Download Chapter 18, World Problems and the Practice of Anthropology

Chapter 18
World Problems
and the Practice of Anthropology
Chapter Outline
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Applied Anthropology
Population Growth
World Hunger
Anthropologists as Advocates
Applied Anthropology: World
view
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Attention to small-scale communities
Insistence on prior detailed knowledge
Sensitivity to cultural differences
Appreciation of alternatives
Recognition of systematic complexity
Applied Anthropology
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The application of anthropological
perspectives, theory, empirical knowledge
of cultures and methods to help assess
and solve human problems.
LDC
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Lesser developed country.
Population Growth
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In the last 50 years, world population has
more than doubled.
Most population growth occurs in the
poorer countries of the world.
Overpopulation in Latin America, Africa,
and parts of Asia is resulting in ethnic and
social conflict, environmental degradation
and massive migration
Factors Limiting Family Size
in North America
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Cultural norms and social expectations
about family size
Occupational and spatial mobility
Women’s employment
Social burdens of children
Factors Encouraging Larger
Families in LDC’s
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High rates of infant mortality
Extended families
Low monetary cost of children
Women's tasks are not incompatible with
child care.
Explanations for World
Hunger
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Scarcity - hunger is caused by
overpopulation
Inequality -hunger is caused by unequal
distribution of resources
Scarcity Explanation of
Hunger
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The major cause of hunger in the LDCs is
overpopulation:
 Populations have grown so large that
available land and technology cannot
produce enough food to feed them.
Inequality Explanation of
Hunger
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The unequal distribution of resources is
largely responsible for chronic hunger on
a worldwide basis.
Technology Transfer Solution
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Applying modern scientific know-how and
technology to areas in which agriculture is
still technologically underdeveloped.
Agricultural Alternatives
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Intercropping
Traditional resource management
Indigenous Peoples
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Small scale human societies who make
their living by foraging, farming, and /or
herding, living in roughly the same region
as their ancestors, and are fairly remote
from the economic and political centers of
the countries that include their territory.
Medicinal Wisdom
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Peruvian Indians taught Europeans to use
quinine to treat malaria treatment.
Madagascar periwinkle used in folk
medicine to treat diabetes.
Medicinal Wisdom
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South American Indians used curare, a
muscle relaxant as arrow poisoning and
scientists learned of its value as a muscle
relaxant.
Ancient Greeks and north American
Indian tribes used willow bark to treat pain
and fever. This was synthesized into
aspirin.
Adaptive Wisdom
of Preindustrial Peoples
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Selecting crops that grow and yield well in
their habitat.
Controlling insect pests and diseases that
attack the plants on which they depend.
Learning how to make nature work for
them.
Quick Quiz
1. Which of the following is not a part of the
anthropological world view?
a)
b)
c)
d)
attention to small-scale communities
sensitivity to cultural differences
ideological ethnocentrism
recognition of systemic complexity
Answer: c

Ideological ethnocentrism is not a part of
the anthropological worldview.
2. Couples in North America and LDCs are
alike in that both:
a)
b)
c)
d)
wish to limit the size of their families
weigh the consequences their reproductive
decisions will have on the broader society in
which they live
make reproductive decisions in terms of their
own personal lives
wish to limit the size of families, but North
Americans use birth control to do this,
whereas couples in LDCs are too poor to use
such measures
Answer: c

Couples in North America and LDCs are
generally alike in that both make
reproductive decisions in terms of their
own personal lives.
3. Which is an example of traditional
resource management?
a)
b)
c)
d)
intercropping of corn and squash in
parts of Mexico
the planting of an export crop such as
coffee for extra cash in El Salvador
the planting of fruit trees in fallowed
fields in parts of Mexico
using birth control among peoples of
LDCs
Answer: c

The planting of fruit trees in fallowed fields
in parts of Mexico is an example of
traditional resource management.