Viewing the World Through the Lens of Anthropology - Notes

The Lens of Anthropology

  • Anthropology uses a "lens" as a framework, providing focus and clarity for organizing thoughts, methods, theories, ethics, views, and research results.

Definitions in Anthropology

  • Anthropology: The study of humans.
    • Outside North America: Focuses on contemporary cultures.
    • In North America: Includes human biology, as well as the past and present.
  • Human: Refers to Homo sapiens, and may also include the larger group of Homininae, depending on the context.
  • Culture: The learned and shared things that people think, do, and have.

The Four Fields and Applied Anthropology

  • Cultural Anthropology
  • Linguistic Anthropology
  • Biological Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Applied Anthropology

The Anthropological Perspective

  • Holistic: Considers the whole context.
  • Evolutionary: Examines change over time.
  • Comparative: Compares across different groups.
  • Qualitative: Focuses on descriptive observations.
  • Focuses on linkages between different aspects of human life.
  • Focuses on change and how it occurs.
  • Primarily based on fieldwork.

Other Characteristics of the Anthropological Perspective

  • Interested in populations rather than individuals.
  • Explores "big-picture" questions, such as:
    • What makes us human?
    • Why and how did we evolve the way we did?
    • How are some traits adaptive?
  • Also interested in small things, such as how people greet each other.
  • Recognizes that most traits, both biological and cultural, are adaptive in some way.
  • Recognizes that biological and cultural characteristics are not perfect.
  • Acknowledges that there are multiple ways of adapting, and one way is not necessarily better than another.
  • Understands that similar problems can be solved in different ways.

History of Anthropology (Mostly in North America)

  • Emerged as a discipline in the 1800s.
  • Early theories included Lewis Henry Morgan’s unilinear theory of cultural evolution, which was later discredited.
  • Institutions like the Bureau of American Ethnology and practices like Salvage Ethnography were significant.
  • Franz Boas contributed Historical Particularism.
  • Collaboration with Indigenous Peoples has been a feature.

Contemporary Anthropology

  • Focuses on multiple complex aspects of culture, such as:
    • Corporate culture or Youth culture
    • Militarization and warfare or Terrorism
    • Food and Disease
    • Race and Racism, addressing systemic barriers for BIPOC communities, including movements like Black Lives Matter
    • Gender, Sex, and Sexuality, including Queer Culture and movements like #MeToo

Anthropology, Colonialism, and Decolonization

  • Recognizes that Indigenous peoples exist worldwide.
  • Movements in Canada demonstrate the process of decolonization.
    • These movements are led by Indigenous peoples.
    • Anthropologists collaborate to advocate for Indigenous needs and ways of knowing.
    • The goal is to dismantle systems of oppression that marginalize Indigenous communities.

Situating Anthropology

  • Academia: colleges, universities, museums
  • Business: corporate consultants, market researchers
  • Popular culture: representations of anthropologists (e.g., Indiana Jones)

Importance of Anthropology

  • Providing aid in epidemics, disasters, and conflict.
  • Promoting sustainability.
  • Addressing climate change and food security.
  • Understanding the importance of biological and cultural diversity.