AnthropologyLesson 2 of 2 in the course Authority, Decisions, and Power: Political Anthropology

Nation-States, Colonial Legacies, State Power, and Globalization

5 flashcards · 5 quiz questions · 5 match pairs · 5 fill-in sentences · English

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Summary

This lesson introduces the two ideas joined in the term nation-state: the state as a political institution and the nation as a sense of cultural belonging. It also explains how national identity is built and why Benedict Anderson calls nations imagined communities.

A state is an institution that exercises centralized rule over a territory. States commonly maintain bureaucracies that make, interpret, and enforce laws; collect taxes; build infrastructure; regulate economic activity; and maintain a military and police force. A state claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of force within its territory.

All flashcards

What is a nation?
A sense of cultural peoplehood that may draw on shared language, history, values, or collective destiny.
What is a nation-state?
A state whose political community is presented as sharing a common culture or national identity.
What is rational-bureaucratic power?
Authority exercised through formal institutions, legal rules, official roles, and established procedures.
What is postcolonial studies?
An interdisciplinary field examining colonial histories, their continuing effects, and local responses to them.
What are Appadurai's five dimensions of global flows?
Ethnoscapes, technoscapes, financescapes, mediascapes, and ideoscapes: flows of people, technology, money, media, and ideas.

Quiz questions

  1. In Weber's account, where is rational-bureaucratic power primarily concentrated?Answer: In formal institutions that act through offices, laws, and procedures.
  2. What did European representatives negotiate at the Berlin Conference of 1884–1885?Answer: Claims to African territories among European powers.
  3. How did colonial authorities sometimes use local chiefs?Answer: They required chiefs to enforce taxes, labor demands, and colonial laws.
  4. What role could Akan asafo groups play when a chief failed to serve the community?Answer: They could act against the chief, including removing him from office.
  5. What response to pollution from globalized industries may communities seek?Answer: Stronger government environmental protections and cross-border cooperation.

Based on Introduction to Anthropology by Jennifer Hasty, David G. Lewis, Marjorie M. Snipes (OpenStax), licensed CC BY 4.0. Adapted into a summary, flashcards and quizzes.

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