Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology

Fall 2019
Final Take-Home Exam
Total Marks: 50

Please read the following instructions carefully:

There are two parts to this exam. Part A has 3 questions and Part B has 2. Each one is
worth 10 points and each one has to be answered in full.

Make sure you read each question carefully and answer it as specifically as possible.
Support your answer using material from the class readings, slides and discussions.
The MAXIMUM word limit for each answer is 1500 words. Most answers should be
able to fit between 800 and 1000 words. Please clearly mark parts A and B of the
exam.

Submit your answers in the form of a Word document which should be e-mailed as an
attachment to Umna Abid at: umna.abid16@gmail.com Write your name and ERP
number on the first page and include your full name in the name of the file. The
deadline for submitting your responses is 09:00pm on Tuesday, December 24, 2019.
Late exams will not be graded.

Plagiarism will be dealt with strictly. Responses that are too similar to other students’
exams will be marked zero. Use your own words. You are allowed to use direct
quotes from the text and to paraphrase authors’ words – but each of these must be
clearly cited.
 Part A

1. Define the exploitative (conflict) and integrative theories of social stratification.

What explanation do they offer for the existence of social hierarchies and inequalities?

2. What are the relationships between capitalism and commodity production? How
has capitalism created the sense of commodification and the industrial revolution?
Present examples of three commodities from the reading material and class slides, and
discuss critically with examples of how capitalism has created the modern world in its
current shape.

3. Define and critically discuss impoverishment of large sections of the colonized

world's population as a result of direct plunder, appropriation of wealth, restrictions
on production and trade, and the forced shift from local food production to cash crop
production to production for global markets.

Part B

4. How does anthropological knowledge help us critique and complicate the category
of “womanhood”? Refer closely to any TWO of the following case studies to build
your argument:
• the many meanings and politics of veiling among Afghan women (Abu-
Lughod)
• feelings of maternal love and indifference towards infants by women in a
Brazilian shantytown (Scheper-Hughes)
• responses to domestic violence by women of color in the U.S. (Crenshaw)

5. According to Connell, what are some of the ways in which dominant conceptions of
masculinity have changed under the new global neo-liberal order? Use examples from
the institutions of business, sports and military to support your answer.