The Tapestry of Culture

Maxine Weisgrau is adjunct associate professor of anthropology at Columbia University. Abraham Rosman was professor emeritus of anthropology at Barnard College, Columbia University. Paula G. Rubel was professor emerita of anthropology at Barnard College, Columbia University.

Detailed Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
About the Authors
1 Anthropological Perspectives

Learning Objectives

Studying Culture: Assumptions and Debates

Human Evolution and Culture: The Emergence of Anatomically Modern Humans

Upright Walking and Bipedalism: Cultural Implications of Evolutionary Change

Meat Eating: Raw and Cooked

Cultural Universals: What characteristics do all humans share?

Cultural Rules and Norms

Society

Social Structure

Analyzing and Writing about Culture: A Brief History of Anthropological Approaches

Cultural Evolutionary Theory

Franz Boas and Cultural Relativism

Functionalism

Structuralism

Symbolic Anthropology

Focus on History in Anthropology

Feminist Anthropology: “Male” and “Female” in Theory and Practice

Postmodernism in Anthropology

Fieldwork and Ethnography in the 21st Century

Globalization as an Anthropological Issue

The Anthropocene

The Material World and Culture: Environmental Anthropologies

Political Ecology: Ecosystems and Inequalities

The fieldwork journey

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites
2 Anthropological Methods

Learning Objectives

Fieldwork

Anthropology Moves to the Study of Complex Societies

Studying Rituals Across Time and Space: The Comparative Approach

American White Wedding Gowns and Rituals

White Wedding Gowns and Rituals: A Brief History

Wedding Ritual Variation: Marriage Equality and an American Wedding

The Comparative Approach

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites

3Language and Culture

Learning Objectives

The Evolution of Spoken Language Capacity

The Structure of Language

Phoemic Structure

Morphemic Structure

Syntax and Grammar

Linguistic Relativity

Linguistic Universals

Language, Cognition, and Understanding

Ethnosemantics

Sociolinguistics

Gender and Speech

African-American Vernacular English

Language Change and Historical Linguistics

Contact Languages: Pidgins and Creoles

Language Imperialism

Language Loss and Revitalization

Language, Power, and Policy

World Englishes and the Spread of English

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites

4 Learning Who We Are: Culture and The Individual

Learning Objectives

Parenting and Alloparenting

Fathers as Caregivers

Migrating Parents and Global Labor Markets

What is Human Nature? Nature, Nurture and Beyond the Dichotomy

How Children Learn to Communicate

Learning Cultural Norms

Nonverbal Communications

Learning Gender Roles

Culture and Personality

Social Status and Personality

Rebels and Innovators

Emotional Expression and Cultural Norms

Culture and Mental Illness

Cross-Cultural Study of Mental Illness and Wellness: 21st Century Challenges

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites

5 Symbols and Their Meanings

Learning Objectives

Categories of Symbols

The Symbolism of Food

Social Groups, Social Categories, and Their Symbols

Symbolic Meanings of Space

Body Symbolism

Symbolism of Body Decoration

The Symbolism of Sports

Universal Symbols

Symbols, Politics, and Authority

Public Memorials and Monuments: Creating and Contesting Symbols of History

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites

6 Ties That Connect: Marriage, Family, and Kinship

Learning Objectives

Marriage

Marriage Prohibitions

Exogamy and Endogamy

Sister Exchanges

Marriage Payments

Bride Service

Number of Spouses

Levirate and Sororate

Dissolution of Marriage

Postmarital Residence

Descent Systems

Patrilineal Descent and Matrilineal Descent

Unilineal Descent Groups: Their Structures and Function

Clans

Lineages

Moieties

Kindreds

Relations Between Groups through Marriage

Kinship Terminology Systems

Fictive Kinship

Kinship in the Contemporary World

The Transnational Family

Kinship in America Today

Varieties of American Families

Kinship, Class, and Ethnicity

Marriage, Migration, and State Policy

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites
7 Gender, Sexualities, and Age

Learning Objectives

Theorizing Gender and Sexuality

Sexuality and Identities

Identities and Political Participation

Reproduction and Culture

Work and Gender

Gender and the Care Economy

Gender and Industrialization

Categories Based on Age

Age Grades and Age Sets

Aging, Retirement, and Care

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites
8 Economic Organization: Production, Distribution, and Consumption

Learning Objectives

Production

Hunting and Gathering

Contemporary Hunters and Gatherers

The Introduction of Agriculture

Horticulture

Grain Production

Agriculture in Today’s World

Animal Domestication and Pastoralism

Nomadic Pastoralism in Today’s World

The Organization of Work

The Organization of Work in Contemporary Societies

Distribution

Distribution in Egalitarian Societies

Systems of Exchange in Societies with Flexible Rank

Systems of Exchange with Fixed Rank

Caste in India

Barter

The Market System

The Market Economy and Globalization

Consumption

The Changing Nature of Consumption

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites
9 Power, Politics, and Conflict

Learning Objectives

Concepts in Political Anthropology

Forms of Political Organization

Informal Leadership

Band Organization

Big Man Structure

Chieftainship

The State

War and Peace

The Anthropology of Violence

Law and Social Control

Law in Postcolonial States

Nation Building in Postcolonial States

Empowerment

Politics in Contemporary States

Factionalism

Warlords

Patron-Client Relationship

Political Economy

Political Resistance and Globalization

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites
10 Belief Systems, Rituals, and the Spirit World

Learning Objectives

Religion Studied/ Religion Defined?

Ritual: Approaching the Supernatural

Rites of Passage

Rites of Passage in American Culture

Rites of Intensification: Practice and Politics

Stories about the Supernatural World

Analyzing Myths: Historical and Contemporary Views

American Myths, Legends, and Folktales

Religion, History, and Science

Conceptualizing the Supernatural

Religious Specialists

Religious Syncretism: Religions and Their Adaptations to Change

Cyberspace and Religion

Politics, Religion, and States

Why Religion?

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites
11Places and Spaces of Creative Expression

Learning Objectives

Art as Communication, Experience, and Resistance

Art and Artists

Performance and Creativity

Music

Dance

Urban Legend: Stories on the Internet

Cinema and Global Flows

America Films, American Myths, and Legends

Collection and Displays: Conflicts and Reconciliation

The International Art World Today: Creating Value and Cost

The Internet and Social Media: Anthropological Perspectives

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites
12Global Health and Wellness

COVID-19, Public Health Policy, and Inequalities

Disease and Health

How to Study Global Theories of Knowledge

Case Study: Guinea Worm Eradication in Rajasthan, India

Contrast and Dispute Over Streategy

Health and Human Capital

Confronting Inequality: UN Sustainable Development Goals

Health and Education

Health Inequalities and Disparities Within Countries

Food Security and Nutrition

Focus on Women’s Health

Child Mortality

Case Study: South Africa

Valuing Toilets: Sanitation/Gender/Health

Climate Change and Health

Psychological and Mental Well Being

Community Health Worker Intervention Initiatives and Program Evaluation

Case study: Thinking Healthy Program in Pakistan--Mobilizing Volunteer Peers

Conflict Zones/Migration/Health

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites
13Living/Working in the Globalized World: Colonialism, Globalization, and Development

Colonialism, Globalization, and Anthropology

Globalization, Production, and Consumption

The Historic Background to Globalization: Many Faces of Colonial Rule

New Ireland: A History of Increasing Incorporation into the Global System

Development History and Strategies

Anthropology and Change

Ethnography and Development

People on the Move

Internal Migration

Diasporas

Migration and Transnationalism

Transnational Families: Marriage, Partner, and Family Migration

Feminization of Migration: Globalized Care and Service Economies

“Movers” and “Non-Movers”: Ethnography Perspectives

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites
14States and Identities: Ethnicity, Race, and Nationalism

Racism and Critical Race Theory

Nation Building

Cultural Identity: Reasserted and Transformed in Modern States

Revitalization Movements

Cargo Cults

Rebuilding Cultural Identities

Ethnogenesis

Ethnonationalism

Multiculturalism

Ethnic Differences, Ethnic Violence, and the New Nation of Afghanistan

European Immigration and Multiculturalism in the United States

Culture Unassimilated, Reiterated, and Renewed in America

African-Americans and African Heritage

Diversity in America: Challenges and Debates

Summary

Key Terms

Suggested Readings

Suggested Websites
Epilogue
Glossary
References
Index