Midterm Test Questions
Our midterm test will consist of six questions selected from the following questions. It may help you to know, in preparing for the test, that I expect you to spend approximately 10 minutes on each question, so your responses should be relatively brief. In your responses I will be looking for familiarity with the material, accurate content, sound analysis and careful selection of what you choose to emphasize in each response. I recommend that you consult each other in preparing for the test; over the years I've found that such exchanges help fill in gaps of knowledge or analysis, and help affirm one's grasp of material as well. You should prepare each question, since you cannot know what questions will ultimately be asked.
1. What makes an anthropological approach to Latin America distinctive (from the approaches used by other disciplines)? What are some of the primary themes that anthropologists have focused on in Latin America? Discuss two; explain how they are “anthropological.”
2. Robert Redfield was one of the earliest American anthropologists to develop a distinctive approach to the study of Latin American society. What theoretical orientations (we discussed two) shaped his approach to the study of Latin America? What particular contributions did he make to the study of Latin American societies; what was the focus of his approach? In what way did help define the focus of anthropological inquiry in Latin America?
3. Leslie White and Julian Steward brought a materialist explanation back into the study of Latin American culture. What specific kinds of issues did Julian Steward look at? How did his approach challenge the culturalist approaches of Robert Redfield, Oscar Lewis, and George Foster?
4. What kinds of social and technological/economic transformation occurred to make the rise of civilization possible in Mesoamerica, according to Wolf? In your response you want to examine the Neolithic revolution, as well as the social and political changes that occurred leading to the rise of the Olmec civilization.
5. Wolf argues that Mesoamerican civilization could be divided into two distinct epochs, the epoch of the rule of the priests, and the rule of the military. How did the two forms of government differ from each other: upon what did the priests build their power, and what was the basis of military power? When did the change take place, and how might one explain the shift from one form of leadership to the other (we discussed this in class, but Wolf also discusses this)?
6. Briefly, describe the rise to power of the Aztecs, from their Chichimec origins to their shifting alliances with their Valley of Mexico neighbors, and their ultimate domination. How does Wolf explain their rise to power, and upon what was their power built?
7. Wolf notes that the Spaniards initially saw the American continent as an opportunity to establish a new society, a utopia, unencumbered by European precedents. There were, argues Wolf, three utopic visions, each represented by a different sector of colonial society, each with its own aims. What were these visions, and what did each of them accomplish? How did these visions affect the treatment of native peoples, and how did the encomienda fit into aims of each utopic vision?
8. Wolf notes that with the decline of the American empire after 1600, the Spanish retreated to from their utopic visions; the institutions that emerged as most important in the lives of indigenous peoples were the hacienda and the Republica de Indias. Briefly, describe how these two institutions worked. Were these institutions more or less exploitative of indigenous labor? In what way did this transformation represent the peasantization of indigenous peoples?
9. Colloredo-Mansfeld suggests that affluence has created a dilemma for the Otavalenos, as it allows them access to all kinds of new consumer products. Why is this a dilemma for them? What would you say are the most important challenges for the Otavalenos as they face new prosperity?
10. Colloredo-Mansfeld notes that agriculture is hardly an economically remunerative activity anymore for the Otavalenos, and yet they continue to insist in practicing subsistence agriculture? Why do they do it? Why do they persist in doing other “useless” (yanga cosas) things?
11. Why have the Otavalenos been able to find prosperity in their crafts making and selling? What strategies have they pursued that has allowed them to avoid the common pitfalls most indigenous groups in Latin America face, such as poor wages for labor, poor prices for the goods they produce, and exploitative middlemen who typically market indigenous crafts?
12. Colloredo-Mansfeld describes the Otavaleno economic strategy as a transnational archipelago. What does he mean by this? What strains does the transnational archipelago economy put on traditional Otavaleno relations of reciprocity? What advantages does this strategy have for Otavaleno economic activities?