ANTH 307/ Ecological Anthropology
Final Exam Review Sheet
Spring 2009/Minnesota State University Moorhead
Dr. Roberts

Yes ladies and gentlemn, the final is cumulative. The first part (~ 50 points) will cover material up to the mid-term. Look back at your notes on theory, foraging, horticulture, pastoralism, and intensive agriculture and you should be okay.

The second part (~ 100 points) will be much more fun and cover material since the midterm - lectures, Bates' chapters 7 and 8, assigned on-line readings, and the videos shown in class. The latter include: Life Running out of Control; The Riches of the Elephants - Zimbabwe; A Land of Immense Riches - Mozambique; The Shaman’s Apprentice. You'll find that I have links for most of these on the course web-site. In some cases the descriptions are more elaborate than others.

The exam will consist of objective questions – multiple-choice, true-false, and matching – and a couple of essays with some leeway for choice.

Industrial Agriculture

  • Readings: Bates Chapter 7 and Industrial Agriculture in Evolutionary Perspective, by Peggy Barlett.
  • What is the demographic transition and what's for food production?
  • In what ways did the industrial revolution contribute to greater intensification of food production?
  • What were the Green and Blue Revolutions? Were they without costs?
  • What types of centralized administrative systems were developed in China and the former Soviet Union in the 20th century and why?
  • Generally speaking, what happens to people when agriculture becomes mechanized and agricultural products and labor become devalued in relation to other commodities?
  • Be familiar with the changes which took place in the case of Shinohata, Japan over the course of the 1950s to 1990s.
  • Why is the case of Wasco, California illustrative of the development of agribusiness in the U.S?
  • What kinds of differences did Sonya Salamon find between German and "Yankee" immigrant farmers in the Midwest?
  • What did Creed's study of Zamfirovo reveal about collective agriculture in Bulgaria?

Biotechnology and genetically modified foods

  • Readings: Stone – Biotechnology and Suicide in India; Brenton – HIV/AIDS, Food Insecurity, and Genetically Modified Food Aid in Southern Africa; Tudge – The Greatest Folly of Our Age; Whitman – Genetically Modified Foods: Harmful or Helpful?
  • What are genetically modified organisms?
  • What are some of the potential benefits they are thought to have?
  • What are some of the potential risks involved in their development and dissemination?
  • How do GMOs affect people at the level of both producer and consumer?
  • Why are corporations trying to patent crop genetic resources?
  • How are some individuals – e.g., indigenous peoples, social activists and organic farmers—trying to fight this process?
  • What can/should anthropologists do about this?
  • Video: Life Running Out of Control.

Conservation of Natural/Communal Resources

  • Readings: Igoe – Measuring the Costs and Benefits of Conservation to Local Communities; Brockington and Igoe – Eviction for Conservation: A global Overview; Sodikoff – An Exceptional Strike: A Micro-History of "People versus Park" in Madagascar.
  • Videos: The Riches of the Elephants - Zimbabwe; A Land of Immense Riches - Mozambique
  • What are the basic approaches to conservation we talked about in class?
  • Which type(s) is/are represented in the videos on CAMPFIRE in Zimbabwe and the Basaruto Archipelago Project in Mozambique?
  • What kind of generalizations do Brockington and Igoe make with regard to evictions and conservation?

Culture Change, development, and globalism

  • Reading: Bates Chapter 8.
  • Video: Thirst
  • Over the course of human cultural evolution, what kinds of things have occurred during long-term culture change? Please try to understand the reasons for these related trends (i.e., do not just memorize and regurgitate them!)
  • What are the differing assumptions of the modernization and dependency paradigms of development?
  • What happened during and after the rapid entry of women into the industrial workforce in the cases of Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and Cuba?
  • What is cyberculture and what effect is it having upon cross-cultural diversity?
  • What are the various ecological consequences of postindustrialism that Bates discusses?
  • What are some of the critical contributions that have been made by development anthropologists?
  • How does Della McMillan's involvement in the AAV planned settlement project illustrate what Bates calls "impact assessment?" What lessons does she draw from her experience?
  • What does Bates say about those anthropologists who consider it unethical to interfere directly in peoples' lives by participating in development projects?
  • Video: Thirst

Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Development

  • Readings: Shebitz – Weaving Traditional Ecological Knowledge into the Restoration of Basketry Plants; Demenge – Measuring Ecological Footprints in Subsistence Farmers in Ladakh.
  • What is development and what is meant by the term sustainable development?
  • Who are the stakeholders involved in the utilization of indigenous knowledge in development?
  • What roles can/should anthropologists play in this process? What happens if we don't get involved?
  • How does the concept of ecological footprint apply to ecological anthropology?
  • Video: The Shaman's Apprentice.