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LOS ANGELES.   Term Paper ID:19441 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Anthropological analysis. Culture, ethnicity, geography, transportation, weather, views of Ruth Benedict & Ralph Linton.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Anthropological analysis. Culture, ethnicity, geography, transportation, weather, views of Ruth Benedict & Ralph Linton. Paper Introduction: Los Angeles, the second largest metropolitan area in the country after New York City, is described by many, as an "unassimilated" city. It has become a confluence point for racial and ethnic groups as well as the demands of nature and the environment. The results of this meeting have been likened to great tectonic plates grinding together with the potential being a great explosion (Taliaferro, 1991, p. 32). The purpose of this paper will be to review how anthropology and its study of man's culture and its relationship to nature would describe the significance of Los Angeles, particularly in light with what is happening today. In addition, two anthropologists, Ruth Fulton Benedict and Ralph Linton, will be introduced and their anthropological ideas discussed in relation to the City of the Angeles. Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. "Air has become acommodity" (Mann, 199 , p. vii). (199 , September 17). Thirdly, the weather, which served as such an attractive magnet inthe past and helped foster the image of Los Angeles, has become a source ofnot only significant environmental concern, but a major health concern anda key factor in defining the growing segmentation of the area in terms ofeconomic class. 32-3.----------------------- 1 However, it also means that,today, eighty percent of the region's domestic drinking water is exportedfrom Northern California and the Colorado River. Next came the American farmers and town-founders and formore than fifty years the area prospered as a unique agricultural region(Nelson, 1983, p. In fact, the areagains much of its significance from its racial end ethnic diversity. 32). While much of her earlystudies centered on American Indians, she was one of the first after WorldWar II to be able to study contemporary societies based on interviews anddocuments as opposed to field research (Bohannan, 1988, p. Taliaferro, J. As a result, continuedgrowth has made the citizenry that much more vulnerable to forecasts of"drought" and to the fears associated with lack of water as has beennoticed during the region's most recent history. The Nation, pp.257, 268-74. Ithas become a confluence point for racial and ethnic groups as well as thedemands of nature and the environment. Mann, E. Ruth Fulton Benedict (1887-1948), an ethnologist who came toappreciate the discipline of anthropology because it allowed her to placein perspective contrasts between different peoples and different historicalperiods, would have found analyzing Los Angeles as stimulating as havetoday's anthropologists (Bohannan, 1988, p. The results of this meeting havebeen likened to great tectonic plates grinding together with the potentialbeing a great explosion (Taliaferro, 1991, p. To him, role was a concept that referred toexperienced behavior while status referred to the cognitive aspect ofsociety. The reason is that the region's gentle breezes, marine airand abundant sunshine also provide an atmosphere uniquely subject to themodern era's gaseous pollutants (Nelson, 1983, p. (1983). Los Angeles, the second largest metropolitan area in the countryafter New York City, is described by many, as an "unassimilated" city. Dubuque, Iowa:Kendall/Hunt Publishing Company. According to Benedict, every culture is an integrated whole that has its own configuration. In fact, many may argue it is in acategory all by itself. 32). This in Linton's mindwould be the significance of Los Angeles. In the smoggier parts of theregion, children are growing up with fifteen percent less lung capacitythan their peers in other cities (Taliaferro, 1991, p. Bohannan, P. (1959). 185).Linton believed that the workings of society depended on the existence ofreciprocity between members of a society as defined by status and role(Bohannan, 1988, p. Linton was the first to develop ideas about the relationship of theindividual with society: His sharpening of the concept of status and his development of the concept of role alloyed him to talk about human society as being "supra-individual" and still retain his notion of individuals, with their personalities, playing out their roles in a culture (Bohannan, 1988, p. 174). With this in mind, one can only suggest Linton would have viewed LosAngeles as a cultural environment where the role of the individual and hiscorresponding status has been lost or at least momentarily derailed. 1988, p. Evolvingin the normal American way through the building of an extensive streetcarand interurban network, Los Angeles's transportation planning veered fromthe next logical step of elevated trains or underground subways, andinstead, adopted the automobile with a passion unseen elsewhere"Automobiles became numerous in the region at a time when they were rareand impractical novelties elsewhere" (Nelson. 32). 174). Further, the climate, while varied within theregion, provides an overall temperate weather pattern conducive to easyliving and extended growing periods. "Cultural anthropology studies the origins and history of man'scultures, their evolution and development, and the structure andfunctioning of human cultures in every place and time" (Beals, 1959, p. "Whites, who in 196 represented ninety-one percent of thepopulation, have become a minority (forty-nine percent)" (Taliaferro, 1991,p. 185). 33). According to scientists there are also 125 million pounds per year ofairborne toxins in Los Angeles skies that are invisible. Part of thisis due to the fact that Los Angeles grew to metropolitan size only afterthe automobile had arrived and part is due to the region's weather and itscompatibility with early automobile transportation. 276). Thecycle of violence is rooted in racial, social and economic strife that isnow overburdening the police, health and social services infrastructure andcosting the taxpayer millions of dollars, a factor that serves to widen theever-growing rift between socioeconomic classes. 33). 173). As a result, each area of the world has its own distinctiveculture. The racial, ethnic, social and economic diversityin conjunction with its physical and environmental considerations point toa culture comprised of individuals forced to survive together in a regionthat has become inhospitable at best. L.A.'s smogbusters. 268). 185). An introduction to anthropology. Of this 14 million, three millioncame during the 198 s, many from foreign countries. 175). 268). In his works he attributes great importance to theindividual in all cultural and social studies. Conversely, those who can afford it live atthe ocean where they can boast of "their" clean air. 1983, p. How this happened has as much to do with thephysical environment as the economic and cultural diversity of the region,and when combined, these elements serve to highlight the significance ofLos Angeles in anthropological terms. Drugs, gangs andguns rule the streets in many parts of the city and surrounding communitiescreating a life of terror and hopelessness for much of the populace. Many would argue that isthe anthropological significance of Los Angeles. and Glazer, M. Thefragmentation of the society as described earlier and the struggles thatare being fought on a multitude of fronts from City Hall to the streetshave left a culture with no sense of the individual. As such, Benedict would have viewed the culture of Los Angeles as amicrocosm of the world. (1991, May 1 ). Newsweek, pp. Los Angeles is no different. 268). New York: The Macmillan Company. It was the developments of the late twentiethcentury, such as the inventions associated with petroleum, motion picturesand aircraft, however, that propelled the region to economic importance andattracted millions of migrants (Nelson, 1983, vii). Many may argue that Los Angeles has no culture. So, while much of thescience was swept up in the functionalism theory, Linton sought to expandit through the synthesis of all perspectives that included form, meaning,use and function (Bohannan, 1988, p. vii). In addition,what takes place in this metropolis is of significance to the nation atlarge and of much interest to the world (Nelson, 1983, p. Thisopportunity enabled Benedict to produce what many consider to be hermasterpiece, a study of Japan entitled: The Chrysanthemum and the Sword.This was followed by research projects on France, Germany, Poland, Russiaand China, experiences which helped her develop a manual, A Study ofCulture at a Distance. Or if it does, it istied up in the Southern California image of beach, sunshine and easyliving, an image that served to attract millions over the last century.However, the cultural attributes of the city's early founders can still befound today, even if only in its architecture, textbooks, and street andcity names. In Benedict's mind, the magnitudeand scope of the region's culture is what would give Los Angeles itssignificance. vii). To begin with, there are diverse natural features including ruggedmountains, fertile valley, extensive plains, miles of beaches all borderingon the Pacific Ocean. And, as the interestin them increased, particularly after 192 when they became much moredependable, governmental agencies turned to funding "motorways" throughgasoline taxes while the streetcar declined and eventually was abandoned. 32). The foundation of all of Benedict's work is the relationship ofcultural configuration to individual behavior (Bohannan, 1988, p. (1988). While her approach was oversimplified at times,her theories were the first that attempted to understand human behavior onthe basis of cultural integration (Bohannan, 1988, p. Today, Los Angeles's smog is some of the worst in the country. Today, the city of Los Angeles has 3.5 million residents with anadditional 1 .5 million living in the five counties that make up the LosAngeles Basin (Taliaferro, 1991, p. 174). Interestingly enough, however, eachof these benefits has a corresponding problem that is being exasperated asLos Angeles grows. Atleast seventy-six languages are spoken in Los Angeles schools; a third ofthe population is Hispanic; and Asians outnumber Blacks (Taliaferro, 1991,p. High points in anthropology.New York: McGraw-Hill, Inc. In turn, every individual in that cultural configuration carries the characteristics of that culture and behaves according to that pattern (Bohannan, 1988, p. Elements such as carbonmonoxide, nitrogen dioxide and the fine particulate matters in smog allserve to break down and impair man's lungs, his central nervous system andother organs that are susceptible to these cancer-causing agents (Mann,199 , p. These includetrichloroethane, methylene chloride and benzene: "Of LA's toxins, 14percent are carcinogenic, 27 percent destroy reproductive ability, 11percent cause acute disorders (many, of them fatal) and 59 percent causechronic disorders" (Mann, 199 , p. Los Angeles, for an anthropologist, is an exciting region to studybecause of its diversity: "Seldom is as wide a variety of naturallandscapes, economic activities and human communities found within such atiny fraction of the earth's surface" (Nelson, 1983, p. An outgrowth of the smog crisis are the socioeconomic considerationsthat are now coming to the forefront, In Los Angeles, the working classoften live near freeways and on crowded streets where the pollutants fromthe automobile are pumped directly into their lungs. 268). and Murr, A. 174).Unlike her peers, Benedict would combine the cultural relativist positionin which the whole of cultures is emphasized over their traits, and includepertinent data around the concept of cultural configurations, In so doing,she was trying to understand the behavior of individuals in society(Bohannan. The wanton street violence is staggering. After police brutality:L.A.'s identity crisis. vii). Through this form of research bits and pieces of evidence eventually pointto man's reactions in cultural form to the everpresent problems he/sheconfronts through the physical environment, through attempts to work andlive with others and through the interaction this necessitates betweenhuman groups. And,the "brown haze" that many children now refer to as "the sky" is only thevisible side of the problem (Mann, 199 , p. References Beals, R.L., and Hoijer, H. As late as two hundred years ago, the region was still occupied byhunting and gathering Indians who were eventually displaced by the Spanish-Mexican ranchers. Further, success in securing new sources of waterpermitted this growth to continue unabated. In addition, twoanthropologists, Ruth Fulton Benedict and Ralph Linton, will be introducedand their anthropological ideas discussed in relation to the City of theAngeles. Today, the Los Angeles metropolis is a fragmented areacomprised of over a hundred cities, and suffering from a lack of heart or"town square." Instead of development evolving and spiraling out from thecity's core, it is scattered around with nothing to tie it together but theautomobile and its network of highways, a place where every gallon out offour is wasted idling in traffic (Taliaferro, 1991, p. The explosion of these competing forces is seen today in a "culture"under seize. 32). The result has been a "Balkanization" of the region: "No group issure how it fits into this sunbaked mosaic - so most choose to stand alone"(Taliaferro, 1991, p. 9). To begin with, much of the Los Angeles Basin's land is defined asarid to semi-arid which is responsible for the region's pleasant year-roundweather and, earthquakes aside, is a major consideration for many re-locating to the area. Nelson, H.J. The purpose of thispaper will be to review how anthropology and its study of man's culture andits relationship to nature would describe the significance of Los Angeles,particularly in light with what is happening today. The result was a highway system that cut through existingneighborhoods creating new ones and in many instances forming a "line ofdemarkation" that divided the "haves" from the "have nots," the whites fromthe blacks. The Los Angeles metropolis. In addition, theindustries known for their toxic emissions are mainly located near theLatino and black communities. However, many experts believe that it is the region's dependency onthe automobile that has had the most impact on its development. Ralph Linton (1893-1953), a cultural anthropologist and one ofAmerica's leading social scientists, also saw the value of studyingcontemporary societies. If this paper is not what you are looking for, you can search again: Search for: or Click here to request an essay written just for you.