...American Economics and Death in Japan Jacob K. Donlan ANT 101: Cultural Anthropology Instructor James Turner September 7, 2015 Introduction This paper will show an overview of the American economic system today from an etic (outsider’s) point of view as well as examine how the Japanese culture treats death from an introspective view to show readers how areas where they may already have an opinion on can be seen from other perspectives. In Part I, readers will be shown from an etic perspective how Americans have, over time, developed an addiction to indebtedness and live in abundance on credit, not caring of growing deficits and interest burdens. In his 2013 book, “Cultural Anthropology,” Crapo describes an etic analysis as “an outsider’s or observer’s allegedly “objective” account.” In Part II, the Japanese culture surrounding death will be described as how an insider would understand it. Crap described an emic analysis as “an insider’s or native’s meaningful account.” (Ch. 1.1). For various cultures around the world to truly understand and empathize with one another, it is important to be able to see things from each other’s perspective. Being able to understand an issue in America as an outsider would see it, and likewise to look at something that might seem strange to us as an insider would will help us grow beyond our preconceived notions and ignorance. Part I This...
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...There are many rites of passage during a human life leading up to the final rite of passage, which is death. Funeral and death rites are used to mark the passing of a loved one and to help the living cope with and understand the departure of that loved one. These rituals are very different from one culture and society to the next. In the United States, funerals and death rites are usually one day affairs with no further rites practiced. In Japan, funeral rites are much more ritualized and not only deal with death, they also deal with life after death. The lack of funeral and death rites in contemporary Western society can lead to disenfranchised grief as they may be insufficient in helping people cope with the loss of a loved one. Japanese culture marks aging with milestone birthdays that are celebrated to map the progression of aging to the final destination of death. In this paper I will be examining funeral and death rites and if they adequately help with the grieving process and the acceptance of death. I will be examining the funeral and death rites in the United States from an etic perspective and contrasting this examination with an emic perspective of the same rituals as they are practiced in Japan, to show that my cultures rituals are lacking in the tools to deal with grief and acceptance of death. I will be examining funeral and death rites in my own culture from an etic perspective. In order to do this I will have to step outside my culture and my belief system...
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...WGU GLT1 Behavioral Science Survey and Issues in Behavioral Science - Complete Course All 4 Tasks http://www.homeworkminutes.com/answer/view/40114 If You Face Any Problem E- Mail Us At JohnMate1122@gmail.com WGU GLT1 Task 1 Two examples of native non-western cultures that have been impacted by globalization are Japan and China. In 1971 the first McDonalds was introduced to Japanese culture. Japanese culture places a lot of importance on food and traditions. One of those traditions is Obentos. The practice of Obentos includes meals being made by mothers for their children in a precise way. These carefully thought out healthy meals were meant to sustain children throughout the day and give them quality nutrition so that they could focus on their studies. The precise way the meal was made was also meant to mirror the role of a Japanese citizen. The introduction of fast food has not only had an impact on Obentos, it has also impacted obesity in Japan. Obesity rates have risen from 3% prior to the introduction of fast food, to 10% currently. Japan now has the second largest amount of McDonald’s franchises in the world, after the USA. WGU GLT1 Task 2 Drug or substance abuse is a socially significant problem in the United States that affects us all. Drug abuse can significantly impact families and communities. Thirty one percent of America's homeless suffer from drug abuse or alcoholism. As many as sixty percent of adults in Federal prisons are there...
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...Informal Fictive Kinship in Japan: A Summary of Argument This essay will review the use of informal kinship within Japanese culture, as explored by Edward Norbeck and Harumi Befu. Through careful examination I shall analyze the central arguments as presented by Norbeck and Befu, the evidence used to support these arguments, how the evidence and argument complement one another, and the previous training and experience had by the authors that allows them to write a successful article. Together Norbeck and Befu examine how the Japanese use of kinships terms can often give non-relatives the status of relatives. Their process of exploration on this topic of the range for the usage of kinship terms are examined throughout four distinct sections in the article, with subsequent sections found within each. This use of division helps to frame the argument of Norbeck and Befu in a manner that allows the reader to clearly understand the cultural usage of the varying forms of kinship and how it helps to define relationships among people. The first section, “Background Consideration” describes the methods in which Norbeck and Befu gathered information - personal experiences, fieldwork, and thirty informants. Further reading introduces the general rules of kinships and how the method of kinships has been obtained from other cultures. Based on the research conducted by Spier, the Japanese system of classification is similar to that of the one practiced in the Eskimo culture. This questions the idea ...
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...aspect of the recent interest in second-hand and reuse concerns the meaningfulness of circulation in social life. Using classic anthropological theory on how the circulation of material culture generates sociality, it focuses on how second-hand things are transformed by their circulation. Rather than merely having cultural biographies, second-hand things are reconfigured through their shifts between different social contexts in a process that here is understood as a form of growing. Similar to that of an organism, this growth is continuous, irreversible and dependent on forces both internal and external to it. What emerges is a category of things that combine elements of both commodities and gifts, as these have been theorized within anthropology. While first cycle commodities are purified of their sociality, the hybrid second-hand thing derives its ontological status as well as social and commercial value precisely from retaining ‘gift qualities’, produced by its circulation. Keywords: Second-hand, circulation, material culture, retro, vintage, growing, gifts, commodities Appelgren, Staffan & Anna Bohlin: “Growing in Motion” Culture Unbound, Volume 7, 2015: 143-168. Published by Linköping University Electronic Press: http://www.cultureunbound.ep.liu.se Thus, one of the most important and unusual features of the Kula is the existence of the Kula vaygu’a, the incessantly circulating and ever exchangeable valuables, owing their value to this very circulation...
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...Anthropologists in cross-cultural management 28 February, 2009 tags: Applied Anthropology, business anthropology, cross cultural managementby alfonsvanmarrewijk .Observing people in Sydney made me quite clear that the dominant focus of cross-cultural academics and practitioners on national cultures is problematic. People from so-many cultural background study and work in closely cooperation at universities and public and private organisations. Looking at your Indian, English, Dutch, Japanese or German colleague as representatives of fixed national cultures will not help you very much in your collaboration. The so-called essentialistic perspective has become very popular in contemporary management literature and consultancy and is highlighted by European authors, such as Hofstede (1990) and Trompenaars (1993). The work of Hofstede and Trompenaars, who have developed ‘cultural maps of the world’ in which each country can be situated based on their score on different indexes, fitted perfectly in the assumption that culture is a (more or less) stable entity that can be ‘engineered’, and managed. However, recent evaluations of these essentialistic cultural programs are not positive in regard to organizational costs and sustainability. The programs use a dramatic oversimplification of the culture concept and make no difference between espoused values and actual behaviour. Consultants of large cross-cultural consultancy firms themselves don’t believe in the value of multi value models...
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...One of the interesting things about human beings is that they try to understand themselves and their own behavior. While this has been particularly true of Europeans in recent times, there is no group which has not developed a scheme or schemes to explain human actions. To the insistent human query "why?" the most exciting illumination anthropology has to offer is that of the concept of culture. Its explanatory importance is comparable to categories such as evolution in biology, gravity in physics, disease in medicine.Why do so many Chinese dislike milk and milk products? Why during World War II did Japanese soldiers die willingly in a Banzai charge that seemed senseless to Americans? Why do some nations trace descent through the father, others...
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...The film The Namesake started out while Ashoke Ganguli was traveling on a train to visit his grandfather. On the train Ashoke meets fellow traveler, Ghosh, who impresses upon him to start traveling. The train crashes and Ashoke almost dies but is found and survives. After the crash, Ashoke relocates to America for school. In 1977, Ashoke returns home to India to be arranged to marry Ashima. When Ashima accepts Ashoke’s marriage proposal, she has to move to New York with him where their residence becomes permanent. Ashima has to adapt and adjust to American culture, which is very hard for her because she has never been out of India and she misses her family. Shortly after, they become parents of a boy, who they name Nikhil, with the pet name Gogol, after his father’s favorite author. In time, they have their second child together, a girl named Sonia. Both kids grow up as rebellious, typical American teenagers and have very slight interest in their Bengali culture. When they visit India, they both feel very out of place especially with their grandparents who want them to get married and have children already. After visiting the Taj Mahal, Gogol knows he wants to become an architect. He studies at Yale and falls in love with a preppy, wealthy American girl named Maxine. Sonia continues to live the American way of life when she moves to California to live an independent life. Cultural tensions flare when he brings Maxine home to meet his parents, who want their children...
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...Assignment 1: Essay Due Week 4 and worth 100 points Read the selection in the textbook. Write a three to four (3-4) paragraph essay (250 words) which analyzes the “surprise ending” of the reading selection. APA format. Topic Choices: * Reading selection from Swift’s A Modest Proposal. Swift begins with offering the solution that the English could do things which might solve the problem of over-population and the mistreatment of citizens in Ireland and ends by offering the solution that an internal change in the Irish government would best solve the problem of over-population and a populace victimized by its own government. Read more about A Modest Proposal located at http://www.victorianweb.org/previctorian/swift/modest.html. For the reading selection you choose: 1. Clearly state in your own words the “surprise ending” in the reading you selected. Identify the point in the reading when you realized that the ending would be different from what the beginning of the reading suggested that it would be. 2. Since you were expecting a different ending, evaluate how successful the author was in convincing you to accept the validity of the “surprise ending” that was not clearly suggested at the beginning. * Include a cover page containing the tile of the assignment, the student’s name, the professor’s name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length. The specific course...
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...Romaine Smith Susan Doody ENG 111 02/14/13 Outline The positive impact music has on one’s identity In his musical lyrics, Bob Marley, a singer, songwriter and musician, motivates people across the world with his positive and encouraging music. In his biggest hi “One Love, One Heart, Let’s Get Together and Feel Alright,” created an atmosphere of love and exhilaration 2among people of different backgrounds and culture. After his death, Marley was venerated by people all over the world for his outstanding work and role model to the society. An icon had died. The positive influence of a song can reflect one’s character in different ways. One’s culture, attitude and appearance create an identity that can leave a positive impact on society. The cultural identity is those attributes, behavior patterns, lifestyles, and social structures that distinguish a person from another. Culture is learned and passed through generations and includes the believes and value system of a society. If we can examine the role of culture in a group formation, for example. If participants are told they share musical taste with an individual, they are more likely to appraise them positively and want to become their friend….. All these components of culture have an effect on one’s character. Music can have both positive and negative influences on one’s attitude. For example, a child that tends to listen more positive and...
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...Business Overseas James Hall AIU Online Unit 5 IP Business Overseas “No culture can live if it attempts to be exclusive”. -Mahatma Gandhi In order for any business to travel overseas and find success they must first learn to understand and appreciate the culture in which they plan to thrive. Learning this and losing your sense of ethnocentrism, the belief that your own culture is superior to another, is something that many business fail to do and in turn never find success. In order to find success overseas we must first learn to view their culture with and open-mind, or cultural relativism, and judge them according to the standards of their society, not our own. You must look at many things before trying to establish a foothold overseas. To prevent culture clash you must recognize the barriers you may face including language, cultural values and cultural norms. One way to avoid language barrier is to make sure the plant opened in Asia has local personal that not only understand the language but also understand the region in which you expect to establish a foothold. If a business is unaware of the values in which the society holds they can risk offending rather than satisfying their desire for your product. This is why local personal is important. These individuals will not only be knowledgeable of the language, religion, values, and culture norms but they will be comfortable executing these values. This prevents the culture shock or disorientation one might feel...
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...Chapter 3: Catering for the cultural and social environment of international marketing What is culture? * ‘Culture is the total way of life in a society’ (Fletcher, 1979) * Culture is the collective programming of the mind (Hofstede, 1980) Elements of culture * Material culture: technology and economics * Social institutions: concerned with the way people relate to each other * Relations with the universe: religion, superstition, and impact on value systems * Aesthetics: activities and art forms and dance all have a role in interpreting symbolic meanings in each culture. * Language: differ in the way they convey meanings The impact of culture on international marketing * Knowledge * Factual knowledge conveys meaning about a culture which appears straightforward. * Interpretive knowledge is based on feeling and intuition and is often influenced by past experiences. * Sensitivity * Cultural sensitivity involves being aware of the nuances (sắc thái) of the different culture, being empathetic with it and viewing it objectively * Collectivism * It plays a greater role in decision making because of the strength of family ties, strong affinity with the group. * Social conventions (quy ước) * Relative to eating: time take to eat the mail, the composition of each meal, … * Cognitive styles * Consumers are loyal to products varies between culture. Ex: Asian countries consumers are more loyal and less to switch...
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...Role of religion in human culture Anthropologists define religion as a cultural universal that encompasses beliefs and behavior concerned with supernatural beings, powers and forces (Kottak, 2013). Even though it is a human universal, the rules of religion vary from culture to culture. Even within the major religious traditions, there may be a great many variations. Methodist traditions are different from Baptists who are widely different from Catholic tradition. Signs of religion date back as far as sixty to one hundred thousand years. Prior to the Neanderthals there were no signs of religion. Neanderthals were the first to bury their dead, suggesting a belief in an afterlife. Religion serves many different functions in society. First and foremost, it provides an answer to universal questions humans have. These questions are: What am I? Where do I come from and where do I go? What is death? What happens when I die? Why do bad things happen? What is the meaning of life? Religion can provide a sense of comfort and security to people as it provides explanations for events that are outside of people’s control. It also can establish and “maintain social control through a series of moral and ethical beliefs along with real or imagined rewards and punishments. (Kottak, 2013)” For most religious people, their beliefs are the very core of their world views. These believes also are important in defining humans’ ideas of what is right and wrong. If one does the right...
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...How are scholars able to find out how early people with no written records lived? Scholars use several techniques in order to establish and conclude a portrayal of early people’s lives, before any written records. They simply rely on findings that were left behind. Tools, bones, graveyards, hunting equipment, as well as weapons, art on pottery or cave walls, are some of the prehistoric finds, to name a few. These findings, when examined can tell scholars a lot about peoples lifestyle pre-written records. For example, by examining bones, a scholar would determine if people were malnourished, or whether they knew how to take care of broken bones or used any healing methods. What was prehistoric society like around the Amazon? Populations from North American and Europe did not find the prehistoric Amazon population interesting. The cultural differences were too vast, as opposed to societies around the Amazon. The Amazonian people believed in coexisting with their gods and relied heavily on their dangerous environment. I suppose the Amazon was a threat to societies around it, since they had not developed an acquired set of skills to survive. What ensured European domination in the New World? The Europeans were able to dominate the New World, by having armies that would take over natives ground, and have their own people settle. They also were in advantage knowing how to trade, how to build weapons, which were made of steel, as opposed to native culture who used leather, wood...
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...Work plays an important part in our lives. Growing up we see our parents, grandparents and relatives work to provide for their family. In order to survive in this world, an individual has to work. A man’s basic needs; food, clothing and shelter comes with a price, and in order to have the basic needs a man has to work. Most people like us work in order to get compensated and have enough to feed the family. Some people work to succeed. They do not just have a job, but they want careers. They will challenge themselves to go higher and higher in the business world. They work not only for the money but for self-respect and gratification about themselves. Individuals, who are born rich, will consider pursuing their hobbies into work. They start their own fashion line, or perfumes, become a singer or actor, but all this is considered work. Different cultures look at work differently. I was born and raised in India. Growing up, friends, relatives and neighbors all at some point of time dreamt about coming to America, the land of opportunities. I knew a few people who came here to work, and heard stories from them about how the working environment in America is different from that in India. It made me want to come here and take advantage of the opportunities out here and make a name for myself. When I first came here and started working at the hospital, I came across various cultures, but all had one thing in common, they all worked hard. There was no job that was inferior to the...
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