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Which one of the following is not true about Tibetan polyandry?

a. Polyandry eliminates sexual competition among brothers.

b. Polyandry lowers the birth rate.

c. Polyandry enables wealthier farmers to maintain their higher standard of living.

d. Polyandry is often preferred by Tibetans.

Spaniards who convert to Islam

a. are required to legally change their status as a Spanish citizen to reflect this

conversion.

b. face little discrimination and are accepted throughout the country.

c. endanger their social standing as recognized and respected members of Spanish

society.

d. are welcomed with open arms by Muslims who have immigrated to Spain from

Muslim countries.

Navigating Nigerian Bureaucracies

ELIZABETH A. EAMES

Summary In this article, Elizabeth A. Eames describes her experiences in Nigeria both

from the perspective of an anthropologist and as an individual raised in the U.S.

bureaucratic system. She shares the lessons she learned as she tried to decipher the rules

of proper behavior, and concludes with a discussion of Max Weber’s concept of

patrimonial authority.

Eames’ experiences and frustrations with the Nigerian social system stemmed in part

from her “American-ness,” her belief in equal and efficient treatment for all. Much to

her surprise, the social system in Nigeria operated on different principles: in Nigeria,

rights are negotiable, bribery is a legitimate way of doing business, and power comes

from being in a position to grant favors to others.

The author’s introduction to the intricacies of Nigerian society and how much it depends

on interpersonal relations began before she ever set foot on Nigerian soil: a personal

connection rescued her visa from the maze of paperwork at the New York consulate. At

the time she had no idea how important the currency of favors and gratitude was to the

social system, but quickly came to understand that these, along with hospitality and

strong greeting skills, were the only way to accomplish anything in the patrimonial

bureaucracy that operates in Nigeria today. Seemingly simple undertakings, such as

getting immigration forms signed, registering as a graduate student, and extending her

visatasks that were typically routine, impersonal, and efficient in a legally dominated

bureaucracy such as in the United Stateswere time-consuming, confusing, and nowhere

near routine. For some of these tasks, the simple act of describing the problem led from

one contact to another, and eventually a resolution presented itself. As her network of

contacts grew, so did her ability to get things done. Eames also learned the hard way

that not allowing acquaintances to assist her had significant consequences; it was seen

as a betrayal or a denial of a relationship. Everything in Nigeria, the author came to

understand, was personal.

The author describes Max Weber’s ideals of legal and patrimonial domination, and

articulates the six principles of patrimonial administration that Weber believed would

eventually be replaced by bureaucracy. Eames disputes this claim. Because an

individual’s understanding of hierarchy is based on the relationship of infant and

caretaker, Eames believes this creates a psychological need for personalized treatment

when interacting with authority figures. This tendency causes individualseven in legal

bureaucraciesto hope for personal treatment and resent impersonal, cold interactions.

In Nigerian society, a personal relationship is required to begin a business transaction.

In “Conversation Style: Talking on the Job,” Tannen notes that of all the examples of

conversational-style differences between men and women that lead to troublesome

outcomes, __________ has attracted the most attention of her readers.

a. men’s tendency to interrupt women in normal conversation

b. women’s tendency to criticize men when they talk with other women

c. women’s tendency to be indirect when they talk with men

d. men’s tendency to avoid asking directions of other people

In “Global Women in the New Economy,”Ehrenreich and Hochschild report that one of

the greatest problems faced by women who migrate from Third World countries for

work in the First World is

a. finding enough money to travel to jobs outside their home country.

b. lack of sufficient education to hold jobs in the First World.

c. resentment of the kinds of jobs they are forced to take in the First World.

d. long separation from their children and family members.

Negotiating Work and Family in America DIANNA SHANDY AND KARINE MOE

Summary In this article, Dianna Shandy and Karine Moe explore the complexities of

the latest research on how generations of women have handled the challenges of

negotiating work and family in America. By combining labor statistics, interviews with

more than 100 women, focus groups, and surveys of nearly 1000 college graduates, the

authors explore the advances of women in the workforce, their experiences juggling

families and careers outside of the home, and the subsequent choices new generations

of women are making in this area.

Anthropologists used to view the gender relationship between men and women as one

of inherent male domination. Ernestine Friedl, however, argued that control of publicly

distributed resources was key to women’s power. Among the Hadza of Tanzania for

example, men and women gather food equally, and subsequently relate to one another

with relative gender equality. In contrast, when men supply virtually all of the food,

such as among the Inuit of the Arctic, there is significant gender inequality.

Similar cultural ranking exists in the United States. In the United States one’s

occupation determines relative rank. Today, women hold positions previously reserved

for men onlypositions that include leadership, management, and business ownership.

Women make up half of the workforce on all U.S. payrolls, and own one third of the

businesses in the United States. Additionally, women now account for more than 50

percent of all college students and are the majority of those enrolled in graduate or

professional schools. Women have made great strides toward gender equality in the

workplace over the last few decades, but many are still opting out when they have

children.

Many gender-related factors both push women out of the workforce and pull them

toward family and home, such as a woman’s “second shift” or experiencing a “glass

ceiling” (the proverbial barrier preventing advancement to a higher position). Unlike

other industrialized nations, women in the United States of at least three generations

have experienced and continue to experience significant structural barriers to flexible

and affordable childcare.

Given the low cultural ranking given of the occupation of “full-time motherhood,”

women often struggle to maintain a sense of gender equality, prestige, and power while

at home. Some do so by forming strong social groups. Still others describe themselves

as career women taking time off to stay home with kids.

According to Shandy and Moe in “Negotiating Work and Family in America,”

anthropologist Ernestine Friedl argues that control of publicly shared resources, such as

animal proteins, in hunter-gatherer societies determines the degree to which females are

equal to males.

In “Run for the Wall: An American Pilgrimage,” Dubisch notes that the carnival period

preceding Lent meets the criteria of a ritual because it

a. protects individuals.

b. moves individuals from one social status to another.

c. maintains order in the world.

d. designates a period of time when special activities are permitted.

According to Scheper-Hughes in “Mother’s Love: Death Without Weeping,” three of the

following statements are true about how the death of poor babies were treated in Alto

do Cruzeiro and Bom Jesus de Mata, Brazil. Which one is not?

a. Babies were buried without headstones or markers.

b. Infant graves were reused for other infant burials later.

c. Midwives encouraged mothers of dead babies to grieve.

d. Civil authorities only required a two-paragraph report when a baby died.

A central point that Dubisch makes about the men who participate in the Run for the

Wall is that

a. they wish to repair the emotional wounds caused by their Vietnam war experiences

and unpleasant homecomings.

b. they are motivated by a desire to embarrass those who opposed the war.

c. they enjoy showing off their expensive motorcycles to onlookers.

d. they seek to increase veterans appropriations by publicly pressuring Congress.

In Nigeria, power and authority derive from

a. ownership of landed property.

b. the ability to grant favors to loyal dependents.

c. a person’s wealth.

d. a person’s social class.

According to Sutherland in “The Case of an American Gypsy,” a young Gypsy man was

indicted by the government for

a. hiding his identity from authorities.

b. stealing cars.

c. using a relative’s Social Security number.

d. lying to authorities about his real American name.

Of the many stereotypical personas active in the coal mining industry, __________

comprise only a minority of the workforce.

a. ultra macho men

b. bitches

c. ladies

d. tomboys

According to McCurdy in “Motorcycles, Membership, and Belonging,” because the

GWRRA is organized around couples and not individuals, the GWRRA has

unintentionally

a. diminished the role of women within the organization; women hold very few

positions of authority and make up a minority at all organized events.

b. offended women, causing them to form their own Gold Wing riding association.

c. created an important role for women in the organization; women hold high-level

positions and make up a majority of volunteers at rallies and fund-raisers.

d. largely ignored women who ride motorcycles in the United States and Canada.

Family and Kinship in Village India

DAVID W. McCURDY

Summary In this article, David McCurdy describes the importance of kinship among

rural Bhil tribal peoples living in Ratakote, a hill village located in the southern part of

Rajasthan near Udaipur, India. He argues that an elaborate and extended kinship system

is not only a useful way for peasants to organize their labor, land holdings, and broader

social connections, but that it is also a system that can be adapted to the

market-dominated economic system currently emerging in India.

Americans find it difficult to comprehend the importance of extended kinship, but for

the Bhils, the significance of kinship seems elementary. A wedding arranged by a

villager for his daughter in 1985 illustrates the point nicely. To begin the arrangement,

the father must consult the members of his patrilineage, who must later provide money

and labor for the wedding. He will send out word to his feminal kinthe relatives of the

women who have married into his line and the relatives of the men that women of his

line have marriedin other villages. When prospective grooms are found, the first

consideration is clan membership. Clans are large and consist of local lineages living in

many villages over a wide territory. Bhils cannot marry into their own, their mother’s, or

their father’s mother’s clans; this constitutes incest.

Once a suitable spouse is found, negotiations commence to set a dapa (bride price), the

money and prestige goods given by the groom’s family to that of the bride. Bride price

is part of an exchange for the labor and loyalty of the bride. Marriage becomes an

alliance between the two families but involves potential conflict. To clearly state that

rights to her loyalty, labor, and children shift to her husband’s family at marriage, the

wedding ceremony symbolizes the bride’s removal from her natal group. After

marriage, a relationship built on formal respect keeps the bride’s family at a proper

distance.

Extended kinship systems seem well suited to agrarian peasant life where families best

control landholding and economic production. Today, India is industrializing and the

market economy is attracting many rural peasants to cities as well as restructuring

economic relationships in rural villages. The market economy can easily weaken

kinship systems by providing individuals with salaries and independence, causing

people to move to find work, and creating jobs that compete for time with family

obligations. Despite expansion of the market, Indians, including the Bhils described in

this article, have adapted kinship relationships to provide support as they scatter across

their country and around the world.

In “Family and Kinship in Village India,” McCurdy notes that clans are localized

organizations of relatives, made up of a person’s close male relatives who are all

descended from a known common ancestor.

The cultural rule that prohibits sexual intercourse among defined classes of relatives is

called

a. the incest taboo.

b. polygamy.

c. endogamy.

d. hypergamy.

In “Reciprocity and the Power of Giving,” Cronk, citing work by sociologist Warren

Hagstrom, argues that __________ represent gifts in a system of reciprocal exchange.

a. citations in academic articles

b. business lunches

c. alcoholic drinks

d. blankets, coppers, and arm shells

According to Miner in “Body Ritual among the Nacirema,” the Nacirema often undergo

_________ procedures in order to care for their bodies.

a. month-long

b. painful

c. ineffective

d. sophisticated

Which one of the following subsistence strategies would most typically be found to

support permanent settlements containing between 50 and 250 people?

a. hunting and gathering

b. horticulture

c. agriculture

d. pastoral

In the Western system of legal domination, an official’s authority is based on

a. a given office, not the person who holds that office.

b. a combination of tradition and arbitrary decisions by the individual in charge.

c. who the officeholder knows in power above him or her.

d. how many individuals are indebted to him or her for past favors.

Cross-Cultural Law:The Case of an American Gypsy

ANNE SUTHERLAND

Summary This article by Anne Sutherland looks at what happens when members of

one culture live under the legal jurisdiction of another. The article describes the case of

a young Gypsy man accused of using someone else’s Social Security number, and the

role played by an anthropologist in his court defense.

The young Gypsy male used the Social Security number of a five-year-old nephew to

apply for a car loan. Gypsies believe that their vitsa (clan) has rights over property such

as names and Social Security numbers, and that vitsa members can share in these

things. Although he had no intention of stealing the car or defrauding anyone, the man

was charged under a law that makes it a felony to use someone else’s Social Security

number. The police also concluded that he was part of a car theft ring.

Sutherland became involved in the case as an expert witness for the defense. Her first

act was to discover whether the young man was a Gypsy and what his name was.

Gypsies take on many “American” names, which they change often. Their identities are

more typically associated with their vitsa, or clan, and a larger grouping of clans called

a natsia. During the trial she testified that the young man had no intention of defrauding

or stealing from anyone. She noted that it was usual for members of vitsas to share

American names, Social Security numbers, and other marks of identity. Despite her

testimony, however, the defendant was convicted.

Sutherland concludes her article with three points. First, Gypsies, who are a nomadic

group, do not stress individual identities, which are so important to settled Americans.

For hundreds of years the people and governments of the countries in which they live

have persecuted Gypsies. She cites ample evidence that American police also consider

them a criminal society. Hiding their identities has been their response to this

persecution. Second, Gypsies suffer in jail to an unusual extent because they believe

they are polluted there. Gypsies avoid long contact with non-Gypsies and their food

because the latter pollute (marime) them. Their own relatives shun them if this happens,

and they must go through a period of purification before reintegration into their own

society. Third, there is a clash between the Gypsy view of membership in a corporate

kin group and the usual American view of individual rights.

In “The Case of an American Gypsy,” Sutherland describes a case in which a young

Gypsy man was accused of fraud by police in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Anything that contributes to the adoption of public policy and its enforcement is called

a. authority.

b. coercion.

c. legitimacy.

d. support.

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,” Bestor notes that bluefin tuna are now raised in Spanish

waters near Gibraltar, where they are fed by hand.

Law and Order

JAMES P. SPRADLEY AND DAVID W. McCURDY

Summary In this article, Spradley and McCurdy present law in the context of dispute

resolution, using cases drawn from anthropologist Laura Nader’s work in Ralu”a, a

Zapotec Indian village located in southern Mexico.

The article deals with several concepts: the structure of legal culture, including

substantive law and procedural law, legal levels, legal principles, and cultural values.

Substantive law consists of the legal statutes that define right and wrong. This is

illustrated by the flirtation of a married man with an unmarried woman, which the

Zapotec treat as a crime. Similarly, the case of a son who harvested coffee from his

father’s land without permission is also defined as a crime to be dealt with by the

community’s legal system.

Legal levels refer to the ways in which disputes are settled by different kinds of

authority agents. Among the Zapotec, several levels for settling disputes exist. Disputes

can be settled by family elders, witches, local officials, the priest, supernatural beings,

or officials in the municipio. If all else fails, the dispute can be taken to the district court

in Villa Alta.

Procedural law refers to the agreed-upon ways to settle disputes, which are often

unwritten, and therefore implicit in nature. In Ralu”a, for example, it is generally

agreed that one should not take family disputes to court, and disputes between villagers

(such as an argument over the washing stone) should be taken to court only if they

cannot be settled between the disputing individuals beforehand. In this case, the dispute

was settled when the presidente (village chairman who also presides over the village

court) and other elected village officials formed a work force, improved the washing

facilities at the well, and declared that washing stones would no longer be owned by

individuals.

Legal systems reflect legal principles and cultural values. Legal principles are based

on the fundamental values of a culture; a legal principle is a broad conception of some

desirable state of affairs that gives rise to many substantive and procedural rules.

Americans put great emphasis on establishing truth, while for the Zapotec, a major legal

principle is to “make the balance.” This means to encourage compromise and settlement

so that disputes disappear and disputants get along with each other in the future. This in

turn is based on the Zapotec cultural value of maintaining social equilibrium. A direct

confrontation between individuals where one loses and another wins is unsettling to

community members.

According to Spradley and McCurdy in “Law and Order,” there is no substantive law

that prohibits a man from beating his wife in the Zapotec village of Ralu”a.

During one season when Gmelch was playing baseball, he refrained from eating

pancakes. This is an example of what anthropologists call

a. a taboo.

b. mana.

c. charms.

d. a ritual.

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.

In Malawi, babies are breastfed for only six months before mothers begin to wean them

onto a gruel made from water and rice flour.

The phrase “tax burden” is a good example of the use of

a. hyperbole.

b. metaphor.

c. non-linguistic symbols.

d. linguistic crossover.

The passage of a cultural idea, culturally defined behavior, or culturally produced

artifact from one society to another through borrowing is called

a. cultural diffusion.

b. multiculturalism.

c. cultural hybridization.

d. globalization.

Shakespeare in the Bush

LAURA BOHANNAN

Summary This article illustrates the concept of naive realism, the idea that members of

one group believe that everyone else sees the world they way they do, and shows how

this belief leads to cross-cultural misunderstanding. Convinced that people everywhere

can understand the basic theme of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Bohannan tries to tell the

story to Tiv elders during fieldwork in West Africa. From the beginning, she finds that

the Tiv translate the story into their own cultural categories. Because the Tiv have no

category for spirits of the dead who can talk, they believe Hamlet’s father’s ghost must

really be an omen sent by a witch, or a zombie. And for the Tiv, instead of committing

an impropriety, Hamlet’s mother did well to marry her dead husband’s brother within a

month of her spouse’s death. The Tiv employ the custom of levirate on such occasions,

so it is expected for a woman to marry her dead husband’s brother. The Tiv think

Polonius should be pleased that Hamlet is attracted to his daughter Ophelia. If they

cannot marry, she can at least become his mistress, and sons of chiefs give large gifts to

the fathers of their mistresses among the Tiv. At each turn in the story, the Tiv view

events as they would in their own society, identifying facts according to their own

cultural map and reinterpreting motives. The result is a very different Hamlet than

Shakespeare wrote, and an excellent example of how culture defines a people’s social

world.

The Tiv felt that Laertes bewitched his sister, Ophelia, so that he could sell her body to

raise money to repay gambling debts.

Lee feels that the key to successful subsistence for many hunter-gatherers, such as the !

Kung, is

a. adequate defense against the encroachment of other hunting and gathering groups.

b. dietary selectivity.

c. dependence largely on a diet of edible plants.

d. band loyalty and membership stability.

In “Advice for Developers,” Alverson observes that the Tswana see time as

a. lineal.

b. connected to events. Time happens when events happen.

c. a non-concept. The Tswana do not think in terms of time.

d. measured by a cycle of ritual occasions.

Like the women in hunter-gatherer societies who share the responsibility for food

supply, Shandy and Moe argue in “Negotiating Work and Family in America” that U.S.

women

a. now hold jobs traditionally reserved for men but have not gained the power and

equality that comes with these jobs.

b. still do not have access to education, jobs, and income as men do.

c. have increasingly gained power and equality as they hold jobs once reserved for men.

d. have gained access to education, but have not made inroads in equality in the area

of corporate and government jobs.

The situation where more than one different culture is part of a larger social aggregate is

called

a. multicultural.

b. cultural diffusion.

c. cultural hybridization.

d. globalization.

According to Spradley and McCurdy in “Law and Order,” in the Zapotec village of

Ralu”a two casesa flirtation of a married man and a son who took coffee from his father

without permissionillustrate

a. substantive law.

b. procedural law.

c. a legal principle.

d. infralegal law.

Melissa, one of the subjects of Jessica Smith Rolston’s essay “Women in the Mine,”

identifies herself as a

a. tomboy.

b. bitch.

c. lady.

d. girly girl.

According to Patten in “Malawi Versus the World Bank,” officials of the World Bank

thought that __________ were the reason why Malawi experienced a balance of

payments problem in the 1980s.

a. government corruption

b. lack of a manufacturing sector in the economy

c. fertilizer subsidies

d. military expenditures

When people buy and sell goods and services on the basis of price, supply, and demand,

we call the process redistributive exchange.

Slash-and-burn agriculture is a kind of horticulture.

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.

In “The Military Name Game,” Boxer asserts that the original World War II purpose of

naming military operations was to generate public approval for them.

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.

In “Conversation Style: Talking on the Job,” Tannen claims that men’s failure to ask for

directions is a serious flaw in communications between the sexes in the workplace and

should be changed.

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.

Herbert Blumer developed a theory of symbolic interactionism.

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.

According to Cronk in “Reciprocity and the Power of Giving,” the phrase “Indian

giver” arose because North American Indians misunderstood European customs and

wanted gifts they gave to colonists to be returned promptly and with interest.

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.

One reason the study of !Kung subsistence patterns is so important is the rarity of the

case; the !Kung had had no contact with other people until the study began in 1963.