine, Bestor shows how the international adoption of the culinary custom,
and especially its centerpiece, raw bluefin tuna, has created a global system that
involves Atlantic fishing and fish farming, national and environmental regulations,
realignments of labor and capital, and shifting markets.
The article begins with a description of a bluefin auction at a fishing pier near Bath
main. About 20 buyers evaluate and bid on three large bluefins, consulting buyers in the
Tsukiui fish market in Japan by cell phone to establish prices. Once bought, the fish are
packed in ice and flown to Japan. Japanese have a long-term affection for the bluefin, a
fish that was originally caught only for sport in the United States. The Japanese had
turned to international tuna suppliers in the past, when the world adopted a rule that
restricted fishing boats from one nation from fishing within 200 miles of the coast of
another country. Jumbo jets brought fresh New England bluefin into easy reach of
Japan, and U.S. fishermen began to catch and export the large tuna. The 1980s were
prosperous for Japan, which sustained the market for bluefin, but the economic bubble
burst in the early "90s. Just in time, North Americans developed a taste for sushi,
creating a strong market for the fish. As sushi became more and more popular in the
United States, and later Europe, the expanded market increased fishing activity all
across the Atlantic, and gave rise to fish farming, especially in Spanish and Croatian
waters. But markets rely on supply and demand; in 1999 the Japanese managed to catch
a year's supply of tuna in three days, reducing demand and prices. Prices also fell when
environmental conditions in the Mediterranean resulted in reduced oxygen in the water.
About 800 tuna in a Spanish fish trap suffocated and were caught and processed
immediately, causing an oversupply that lowered tuna prices around the world.
Today, the market for tuna continues to thrive. The best bluefin still go to Japan where
the market is still strongest, but the rest satisfy palates in many other parts of the world.
Now fishermen often come in conflict with customers, governments, regulators, and
environmentalists around the world as they catch or farm tuna. Because tuna fishing is a
local industry, local economies based on fishing may be affected instantly by changes in
world prices for the fish.
Bestor also points out that a global market does not necessarily mean cultural
homogenization. Sushi, he argues, is considered a Japanese delicacy no matter where in
the world it is eaten.
In "How Sushi Went Global," Theodore Bestor notes that the Japanese love of sushi
increased because the introduction of jet aircraft in the 1960s made it possible to ship
fresh bluefin tuna, the centerpiece of sushi, to Japan before the fish could spoil.
Body Ritual among the Nacirema
HORACE MINER
Summary Miner's classic, satirical article describes the body ritual of a North
American people called the Nacirema. Driven by a cultural value of the fragility and
importance of their bodies, they engage in a series of daily rituals designed to make
their bodies more presentable and long lasting. Underlying body ritual is a cultural
perception that the human body is ugly with a tendency toward debility and disease.
The Nacirema engage in complex rituals to cover up bodily imperfections and slow the
body's deterioration. They have a household shrine with a chest full of magical charms,
and a holy font located below the charm box. Charms come in many forms and are used
for many specific purposes.
There are medicine men to guide the Nacirema in the use of charms, and
"holy-mouth-men" that use various tools to purify and maintain the mouth; this in
addition to the twice-daily mouth rite done at home that involves the use of a special
brush..
More elaborate ceremonies are performed in a local temple, the latipsoalthough that is
often viewed as a place to die. Those entering the latipso are often stripped of their
clothing, handled by vestal virgins, and made to do their bodily functions in a sacred
vessel and in public. Normally, however, excretory functions are ritualized and
relegated to secrecy, as are natural reproductive functions.
There is also another practitioner, called a "listener," who has the power to exorcise the
devils that lodge in the heads of people who have been bewitched. Parents, especially
mothers, are often suspected of putting a curse on their children. For a large gift, a
witch doctor will conduct exorcism sessions, when he or she listens to the other's
troubles and fears from childhood.
Miner concludes that from the evidence above, the Nacirema are a magic-ridden
people.
According to Horace Miner in "Body Ritual among the Nacirema," the Nacirema
display an extreme concern for the maintenance and care of their bodies.
When Arjun Guneratne returned to Pipariya in 2009 he found that
a. some Tharu from the village were working overseas and sending money home.
b. the Tharu had built a small museum the depicted life as it had been many years ago
but tourists never visited it.
c. tourists had largely stopped visiting the village, because its residents had now built
brick houses and resembled their Brahmin neighbors.
d. globalization had failed to touch the Tharu.
According to Bourgois in "Poverty at Work: Office Work and the Crack Alternative,"
East Harlem men and women view their neighbors who manage to follow the "white
woman's rules" during the day and street culture at night as
a. proud of their cultural heritage.
b. people to aspire to be like.
c. ashamed of who they truly are.
d. admirable.
In "Illegal Economies and the Untold Story of Amputees," Nordstrom observes that the
earnings, networks, and contributions to development by the amputees and other
women in Africa
a. do not contribute as much to the economy as the amount earned in unauthorized
diamond mining.
b. rival the entire gross domestic products (GDPs) of the countries of this region of the
world.
c. pale in comparison to the GDPs of countries in this region of the world.
d. do not rise to the level of the $1 billion a year lost from oil profits.
The cultural knowledge that people use to settle disputes by means of agents who have
recognized authority is called
a. law.
b. politics.
c. a court.
d. self-redress.
The view that all people see and understand the world in the same way is called
a. naive realism.
b. culture shock.
c. ethnocentrism.
d. detached observation.
The cultural knowledge of the supernatural that people use to cope with the ultimate
problems of human existence is called
a. personified supernatural power.
b. mana.
c. transcendental values.
d. religion.
According to Spradley, the term "ethnography" refers to
a. the discovery and description of the culture of a particular group.
b. the statistical testing of hypotheses in the field, using survey questionnaires.
c. the discovery of ethnic subgroups within complex societies.
d. the process of cross-cultural classification, comparison, and explanation.
The culturally defined behaviors associated with particular social statuses are called
a. social identities.
b. social roles.
c. status clusters.
d. social action clusters.
Magic, according to Malinowski, occurs in response to
a. anger.
b. frustration.
c. anxiety.
d. social pressure.
According to Tannen in "Conversation Style: Talking on the Job," women's
conversation often works at the appearance of equality. Men's conversation, on the
other hand, is often directed at
a. an attempt to put others in a one-down position by bragging or inferring superior
knowledge.
b. avoiding the one-down position by acting as if they don"t know what the other
person means.
c. avoiding the one-down position by ignoring other people.
d. avoiding the one-down position by using oppositions such as banter, joking, teasing,
and playful putdowns.
When the author returned to Spain in 2008, Mara Martnez
a. had converted to Islam and was working with Muslims who were victims of
religious discrimination.
b. was still married but had retained her Catholic beliefs.
c. had divorced her husband due to religious differences.
d. still believed that an individual could not be both Spanish and Muslim.
A feud is a good example of a kind of support called coercion.
Refugees are individuals who emigrate from one country to another.
Public Interest Ethnography: Women's Prisons and Health Care in California
RACHAEL STRYKER
Summary In this article, Rachael Stryker describes how ethnography can be used to
affect public policy. With government sponsorship, she and a group of her
undergraduate students interviewed a number of inmates incarcerated in two California
state prisons for women. Their goal was to learn about the provision of health care from
the prisoner's perspective. Armed with the "insider's" point of view, they produced
recommendations for changes, some of which were adopted by prison authorities.
Public interest ethnography (a branch of applied anthropology) involves ethnographic
research among people who are affected by policy. It brings a human face to the impact
of policy and often seeks to empower those affected by it. The study of health care
provided in California's women's prisons is a good example. The researchers discovered
that to receive care, an inmate had to fill out a request, pay a five-dollar copay, receive a
ducat (something like a hall pass), and then see one of three people: an MTA (medically
trained correctional guard), a nurse, or a doctor. The process could take weeks and was
complicated by the fact that inmates had little money, were often treated by unqualified
health providers, and were frustrated by an inability to speak English (many inmates
spoke only Spanish). Inmates often feared medical procedures and felt that doctors
treated them with disrespect. They also told about instances of sexual harassment. Other
factors related to inmate health included poor sanitation caused by overcrowded cells,
and lack of cleaning and personal hygiene supplies. AIDS patients were housed in the
general inmate population. Food was also a problem, especially for diabetics and those
with food allergies. Finally, inmates did not get enough exercise. Inmates often
responded to these problems by treating themselves or ignoring symptoms.
The ethnographic study produced a list of recommendations. It advised the state to
simplify the process required of inmates to receive health care, reduce or eliminate the
copay because inmates had little money, eliminate the MTA position, hire more
qualified nurses and doctors, provide translators, reduce overcrowding, and improve
nutrition and sanitation. In response to these recommendations the state increased
translation services, eliminated the MTA position, and started a process to reduce
overcrowding. Other recommendations were taken under advisement.
According to Stryker in "Ethnography in the Public Interest," public interest
ethnography looks at public policy from the perspective of those who are affected by it.
A microculture is the patterned behavior characteristic of a subgroup within a larger
society.
Global Women in the New Economy
BARBARA EHRENREICH AND ARLIE RUSSELL HOCHSCHILD
Summary In this selection, Barbara Ehrenreich and Arlie Hochschild look at an
important aspect of globalization: the movement of poor women from Third World
societies to wealthier nations. Published as the introduction to Global Women: Nannies,
Maids, and Sex Workers in the New Economy, the piece begins with the story of a Sri
Lankan woman serving as a nanny to a two-year-old child in Greece. The subject of a
documentary film, When Mother Comes Home for Christmas, Josephene Perera has
been a migrant worker for 10 years. She earns enough to support her three children at
home, but only gets to see them once a year. Over time two of her children show signs
of distress. Despite this, she returns once again to her job in Greece, trading a life of
poverty at home for money in a distant land. Put another way, she gives up her family
life to make one for parents who work full time in a wealthy nation.
The authors stress several points about the flow of immigrant workers over the last few
years. Movement has occurred between poor and rich countries. The international
workforce, once largely consisting of men, now includes a substantial number of
women, laboring as domestics, nannies, and sex-for-hire workers. The change marks a
different relationship between rich and poor nations. Once rich nations mined poor ones
for their natural resources; now they mine them for people. Four migration patterns
stand out: one is the flow of workers from Southeast Asia to the Middle and Far East; a
second from Eastern to Western Europe; a third from South and Central America to
North America; and a fourth from Africa to Europe. In many of these places, foreign
workers have taken domestic jobs once held by local people. For example, in America
maids and nannies were once largely the domain of black women. These jobs are now
largely filled by Latinas. Poor countries have come to value the money sent home by
their citizens working abroad, and some have programs to prepare female citizens for
foreign service and to find jobs abroad.
There are a number of factors that attract poor women to do overseas work. There are
plenty of jobs for domestics in wealthier countries because so many women there have
gone to work in what was once a largely male economy. Job opportunities are even
greater in First World countries, because governments have not instituted programs to
help their working women with child care and other domestic needs; men have not
stepped in to fill the gap at home; and men have created a demand for sex-for-hire
workers. In addition, as the wealth gap between rich and poor countries grows, women
from poor countries can make many times the amount of money they could earn at
home by taking jobs abroad.
Women may also be "pushed" to leave their countries in order to work abroad. Some
leave to escape abuse at home. Many women who leave are well educated but had
found no reasonably paid opportunities.
According to Ehrenreich and Hochschild in their selection, "Global Women in the New
Economy," millions of women now migrate from poor countries to work in rich ones.
Manipulating Meaning: The Military Name Game
SARAH BOXER
Summary Today, several linguists (See work by George Lakoff, for example) have
looked at the way metaphor is used to frame a particular view of an event or policy.
This selection by Sarah Boxer provides an excellent example of the framing process.
Using information drawn from an article entitled "The Art of Naming Operations" by
Lt. Col. Gregory C. Sieminski, she shows how the names for military operations have
shifted in purpose from an inside code to a public symbol meant to shape public
perception. She concludes that the process is more difficult than one might think.
The naming of operations began during World War II by the Germans who initiated the
process as an inside secret code. The British did the same but with rules laid down by
Winston Churchill, who felt operations' names should not be boastful, despondent, or
frivolous.
After World War II, the U.S. Pentagon started to name military operations for public
consumption, which inevitably led to controversies about what names should convey.
During the Korean conflict, for example, General MacArthur used aggressive names
such as "thunderbolt" and "ripper" for operations. The Vietnam War saw Lyndon
Johnson veto aggressive names; for him, the suggested operations name "masher"
sounded too aggressive and he replaced it with "white wing." Following Vietnam, the
Pentagon bureaucracy codified the process. Each area command was given two-letter
sequences that would start two-word operations names. Further, the Pentagon
developed a computer program entitled "Code Word, Nickname, and Exercise Term
System" (called "NICKA" for short).
More recent operations naming involves a verb-noun sequence such as "promote
liberty" and "restore hope." Because almost any choice of words seems to offend
someone, Boxer concludes that the new game is to find words without meaning.
Readers should note that today the first word of the two-word phrase does not need to
be a verb. "Iraqi Freedom," is a case in point.
According to Boxer in "The Military Name Game," the military uses a two-word
sequence to describe military operations.
Descent is a rule of relationship that links people together on the basis of reputed
common ancestry. It often serves to regulate inheritance and the formation of kin
groups.
The Hunters: Scarce Resources in the Kalahari
RICHARD BORSHAY LEE
With an update by Richard Lee and Megan Biesele
Summary Basing his conclusions on an extensive study of !Kung subsistence activity
and nutrition in 1963, Richard Lee challenges the notion that hunters and gatherers
lived a hand-to-mouth existence. Despite residence in the Kalahari Desert, where there
is an average yearly rainfall of only six to nine inches, !Kung managed to lead a
remarkably stable, relaxed existence. They resided in camps located at permanent water
holes. They frequently visited relatives in other camps but rarely moved long distances
to hunt and gather.
Overall, hunter gathering provided over 85% of subsistence needs. A key to assured
subsistence was the availability of vegetable foods, particularly the mongongo nut. !
Kung could subsist entirely on such foods although they preferred meat. Vegetable
foods made up 60 to 80 percent of their diet. The abundance of their sparse environment
was revealed by the fact that !Kung ate selectively, consuming only some of the edible
plant and animal species found around them. A significant number of !Kung lived
beyond the age of 60, and approximately 40 percent of the population did no productive
work. !Kung spent only about two and one-half days a week in productive activity,
using the remainder of their time for leisure activities. Lee concluded that for many
hunting and gathering groups, a dependence on plant foods produced a stable, effective
way of life.
The way of life described for 1963 has changed, however. By 1994, most Ju/"Hoansi !
Kung were living in permanent settlements, eking out a living by herding, farming, and
craft production. Hunting and gathering now only supply about 30 percent of their
subsistence needs. The spread of commercial ranching on the areas in which they
traditionally foraged may soon reduce this figure to zero.
Lee found that in 1963, from 60 to 90 percent of the !Kung diet consisted of meat
brought back to camp by the men.
Eating Christmas in the Kalahari
RICHARD BORSHAY LEE
Summary In this article, Lee describes a classic case of cross-cultural
misunderstanding that occurred near the completion of his fieldwork among the !Kung
Bushmen. To thank the !Kung for allowing him to live and work among them, Lee
decided to donate an especially large ox for them to eat at their annual Christmas feast.
To his dismay, the !Kung seemed disappointed with the animal he had chosen, claiming
that it was too thin, old, and sick. Their attitude persisted even after the butchered ox
proved to be so large and fat that it fed 150 people for two days.
Only later did Lee discover that the !Kung customarily denigrate and ridicule hunters
who have killed large game in order to "cool" their potential arrogance. To Lee, the ox
meant a gift, and in American culture gifts should be reciprocated with thanks and
appreciation. To the !Kung, the ox was a large animal to be shared, something hunters
contribute regularly. For them, the provider must be kept in line lest he become
impressed by his own importance (a position related to the !Kung value on equality).
Because of these different cultural interpretations of the same act, cross-cultural
misunderstanding resulted.
As a postscript to this article, remember that the !Kung were studied by Lee in the 60s;
few live as foragers today. For an update on the !Kung see the epilogue to article 8 by
Lee and Biesele.
Kung ridiculed the ox Lee gave them for their Christmas feast because the animal was
too thin and old.
Market exchange is associated with many larger societies where people must be able to
procure a wide variety of goods and services from strangers.
Reciprocity and the Power of Giving
LEE CRONK
Summary Cronk argues that everywhere in the world, gifts are used positively to
establish and maintain social relationships, but also negatively to intimidate and fight
others. These characteristics apply just as fully to gift exchange in industrial societies as
they do for other peoples.
Anthropologists learned about the complexities of gift giving through first-hand
experience during fieldwork. Richard Lee's !Kung informants criticized his gift of an
ox, saying the ox was thin and inadequate when clearly it was not. (See article 2 in
Conformity and Conflict). Rada Dyson-Hudson met with a similar reaction when she
attempted to give pots to her Turkana informants. Cronk also experienced the same
reaction when he gave clothing to the Mukogodo, who elaborate the act of gift
exchange more than do most people. In every case, informants attached different
meanings to gift giving than did the anthropologists..
Gift giving has several dimensions, including how the gift is received and how it is
reciprocated. Often "to reciprocate at once indicates a desire to end the relationship,"
Cronk points out. He also notes that some gift giving arrangements, such as hxaro
among the !Kung, are designed solely to maintain a friendly relationship. In addition,
the worth of gifts may not be taken into account. The Trobriand kula ring, involving
shell necklaces and armbands, represents one of the most elaborate gift exchanges ever
described by anthropologists.
Gift giving may not always be benevolent. The Kwakiutl potlatch, where rivals tried to
"flatten" each other with gifts, is a good example. Potlatching actually became a
substitute for war after the Canadian government suppressed real fighting.
Reciprocal gift giving is also important in U.S. society. Examples include a form of
benevolent gift giving, called swapping among African Americans living in an area of
Illinois called the flats. Scientific papers, usually referred to as contributions, are really
gifts and have higher value than those papers written for money. Even the citations of
other people's work so liberally scattered throughout academic papers may be viewed as
a form of gift exchange.
Gifts may also be used to manipulate people, as Grace Goodell documents for a World
Bank-funded project in Iran. The gift of an irrigation project crushed local level
political organizations and shifted control to the central government. International
relations often involve gift giving. The "concessions" made between the U.S. and Soviet
governments during disarmament negotiations several years ago are a good example.
Cronk concludes by pointing out that American Indians understood the gift's power to
unify, antagonize, or subjugate and that all of us would do well to learn the same lesson.
Both the Turkana and the Mukogodo peoples of Kenya diminished gifts given to them
by anthropologists as a way of diminishing any reciprocation they might feel was
expected of them.
Ethnography and Culture
JAMES P. SPRADLEY
Summary In this introductory chapter from his book Participant Observation, Spradley
defines and emphasizes the importance of ethnographic fieldwork and the concept of
culture. Ethnography is the work of describing a culture. It requires the discovery of the
native or insider's point of view.
Cultural behavior consists of the actions generated by cultural knowledge. Cultural
artifacts, based on cultural behavior and cultural knowledge, are the things people make
or shape from natural resources. Culture, itself, is the socially acquired knowledge that
people use to generate behavior and interpret experience. Different cross-cultural
interpretations of the same event easily cause misunderstandings.
Culture may also be explicit (part of our conscious awareness) or tacit (outside
awareness). The meaning of things for members of a group is at the heart of the culture
concept, a point related to Blumer's notion of symbolic interactionism. The concept of
culture as acquired knowledge has much in common with symbolic interactionism, a
theory that seeks to explain human behavior in terms of meanings. Blumer's theory rests
on three premises. The first is that "human beings act toward things on the basis of the
meanings that the things have for them." The second is that the "meaning of such things
is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with one's fellows."
The third is that "meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretive
process used by the person dealing with the things he encounters." Spradley concludes
by characterizing culture as a map, a guide to action and interpretation.
Tacit culture refers to cultural knowledge that informants consciously hide from the
ethnographer.
Nuer Refugees in America
DIANNA SHANDY
Summary In this article updated in 2015, Dianna Shandy, who has conducted
ethnographic research among Nuer refugees in the upper Midwest since 1997, looks at
what their status as refugees means, how they managed to come to the United States,
why they were located in more than 30 different U.S. states, how a people raised as
cattle herders survive and adapt to life in a U.S. urban setting, and what this tells us
about "the interconnectedness of a globalizing world and anthropology's role in it."
Although no special categories were assigned to people who first migrated to the United
States (they were all simply called immigrants), today there are at least two categories ,
migrants and refugees based on their reasons for coming here. The United Nations (UN)
defines refugees as people who have left a country because of a well-founded fear of
persecution based on race; religion; nationality; membership in a particular social
group; or political opinion. They are not merely IDPs (internally displaced persons)
who have left home but are willing to return. To manage the refugee "problem" (by
2014 there were 60 million refugees in the world), there is a UN agency headed by a
high commissioner for refugees (UNHCR). The UN and many countries see three
solutions for refugee placement: voluntary repatriation, integration into a country of
asylum, or rarely, third-country resettlement. Typically, refugees are first housed in
camps, and then certified for resettlement. The United States takes in a limited number
of refugees and employs the UN criteria for refugee certification. But decisions about
who is eligible vary, based on officials' interpretations of the criteria and ever shifting
resettlement policies. Officials also must deal with cross-cultural differences and
language barriers as they decide who is a refugee and who is an "economic refugee"
(someone whose main motive to move is for economic advantage).
The Nuer who live in the United States have made it through this bureaucratic process.
Thok Ding, who is mentioned in the article, was brought up herding cattle in a Nuer
pastoral village, experienced the death of his father when northerners attacked his
village, moved with his family to a camp in Ethiopia, attended and excelled at a
Christian mission school there, moved to another camp for further schooling, moved
back to the Sudan with his family when fighting broke out in Ethiopia, traveled back to
Addis Ababa where he joined friends, moved to a camp in Kenya, applied for refugee
status with the UN there, and was eventually accepted for refugee resettlement by the
United States. His arrival and settlement in the United States was facilitated by
Lutheran Social Services, a volunteer organization ("volag" to insiders) contracted by
the United States. Helped by the organization, he was placed in Minneapolis, settled in
an apartment, and guided toward a job. Later he left Minneapolis for Des Moines and a
job in the meat packing industry, where he hopes to continue his education, save money,
marry a woman from the South Sudan, and bring his family, with whom he corresponds
frequently and to whom he sends money, to the United States.
The case illustrates several points. Refugee issues are complex and varied, and involve
endless bureaucratic hurdles. Refugees who manage to gain resettlement (many do not)
must be tenacious, ambitious, clever, and opportunistic. The Nuer make successful
refugees because many possess these characteristics.
According to Shandy in "Nuer Refugees in America," the UN has several categories of
refugees. The refugee most likely to be accepted for resettlement in a second country is
called an "economic refugee."
Conversation Style: Talking on the Job
DEBORAH TANNEN
Summary In this selection excerpted from her book Talking from 9 to 5, Deborah
Tannen describes misunderstandings in the work place based on the different speaking
styles of men and women. Tannen notes that most people blame miscommunication on
the intentions, different abilities, and character of others, or on their own failure or the
failure of the relationship. Miscommunication in the work place, however, often occurs
between men and women because gender is a basic indicator of identity and because
men and women learn different styles of speaking.
Tannen introduces an example of gender-based misunderstanding in which a female
manager first uses praise then follows with suggestions to improve a male employee's
substandard report. The manager thinks she is diplomatic; the employee mistakes her
comments solely as praise and miscommunication occurs. When the revised report is
submitted, few of the suggested changes appear, and the employee thinks the manager
has been dishonest by first praising and now criticizing the report. The differences,
argues Tanner, have to do with different styles of speaking. Men avoid being put in a
one-down position by using oppositions such as banter, joking, teasing, and playful
put-downs. Women seek the appearance of equality and try to avoid flexing their
muscles to get jobs done. The misunderstandings occur when actors take each other's
speaking styles literally.
The remainder of the selection deals with a particular male speaking style, the
reluctance to ask directions. Women ask directions because it seems to be the fastest
way to get things done. Men hesitate to ask questions, claiming that they develop their
navigation skills by going at things independently. Tannen argues that men avoid asking
questions because it puts them in a one- down position. Each style has its pitfalls. Male
pilots or doctors who fail to ask questions may endanger their own or other people's
lives. Female doctors and managers who ask too many questions may risk signaling that
they are tentative or unsure of themselves.
Tannen concludes by saying that neither style is inherently wrong, just different, and
that speakers should be aware of gender-based speaking styles and flexible in their own
use of them.
According to Tannen in "Conversation Style: Talking on the Job," most people think
that miscommunication is caused by the intention, differing capabilities, and character
of others; by their own failure; or a poor relationship.
Becoming Muslim in Europe
MIKAELA ROGOZEN-SOLTAR
Increased globalization has brought people of different backgrounds in contact with one
another more than ever before. In "Becoming Muslim in Europe," Mikaela
Rogozen-Soltar argues that this has created conflict, mutual influence, and increased
intercultural and interreligious marriages. These marriages, particularly in countries
such as Spain, where religion and national identity are deeply entwined, can be very
difficult to navigate and highlight basic cultural differences. Rogozen-Soltar identifies
and discusses one of the biggest cultural differences that exists today, that of Muslim
and non-Muslim marriage partners. Her article illustrates the unique challenges faced
by Muslim converts in Spanish culture, where Catholicism is seen as part of one's
"Spanishness."
Islam is the world's fastest-growing religion based on new births and converts to the
faith. Spain has a rich, 800-year-old Muslim history, easily found in historic landmarks
like the Alhambra, and in Spanish dance, music, and cuisine. However, over several
hundred years since the Spanish Inquisition, and Francisco Franco's enforcement of
Catholicism as the national religion from 1939 until 1975, most Spaniards equate
"being Spanish" with being Catholic. Additionally, many Spaniards view Islam as a
threat to Spanish identity and fear its resurgence in Spain.
In recent years, as Muslims have migrated to Spain and married Spanish women, some
Spaniards have been forced to reexamine their understanding of what it means to be
Spanish. Rogozen-Soltar recounts the experience of Maria Martinez and her evolution
from a Spanish woman with stereotypical views of Islam, to someone in love with a
Muslim man, to one who chooses to convert to Islam. Her experience illustrates the
judgment she and other converts to Islam face in Spain.
The experiences of Maria and other converts to Islam highlight how importantand how
entrenchedcultural identities and memberships in social groups can be. Even though
Maria initially could not imagine how she, a Spanish woman, could become a Muslim,
her growing knowledge of Islam eventually allowed her to shift her view of her cultural
identity. This led to a different perspective of Spain's Muslim history than that of the
majority of her countrymen. Now she tries to educate others about her changed views
by reminding Catholic and secular Spaniards of Spain's Muslim heritage, while
reinforcing the normalcy of Islam. She is careful not to try to convert friends, but
instead focuses on creating understanding by drawing parallels between the two
religions. For example, she equates Insh"alla (God willing) with si Dios lo quiere (God
willing), a phrase commonly heard in Spain.
According to Rogozen-Soltar in "Becoming Muslim in Europe," due to the
progressive attitudes of many European countries, converts to Islam face few political
or social challenges.
