Midterm Study Guide
SA 101-4
1
This handout will help you assess whether you are understanding anthropological concepts and
theories in your textbook and picking up the important ideas in the ethnography Healing
Elements. This is a rich and complex study, focusing on specific examples in developing an
anthropological analysis of the social context. If the questions below bring-to-mind some parts
of discussions in the ethnography, then you are on track. If these questions seem to come out of
nowhere and are confusing, then you need to go back to the ethnography. These questions give
you an idea of the sorts of things you are expected to be able to talk about and write about.
Anthropological research
• What is culture?
• What are the guiding principles of cultural anthropological research? What kinds of
contributions does this approach to understanding make?
• What are examples of applied anthropological work in your readings?
• What distinguishes applied anthropological research and ethnographic anthropology?
• Identify features of Craig’s research and analysis that illustrate what you have learned
so far about the anthropological perspective and approach to analysis (holistic, cultural
relativism, reflexivity, positionality, comparative etc.)
• In what ways does Craig employ a holistic ethnographic approach? Outline and
exemplify with specific examples Craig’s holistic approach.
• Are there any descriptions of Amchi practices or client behaviour that made you
uncomfortable? Which explanations from Craig helped you understand them from a
cultural relativist perspective?
• Consider potential sources of bias in Craig’s analysis.
Anthropological theoretical perspectives
• In what historical political context did Unilinear Evolutionary Theory emerge? How
were differences understood by these 19th century theorists? Explain why this approach
was ethnocentric.
• What are some key differences between a British Functionalist Perspective and an
Interpretive approach?
• What was the Feminist critique of anthropology about?
• What are some important anthropological sensibilities that emerge with post
modernism?
• In what ways is Craig applying a political economist approach to understanding Amchi
practices?
• What aspect of Craig’s ethnography reflect a political ecological perspective?
Midterm Study Guide
SA 101-4
2
Social Ecologies
• Compare the different contexts for Tibetan medicinal practices in Mustang, Nepal and at
Arura in Xining, China.
• Describe the ways Craig shows that “standardization regulations” are cultural.
• Describe the ways that Craig shows how different social ecologies lead to different
perspectives on what makes a good doctor.
Internalizing of modernist logics
• Why does Craig explore attitudes towards Tibetan medicine and practitioners as a form
of symbolic violence?
• Why are binary oppositions like global/local and modern/traditional problematized by
Craig?
• In what ways does Craig show the way the global exists inside the local? How does this
challenge distinctions between “traditional and modern”?
The cultural shaping of healing efficacy
• In what ways might a group’s religious beliefs impact their ideas about the causes,
diagnosis, and treatment of disease?
• Why does Craig discuss efficacy as a cultural construction?
• What role do Amchi play in their community in rural mountain villages in Nepal?
• What can we learn about the social worlds of Amchi practitioners by paying attention to
social ecologies?
• Why does Craig include ideas of efficacy in her anthropological analysis?
Anthropological Concepts and Theories
Culture
Cultural Relativism (or
relativistic)
Ethnocentrism
Holism/Holistic Analysis
Comparative Analysis
Anthropological Perspective
Global/local interactions
Emic analysis
Etic analysis
Functionalism
British Structural-
Functionalism
French Structuralism
Binary Opposition
Unilinear Evolutionary
Theory
Historical Particularism
Structuralism
Cultural Materialism
Postmodern Anthropology
Political Ecology
Political Economy
Feminist Anthropology
Interpretive Anthropology
Glocalization
Reflexivity/reflexive
Enculturated values
Acculturated values
Bias
Cultural Construction
Midterm Study Guide
SA 101-4