Glossary

Social and cultural anthropology terminology

The following glossary is provided to assist teachers and understand some of the terminology of the social
and cultural anthropology course. It is recognized that some of these terms may be understood differently
in different contexts.

Please note that the italicized terms represent the nine key concepts of the course.

Term Definition

Acculturation Cultural change related to contact with another culture.

Agency Agency is the capacity of human beings to act in meaningful ways that
affect their own lives and those of others. Agency may be constrained by
class, gender, religion and social and cultural factors. This term implies that
individuals have the capacity to create, change and influence events.

Agency-centred Anthropological research that emphasizes agency focuses on humans acting

to promote their interests and the interests of the groups to which they
belong (although what constitutes “interest” may be subject to debate).

Alterity “Otherness”. Used in anthropology to describe and comment on the

construction and experience of cultural difference.

Analytical categories An outsider’s view of a culture, sometimes referred to as an “etic” view:

classifying and understanding traits as representing cross-culturally
applicable terms and categories rather than culturally specific meanings.

Authority Power is exercised with the consent of others.

Belief and knowledge A set of convictions, values and viewpoints regarded as “the truth” and
shared by members of a social group. These are underpinned and
supported by known cultural experience.

Biomedicine A term used in medical anthropology for conventional western medicine.

Biopsychosocial model Interactions between biological, psychological, and social factors

determine the cause, manifestation, and outcome of wellness and disease.

Capitalism An economic and political system in which a society’s trade and industry
are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.

Causation The capacity of one cultural feature to influence another.

Change The alteration or modification of cultural or social elements in a society.

Change may be due to internal dynamics within a society, or the result of
contact with another culture, or a consequence of globalization.

Class Division of people in a society based on social and economic status.

Classification Assigning common knowledge to describe a large number of people or

things as belonging to a recognizable system.

Social and cultural anthropology teacher support material 1

Social and cultural anthropology terminology

Term Definition

Cohesion-centred Some anthropologists see cohesion and consensus as central to the proper
functioning of society and culture. Many anthropologists were influenced
by Emile Durkheim who claimed that society could only function properly
if its members experienced “solidarity”, that is, a moral duty to work for the
maintenance of society.

Colonization The practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another
country, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically, socially
and politically.

Commodification/ The transformation of goods and services, as well as concepts that normally
commodified body may not be considered goods, into a commodity, something of value.

Communication Language influences social life, forms social identity and group membership,
organizes large-scale cultural beliefs and ideologies, and develops a common
cultural representation of natural and social worlds.

Community A group of people who share a common interest, or a common ecology

and locality, or a common social system or structure. Anthropologists have
traditionally studied communities through the lens of ethnographic fieldwork.

Comparative Comparison of the diverse and various ways that people make sense of
their world brings anthropologists greater understanding of communities,
cultures and societies.

Conflict Disagreements between individuals, groups, cultures or societies may result

from differences in interests, values or actions. Conflict theory presents a
lens, or framework, which can give anthropologists insight into the social
impact of disharmony.

Consensus Theories around the concept of consensus assume that cultural values and
beliefs are learned and shared to a significant extent across a society and
that there is a general level of agreement about these values and beliefs.

Consumption The meaningful use that people make of the objects that are associated
with them. The use can be mental or material; the objects can be things,
ideas or relationships.

Contextualization Making sense of anthropological data in terms of the situation or location in

which it was obtained.

Cosmology Social groups perceive the universe and describe their relationship with it
in different ways.

Cosmopolitanism Communities include individuals who live together with cultural difference.

Cultural boundaries An essentialist view presumes fixed boundaries for a culture; a constructivist
view assumes individuals and groups have the capacity to define and
redefine their cultural identities and spheres of influence.

Cultural capital The knowledge and experience individuals acquired through socialization,
which enables successful interaction in their social world.

Cultural relativism Not making value judgments about cultural differences; understanding a
different culture in its context.

2 Social and cultural anthropology teacher support material

 Social and cultural anthropology terminology

Term Definition

Culture Culture refers to organized systems of symbols, ideas, explanations, beliefs

and material production that humans create and manipulate in the course of
their daily lives. Culture includes the customs by which humans organize their
physical world and maintain their social structure. More recent approaches
to culture recognize that cultures are not static, homogenous or bounded
but dynamic and fluid. Culture refers to the shared social construction of
meanings, but simultaneously culture is often also a site of contested
meanings. These recent formulations of the concept recognize that culture
may be the subject of disagreement and conflict within and among societies,
and this disagreement may include the definition of culture itself.

Development The concept of development refers to more economically developed

societies providing assistance and resources to less economically developed
societies, either directly through bilateral aid or indirectly via other
agencies. Development also refers to self-directed industrial, technological
and economic improvement.

Diachronic A diachronic perspective in anthropology seeks to understand society

and culture as the product of development through time, shaped by many
different forces, both internal and external. A diachronic perspective is
generally historical, as illustrated by recent efforts to use historical methods
and findings in anthropology.

Dialectic Discussion and reasoning by dialogue as a method of intellectual investigation.

Diaspora The dispersal of peoples from homelands to establish new, migrated

communities in other places.

Discourse Written or spoken intellectual communication or debate in a discipline such

as anthropology.

Embodiment The process by which people incorporate biologically the social and
material world in which they live. A person knows, feels, and thinks about
the social world through the body.

Empirical Anthropological data is acquired through f irst-hand par ticipant

observation, rather than secondary research.

Enculturation The gradual acquisition of the characteristics and norms of a culture or

group. The transmission of culture from one generation to the next.

Environment Communities or societies may have a complex relationship with the physical
setting in which they live.

Essentialism Reducing description of a social group or culture to a limited set of

characteristics, ignoring individual differences and agency.

Ethics The principles of conduct governing an individual or group; concerns for

what is right or wrong, good or bad.

Ethnicity A social group is connected by a shared understanding of cultural identity.

Ethnobiology The study of how human cultures interact with and use plants and animals.

Ethnobotany The study of a people’s knowledge of plants and their agricultural customs.

Social and cultural anthropology teacher support material 3

Social and cultural anthropology terminology

Term Definition

Ethnocentrism The tendency to view the world only from the perspective of one’s own
culture; the inability to understand cultures different from one’s own.

Ethnography Writing culture; articles and books written by anthropologists following

fieldwork research; the process of participant observation or fieldwork.

Ethnopsychology Refers to cultural or “folk” models of subjectivity, particularly as applied to the

interpretation of social action. Cultures vary in the conceptual explanation
and sociocultural importance of concepts such as anger or love.

Ethnozoology The study of how human cultures interact with and use animals.

Exchange The transfer of things between social actors. The things can be human or
animal, material or immaterial. Exchange is central to all people’s lives, but
its consequences and elaborations are more marked in some cultures.

Exclusion The failure of society to provide certain individuals and groups with those
rights and benefits normally available to its members.

Family A term covering a range of meanings in terms of the relatedness and

connection of people. It may refer to a domestic group or household, or a
wider kinship network.

Fieldwork When an anthropologist becomes immersed in the local life of a group of

people for the purpose of learning about their culture.

Gender The culturally constructed distinctions between males and females.

Globalization The tendency towards increasing global interconnections in culture,

economy and social life. The transmission of ideas, meanings and values
around the world in such a way as to extend and intensify social relations.

Governmentality Term coined by Michel Foucault referring to the way in which the state
exercises control over the population.

Habitus Pierre Bourdieu holds that socialized norms guide people’s behaviour and
thinking. These become lasting tendencies to think, feel and act in certain
ways in particular social situations.

Healing practices Culturally specific ways of treating illnesses.

Health Anthropologists examine how human beings’ efforts to secure health and
treat illness are impacted by cultural processes.

Hegemony The cultural or political dominance of one social group over others; cultural
processes through which the ruling classes maintain their power.

Holism The whole of a social system is identified as being more than just the
individuals who participate in it.

Hybridity Multiple cultures mix, bringing together traditions as they negotiate their
shared and unshared identities.

Idealist Idealist perspectives focus primarily on the activities and categories of

the human mind (for example, beliefs, symbols and rationality), and seek
explanations for the human condition in terms of them.

4 Social and cultural anthropology teacher support material

 Social and cultural anthropology terminology

Term Definition

Identity Identity can refer either to the individual’s private and personal view of the
self—this is sometimes referred to as the “moi”—or the view of an individual
in the eyes of the social group. Identity also refers to group identity, which
may take the form of religious identity, ethnic identity, or national identity
for example.

Ideology The system of social and moral ideas of a group of people; a commitment
to central values.

Imagined community The idea that a community is to some extent constructed in the minds of
the people who consider themselves to belong to it.

Inclusion A person or group is welcomed, represented and provided for by the

community or wider society.

Insider/outsider In field research, different viewpoints may be apparent: from within

the social group (the perspective of the subject) and from outside (the
perspective of the observer).

Interpretation Cultural symbols are decoded and analysed by anthropologists to

determine their meaning.

Kinship The web or pattern of social relationships, which connects people

through descent or marriage, although other forms of social connection
may be included.

Knowledge system Culture is socially learned and provides people with what they need to
know to act appropriately. Cognitive anthropology investigates and seeks
to explain cultural knowledge.

Labour The efforts of individuals as workers in a capitalist context is considered a

factor of production, along with land and capital, and is ascribed a value. The
process of division of labour into specified tasks may be driven by gender.

Liminality Participants in a rite of passage or ritual are temporarily literally and

symbolically marginalized from their community. Status becomes
ambiguous until they re-join their community and adopt their new status.
This term may be more broadly used in the context of cultural change.

Lived body In medical anthropology the body may be considered as an aesthetic

object, containing the accumulated cultural experiences of each individual.

Local categories An insider’s (indigenous) view of a culture, sometimes referred to as an

“emic” view: the meaning that subjects assign to objects and events in a
cultural context.

Localization A social group’s specific adaptation of the influences of globalization.

Marginalization Relegating specific groups of people to the edge of society, economically,

politically, culturally and socially; limiting their access to productive resources
and avenues for the realization of their productive human potential.

Marginality Human dimensions used as a basis for social exclusion (for example, class,
ethnicity, gender)

Social and cultural anthropology teacher support material 5

Social and cultural anthropology terminology

Term Definition

Materialist Materialist perspectives in anthropology and other social sciences explain

aspects of human existence in terms of their most tangible features (for
example, technology, adaptation to the environment, and the production
and management of resources).

Materiality Objects, resources and belongings have cultural meaning, described by

Arjun Appadurai as “the social life of things”, and are embedded with all kinds
of social relations and practices. Some anthropologists think that human
experience can be understood through the study of material objects. For
example, contemporary approaches focus on the materiality of the body.

Mechanized body The body may be perceived as a machine consisting of organic parts.
Surgical implants of mechanical parts means re-thinking the concept of
“the body”.

Medical anthropology The study of the social and cultural dimensions of health, illness and
medicine.

Medical system Culturally specific medical practices.

Modernization The adoption of characteristics of more developed societies by less

developed societies, generally including the abandonment of some
traditional practices.

Modified body The human body is deliberately altered for cultural reasons (for example,
rites of passage, group membership) or aesthetic reasons (for example,
body art, self-expression).

Monograph A full-length ethnography on a single culture.

Morality Adherence to the rules or norms of a social group. Also relates to thinking and
behaviour that pursues or acts in the interest of general human excellence.

Movement A loosely organized but sustained campaign in support of a social goal,

typically either the implementation or the prevention of a change in
society’s structure or values.

Nation state A politically legitimate, bounded geographical area. A state is a political and
geopolitical entity, while a nation may be considered as a cultural one. The
term “nation state” implies that the two coincide, but colonization created
many instances where this notion may be disputed.

Nature/culture The meaning of nature is continuously negotiated in relation to its

supposed counterpart, human culture and society.

Neo-colonialism Relations between former colonial powers and former colonies, which
perpetuate to some degree the domination and exploitation that existed
under colonialism.

Ngoization The professionalization and institutionalization of social action through the

growth and spread of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at local and
global levels.

6 Social and cultural anthropology teacher support material

 Social and cultural anthropology terminology

Term Definition

Ontology The study of the nature of “being”, existence, reality. Anthropologists

may seek to explore other kinds of realities outside those that have been
socially constructed.

Participant observation During fieldwork an anthropologist immerses himself or herself in the life
of the social group he or she is studying, actively observing, interviewing
and writing detailed field notes.

Particularistic Anthropologists taking a particularistic perspective stress that aspects of

society and culture must be understood in terms of their specific social and
historical context.

Personhood Culturally constructed concept of the individual human being, the “self”.

Politicized body The body becomes the topic of political debate, for example, in gender
related discourse.

Positionality The effect an anthropologist’s own subjectivity might have on how he or

she interprets observations and experience.

Post-colonialism Study of the legacy of the colonial era and the residual political, cultural,
socio-economic, and psychological effects.

Power Power is an essential part of social relations and can be considered as a

person’s or group’s capacity to influence, manipulate or control others and
resources. In its broadest sense, power can be understood as involving
distinctions and inequalities between members of a social group. Some
approaches to power focus on structural power or the capacity of power to
produce subjectivities.

Power relations The positive or negative exercise of power between social groups or
individuals.

Qualitative research Research methods that rely on the researcher’s interpretive skills to
understand the often complex and detailed data gathered.

Quantitative research Research methods that involve the numerative collection of data, which
can then be collated and tabled or graphed.

Race A socially constructed category of identification of people based on physical

characteristics, ancestry, historical affiliation, or shared culture. In colonial
times this term was used to support ethnocentric, prejudicial views.

Real-world issues/ The examples students will draw on are most likely to be those they will be
examples reading about in newspapers or online and listening to on news and current
documentary programmes as they study social and cultural anthropology.

Reciprocity Mutual exchange or obligation between people: generalized (no

expectation of return); balanced (exchange of equal value); negative (one
party seeks to benefit at the expense of the other).

Reflexivity Anthropologists acknowledge that their own knowledge base, beliefs and
perspectives may influence their research and writing.

Social and cultural anthropology teacher support material 7

Social and cultural anthropology terminology

Term Definition

Religion A system of symbols that acts to establish understandings of existence is

such a way that it is realistic to its followers. Religion is generally supported
and perpetuated by ritual.

Representation Anthropologists need to consider the inherently problematic nature of

representation and description of living people, specifically in ethnography
and more generally in anthropological work as a whole.

Reproduction The transmission of existing cultural values and norms and other aspects of
society from generation to generation.

Resistance Social groups may not accept change in its apparent form, either refusing it
outright or moving to accommodate it in a modified form.

Revitalization Rejection of newly introduced cultural elements and reclamation of

historical roots, traditional identity and spiritual imagination.

Ritual A formalized event, the rules of which are determined by the traditions
of a social group, characterized by symbolism and performance. Religion
is a significant context for the practice of rituals, but the scope of ritual
behaviour extends to other areas.

Ritualized body The body may be the focus of ritual practice.

Role The dynamic aspect of status: a person’s actual behaviour within the
context of that status.

Sacred/profane Emile Durkheim explained the sacred as symbols and objects set apart,
bound by prohibitions, sometimes forbidden, while the profane relates to
mundane, individual concerns. Some anthropologists do not regard this
duality as being common to all social groups.

Self The individual’s social self is the product of social interaction and not the
biological preconditions of that interaction.

Sexuality A central feature of being human that is highly individualized. It includes

sexual feelings, thoughts, attractions, preferences and sometimes
behaviour. Michel Foucault wrote extensively about western societies
historically repressing sexuality up until the sexual revolution of the mid to
late 20th century.

Social control Any means used to maintain behavioural norms and regulate conflict.

Social inequality The existence of unequal opportunities and rewards for different social
positions or statuses within a group or society.

Social relations Any relationship between two or more individuals in a network of

relationships. Social relations involve an element of individual agency as
well as group expectations and form the basis of social organization and
social structure. They pervade every aspect of human life and are extensive,
complex, and diverse.

Social stratification The systematic organization of persons and groups into hierarchical
structures of inequality. This may be according to age, gender, class, work
specializations, ethnicity.

8 Social and cultural anthropology teacher support material

 Social and cultural anthropology terminology

Term Definition

Socialization The process through which a person learns to become an accepted member
of society via agents such as family, peers, media.

Society Society refers to the way in which humans organize themselves in groups
and networks. Society is created and sustained by social relationships
among persons and groups. The term “society” can also be used to refer
to a human group that exhibits some internal coherence and distinguishes
itself from other such groups.

Space Space may be considered as socially constructed. Physical spaces have a

dialectical relationship with the societies that inhabit them.

State A state is an organized political community living under a single system

of government.

Status The position a person has within a social system—this may be ascribed
(beyond an individual’s control) or achieved (acquired on the basis of
merit). Persons’ statuses are usually multiple and come with sets of rights,
obligations, behaviours and duties that individuals of certain positions are
expected to perform.

Structure An abstract concept derived from all social institutions and social relations
existing in a society. Generally seen as the resilient, regulating aspects of
society that constrain the actions of its members.

Structure-centred Structure-centred perspectives view social action as determined by social

and material context, such as physical environment, access to resources,
community organization, social institutions, and the state.

Subaltern Refers to social groups that are socially and politically outside of the
hegemonic power structure of the society. This term particularly relates to
colonial and post-colonial contexts.

Subjectivity An anthropologist’s perspective in writing and cultural interpretation of

others is guided by his or her own background and experience.

Suffering The human consequences of war, famine, depression, disease, torture, and
other problems that result from how political, economic, and institutional
power may impact people negatively.

Sustainability Development that meets the needs of the present generation without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs.

Symbolism Symbolism is the study of the significance that people attach to objects,
actions, and processes creating networks of symbols through which they
construct a culture’s web of meaning.

Synchronic Synchrony refers to the occurrence of events at the same time, seeking to
uncover the relationships between aspects of society and culture in the
present or at a specific point in time.

Syncretism The hybridization or amalgamation of two or more cultural traditions.

Social and cultural anthropology teacher support material 9

Social and cultural anthropology terminology

Term Definition

Technology Broadly, technology describes the tools that we use to assist our interactions
in society. Technologies can be referred to as innovation and can initiate
changes in culture and society. The value placed on technologies at
any level of society influences the rate of change to society and culture.
Technologies are constantly changing and their impacts vary over time.
The new technologies associated with the interactive use of the internet,
creating user-generated content, have profoundly influenced the way
humans communicate.

The body The body as it differs across cultures may be viewed as an anthropological
problem. Anthropologists investigate its use, value and limits. The body
may be considered not just as a biological fact or a cultural construction,
but also as an ontological problem that makes us rethink bodies in terms of
space, time and matter.

The Other Anthropologists use the term “the Other” to describe the way people who
are members of a particular social group perceive other people who are not
members. For example, non-Muslims may perceive Muslims as “the Other”.
“Othering” may be negative.

The Self The “Self” is the socially constructed understanding of individual and
cultural identity that, in people’s thinking, distinguishes them from “the
Other”.

Theories Theories are analytical frameworks used to examine social phenomena.

Theories seek to explain how societies are organized in terms of aspects
such as social structure, power, gender and ethnicity, and how societies
change and develop.

Time Individuals, communities and societies are situated in a particular period

of time and also change over time. Time can be examined as past, present
or future. Cultural experiences from the past impact the present and shape
thinking about the future.

Transnationalism A fluid, multi-centred concept of global politics and economics. Rather than
discrete clearly bounded nation states and international relations, social
fields are criss-crossed by personal networks and flows of ideas, people and
material items.

Universalistic Universalistic anthropological perspectives seek to discover underlying

laws and principles common to all societies and cultures.

Urban anthropology Urban anthropology involves the study of the cultural systems of cities,
the communities within them, and the connections of cities to larger and
smaller places and populations as part of the worldwide urban system.

Virtual community A virtual community is a social group that exists and interacts in an online
environment.

10 Social and cultural anthropology teacher support material