What do anthropologists mean when they say that “race” is a cultural concept?
What do anthropologists mean when they say that “race” is a cultural concept? What is the evidence and argument that “race” is cultural more than natural or objective? According to Smedley, what are the key components of the Western/English concept of race?
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What does it mean to say that some or most of politics in all societies is informal and interpersonal? How do “political” functions get done in informal and interpersonal ways?
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There is both a biological, and a cultural concept of race. Currently, it is matter of debate on whether or not the biological concept of race can actually be applied to modern human beings.
When anthropologists say that "race" is a cultural concept, they mean that it is a social construct that we use to classify human beings. Basically, in the context of culture, a race is how we as a society perceive the physical characteristics of human beings. This is quite different from any biological taxonomy, because it is just based on how a society views themselves and other groups.
Edit- For example: Many Americans recognize east asians as one racial group. Even though East Asians percieve themselves as belonging to separate racial groups. We tend to generalize because it makes classifying people easier.