Terminology

• Hegemony


  A stratified social order in which subordinate groups internalise the ideology of the dominant group and accept the dominant ideology as natural and inevitable.
• Personhood


  A culturally constructed concept of the individual human being, the "self".
• Society


  A community of people who share a common culture.
• Holistic


  Concerning the whole rather than the parts.
• Self


  The individuals social self is the product of social interaction and not the biological preconditions of that interaction.
• Class


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


  Describes the tools that we use to assist our interaction in society.
• Religion


  A system of symbols that acts to establish understandings of existence is such a way that it is realistic to its followers.
• Cultural relativism


  Not judging a culture but trying to understand it on its own terms.
• Enculturation


  The process by which culture is learned and transmitted across the generations.
• Gender


  Refers to the learned cultural and psychological attributes.
• Structure


  An abstract concept derived from all social institutions and social relations existing in a society.
• Conflict


  Disagreements between individuals, groups, cultures or societies may result from differences in interests, values or actions.
• Achieved status


  Is acquired through talents, efforts and accomplishments, rather than ascription.
• Ritualised body


  The body may be the focus of ritual practice.
• 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.
• Politicised body


  The body becomes topic of political debate, for example, in gender related discourse.
• The self


  The 'self' is the socially constructed understanding of individual and cultural identity, that, in people's thinking, distinguishes them from the 'other'.
• Race


  A socially constructed category of identification of people based on physical characteristics, ancestry, historical affiliation, or shared culture.
• Modified body


  The human body is deliberately altered for cultural reasons or aesthetic reasons.
• Cultural capital


  Is the accumulation of knowledge, behaviours and skills that a person can tap into to demonstrate one's cultural competence and social status.
• Authority


  Power is exercised with the consent of others.
• Status


  The position a person has within a social system - this may be ascribed or achieved.
• Kinship


  The web or pattern of social relationships, which connects people through descent or marriage, although other forms of social connection may be included.
• Community


  A group of people who share a common interest, or common ecology and locality, or a common social system or structure.
• Ascribed status


  it is determined for a person at birth.
• Agency


  Is the capacity of individuals to act independently and to make their own free chocies.
• Marginalisation


  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 realisation of their productive human potential.
• Capitalism


  Is associated with a change from production for use value to production for profit value.
• Ethics


  The principles of conduct governing an individual or group; concerns for what is right or wrong, good or bad.
• The body


  The body as it differs across cultures may be viewed as an anthropological problem. Anthropologists investigate its use, value and limits.
• 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.
• Commodification


  The transformation of goods or services, as well as concepts that may normally not be considered as goods, into a commodity, something of value.