SA 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Area Studies, Cultural Determinism, Counter-Insurgency

• School: Simon Fraser University
• Department: Sociology and Anthropology
• Course: SA 101
• Professor: Bascom Guffin

Document Summary

Culture/civilization = the complex whole including knowledge, belief, art, morla,s law, custom, and any other capabilities or habits acquired by man as a member of society. Holism - taking a broad view of historical and cultural foundations of behaviour rather. There is no necessary correlation b/w race, language, and culture. One"s physical appearance does not determine their culture or ability to learn any than attributing differences to biology dismantling the concept of race (boas) language. Cultural relativism - the idea that we should seek to understand another person"s beliefs and behaviours from the perspective of their own culture and not our own. Cultural determinism - concept that all behavioural differences among peoples. Boas trained many women anthropologist knowing that diversifying fieldworkers by result from cultural, not racial or genetic causes including ppl of all genders is important to successful fieldwork. Colonists often talked about biologically superior and inferior races bc of white man"s burden .