What is Anthropology?

Anthropology

The Study of Humans in Groups

Sources

Eriksen, T. H. (1995). Small places, large issues: An introduction to social and cultural anthropology. London, etc: Pluto.

Haviland, W. (1999). Cultural anthropology. Fort Worth, etc.: Harcourt Brace College.

Keesing, R. M. & Strathern, A. J. (1998). Cultural anthropology: A contemporary perspective. 3rd Ed. Fort Worth, etc: Harcourt Brace College.

What is Anthropology?

The comparative study of human beings in groups

Anthropologists study many different aspects of human activity

Anthropologists try to understand the variation in human societies and cultures

Anthropologists also try to understand the similarities across societies and cultures.

if ( parent.base.isnav ) { document.write('>'); }

Anthropology is one of the social sciences




It is closely related in various ways to sociology, psychology and economics

It is also closely related to some of the natural sciences, in particular biology and medicine

if ( parent.base.isnav ) { document.write('>'); }

There are many different forms of anthropology in the academy


Biological Anthropology - the use of genetics and molecular biology to identify similarities and variations across cultures

Physical Anthropology - the study of bones and primates to discover the origins of development of the human species

Archaeology - the study of ancient artefacts in order to gain an understanding of long-dead cultures and societies

Forensic Anthropology - the use of physical and biological anthropology techniques to solve criminal cases

Social and Cultural Anthropology - the cross-cultural study of living humans to gain insight into the variations and similarities in human societies

"Social and cultural anthropology examines..."

Social and cultural anthropology examines the activity of humans in society

Anthropologists look for connections between societies and cultures as well as connections within societies and cultures

What is society?

Society is a group of people who are separate from surrounding populations and who have a distinctive culture.

"Human beings are social animals"

Human beings are social animals

Our most fundamental behaviour is all social in orientation:

Language & communication

Dress & bodily adornment

Cuisine

"Some anthropologists regard society as..."

Some anthropologists regard society as an organism of its own accord

Just as our bodies are composed of interrelated organs, so the institutions of society work together to serve the larger organism, society.

"Social anthropologists begin their study..."

Social anthropologists begin their study of society with the study of basic social institutions, such as kinship, religion, economics & politics

Social anthropologistsÕ focus is fundamentally the group

What is culture?

A very simple definition would be the system of knowledge shared by members of a society.

Here's a more complex definition:

That complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by [humans] as [members] of society.Ó Ñ Edward Tylor, 1871

"It is often difficult to..."

It is often difficult to distinguish what is cultural because much of culture is unconscious.

One way of simplifying the problem is by distinguishing two main features of culture:

Culture is a model of behaviour - in other words, culture is a way of explaining what people do

Culture is a model for behaviour - in other words, a way of determinng what people do

Some other features of culture

Culture is shared

Culture is learned (not inherited)

Culture is adaptive, not fixed (it changes)

Culture is based on symbols

Culture is integrated (all the different aspects of culture are interrelated and interconnected)

"Cultural anthropologists focus on the"




Cultural anthropologists focus on the symbolic & how the individual becomes a cultural being. They study language, psychology, & enculturation

Cultural anthropologists begin their study by focussing on the individual


A History of Anthropology


Like most social sciences, anthropology had its beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century

Some foundations:

Henry Maine, Ancient Law, 1861

Lewis Henry Morgan, Ancient Society, 1877


"Henry Maine"





Henry Maine

Maine based his work on his experience as a lawyer in India

His book examines the differences in the interpretation and application of law in different types of societies

He regarded India as a primitive society and posited a distinction between 'status' and 'contract' societies


"Status-based societies are founded..."

Status-based societies are founded on kinship, group relations and face-to-face activity, and oneÕs position in society is founded on these principles

Contract-based societies are founded on merit, individual achievement and literacy (which enables remote communication), and oneÕs position in society is founded on these principles


"Lewis Henry Morgan"

Lewis Henry Morgan

Morgan was a social evolutionist

He conceived of the three major phases of evolution of society:

Savagery

Barbarism

Civilization

"Savagery"

Savagery

Savages are hunters and gatherers.

They live in undifferentiated groups (ÓhordesÓ) & have few restrictions on sexuality. Later, they may develop matrilineal organization and exist in tribes.

They recognize no ownership of property.


"Barbarism"

Barbarism

Barbarians are cultivators who have domesticated animals.

They may live in tribes, but they are now patrilineal. Sexuality is regulated somewhat, but polygamy is common

They do recognize the ownership of property, but it is communal ownership

Note: neither savages nor barbarians are literate


"Civilization"

Civilization

Civilized people are cultivators who can organize their society more effectively through the use of written communication; therefore they can create state societies. Eventually they become industrialized

Family structure is monogamous and patriarchal, but patrilineality has disappeared

Corporate ownership of property is replaced with individual ownership


Different theories of culture

Two main theories of culture were predominant in the nineteenth century:

Social Evolution

Cultural Diffusion


"Social Evolution"


Social Evolution

DarwinÕs Theory of Evolution(1859) influenced early students of cross-cultural human activity

Herbert Spencer developed the idea of Social Darwinism that proposed that human societies developed in a ladder-like fashion. (European societies were, naturally, at the top.)

This idea helped justify European imperial expansion and domination of 'lesser'/'primitive' 'savage' peoples. This was known as The White ManÕs Burden


"Cultural Diffusion"

Cultural Diffusion

Originated in Germany

Proposed that major innovations in human culture occur rarely in history

These innovations are spread from society to society by influence and diffusion

"Two main types of diffusionism"

Two main types of diffusionism:

Egyptian - the idea that the Egypt is the cradle of all civilization and all major innovations occurred there and spread outwards

Modified - the idea that there are several cultural centres, and that innovation occurs there and spreads outwards


"Ultimately,"


Ultimately, diffusionism was incompatible with evolution, and died out

However, in the postcolonial era (1960s onward) the theory of globalization is reviving some of the concepts originally advanced through diffusionism


Armchair Anthropology

By the end of the nineteenth century scholars were actively thinking about the 'rise' of humanity

Two major thinkers helped found the discipline of anthropology as separate from other social sciences:

Edward Tylor

James Frazer


"Edward Tylor (1871)"


Edward Tylor (1871)

Grappled with the concept of culture

Examined societies cross-culturally

Coined the definition of culture that is used as a foundation for most modern anthropologists


"James Frazer (1890)"

James Frazer (1890)

Wrote a definitive twelve-volume comparative study of religion

Used ethnographic details from all over the world to do so

Examined the evolution of religious belief from the practice of magic


"Neither Tylor nor Frazer had..."

Neither Tylor nor Frazer had any direct contact with the cultures on which they based their research

"Next generation of anthropologists believed..."

Next generation of anthropologists believed that true conclusions could not be drawn without some empirical evidence (evidence that they collected/observed themselves)


"W."

W. H. R. Rivers, A. R. Haddon, Charles Seligman

Embarked on some of the earliest anthopological expeditions to collect information first-hand

However, their expeditions lacked methodological rigour, and so their successors made improvements

Modern Anthropology

Two men are regarded as the founders of modern anthropology, along with a third:

Franz Boas

Bronislaw Malinowski

[A. R. R. Radcliffe-Brown]

"Boas and Malinowski built on..."

Boas and Malinowski built on the work of Rivers and company and aimed to bring methodological rigour to the discipline


"Franz Boas (1858-1941"

Franz Boas (1858-1941)

Born and educated in Germany

Migrated to the USA in the 1880s to study American Indian populations (who were then being conquered and resettled)

Boas believed that this uprooting of these people would destroy their culture and set out to document their cultures and traditions before it was too late


"BoasÕ approach was broadly comparative"


Boas approach was broadly comparative

His method was to sit tribal elders and collect data on cultural traditions, and perhaps to have those traditions re-enacted for him

He catalogued and mapped out almost all the North American native cultures


"Boas was not a Social..."

Boas was not a Social Darwinist, and did not regard different societies as representing steps on some sort of evolutionary ladder

His major contribution to the discipline of anthropology was the concept of cultural relativism


"Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942"

Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942)

MalinowskiÕs approach was somewhat different from BoasÕ. Rather than compiling lots of data from many different informants, he believed that the best way to collect data was by participant observation Ñ by living among the people under study for an extended period of time and becoming familiar with their culture in that way


"Malinowski was given the opportunity..."


Malinowski was given the opportunity to practise his theory at length by the First World War.

He spent more than two years between 1915 and 1918 in the Trobriand Islands off Papua New Guinea, and provides to this day the model for ethnographic research

Core concepts

Ethnocentrism and cultural relativism

One fundamental rule of social relations is that each society, having developed a culture that is its own, regards all other ways of life as inferior

This is called ethnocentrism and it is a property of all groups

"BoasÕ principle of cultural relativism..."




Boas principle of cultural relativism serves as a means of counteracting each personÕs individual ethnocentric tendency

Rather than judging cultures, traditions and activities by the standards of oneÕs own society, those things need to be appreciated within their appropriate context and judged accordingly

"A few examples of ethnocentrism"

A few examples of ethnocentrism:

Moralistic judgements - considering certain practices as ÒwrongÓ or ÒinferiorÓ or ÒbackwardÓ because they are different from your own. An example: condemning the Nigerian practice of death by stoning while living in a society that puts people to death by hanging or electrocution


"Ethnographic bias - using concepts..."




Ethnographic bias - using concepts that are appropriate for describing our own situations to analyze things on a global scale. An example of this kind of bias might be the application of Biblically-derived laws to people who are Buddhist or Muslim, for instance, or to attempt to create bank loans for people who do not use banks. Many ÒdevelopmentalÓ schemes fall into this trap.


Influential Thinkers who impacted Anthropology

Emile Durkheim

Max Weber

Karl Marx

Sigmund Freud

Ferdinand de Saussure

Lucien Levy-Bruhl


Some Major Twentieth-Century Anthropologists




A. R. Radcliffe-Brown

Marcel Mauss

Claude Levi-Strauss

Margaret Mead

Ruth Benedict

Clyde Kluckhohn

Alfred Kroeber

Clifford Geertz