ANTH V02- Cultural
Anthropology
Early “Anthropology”
nEuropean Expansion
nExploration
nColonialism
nScientific Developments
Charles Darwin
n1859: On the Origin of the Species
nTheory of Evolution
Ideas of Progress
nColonialism & Industrialism
nEvolutionary models for culture & society
nHerbert Spencer and Social Darwinism
Social Darwinism
nApplying Darwin’s theory to societies
nProblems with “survival of the fittest”
nUsed to justify immigrant labor, eugenics, Nazi regime
L.H.Morgan(1818-1881)
nStructure of Societies
nOrigin of Family (kinship systems)
Socio-Cultural Evolution
Edward B. Tylor (1832-1917)
nOrigins of Religion
nAnimism
Tylor’s Concept of Culture:
“that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals,
law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member
of society”
1903
A New Perspective
Franz Boas(1858-1942)
nTraining in Sciences
nGerman
nArctic Geography in North East Canada
nEncounters with Inuit
nQuestions Social Evolution
Boas’ Historical
Approach
nEvery society has its own unique history
nEvery culture is valid
n“Salvage” anthropology
“Cultures”
nAll groups
have culture
nBoas re-definesTylor!
Father of North American Anthropology
nEstablishes 1st Anthropology Department
nClark University 1899
nTeaches at Columbia
Ethnocentrism → Cultural Relativism
ethno: ethnós (greek)=culture
or group
ethnographic, ethnography,
ethnocentrism, ethnic, ethnicity
Ethnocentrism
nBelief that one’s culture is better than all other
cultures.
nOther cultures should comply with the standards of
one’s own culture.
nCan lead to racism.
Cultural Relativism
nUnderstanding values & customs in terms of the
culture of which they are a part.
nNOT judging the behavior of other peoples using the
standards of one’s own culture.
Remember….Anthropology is
nComparative
nHolistic
nRelativistic
Bronislaw Malinowski 1884-1942
nPhysics and Mathematics
nPoland
Focus on the bio-cultural
Malinowski’s Functionalism
nCulture as adaptation
nAdaptation: what humans do that lets them live
successfully in their environment
The Kula Ring: an exchange system
nPrestige Items
nBuild Alliances
nTrade Goods
Malinowski’s Personal
Accounts
nA secret diary
nethnocentrism, loneliness, depression… or CULTURE SHOCK
Boas & Malinowski
establish:
1. An emphasis on fieldwork
2. Ethnography
Fieldwork & Field
Techniques
nEthnographic Method (pg. 26)
nFirsthand exploration of a society and culture…
But how?
Ethnographic Field
Techniques
(note pg, 26 and field techniques
outlined by Kottak)
nPhotography & filming
nLearning the language
nA year’s cycle
nParticipant observation
nRecording life histories/interviews
nUsing references
2 important perspectives:
nEMIC
an insider’s
point of view
nETIC
an outsider’s
point of view
Ethnography :Written results of fieldwork
4 approaches/theories to
know
nBoas
nhistorical
nMalinowski
nfunctional
nHarris
nmaterialist (scientific)
nGeertz
nSymbolic (interpretive)