Showing papers in "Annual Review of Anthropology in 1992"

Think Practically and Look Locally: Language and Gender as Community-Based Practice

Abstract: How do gender and language interact? For the past 20 years or so, linguists, anthropologists, psychologists, sociologists, and feminist thinkers have explored many aspects of this question. There are now dozens of books and hundreds of course offerings on gender and language (14, 20, 41, 60, 67, 92, 98, 99), specialized articles are found in many journals and collections (15, 21, 59, 78, 87, 90, 109, 110, 115), and review articles continue to appear (8, 32, 47, 74, 76, 89). Topics treated include sexist, heterosexist, and racist language; interruptions; graffiti and street remarks; names and forms of address; politeness; tag questions; directives; motherese; children's talk during play; schoolroom discourse; bilingualism and language contact; metaphors; shifts in word meanings; the language of science, religion, and war; silence and volubility; intonation; emotional expressiveness; religious and political rhetoric; sociolinguistic variation; and language change. This list is far from comprehensive but its scatter suggests an absence of theoretical coherence in language and gender studies. Partial integration of the range of linguistic phenomena that seem sensitive to gender is sometimes attempted by trying to explain them all in terms of a

The Cultural Anthropology of Time: A Critical Essay

Abstract: Writing a review of the cultural anthropology of time is something like reading Borges's (19a) infinite "Book of Sand": as one opens this book, pages keep growing from it-it has no beginning or end. Borges's book could be taken as the spa ce of time: A page once seen is never seen again, and the book's harried possessors keep trying to escape its "monstrous" self-production by surrepti­ tiously selling or losing it. The diffuse, endlessly multiplying studies of sociocultural time reflect time's pervasiveness as an inescapable dimension of all aspects of social experience and practice. This apparently "infinite complexity" (1:200) seems

Social Anthropology of Technology

Abstract: At the onset of the 20th century, anthropologists such as Balfour, Marett, and Haddon could readily identify three spheres of strength in anthropological research: material culture, social organization, and physical anthropology (49). The study of technology and material culture, however, was about to be jettisoned, and with stunning finality. By 1914, Wissler (103:447) complained that the study of these subjects "has been quite out of fashion." Researchers were giving their attention to "language, art, ceremonies, and social organiza­ tion" in place of the former almost obsessive concentration on the minute description of techniques and artifacts, and on the tendency to study artifacts without rcgard for their social and cultural context. As I aim to show in this chapter, the anthropological study of technology and material culture is poised, finally, for a comeback, if in a different guise. Its findings may signifi­ cantly alter the way anthropologists analyze everyday life, cultural reproduc­ tion, and human evolution. If this all-but-forgotten field is to play such a role, it must overcome nearly a century of peripheral status. In anthropology's quest for professionalism, material-culture studies came to stand for all that was academically embarrass­ ing: extreme and conjectural forms of diffusionist and evolutionist explana­ tion, armchair anthropology, "field work" undertaken by amateurs on collecting holidays, and the simplistic interpretation of artifacts shorn of their social and cultural context. Malinowski, for instance, condemned the "purely technological enthusiasms" of material culture ethnologists and adopted an "intransigent position" that the study of "technology alone" is "scientifically sterile" (69:460). The study of technology and material culture, a topic that

Mobility/Sedentism: Concepts, Archaeological Measures, and Effects

Abstract: There is hardly a more romantic image in anthropology than that of a small band of hunter-gatherers setting off into the bush, their few belongings on their backs. Mobility, in fact, has long been considered a defining characteristic of hunter-gatherers. At the Man the Hunter conference, for example, Lee & DeVore (101:1 1) assumed that all hunter-gatherers "move around a lot." This is not entirely accurate, for many hunter-gatherers move infrequently-some less than many "sedentary" horticultural societies. Early concepts of mobility blinded us to the fact that mobility is universal, variable, and multi-dimensional. Partly because of these concepts, and partly because we do not understand the relationships between movement and material culture, archaeologists have had difficulty identifying different forms and levels of mobility. This is especially true in defining and then detecting sedentism. It is important that we learn to recognize the various forms of mobility archaeologically, because the ways people move exert strong influences on their culture and society. In his classic study, Mauss (105), for example, related the Inuit's seasonal mobility to their moral and religious life. Sahlins (136) saw mobility as conditioning cultural attitudes towards material goods. Currently, archaeologists focus attention on the sedentarization process because reduced mobility precipitates dramatic changes in food storage, trade, territoriality, social and gender inequality, male/female work patterns, subsis-

The Caribbean Region: An Open Frontier in Anthropological Theory

Abstract: The encounter between anthropological theory and any region of the globe says as much about anthropology as it does about that region. Caribbean anthropology is a case in point. This region where boundaries are notoriously fuzzy has long been the open frontier of cultural anthropology: neither center nor periphery, but a sort of no man's land where pioneers get lost, where some stop overnight on their way to greater opportunities, and where yet others manage to create their own "new" world amidst First-World indifference. Accordingly, the object of this essay is dual: I write here about the Caribbean as viewed by anthropologists, but also about anthropology as viewed from the Caribbean. The review dwells on the coincidence between some zones of weakness in anthropological theory and areas of concern for Caribbeanists. I claim neither exhaustiveness nor statistical representativeness in dealing with the literature, and my boundaries are both arbitrary and fuzzy. I emphasize a present that encompasses most of the last 20 years, but my framework-not to mention the absence of any Caribbean focus in previous issues of this seriesjustifies forays into more distant pasts. I concentrate on works available in English, which happens to be the predominant language of Caribbean ethnology; but this emphasis here is no less arbitrary. More importantly, since I am addressing outsiders and insiders alike, I flatten some rough edges and over-

Anthropology, Law and Transnational Processes

Abstract: ed, and disembodied one that was written (159, 160, 162). One of the recurring themes in the expansion of European colonial control through law was the surveillance exerted over sexual relationships (65). Mixed-union children challenged the boundaries drawn between colonizer and colonized and were frequently discouraged by anti-miscegenation laws (249). In order to control a subordinate group, it was essential to control women as well. Indeed, fear of sexual assault on the women of the dominant group by subordinated men was often mobilized to restrict the activities of these women and to justify policing the men (36, 98, 249). The judicial/policing apparatus was therefore a critical institution for constructing and maintaining the boundary between the colonial overlords and their subjects and was used to control sexuality and its disruptive influences. As Cooper & Stoler point out, imperial thinkers were preoccupied with the relations between subversion and sex (65:614). One contemporary manifestation of neo-colonialism is tourism, in which formerly colonial nationals reconstitute their formerly colonized subjects as "primitive" or "exotic" objects of investigation (165). The tourist's gaze constructs a world that the tourist imagines (262). This is a transnational phenomenon of increasing significance economically, culturally, and legally. The This content downloaded from 207.46.13.159 on Sun, 23 Oct 2016 05:01:04 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Primate Limb Bone Structural Adaptations

Abstract: Despite growth in other areas of biological anthropology, osteology, or skeletal biology, remains a dominant subfield in the discipline (50). Although the reasons for this are partly historical (6), continuing interest in describing and interpreting skeletal features is fueled by a practical consideration: For most extinct vertebrates, the skeleton is the only biological system preserved for study. Thus, evolutionary studies will always rely to a large extent on skeletal (including dental) material. This is particularly true for reconstructions of the past biological and behavioral characteristics of a species or individual; while molecular evidence from extant species provides complementary information on possible phylogenetic relationships, it is only through study of the fossils (bones and teeth) themselves that we are able to address such important issues as diet, body size, and locomotor/positional behavior. A functionally oriented rather than descriptive/statistical approach to skeletal morphological variation has many advantages, including much greater explanatory potential (e.g. see 6). Biomechanics, the application of mechanics theory to biological systems, has proven fruitful in addressing several longstanding form/function issues-for example, the significance of variation in mandibular form among early hominids (16, 35) or of limb bone robusticity among extant and extinct anthropoids (42,44,64,65,73). Important to such an analysis is the identification of an appropriate mechanical model for the biological system under study. For example, it has been shown that the human lower limb during gait (walking) can be modeled reasonably accurately by a simple pendulum (55:198-203). This basic concept has been applied to esti-

Prehistoric Arthritis in the Americas

Abstract: Arthritic conditions are among the most commonplace diseases affecting humans, not only today, but in the past as well. Although arthritis means literally "inflammation of the joints," the term is used to encompass an array of conditions affecting the joints, many of which do not involve inflammation. Perhaps the most familiar of these conditions is osteoarthritis (OA) or degenerative joint disease (DJD), caused by what is sometimes described as "wear and tear" on the joints (82). Because of the role that activities play in the etiology of OA, it is often used as an indicator of activity levels in prehistoric societies, or of the prevalence of specific activities (e.g. spear-throwing). Here I focus on osteoarthritis in prehistoric Amerindians and on what may be inferred from its prevalence about differences in the level and type of activities in these groups. With respect to several other forms of arthritis

Origins and spread of pastoralism in africa

Abstract: The antiquity of African pastoralism is no longer in dispute. We now have information about more than the broad outlines of the origins and spread of herding societies in the continent. Several regional studies, when combined, allow a coherent picture of the wider scope of pastoral adaptation. We start with a basic ecological model of adaptation to the grassland environments of Africa, against which we then can understand the socio-political relationships between the different groups that can be identified in the archaeological record. None of this means that we have worked out the whole picture. As will be seen in the ensuing narrative, fundamental theoretical disagreements remain-for example, about what constitutes a "domesticated" animal, or with respect to the problems of understanding the transition from hunting to food production; and these indicate the need for more data. Pastoral archaeology in Africa is currently a growth area, and it is to be hoped that this article will encourage entry both into the arguments and into research efforts to fill gaps in our knowledge.

Advances in Anthropological Morphometrics

Abstract: The past two decades have witnessed explosive development of morphometric theory and method and novel application of these techniques to biological data sets. Since a thorough review of developments in morphometric methods has recently been provided by Rohlf (5), we limit the review portion of this paper to a brief evaluation of methods we find important to anthropological morphometrics. Our choice of focus is prejudiced by our research orientations and experience, highlighting methods for analyzing three-dimensional landmark

Applications of Evolutionary Culture Theory

Abstract: Evolutionary culture theory (ECT) is a growing corpus of principles and arguments that attempt to explain the "descent with modification" of human cultural systems. Although it encompasses diverse viewpoints (see compari­ sons in 24:158-66; 52; 53:Ch. 4), ECT is united by three underlying proposi­ tions: (a) that the socially transmitted information systems we call "cultures" provide human populations with an important second source of heritable vari­ ation; (b) that these cultural systems are historically interrelated by a branch­ ing, hierarchical pattern of descent; and (c) that this "cultural phylogeny" is itself a product of two basic kinds of processes-transformation (that is, se­ quential change within any given culture) and diversification (the branching of one culture into two or more descendants). It bears emphasizing that evolu­ tionary culture theory differs substantially from earlier views of cultural evolu­ tion (such as those of classical evolutionary anthropology, neoevolutionism, and sociobiology; see 52) and that it refers not to any one position or line of argument today, but rather to the diverse collection of efforts to elucidate the patterns and processes of descent with modification in cultures. 331

Coming of Age in Birmingham: Cultural Studies and Conceptions of Subjectivity

Abstract: In the past, anthropological discussions that gave central place to socialization did so on the assumption that socialization provided the social glue, the sources of continuity and uniformity of shared culture across generations. But theoretical conceptions of social formations have undergone deep transformations, emphasizing their historical, changing, conflictual, and partial character. Unitary accounts of "the person" have also become deeply problematic. Nonetheless, questions about how subjectivities are forged and about how persons emerge and change through engagement in social practice, in particular historical epochs and in particular social formations, still need to be addressed. It seems worth trying to explore these questions in the light of a theory of social practice. Such a theory assumes that in order to comprehend either subjects or social orders one must begin with the relations between them. This project might be thought of as the investigation of the "creation of the historical person in historical process" (6; see also 28, 103). A theory of social practice should be able to account for the varied, problematic, partial, and unintentional production of persons through historical and biographical time, in a multiplicity of identities constructed and reconstructed through participation in social practice. Work from the Centre for Contemporary Cultural

Ethnographic Writing about American Culture

Abstract: Anthropologists have done more research in the United States in the last dozen years than in the entire previous history of the discipline-far more, perhaps twice as much. Some reasons for this boom may be paradigmatic: heightened interdisciplinarity and genre-blurring all through the social sciences and humanities, postcolonial critiques of First-World/Third-World distinctions foundational to an older anthropology, new forms of older concerns about relevance and application. At least as important, however, are more down-to-earth disciplinary pragmatics: growing numbers of anthropologists in a period of declining transnational access and funding. Anthropologists worked "at home" in the past, of course, and by 1980, a considerable body of work had slowly accumulated.2 The pace has tremen

Taking Stock of Quantitative Archaeology

Abstract: it is still not user friendly in practical terms; the archaeologist with an interest in tangible results will have to look elsewhere. One of the points debated by Hodson (49) and Spaulding (97) in Essays on Archaeological Typology, centered on the kinds of variables that should be used. Hodson held that no special priority should be given to variables of any one kind: that is, variables on an interval, ratio, ordinal, or nominal scale could all be used for purposes of analysis. Spaulding, on the other hand, maintained that nominal variables should have a privileged position. An example of a nominal scale would be color, where the variable takes a discrete, qualitative value such as red or brown. Clearly, if one intends to use contingency tables, the move made by Spaulding is a positive one, since it enables one to avoid the awkward and often arbitrary step of having to split a continuous variable into two or more discrete state values. Recall that from the start Spaulding objected to the arbitrary character of traditional approaches to typology (93). Thus the last thing Spaulding wants is for his own method to be vulnerable to the same criticism. In Essays on Archaeological Typology he makes a substantive argument-rather than a strictly technical one-for nominal variables. They are fundamentally important in his view, "because of the close connection between nominal variables and cultural patterning of human behavior." Others may argue the truth of this proposition. Of interest here are its implications for quantitative analysis in archaeology. In effect, this strong assumption, by stressing the qualitative aspect of objects, places the study of variability in a straitjacket. For example, in the case of a ceramic assemblage, it rules against the study of variability between vessels in terms of their sizes and shapes, as measured respectively along interval and ratio scales. At the same time, the stress here on nominal variables sets up a fundamental tension between two competing rationales-a qualitative one for the choice of variables and a quantitative one for manipulating the cell counts in the contingency tables. This content downloaded from 157.55.39.17 on Wed, 31 Aug 2016 04:18:41 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms