The document explores the construction of race as a social concept rather than a biological one, highlighting that human diversity is influenced by cultural, environmental, and political factors. It discusses the effects of structural violence and globalization on health, poverty, and disease, emphasizing the need for understanding cultural adaptations and their impact on well-being. Finally, it advocates for a medical anthropology approach to examine the intersections of cultural beliefs, economic systems, and health outcomes.

1. MODERN HUMAN DIVERSITY
RACE AND RACISM

2. HUMAN CLASSIFICATION
 Initially began in an attempt to classify Homo
sapiens into subspecies
 Race – a subspecies/population that differs
geographically, morphologically, or genetically
from other populations of the same species
 Carolus Linnaeus’ famous classification based on
color
 Studies formed hierarchy based on
ethnocentrism
 There is NO GENETIC VARIANT for “race”
 Race is a social construct
 Cultures dictate “race” based on ethnic, religious,
and linguistic groups

3. HUMAN
CLASSIFICATION
 “Race” is a culturally
constructed idea
 Phenotypical characteristics
are based on environment,
diet, and culture
 Behavior can be explained in
terms of culture rather than
biology or “race”
 Intelligence
 Heath
 Crime

4. HUMAN
CLASSIFICATION
 “Racial” inclusion is based on
self-identification
 Can change over a lifetime
 History shows that “racial”
types exclude whole groups
 Feelings of superiority or
inferiority lead to conflict
 Racism used to mobilize
political support by
dehumanizing rivals
 Concept has been exploited
to further political and social
agendas set forth by the self-
proclaimed “superior” group

5. BIOLOGICAL ADAPTATIONS
 Human (biological) variation
is based on adaptation to
natural environmental
stressors:
 Sunlight
 Temperature
 Altitude

6. BIOLOGICAL
ADAPTATIONS
 Sunlight:
 High levels of melanin protect
the body from intense
UVA/UVB exposure
 Temperature:
 Tall, slender bodies/limbs
dissipate heat easier
 Short, stalky bodies/limbs
conserve heat better
 Altitude:
 Enlarged chest, nostrils, and
ventricle of the heart help to
circulate oxygen more
efficiently

7. BIOLOGICAL ADAPTATIONS
 Humans respond to environmental stressors in biological levels:
1.) Genetic – changes built into allele frequencies of populations that create variation because of multiple interacting
genes
 Variation expressed in phenotypic traits
2.) Developmental – permanent phenotypical characteristics that occur from environmental interaction over period of
growth
3.) Physiological – short term changes as a result of environmental stimuli
 Allowed for global expansion

8. CULTURAL ADAPTATIONS

9. CULTURAL ADAPTATIONS
 A complex of ideas, activities, and technologies that
enable survival
 Cultural adaptations are limited by habitat and its
resources
 Change with environmental fluctuations
 Ultimately change the environment in which people live
 Creates the need for new adaptations
 Anthropomorphic stressors are happening faster than
biological adaptation can occur
 Pollution
 Global warming
 Exhausting natural resources
 Cultural adaptations distribute unnatural stressors
disproportionately
 BIOLOGY AND CULTURE ARE INEXORABLY LINKED!!!

10. LIVING IN A GLOBALIZED WORLD
 Disease is both a social and biological
process
 Interconnectedness among political and
economic systems impacts the distribution
of poverty
 Poverty is one if the major determinants
of sickness and disease
 Black people are disproportionately
affected by poverty and thus poor health
in the United States

11. STRUCTURAL
VIOLENCE
 Harm caused by exploitative
and unjust social, political, and
economic systems
 Unequal access to treatments
 Highly polluted (poor) areas
increase the likelihood of
contracting disease
 State of poverty leads to
malnutrition
 Poor people bare the burden
of exposure to harmful
chemicals and bad working
conditions
 Globalization has exasperated
this situation
 Globalization has unfairly
influenced the dreams and
expectations of developing
nations

12. FINDING
SOLUTIONS
TO
GLOBAL
PROBLEMS
• Seeks to understand the cultural aspects of medical systems
• How it is connected to economic and political forces
• How medical terminology and categorization stems from unique
cultural systems of belief
• Which cultural practices are harmful and helpful to people
• How population size, pollution, and disease are interlinked
MEDICAL
ANTHROPOLOGY
• Seeks to understand the political and economic systems, on
global and local levels, that influence human disease
• Means of acquiring and coping with disease
• Looks at available resources for prevention and treatment
• Asses the management of natural resources and access to them
POLITICAL
ECOLOGY