Testing Ethnological Theories on Prehistoric Kinship

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (3) ◽  
pp. 199-227 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bradley E. Ensor
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Theoretical Models ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Kinship Analysis ◽  
Anthropological Theory ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
High Level ◽  
Kinship Terminology ◽  
Political Economic

Although not a new topic, there is a growing trend in ethnology to interpret changing kinship terminology, social organization, and marriage practices deep into prehistory. These efforts are largely guided by phylogenetic, neoevolutionary, and historical particularist theoretical models using 19th to 20th century ethnographically recorded kin terminology. However, the “high-level” theoretical models and their assumptions are untestable without data dating to prehistory. Archeological kinship analysis based on cross-cultural “mid-level” factual correspondence between social organization and patterns in material culture, which is not biased by any given “high-level” theory, can empirically test the ethnological models and assumptions. Archeological case studies on the Chontal Maya and Hohokam illustrate problems in phylogenetic, neoevolutionary, and historical particularist theoretical assumptions. Instead, the results are consistent with contemporary anthropological theory emphasizing practice and agency within historically contingent political economic social contexts.

scholarly journals Growing in Motion: The Circulation of Used Things on Second-hand Markets

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 143-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Staffan Appelgren ◽  
Anna Bohlin
Keyword(s):  
Material Culture ◽  
Social Life ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Ontological Status ◽  
Significant Aspect ◽  
Anthropological Theory ◽  
Recent Interest ◽  
Global North ◽  
Commercial Value ◽  
Flea Markets

From having been associated with poverty and low status, the commerce with second-hand goods in retro shops, flea markets, vintage boutiques and trade via Internet is expanding in Sweden as in many countries in the Global North. This article argues that a significant aspect of the recent interest in second-hand and reuse concerns the meaning fulness of circulation in social life. Using classic anthropological theory on how the circulation of material culture generates sociality, it focuses on how second-hand things are transformed by their circulation. Rather than merely having cultural biographies, second-hand things are reconfigured through their shifts between different social contexts in a process that here is understood as a form of growing. Similar to that of an organism, this growth is continuous, irreversible and dependent on forces both internal and external to it. What emerges is a category of things that combine elements of both commodities and gifts, as these have been theorized within anthropology. While first cycle commodities are purified of their sociality, the hybrid second-hand thing derives its ontological status as well as social and commercial value precisely from retaining ‘gift qualities’, produced by its circulation.

Social inequality in the evolution of human societies

2019 ◽  
pp. 98-120
Author(s):  
Georgi Derluguian
Keyword(s):  
Social Inequality ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Mass Violence ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Tangible Assets ◽  
Transition To Agriculture ◽  
New Institutions ◽  
High Level ◽  
Political Economic

The author develops ideas about the origin of social inequality during the evolution of human societies and reflects on the possibilities of its overcoming. What makes human beings different from other primates is a high level of egalitarianism and altruism, which contributed to more successful adaptability of human collectives at early stages of the development of society. The transition to agriculture, coupled with substantially increasing population density, was marked by the emergence and institutionalisation of social inequality based on the inequality of tangible assets and symbolic wealth. Then, new institutions of warfare came into existence, and they were aimed at conquering and enslaving the neighbours engaged in productive labour. While exercising control over nature, people also established and strengthened their power over other people. Chiefdom as a new type of polity came into being. Elementary forms of power (political, economic and ideological) served as a basis for the formation of early states. The societies in those states were characterised by social inequality and cruelties, including slavery, mass violence and numerous victims. Nowadays, the old elementary forms of power that are inherent in personalistic chiefdom are still functioning along with modern institutions of public and private bureaucracy. This constitutes the key contradiction of our time, which is the juxtaposition of individual despotic power and public infrastructural one. However, society is evolving towards an ever more efficient combination of social initiatives with the sustainability and viability of large-scale organisations.

scholarly journals ACADEMIC SUCCESS IN THE CONTEXT OF COMPETENCE APPROACH

1970 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liudmyla M. Dybkova
Keyword(s):  
Academic Success ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Innovative Approach ◽  
Educational Activity ◽  
Educational Achievements ◽  
Methods Of Evaluation ◽  
Cultural Processes ◽  
On Line ◽  
High Level ◽  
Political Economic

The article is devoted the problem of evaluation of results of students educational activity in the context of competence approach. Research actuality is conditioned by socio-political, economic and cultural processes which take place in modern society under act of globalization. These processes require from the system of education an innovative approach in preparation of future specialists. Students acquisition of high level competences, selected in the on-line training in preparation for the proper speciality, will provide them with permanent update of knowledges, succesful finding of decisions for problem tasks, independence, selfefficiency while implementation of their professional duties. Existent forms and methods of evaluation of educational achievements are complemented and approved within the framework of the competence approach.

scholarly journals INDIA'S DEVELOPMENTAL EXPERIENCE, STRENGTHS AND SUSTAINABILITY CHALLENGES

2021 ◽  
Vol 03 (03) ◽  
pp. 163-174
Author(s):  
Nadia Fadil Abbas FADLE
Keyword(s):  
Indian Society ◽  
The Political ◽  
Advanced Country ◽  
Major Powers ◽  
External Threats ◽  
Technological Field ◽  
Developmental Experience ◽  
Sustainability Challenges ◽  
High Level ◽  
Political Economic

The political leadership in India has realized since independence in the year 1947 that it needs to create distinct political, economic and social conditions to move on the path of development based on the human and natural capabilities of India that qualify it to reach the ranks of major powers, the most important characteristic of public policies in India is the comprehensiveness of its results And its outputs for large segments of Indian society, which necessitated attention to developing high-level strategies in various sectors and paying attention to internal challenges and external threats. India pursued the path of development and became an economically advanced country that competes with major powers in the scientific and technological field and became advanced in the field of emerging energy and entered the nuclear club.

Song, Surfing, and Postcolonial Sustainability

2019 ◽  
pp. 295-306
Keyword(s):  
Resource Management ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Cultural Practice ◽  
High Level

This chapter begins with one cultural practice–surfing–that was developed to an extremely high level by indigenous peoples of Hawai'i over several millennia before it was appropriated by settler colonialists and exported globally. It asks what music associated with surfing reveals about the processes of colonization. Then the Polynesian Voyaging Society is presented as a case study. Originating during the Hawaiian Renaissance and the surfing community in the early 1970s, the project uses musicking as a catalyst for expressing human engagement with complex environmental and social contexts. It also provides a model for a decolonized future built on resilient, sustainable cultural and resource management.

Migrations in Late Mesoamerica

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
Christopher S. Beekman
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Change ◽  
Human Movement ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Migrant Populations ◽  
Terminal Classic ◽  
History Of ◽  
And Migration ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Political Economic

This chapter addresses recent research that identifies migration as a specific form of human movement in which social groups move into new social contexts. Migration is inherently disruptive to people’s lives, and it occurs embedded within political, economic, or social processes that make it highly context-specific. I discuss the history of theory in migration research, including recent shifts away from a concern with ethnicity in favour of communities of practice. Late Mesoamerica is a data-rich environment for the study of migration within its social context. The Classic period saw regional political systems that extended their reach economically or militarily and frequently had a demographic component. The widespread disruption of the Epiclassic or Terminal Classic periods included environmental change, political collapse, and a major reorganization of the social landscape. The Postclassic witnessed the re-emergence of complex societies claiming descent from migrant populations. The contributions to this volume come from many different disciplines and assess the timing, causes, perceptions, and impacts of migrations across a variety of social contexts. Political disruption, environmental change, and migration are frequently interrelated in ways reminiscent of our world today.

Niche Marketing Strategies for Business Growth

2014 ◽  
pp. 167-186
Author(s):  
Pradeep Kautish
Keyword(s):  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Marketing Practice ◽  
Niche Marketing ◽  
Essential Condition ◽  
Business Operations ◽  
Clear Identification ◽  
Market Niche ◽  
High Level ◽  
Political Economic

The consumer behavior is the dynamic sum total of the range of political, economic, technological, demographical, and socio-environmental influences. The art of adapting to the changing environment may sound easy to accommodate to in marketing practice, but these changes are not visible to the insensitive myopic eyes. The essential condition for a professionally managed company to grow and keep growing is not taking pride in the high level of corporate marketing management. The strategy for seizing a market niche requires an understanding of important marketing concepts and strategies based on segmentation and targeting widely propounded marketing phenomenon. Considering the market as segmented into a host of individual homogenous elements implies a clear identification of the customers of each company to survive. It is thus necessary to determine, with absolute clarity, who the customers or target audience are for the company and to then offer products and services that match their needs effectively. This may also require the development of an optimal distribution mechanism framework to ensure quality of company offerings. The present case deals with the decision dilemma of a management professional who is in the process of deciding about acquiring a niche marketing company and the case elucidates four companies with respective marketing strategies employed for business operations by them. The case provides an opportunity to compare and contrast different marketing strategies with the protagonist’s decision dilemma in light of market trends.

Utopia, Labor, and Informational Capitalism

2015 ◽  
pp. 49-68
Author(s):  
Marco Briziarelli
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
User Generated Content ◽  
Economic Approach ◽  
Informational Capitalism ◽  
The Social ◽  
Liberal Ideology ◽  
Political Economic

Through the lens of a political economic approach, I consider the question whether or not social media can promote social change. I claim that whereas media have consistently channeled technological utopia/dystopia, thus be constantly linked to aspirations and fear of social change, the answer to that question does not depend on their specific nature but on historically specific social relations in which media operate. In the case here considered, it requires examining the social relations re-producing and produced by informational capitalism. More specifically, I examine how the productive relations that support user generated content practices of Facebook users affect social media in their capability to reproduce and transform existing social contexts. Drawing on Fuchs and Sevignani's (2013) distinction between “work” and “labor” I claim that social media reflect the ambivalent nature of current capitalist mode of production: a contest in which exploitative/emancipatory as well as reproductive/transformative aspects are articulated by liberal ideology.

Bribery and Corruption

2015 ◽  
pp. 196-210
Keyword(s):  
Large Scale ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
Public Officials ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Oil Contracts ◽  
The Individual ◽  
High Level ◽  
Personal Welfare ◽  
Political Economic

Bribes are mainly directed at government officials, although they could be directed at the employees and managers of business firms. However, bribery appears to be a self-defined crime. Bribery of small public sector employees is a white-collar crime. However, bribery also exists in high-level decision-making processes, whether political, economic, or corporate situations. These are large-scale bribes, consisting of millions and/or billions of dollars, paid out to executives and public officials in return for construction contracts, oil contracts, telecommunication contracts, etc. Although punishments exist and are implemented, it is up to the individual alone to make the final decision and choose between personal moral value system and personal welfare in opposition to serving the public welfare. This chapter explores bribery.

Mediating Social Media's Ambivalences in the Context of Informational Capitalism

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marco Briziarelli ◽  
Eric Karikari
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
User Generated Content ◽  
Economic Perspective ◽  
Informational Capitalism ◽  
Liberal Ideology ◽  
Transformative Function ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
Mode Of Production

This essay explores the dialectics of media, by considering the socially reproductive and transformative function of social media from a political economic perspective. The authors claim that while media have consistently generated aspirations and fear of social change, their powerful capability of shaping societies depend on the historically specific social relations in which media operate. They engage such an argument by examining how the productive relations that support user generated content practices such as the ones of Facebook users affect social media in their capability to reproduce and transform existing social contexts. In the end, the authors maintain that the most prominent mediation of social media consists of the ambivalent nature of current capitalist mode of production: a contest in which exploitative/emancipatory as well as reproductive/transformative aspects are articulated by liberal ideology.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document