Glossary
Adaptive Strategies
The various ways humans adjust to their physical and cultural surroundings, often involving modifications to their behavior or environment.
Example:
In regions prone to earthquakes, building homes with flexible, lightweight materials is an adaptive strategy to minimize damage and ensure safety.
Balkanization
The process by which a state breaks down into smaller, often hostile, independent units due to ethnic conflicts.
Example:
The dissolution of Czechoslovakia into the Czech Republic and Slovakia, though peaceful, is an example of balkanization driven by distinct national identities.
Barrio
A Spanish-speaking neighborhood, often characterized by a distinct cultural identity and community.
Example:
In many large American cities, a vibrant barrio serves as a cultural hub, offering authentic cuisine, music, and community events that reflect its Hispanic heritage.
Centrifugal Forces
Forces that divide a state and lead to instability, potentially causing internal conflict or even the fragmentation of the country.
Example:
Significant economic inequality between different regions within a country can be a powerful centrifugal force, leading to resentment and calls for greater autonomy or separation.
Centripetal Forces
Forces that unify a state and promote stability, often fostering a sense of shared identity and loyalty among its citizens.
Example:
A strong national sports team winning an international championship can act as a centripetal force, bringing together people from diverse backgrounds in shared celebration and pride.
Cultural Ecology
The study of how the environment shapes a culture, focusing on the interactions between human societies and their natural surroundings.
Example:
The traditional nomadic lifestyle of the Bedouin people in the Arabian Desert is a direct result of cultural ecology, as their practices are shaped by the arid climate and sparse resources.
Cultural Landscapes
The visible imprint of human activity on the physical environment, revealing how people interact with and modify their surroundings.
Example:
The terraced rice paddies of Southeast Asia are a stunning example of a cultural landscape, showing centuries of human effort to adapt and shape the land for agriculture.
Cultural Shatter-belt
A region where a state breaks down due to intense ethnic conflict, often resulting in violence and the formation of new, smaller states.
Example:
The former Yugoslavia experienced a cultural shatter-belt in the 1990s, as ethnic and religious tensions led to its violent disintegration into several independent nations.
Dowry deaths
The murder or suicide of a married woman caused by disputes over her dowry, a payment made by the bride's family to the groom's family.
Example:
Despite legal prohibitions, dowry deaths tragically persist in parts of South Asia, reflecting deep-seated societal pressures and economic exploitation.
Ethnic Cleansing
The forcible removal of a less powerful ethnic group by a more powerful one, with the aim of creating a homogenous nation-state.
Example:
The systematic expulsion of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar by the military has been widely condemned as an act of ethnic cleansing, forcing hundreds of thousands to flee their homes.
Formal Regions
Regions defined by one or more shared, measurable characteristics that are uniform throughout the area.
Example:
A state where the official language is Spanish, like Mexico, is a formal region because the characteristic of Spanish as the primary language is consistent across its territory.
Functional Regions
Regions organized around a central node or focal point, with the surrounding areas connected by a specific activity or service.
Example:
The delivery area for a major pizza chain in a city constitutes a functional region, as all customers within that area are served by the central restaurant.
Gender Gap
Differences in socioeconomic and political power, opportunities, and outcomes between men and women within a society.
Example:
The persistent difference in average earnings between men and women for similar work in many countries illustrates a significant gender gap in economic power.
High female infanticide rates
The practice of intentionally killing female infants, typically due to a societal preference for male children.
Example:
Historically, and in some regions today, a strong cultural preference for sons has led to high female infanticide rates, severely skewing the gender ratio in certain populations.
High maternal mortality rates
A high number of deaths among women during pregnancy or childbirth, often indicative of inadequate healthcare access and resources.
Example:
In some sub-Saharan African countries, the prevalence of high maternal mortality rates highlights the urgent need for improved prenatal care and safe delivery facilities.
Long-Lot Survey System
A land survey method that divides land into narrow parcels stretching back from rivers, roads, or canals, often used by French and Spanish colonists.
Example:
Along the Mississippi River in Louisiana, the distinctive narrow, elongated fields extending from the riverbanks are remnants of the Long-Lot Survey System introduced by French settlers.
Metes and Bounds System
A land survey method that relies on natural features like streams, trees, or rocks, along with distances and directions, to mark land boundaries.
Example:
An old property deed describing a boundary as 'from the old oak tree, 50 paces north to the creek' is using the Metes and Bounds System of land demarcation.
Perceptual/Vernacular Regions
Regions defined by shared cultural perceptions and feelings, rather than by strict, measurable boundaries.
Example:
Many Americans refer to 'The South' as a perceptual region, characterized by perceived shared cultural traits like hospitality, specific accents, and traditional cuisine, even though its exact boundaries are fluid.
Rectangular Survey System/Public Land Survey System
A land survey method that divides land into rectangular parcels, primarily used in the United States west of the Appalachian Mountains.
Example:
Driving across the American Midwest, the checkerboard pattern of farms and roads is a clear visual representation of the Rectangular Survey System at work.
Sequent Occupancy
The idea that multiple groups occupy a place over time, with each group leaving its own distinct cultural imprint on the landscape.
Example:
Walking through New Orleans, one can observe sequent occupancy through the French colonial architecture, Spanish ironwork balconies, and later American building styles, each layer telling a story of past inhabitants.
Symbolic Landscapes
Landscapes that hold deep cultural, religious, or historical significance, often representing shared values or beliefs of a community.
Example:
The ancient pyramids of Giza in Egypt are a symbolic landscape, representing the power, beliefs, and architectural prowess of the pharaohs and ancient Egyptian civilization.
Toponyms
Place names that reflect cultural identity, history, or the physical characteristics of a location.
Example:
The city of 'Salt Lake City' is a toponym that clearly indicates its proximity to a large saltwater body and its historical connection to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Township and Range System
A rectangular land survey system designed to evenly disperse settlers across the US interior, creating a grid of townships and sections.
Example:
When looking at a map of rural Kansas, the precise grid of roads and property lines reflects the underlying Township and Range System used to organize land distribution.
US Folk Housing Styles
Housing styles unique to a specific region in the US, built with local materials and reflecting traditional cultural practices.
Example:
The 'shotgun house' common in the American South, with its narrow, linear layout, is a classic example of a US Folk Housing Style adapted to local climate and cultural needs.
US Popular Housing Styles
Housing styles that are widely spread across the US, constantly changing, lack regional distinctiveness, and are often mass-produced.
Example:
The proliferation of 'McMansions' in suburban developments across the United States, regardless of local climate or tradition, exemplifies US Popular Housing Styles driven by national trends.