soud1997

[soud1997]

CH 14 YOUR TURN: FIELDWORK

Food:

The state regulates and shapes the food we eat by what we called foodralism. This is the balance of decision making between the federal and the state. The state is necessarily having to fill the gaps of the nation's regulation in foods and serve as a testing ground for making and advancing new standards. Yes, there are labels on the food that indicate the presence of the state because (FDA) The Food and Drug Administration is responsible for assuring that foods are safe and properly labeled. There are presented the FD&C Act or The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that requiring food labels that shows nutrition contents or facts. The state regulates the restaurant, it is food preparation, and its employees by the enforcement of the food code in which it aims to safeguard public health and guarantee the food are untainted and presented honestly to the consumer.

It also has the FDA'S uniform system of provisions that direct the safety and protection of food offered at retail and in foodservice. At the same time, employees are governed by the ethics and standards of serving the rights and safety of the customers. The role does the state play in regulating trash disposal, and recycling is the establishment of a solid waste policy aimed at implementing proper management of solid waste. It is necessary for different stakeholders like citizens, businesses, government agencies, universities, etc., to participate and make a solid waste policy effective.

People:

​Most of the public employees I encounter in a day are usually workers and doorkeepers. They are mostly in uniforms, which is usually provided by their employers. They influence our lives a lot like if the workers do not go to their work, we as a society would not be able to run as normal. Similarly, for doorkeepers, if they do not work, we might have a lot of problems. No, the number of employees in my life was normal.

Transportation:

​When I travel around the city or town, I feel like the state has made a lot of improvements with the infrastructure of the city. I encounter road signs, traffic signals, rules, and regulations of traffic, and the fee is mostly for parking or toll tax purposes mostly. The state has made a lot of investment in the transportation infrastructure like roads, stoplights, buses, and trains through which a lot of people are benefited.

School:

​The responsibility of the state is to provide its people with an excellent education; for this, they need to have top class schools. As far as my experience is concerned, it was wonderful. The role that the state plays in school education is very important. As the infrastructure and the environment for school is its responsibility. The federal government provides funding for schools and salaries.

Environment:

​State shape all the aspects of our environment like air quality, water purity, auto emissions, factory pollution, sewage, trash disposal, toxic chemicals, and pesticides. Because the state has all the funds and all the operational capability to do it.

Infrastructure:

​Few things are sometimes neglected, but most of the time is fulfilled. Like the daily needs like water, electricity, trash removal, and clean streets are fulfilled, but public safety is sometimes neglected, which results in a massive negative image for the state.

Public Agencies:

​Most ordinary people have very little things to do with their federal agencies and offices. But the local offices have a very important role to play, as every local person has something to do in these offices.

Social Life:

​The state rules are strict in some states while flexible in others. Like different states have different rules and regulations of activities like driving, drinking, marijuana use, sex, and marriage, which needs to be followed correctly.

Media:

​The state's role in media like television, radio, the internet, news, or social media is very important, as the state regulates it keeping, it views not to dictate or control the media so that they can show people the real face of the government.

Absence:

​I think the aspect of unemployment, sometimes state does not play any vital role. It is very detrimental. If the state starts playing its due role in this matter, a lot of people will have a job. And this way, the state can also reduce the unemployment rate

[soud1997]

CH. 13 YOUR TURN FIELDWORK

I reached out to a friend who has an immigrant friend. I told him about my academic assignment and asked for his consent. He agreed to sit down for an interview. We exchanged some important views and I assured him that it is alright if he wanted to not share some of his experiences.

This man is originally from Palestine, and then he migrated to Kuwait with his family. During the Gulf wars, he with his family came to the United States of America as an immigrant. As they were Muslims, he faced a lot of hate here in America. His name had "Muhammad" in it, and we can all imagine what it is like. People use to hate him for no apparent reason. First, he faced a lot of difficulties enrolling himself in school, and when he did, the kids there used to bully him. The second issue that he faced here was making friends. As he was an Arab Muslim of color; people did not interact with him, though he was always polite and courtese with everyone around him.

Another major barrier that he faced was the language. When he was enrolled in the school, he was admitted to English as a Second Language (E.S.L). He was the only student who spoke English there, as he was in an English-British school in Kuwait. All the other students used to see him as a stranger, which he certainly did not like. He had a hard time coping with these things.

When he used to go out in public places, people looked down on him as he used to wear his native outfit. He also faced racist comments while traveling to different cities in the United States of America.

Things were not always bad, as later, when he grew up a little, he met a lot of people here in America who became his friends and treated him as one of their own. They did not make fun of his color or his outfit. Because they liked him for who he was, a kind, honest, and cooperative human being.

[soud1997]

CH. 11 YOUR TURN FIELDWORK

1. What are the ingredients?

Hershey’s Milk Chocolate bar - (sugar, milk, chocolate, cocoa butter, lactose, milk fat, soy lecithin, PGPY, Emulsifier, Vanillin, Artificial flavor).

2. Where do the ingredients come from?

Cocoa: Indonesia, Brazil, the Ivory Coast, and Ghana.

Sugar: any major sugar refinery in the country of the factory.

Milk/ soy: local farmers (whatever country the factory is in).

3. How are the ingredients produced?

Cocoa- pluck/ open pods, ferment the cocoa seed, dry the seed, roast/winnow the cocoa, grind the cocoa nibs, and then blend cocoa liquor with other ingredients.

Sugar- cleaning, grinding/slicing, juice extraction, purification, evaporation, crystallization, refinery.

Milk- rearing, harvesting, storing, transporting, lab testing, processing (pasteurization/ homogenization), packaging, and selling.

https://www.sfu.ca/geog351fall03/groups-webpages/gp8/prod/prod.html

https://www.slideshare.net/mustafeex/steps-involved-in-sugar-production

http://milk.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000658

4. What are the working conditions of the people who produce the cocoa?

There a many factors that make it a dangerous workplace. Some of the dangerous factors are pesticides, forced labor, lack of formal contracts, trafficking, and incredibly low pay. Children can often be seen working at the cocoa farms. There is a lot of heavy lifting, which can harm the growth of children. Overall, the working conditions are awful, and human rights organizations are trying to step in to fix this.

http://www.swedwatch.org/sites/default/files/Chokladens_m_rka_hemlighet_ENGLISH.pdf

5. How do the producers get the cocoa to market?

After the beans have been put into sacks, they are shipped out to different exporters, who then send them to other companies to be even further processed.

6. How are the prices set?

The prices can vary by the economy. It is typically set by the best bid someone is willing to take. The picture below is the price of the cocoa bean. As you can see, it fluctuates a lot over a 30 year time period.

http://www.indexmundi.com/commodities/?commodity=cocoa-beans&months=360

7. Which international corporations dominate the chocolate trade?

Mars, Mondelez, Nestle, Ferrero Group, Hershey’s

https://www.icco.org/about-cocoa/chocolate-industry.html

8. Who regulates the trade?

TransFair USA, which is a third-party nonprofit Fair Trade certifier, ensures that farmers who make the cocoa aren’t being screwed over by the big corporations.

The FDA also regulates the trade by ensuring food quality standards are met.

9. How is chocolate marketed?

Chocolate can be marketed by word of mouth, TV advertisements (i.e., snickers "you're not you when you're hungry), slogans that are easy to remember, holidays that revolve around candy sale (Halloween and Valentine's Day)

10. Where did you buy your chocolate bar?

I bought the chocolate bar at a CVS on Washington St.

11. How much profit does a store owner make on a bar of chocolate?

Depending on the mark-up value, brand name, and source of information; a chocolate bar can make 11-14% profit.

https://www.quora.com/What-is-Cadburys-profit-margin-on-its-blocks-of-chocolate

12. Now that you’ve gathered some information about the components of this chocolate bar write its biography. Tell the story of its life from the farming of its ingredients to production and consumption.

Beanard, the cocoa tree, was born and raised in the Ivory Coast. He was planted in the year 1997. It took him about four years to start producing cocoa beans. Currently, he is 20 years old and is in the prime of his life. He will begin to die in a few years. After one harvest, his daughter, Banena, the cocoa pod, had her beans selected to go to a chocolate factory. She had around 30 beans inside her pod. Her beans are then sent to a factory to ferment for several weeks. After her beans had fermented, she was then dried out and left in the open air. Benana’s beans that had fermented and dried were sifted into the next cycle. Only 1 or 2 beans will not make it if not fermented or dried correctly. The next stage of Benana the pod’s beans will go into is the roasting and winnowing stage. In this stage, Benana gets to meet millions of her relatives as they are chopped up and mixed together to become one. After she gets closely acquainted with her family, they get ground down really fine until Benana is no longer herself but one giant powdery substance. The giant family of cocoa powder is then mixed together with their neighbors. Mooetta the milk, Susanne the Sugar, and Banena the cocoa powder meet up in a giant mixing bowl. They mix together until they become one. From that bowl, Mooetta, Susanne, and Banena now become Chase, the chocolate mix. Chase is then poured into whatever mold that the company wants it to be in. Chase is then chilled into that mold. Since it is near Easter time, Chase will become a chocolate bunny. Chase is then sent to packaging and processing. It will be put into a fancy green and yellow package. Once Chase has made it through packaging, the next time will be shipped. Chase will be sent to anywhere in the US for consumption

[soud1997]

CH. 10 YOUR TURN FIELDWORK

Marx’s theory of social class

https://www.saltwire.com/opinion/regional-perspectives/letter-an-election-fought-with-fear-520016/

This news piece shows the importance of knowledge about the different ideologies and how they playout their role in controlling people’s fear and point of view. The article talks about how fear led masses to vote for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020. The fear of socialism and communism which was taught in the school as to be the biggest evil during cold war. People not understanding the true nature of socialism and Karl Marx’ theory.

Weber’s theory of social class

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/20/science/social-class-confidence.html

This news piece analyzes why people from upper class get away with the incompetence they show in their work. We tend to forgive incompetence of people just because of their wealth, power, and prestige in the society which put them in a different class than us. Even though people form upper class are incompetent, the confidence they show comes from the wealth, prestige, and power which has enabled them to behave in this way. This type of behavior would not be tolerated by the lower class because they will not have such backing as the upper class n the society.

Bourdieu’s theory of social class

https://www.newsclick.in/Notes-Field-Survey-Perils-Class-Disappear-Covid-Pandemic

This news piece points out how the pandemic has increasingly and excessively affected the lower class of India. India has a class structure which contributes towards great disadvantage and discrimination faced by the people who belong to lower classes. The article highlights Bourdieu’s theory of social class by showing how even though people from lower and middle classes work their hardest, they still don’t get to climb up the social hierarchy due to the rigged system in place which discriminates it against them. This behavior can be seen in the merit system where supposedly every person should be selected upon their merit but due to the lower class background, people don’t have enough money to build their children’s foundation which leads them to never be a part of the system in the first place. This results in power and authority sticking with the people who belonged to upper class.

[soud1997]

CH. 9 YOUR TURN FIELDWORK

In my kinship chart, it was mainly based on biological descent. My parents are both the oldest in their families, making me and my five other brothers the oldest cousins. My father’s brothers are happily married to their wives. My parent’s siblings spouses are the only aunts/uncles I have ever known, although they were “married in” to the family, I do not really acknowledge the fact that I am not biologically related to them because I am related to their children/my cousins. If I would have gone into both sets of grandparents, my chart would appear much larger. My grandparents all had more than 5 siblings, both my parents grew up with a lot of cousins. Within those cousins and extended family, there are many divorces, adoptions, and stepchildren which would make the chart a lot more complex. My mother and father had my five other brothers and I.

My father’s both sister and their husbands have no kids. My mother has three sisters. Her two sisters are newly married and the third one is not married. My family shown in the chart all live relatively close, the furthest being 45 minutes away. This has allowed us to stay in touch and know a lot about our family heritage. While this particular chart is based entirely on biological descent, I have many constructed kinship relationships. Both of my godparents I call my aunt and uncle but they are my parent’s best friends. I know their children as my cousins and when I was growing up it really went right over my head that we were not related. Constructed relationships are just as important as those of biological descent, however, the kinship chart is a nice way to see your family tree and allows you trace back the history.

[soud1997]

CH. 7 YOUR TURN FIELDWORK

Growing up, my family and I watched a lot of television. There were shows I watched alone, there were shows my sister watched alone, there were shows me, and my sister would watch together, and there were also shows my entire family watched together. Growing up, I watched shows like Spongebob, Zeke, and Luther, Avatar, and Danny Phantom. My sister watched shows like Hannah Montanna, Zoey 101, Victorious, and Lizzie McGuire. Together we watched things like Drake and Josh, The Fairly Odd Parents, and Even Stevens. These kids' shows are very gendered. I would refuse to watch the shows my sister would watch because they would talk about "girl" things such as having a crush on boys or wearing bras, and I obviously could not relate. My sister, on the other hand, hated the shows I watched because they did not relate to her. My shows would have more action-based content like skateboarding, karate, and fights. The shows we compromised on, I feel, were not specifically gendered, and that is why we could compromise on them. They had both boys and girls featured, and it did not have specific things aimed at each gender. My family would watch shows like Family Feud, Wipeout, Survivor, and The Goldbergs. These shows I do not feel were gendered either because it showed both men and women, and nothing was specifically aimed at either gender. That is why we enjoyed watching them as a family. Both then and now commercials are likely to be gendered, and if they're not, it usually shows both boys and girls in the commercials. I remember lots of commercials being gender-specific during my childhood. Toys such as Barbie’s, American Girl, Transformers, and Hot Wheels all were either aimed at boys or girls. Although, I do remember some being gender-neutral like MoonBoots, Kerplunk, Mighty Beanz, and Legos. So, I was curious to see if commercials today were less gender-specific in their advertisements than they were when I was a kid. I currently only have streaming services to watch TV, so I do not see many commercials. I decided to watch a Youtube video entitled “Top 20 most popular Toys for Kids and Teenagers 2020”. Beat Bugs, Paw Patrol, PJ Masks, OOnies, RollPlay Cars, and Hoverboard were gender-neutral. Hatchamials, FurReal, Zoomer Enchanted Unicorn, So Slime, LOL Surprise, My Little Pony, Journey Girls, Pikmi Pops, and Spirit, were aimed at girls. Robo Alive, Lego Boost Coding, Beyblade Burst, Laser X, and Starwars Baldebuilders were aimed at boys. The ads used techniques like only putting girls or boys in the commercials. The girl commercials only featured girls, had pink or bright colors and played upbeat pop music. The boy commercials only featured boys, had loud music with male vocals and used dark colors. These commercials teach gendered behavior because children adapt to what they see. These commercials are most likely something they see on a regular basis. It teaches that girls have to be soft and sweet and play with things like ponies, dolls, and lollipops. It teaches that boys have to be strong and rough and play with things like robots, swords, and play guns. I was shocked to see that the Lego, Laser tag, Slime, and Starwars commercials were all gender-specific. These toys especially could be played by any child of any gender. It saddens me to see that these commercials being aimed at genders has not changed since I was a kid. This is what continues to create active gender roles. From a young age, children are being taught things they should do, down to what they play with, based on their gender.

[soud1997]

CH. 6 YOUR TURN FIELDWORK

Ethnicity alludes to a common culture. Individuals from an ethnic gathering may share a typical parentage, history, or public or territorial inception. And normally share an allowance of faith-based expectations, qualities, and practices. Their mutual culture may incorporate basic language, music, food, dress, conventions, and religion. Numerous individuals draw a feeling of character from being an individual from their ethnic gathering.

The word ethnos implies pretty much "nation" in Greek. Since the ascent of patriotism beginning around 1800 the possibility of "nation-states" has become regular i.e. there is a group of individuals who all have a place with identity and subsequently ought to be in one state. Sometimes like France and Spain, you have differently related. However, separate phonetic gatherings imparting a country to a specific measure of absorption. On different occasions, you had many separate little expresses that social affair to frame a country. For example, Germany and Italy during the 1800s. In different cases, you have bunches that are essential for a bigger Empire and wish to lose the burden of said domain and set up their own states. For example, the Hellenes during the 1820s, or the Poles in 1918. In different cases, you have "related" countries or identities who would prefer not to share a country. For example, Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, or even Iraq. On different occasions you can have a country based on a feeling of citizenship instead of identities, like the United States, Canada, or Australia, they have manufactured their own societies however there is anything but a solitary American "nationality."

Individuals who are members of a similar ethnic gathering can be individuals from various saw races, and individuals of a similar perceived race can have a place with various ethnic gatherings. Kuwaitis are an ethnic gathering that shares the language, music, food, and customs of Kuwaiti legacy. In any case, while numerous Kuwaitis relate to the Arab race, others distinguish as multiracial. Then again, individuals with Swedish, Italian, or Serbian foundations may all distinguish as white, yet their nationalities including language, apparel, conventions, and religion are immeasurably unique.

My family lives in Kuwait. But I came to the united states of America for the sole purpose of the study. I visit my family twice or thrice a year. They themselves and their ancestors did not migrate from any country, they were natives. They have been living in Kuwait for decades. No, they did not embrace American nationalism, they held Kuwait nationality as they were born and raised in Kuwait. No one in my family migrated from other parts of the world, only I came to the United States of America for academic purpose. In numerous societies, a few races or ethnicities make up a larger part or predominant gathering with significantly more force than other social gatherings. Moreover, societies may have one or a few amazing groups or minority groups. Utilized thusly, the term minority does not demonstrate the number of individuals that make up the group. Or maybe, it depends on the minimized status of the group.

[soud1997]

Chapter: 05 Field Work

The race is not natural. It is a social build. No standard or group of attributes is common for all blacks or all whites. Were race "genuine" in the hereditary sense, racial orders for people would stay consistent across limits. However, an individual who could be ordered as dark in the United States may be viewed as white in Brazil or shaded in South Africa.

Like race, racial personality can be melted. How one sees her racial personality can move with experience and time, and not just for the individuals who are multiracial. These movements in racial personality can end in classes that our general public, which demands the inflexibility of race, has not even yet characterized.

Cultural mechanisms make it appear natural to be artificial. As with other cultural constructions, this is true of race. The social, economic, and political processes of dividing populations into races and establishing racial definitions are constructed through racialization.

In short, the fact that race is a social construct identified by markers such as the color of the skin, texture of the hair, eye shape, ancestry, performance of identity, and even name does not imply that racial classifications are free from implications or observable results.

Physical features such as skin color or bloodline, linguistic features such as language or dialect, or behavioral or cultural features such as customs or religion. Characteristics of the climate, such as living in the same region or having the same place of origin.

As anthropologists and other evolutionary scientists have moved from the terminology of the race to the world population to talk about genetic differences, the word "race" has been re-conceptualized by historians, cultural anthropologists, and other social scientists as a cultural category or social construct, a basic way in which certain people speak about themselves and others.

To refer to self-identifying communities based on values concerning common culture, heritage, and background, many social scientists have substituted the term race with the term 'ethnicity'. Evolutionary and social scientists were acutely aware of how race ideologies were used to justify segregation, apartheid, slavery, and genocide, in addition to empirical and philosophical issues with "race," following the Second World War.

In the United States, though controversial in biological sciences, views of the race that see racial groups as genetically determined are prevalent, whereas the social constructionist view is dominant in social sciences. The refugees came from all parts of Europe, Africa, and Asia to the Americas. They mingled with each other and with the continent's indigenous inhabitants. Most individuals who identify themselves as African Americans in the United States have some European ancestors, while many individuals who identify themselves as European Americans have some African or American ancestors.

Efforts to control intergroup mixing also contributed to the proliferation of groups such as mulatto and octoroon. In the late 19th century, the standards for membership in these races diverged. Growing numbers of Americans, regardless of appearance, began to consider someone with one drop of recognized Black blood to be Black during Reconstruction

[soud1997]

Chapter: 04 Fieldwork

Question: 01

There are almost 19 men and 17 women in the class. Men spoke almost about 4-5 times throughout the class while women spoke about 10-11 times throughout the class. So, as a result woman spoke more.

Question: 02

The average length that men talked in the class was 10-12 seconds while the average length that women talked in the class was 20-25 seconds. At the time, men speak about 3-5 words comment while women would speak about 10-15 words.

Question: 03

The difference between body language, eye contact, and style of speaking between men and women is that women tend to use hand gestures while speaking and actively explain their answers while men give their answers simple and without hand gestures.

Question: 04

Between men and women, women are more likely to keep their cameras on during the class meeting.

Question: 05

My instructor is a woman. She explains everything to us while speaking. She makes sure everyone is participating in the class, asking the right questions so nobody is left behind. Her body language is pure and simple and gives an idea of friendly talk.

Question: 06

I think that the gender of the instructor does not influence the way she interacts with us. It solely depends upon the person or individual’s personality. A lot of teachers are not really good in behavior and personality, but this instructor is way nicer and more cooperative than anyone I ever had.

[soud1997]

The location I choose for this assignment is Al-Naseem Cooperative Society, the big central market in Kuwait. The thing about this location that drew me to this is the popularity of this market. Before this market was built, it was very difficult to find groceries in this area. As the progress increased in this area, this market also contributed to the progress. After the completion of this market, a lot of other brands and franchises opened their outlets in this area making it a small hub for shopping.

I noticed that a lot of things were ignored before about this market. Like how this market has provided job opportunity for locals, how this market deals with their customers. With this market you can also see some other shops which weren’t there before. So, the progress increases day by day.

The only thing that I think was absent from this place was a need of hospital, I think in this busy place, with all the things available nearby, like schools, prayer areas, etc. I think if there was a hospital nearby the place would have been extremely good.

Yes, this place was badly impacted by COVID-19, as this is a supermarket, they had to close it all down. So, they faced a huge amount of loss, to both money and time.

[soud1997]

Culture of Consumerism

After doing this assignment, I really learned that I do not need a lot of things which I have. Still few things are here which I really need. I have learned that almost 80% of the things that I need are not that expensive, and the other 20% which I just want are really expensive.

 

Item Cost Want/Need Origin of Desire

iPhone X $750 Need Television, Social media, Friends

Groceries $150 Need -

Elekta Hair Dryer $65 Want Television

4 Pajamas $40 Want Family, Television

Yoko Hair Trimmer $69 Need Television, Friends

l'envol perfume $62 Want Television, Internet

LV Bag $3290 Want Television, Social Media

Gotham Jacket $160 Want Television, Social Media

MacBook Air $1190 Need Internet, Television

3 Suits $390 Need Television

Apple watch $350 Want Social Media

4 Shorts $35 Need Social Media

Shampoo & other supplies $16 Need Social Media

Taxi $10-15 Need -

[soud1997]

What is Globalization?

A process of economically, politically, and culturally integrating the people of the world into a single world system or culture. The response is not an easy one to this question. Depending on the viewpoint from which the topic is presented, there are several meanings of globalization. Globalization is seen by many as a phenomenon that creates changes that make people more interconnected and interdependent.

Why it is Important?

Anthropologists agree that the study of globalization is applicable to both of these concepts and use long-term ethnographic studies to explain the complexities of globalization. Anthropological study on globalization tends to concentrate on the impact on individuals and societies of these global processes. Anthropologists should not believe that globalization is "natural and inevitable" since that policy is steeped in the philosophy of Social Darwinism and obscures the construction and preservation of power and privilege.

 

1) This the photo of my HP laptop.

2) The history of the HP is that HP was founded in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard. Their first product was an audio oscillator, and Walt Disney was one of their first customers.

3) Most of the laptop's components are made in China. Some of them come from Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia. In the USA, it is assembled after development. In Indianapolis, their workstations and desktop PCs are manufactured, and their servers are generated in Houston.

4) This laptop has a great impact on my life as I carry it everywhere, I go. I do my homework on it as well as my assignments. I also use this laptop for my entertainment purposes.

5) The people who are directly involved in making HP laptops are the workers who work in their companies, their life is all about making new products and bringing innovation to the company.