#imanee_magee

[gwanth1002]

This photo was taken in New York this past November and it shows Times Square, also known as the ‘Theater District’ in Manhattan, a booming district of businesses and plazas covering 42nd street. I chose this photo because it relates to the key concept of ‘modernization.’ Modernization is a form of change marked by economic growth through industrialization and market expansion, political consolidation through the state, technological innovation, literacy, and options for social mobility. The textbook continues to state that it originated in Western Europe...with the emerging emphasis on material progress and individual betterment. New York or ‘The Big Apple’ as its commonly referred to, is known as the city of dreams or individual betterment and I believe no place other than Times Square illustrates that. Times Square is marked with constant technological innovation, seen through the glowing lights of buildings to the shining screens igniting the plaza, making you feel as if the sun never set. 

Obviously New York was not always marked with these markets and innovation as at one point in time it was consumed by nature, yet the amount of technology that fills that one street shows how much mankind has progressed technologically. However, this rash amount of building relates to another key concept: development aggression. Development aggression is the imposition of development projects and policies without the free, prior and informed consent of the affected people. The Shinnecock, Oneida, Seneca and Tonawanda were the native Indians of New York yet the Indian Removal Act, which stated that all Indians on the East coast were forced to move West of the Mississippi, utterly uprooted them from their native land in New York. In a sense, 42nd street is ‘borrowed land’ as Native Americans never consented to their removal, nor the building of businesses over their territory. I would additionally like to learn how modernization, coupled with development aggression, causes a unanimous standard of ‘culture’ within the people of that region. Moreover, actual anthropological fieldwork can be done related to the photo to study the traces of Indian history that can be found in the land, as well as how modernization and the Indian Removal Act affected their community.

[gwanth1002]

This photo was taken in Jackson, Mississippi during August where I went to visit my family for a weekend. I am originally from New Orleans, Louisiana yet am residing in Washington D.C. for school, hence the shirt, which is why I chose this photo because it illustrates the concept of “internal migration” or a “movement within country boundaries” (Miller 241). There were many push and pull factors for my move from the rural South to the urban North, further described in the “push pull theory” which is “an explanation for rural to urban migration that emphasizes people’s incentives to move because of a lack of opportunity in rural areas (the push) compared with urban areas (the pull)” (Miller 241). Though the book focuses on the “rural to urban” aspect of pull factors, I focus on the explanation of “cities” being the [pull factor] [which] attract people, especially youth, for employment and lifestyle reasons (Miller 241). My move from New Orleans to D.C. is an example of internal migration since I moved within the boundaries of the U.S. Some push factors were that I wanted to study international affairs and politics, but New Orleans lacks adequate resources in those educational areas to which D.C. has numerous. Additionally, the thought of being away in a big city full of powerful people (pull factor) was very enticing. Moreover, I felt that in order for me to blossom as an individual and an adult, I had to move away from my family so I could grow to my full potential (push factor). Miller states that the theory of a “push and pull” factor is related to the approach in anthropology that emphasizes human agency, or choice. My decision to leave home, leave my family, and pursue my dreams was a choice and matter of human agency since my future was ultimately dependant on that one decision. Therefore, I would additionally like to learn about how human agency factors into people’s migrational decisions. Lastly, actual anthropological fieldwork can be done related to this photo in that one can study the monetary and psychological consequences of migrating, since it does have a financial and sometimes mental toll on the individual, as well as how migrant communities benefit the area they reside in, through undertaking harsh jobs, consuming goods, starting businesses etc.

[gwanth1002]

Expressive culture is behavior and beliefs related to art, leisure, and play (Miller 218). The image depicted above is a picture of graffiti being painted on a wall, taken at the Words Beats Life festival hosted at the Kennedy Center this past Saturday. I chose this image because as stated in the textbook, “painting walls has a long heritage, going back to at least prehistoric cave paintings” from graffiti in New York to painting designs on a wall with Ndebele in south Africa (Miller 218). Similar to murals seen in museums, graffiti allows the artist to express him or herself, but in a less “traditional” means. Here the artist stated that the mural is a reflection of herself, in that she sometimes feels “alien” in a world of conformists; additionally, artists are less accepted and less expected to succeed in the traditional American business world, which is why the girl in the painting is holding a spray can. I would additionally like to learn about the stigmatizations behind “non traditional” art, such as graffiti, and how that stigmatization impacts artists’ careers. Similar to studying the images behind cave art, actual anthropological fieldwork can be done to study the expressions, traditions, and meanings behind graffiti art, since it is an expression of the artist’s personal feelings.

Art is the application of imagination, skill and style to matter, movement, and sound that goes beyond the purely practical (Miller 219). Miller continues to assert that art is a human human universal, and no culture can be said to lack artistic activity completely. This second photo is of a b-boy/b-girl competition, also taken at the Kennedy Center. I chose this photo because dance is an art form as the dancer expresses himself through body movements versus typical paintings. B-boying or breakdancing is considered an “urban” form of dance, yet there was an extremely diverse crowd of performers, exhibiting just how global this art form is. Breakdancing expresses strength, power, and total self-control of the individual, as one performer stated that it requires not only complete physical but mental strength. I would additionally like to learn more about the origin behind breakdancing, as it mimics traditional dances performed in Africa, and how this dance transformed amongst African Americans to others elsewhere. Actual anthropological fieldwork can be done to study breakdancing cross-culturally, and the process behind this medium of expression such as how it was created, as well as how dancers master this hard craft.

[gwanth1002]

This photo was taken at the H street festival in Washington D.C., and it shows my friends and I posing for a photo together in the midst of our festivities. I chose this photo because it relates to the concept of a social group, as well as diaspora population. A social group is a cluster of people beyond the household unit who are usually related on a basis other than kinship, although kinship relationships may exist between people in the group (Miller 132). Miller continues to define a social group, stating that there are a variety of social groups, starting with the most face to face, primary groups comprising of two or three people based on friendship. Friendship refers to close social ties between at least two people in which the ties are informal and voluntary and fits into the category of a primary social group (Miller 133). This photo exhibits a social group in the terms of a ‘friendship’ because we are not kin, yet we all voluntarily choose to spend time with one another- such as at this festival- and we all met informally through mutual friends. In addition to ‘social group,’ this photo relates to the concept of a “diaspora population.” A diaspora population is a dispersed group of people living outside their original homeland (Miller 142). As African Americans, our original homeland is Africa yet we are unaware of our origins, and therefore represent a marginal population. Oftentimes diaspora populations have a lower economic, political and social status than those native to the land they reside in (such as African Americans in American), so I would like to explore whether their status could be raised if they returned to their homeland, or if it was permanently severed due to centuries of physical isolation and cultural separation. Miller also states that friendship is an understudied topic, therefore anthropological fieldwork can be done related to the photo by studying friendship in terms of cultural anthropology. Also, I would like to additionally learn how certain cultural backgrounds can inhibit or promote the development of social groups between certain people of similar backgrounds.