Chapter 2 Additional Resources

Why Is the Concept of Culture Important?

Websites

  • “What is Culture? | Definition of Culture,” LiveScience
    http://www.livescience.com/21478-what-is-culture-definition-of-culture.html
    Before one can begin to examine the significance of culture, one must first understand that the term “culture” is a fluid concept that is always historically, regionally, economically, and ideologically situated. As such, vague notions of culture such as terms like “Western” need to be elaborated upon and nuanced. LiveScience does a good job of looking at a few basic cultural assemblages including the fore noted Western Culture as well as Eastern, Latin, Middle Eastern, and African cultures.
  • “Copy of Ethnocentrism and Xenocentrism,” Prezi
    http://prezi.com/sumqdww3toos/copy-of-ethnocentrism-and-xenocentrism/
    In September of 2012, Krizzia Monreal created an online, public and reusable Prezi (online presentation) comparing the differences between ethnocentricism and xenocentrism. Her presentation is brief, accurate, and easily accessible. As such, it provides students and teachers with a good foundation to begin discussing what culture is and how their perceptions of it shape their experiences within it.

Videos

ANU TV. 2013. “Human Trafficking: Firming Up Soft Power.” YouTube video, 36:27. Posted March 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0KYmdEMxjY.

This video highlights the work of Sally Engle Merry, whose writings on human rights are discussed in this chapter. In this lecture, she discusses how the notion of human rights and human rights law can be applied to the concept of human trafficking.

BBCWorldwide. 2009. “Afar Tribe: Female Circumcision—Tribal Wives—BBC.” YouTube video, 3:26. Posted January 2009, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPAVmZFgwW0.

This short video, produced by BBC, consists of interviews with women of the Afar tribe in Ethiopia. The goal is to examine why many women engage in this practice and to explore their feelings and understandings of circumcision in a non-judgemental manner.

“Dene Chief Frank T'Seleie - Mackenzie Valley pipeline/Gas Project in 1975” YouTube video, 5:46 posted Apr 5, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pohp-gYL1I0

As part of the Berger Inquiry, Chief T’Seleie gave an impassioned speech to explain the position of his community of Fort Good Hope to resist Arctic Gas’s plans to change their traditional way of life. Notice the language that he is using in his characterizing of First Nations/Canada relations.

“Franz Boas—The Shackles of Tradition.” 2009. YouTube video, 52:20. Posted December 2009 by “ayabaya,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOvFDioPrMM.

This film documents some of the major contributions of anthropologist Franz Boas, featured in this chapter. Particular emphasis is placed upon his role in highlighting the importance of fieldwork to emphasize cultural relativism (among other things).

Hoffman, Barbara G. 2002. Womanhood and Circumcision: Three Maasai Women Have Their Say. Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Media LLC. DVD, 29 min.

In this ethnographic film, three Maasai women discuss their perceptions of and attitudes toward the practice of female circumcision from the perspectives of their positionality as women and as members of the Maasai ethnic group.

Murray, Roger. 2006. “The Cree of James Bay” YouTube video, 52:07 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IpzaS6VcjI

This film documents the impact that the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement (1975) had on the Cree in their role with the Hydro-Quebec project, detailing immediate as well as longer term changes in their communities.

Books and Articles

Auger, Monique D. 2016. Cultural Continuity as a Determinant of Indigenous Peoples' Health: A Metasynthesis of Qualitative Research in Canada and the United States. The International Indigenous Policy Journal 7 (4):1-24.

In her synthesis of quantitative and qualitative studies into the impacts of cultural retention on Indigenous health, Auger notes that key impacts are: better health and wellness, greater cultural connectedness and continuity and reductions in community toxicity and rejection. The underlying theme of continuity is of particular importance for building Indigenous identity and should inform community based/culturally responsive research.

Bennett, T. W. 1993. “Human Rights and the African Cultural Tradition. “ Transformation 22: 30–40.

At the time of this article’s writing, the author argued that few African countries favoured human rights. Some attributed this situation to unstable political conditions across Africa, while others connected it to African countries’ favouring national economic development over individual rights and freedoms. At least some Africans perceived human rights as an attempt by Westerners to impose their will on newly freed colonies. These issues are examined by focusing on the South African government and the African National Congress at a time when apartheid was still the law of the land.

Boddy, Janice. 1982. “Womb as Oasis: The Symbolic Context of Pharaonic Circumcision in rural Northern Sudan.” American Ethnologist 9(4): 682–698.

Based upon her ethnographic fieldwork in Hofriyat, Sudan, Canadian anthropologist Janice Boddy discusses why pharaonic circumcision persists despite attempts by development organizations, medical officials, and others to eradicate it.

Borden, Lisa Lunney. 2011. The 'Verbification' of Mathematics: Using the Grammatical Structures of Mi'kmaq to Support Student Learning. For the Learning of Mathematics 31 (3):8-13.

Like most Indigenous languages in Canada, Mi'kmaw is verb-based so Borden has brought 'verbification' to English language instruction and a way to grapple with the disengagement of math and science among Indigenous students. This approach has required more action-oriented teaching exercises as well as helping students to work out problems using traditional language concepts.

Brown, Michael F. 2008. “Cultural Relativism 2.0.” Current Anthropology 49: 363–383.

Brown notes that most anthropologists still agree with the concept of cultural relativism but not to the extent as first formulated by Franz Boas and his students. Cultural relativism has narrowed in scope over the last century. One of the major factors influencing the modern attitude toward cultural relativism is growing support for human rights. The author contrasts the ambivalent attitude some anthropologists show toward cultural relativism with attacks on the concept in professional and religious circles.

Coombe, Rosemary. 2010. “Honing a Critical Cultural Studies of Human Rights.” Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies 7 (3): 230–246.

Canadian anthropologist Rosemary Coombe explores the concept of human rights from an anthropological and cross-cultural perspective.

Dunk, Thomas. 2000. “National Culture, Political Economy and Socio-Cultural Anthropology in English Canada.” Anthropologica 42: 131–45.

In this article, Canadian anthropologist Thomas Dunk explores some of the unique features of cultural anthropology (sometimes also referred to as “social” or “socio-cultural” anthropology) as it developed within Anglo-Canadian culture. He traces the influences of both British and American anthropological traditions upon the field and looks at some of the key defining traits of the discipline (in terms of theory and topics of study).

Eriksen, Thomas Hylland. 2010. “The Challenges of Anthropology.” International Journal of Pluralism and Economics Education 1: 194–202.

Eriksen contends that anthropology applies to all human societies, not just the small-scale societies. Anthropology should be viewed as complementary to psychology, economics, and similar fields. The author seeks to justify the existence of anthropology—as well as the importance of what anthropologists study—to a broader audience. He addresses how anthropology is well suited to examining contact between different cultures and recognition of the importance of cultural variation.

Good, Colleen. 2010. “Human Rights and Relativism.” Macalester Journal of Philosophy 19: 27–52.

The author begins by pointing out that the concept of human rights has a long history among Westerners and that, by definition, human rights should be seen as universally applicable. Some have argued that human rights needed to be examined in the context of local cultures and, therefore, universal application should not be assumed. Good examines two perspectives with respect to relativism and human rights: human rights are universal; or human rights are relative.

Hammond, Ross A., and Robert Axelrod. 2006. “The Evolution of Ethnocentrism.” The Journal of Conflict Resolution 50: 926–936.

The authors begin by noting that ethnocentrism is a near universal behaviour that favours members within a group. Ethnocentrism usually involves discriminatory attitudes and behaviours for people outside the favoured group members. One’s own group is usually seen as virtuous and superior while members of other groups are inferior. Hammond and Axelrod consider how ethnocentric behaviours might have developed, emphasizing that ethnocentrism encourages cooperation within a group.

Hayday, Matthew. 2010. Fireworks, Folk-dancing, and Fostering a National Identity: The Politics of Canada Day. The Canadian Historical Review 91 (2):287-314.

Overview of the emergence of Canadian identity through the creation of national holidays and practices with a growing understanding of the impacts of colonialism and provincial identity. Hayday demonstrates that many of the ‘traditions’ are of very recent origin but still have a large impact on the broader sense of what it means to be Canadian.

Lassiter, Luke Eric. 2004. “Collaborative Ethnography.” AnthroNotes 25 (1): 1–9.

Lassiter first defines what traditional ethnographies are. He notes that ethnographies are a particular literary form that involves a distinctive form of fieldwork, one that includes direct participation. Traditional ethnographers attempt to maintain something of a distance from their subjects of study, in order to maintain a “scientific” perspective. Collaborative ethnographers, by contrast, partly out of ethical concerns for the people they study, work directly with their informants to create an ethnography.

Nurse, Andrew. 2007. “Marius Barbeau and the Methodology of Salvage Ethnography in Canada, 1911–51.” In Historicizing Canadian Anthropology, edited by Julia Harrison and Regna Darnell. Vancouver: UBC Press.

Nurse discusses the tradition of “salvage anthropology” within Canadian anthropology in the first half of the twentieth century. As discussed in Chapter 2 (see pages 38–39), this tradition sought to “salvage” or preserve the traditions, oral histories, and material culture of First Nations’ peoples before they became “extinct.” Such traditions, however, did not take into consideration the fluid nature of culture and the fact that all cultures change over time.

Shell-Duncan, Bettina. 2008. “From Health to Human Rights: Female Genital Cutting and the Politics of Intervention.” American Anthropologist 110: 225–236.

Shell-Duncan discusses the international effort intended to get rid of the practice of female genital cutting. This effort has emphasized a human rights framework to support active intervention to stop the practice, rather than a health framework. The author critically examines this practice and asks some important questions; notably, what are the ramifications of seeing female genital cutting as a human rights violation? This and other questions are addressed in an attempt to develop strategies that both protect women and respect the cultures of which they are a part.

Speed, Shannon. 2006. “At the Crossroads of Human Rights and Anthropology: Toward a Critically Engaged Activist Research.” American Anthropologist 108: 66–76.

The author uses her experience in Chiapas, Mexico to consider how anthropologists engage with human rights today. She argues that anthropological research should be activist in orientation, not only because this orientation is necessary but because it is productive. Speed sees an activist approach as not something that should be avoided, but rather confronted in anthropological research on human rights.

Tomasello, Michael. 1999. “The Human Adaptation for Culture.” Annual Review of Anthropology 28: 509–529.

Tomasello argues that humans share a biological adaptation to culture that is not seen among other primates. While other primates do have some capacity for culture, the extent to which humans rely on and develop their culture is unique. Human cultural traditions have lengthy histories and rely on unique cognitive skills, including the creation and use of symbols, tools, complex technologies, and complex social organizations.

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