Comprehensive Anthropology Notes

Anthropology: Equality and Diversity

Anthropology seeks to reconcile the fundamental equality of all humans with the immense diversity that characterizes human life.
It explores how and why people adapt differently to their environments.
A central question: Why do human beings differ in their beliefs and practices, despite a shared humanity?
The term "anthropology" comes from the Greek words "anthropos" (human) and "logia" (the study of).

Holistic and Comparative Approaches

Anthropology examines culture, language, biology, and material remains to understand all aspects of human existence.
It seeks to identify universal aspects of humanity.
Anthropology takes a holistic approach, considering every aspect of human life to understand diversity.
It also employs a comparative approach, comparing aspects of culture and language to answer cross-cultural questions.
For example, anthropologists compare humans to nonhuman primates, like chimpanzees, and study how different languages adapt to new technologies.

The Four-Field Approach (North American)

In North America, anthropology commonly uses a four-field approach:
- Biological/Physical Anthropology: Studies human biology and evolution, examining how humans adapted to different environments and how nutrition shapes human diversity.
- Archaeology: Analyzes material remains (tools, food, pottery, shelters) to reconstruct the lifeways of past societies and understand broad patterns in human history (e.g., the development of agriculture, city-states, and changes in religion).
- Sociocultural Anthropology: Focuses on the social lives of contemporary societies.
- Linguistic Anthropology: Explores the relationship between language and culture.
This four-field approach is primarily a North American phenomenon; in Europe, archaeology may be part of history departments, and linguistic anthropology within linguistics departments.

Understanding Diversity: Culture

A key question is how to understand beliefs and behaviors different from one's own.
Culture encompasses both grand rituals and minute, everyday practices.
Culture is not static; it changes over time.
There is no such thing as being "uncultured" or "high cultured"; everyone has culture.
Culture shapes how we make sense of life, what we consider normal, and our sense of self and others.
Children learn culture as they grow up, internalizing what is considered valuable and normal.

Making the Familiar Strange and the Strange Familiar

The concept of "making the familiar strange and the strange familiar" is central to understanding other cultures.
Culture shock often arises from unexpected differences in everyday practices (e.g., the pace of walking, how cutlery is held).
Personal space and gestures (like hugging or kissing on the cheek) vary across cultures and can lead to misunderstandings.
Culture shock often stems from surprises in the minute things rather than in expected grand differences.
Being willing to recognize that one's familiar practices can be strange to others, and vice versa, is essential.
It requires a willingness to see how practices function within a different cultural context.

Defining Culture

Defining culture is challenging, but it can be understood as:
- A set of beliefs, practices, and symbols that are learned and shared.
- An all-encompassing, integrated whole that brings people together and shapes their worldview.
Subcultures form when groups excluded from mainstream society develop their own practices and identities.

Culture as Symbolic

Culture is symbolic: the meanings of cultural elements are learned, not inherent.
A symbol is a sign whose meaning must be learned (e.g., a yield sign, a national flag).
Gestures are often symbolic and can have different meanings across cultures, leading to miscommunication.

Culture is Dynamic

Culture is not static but changes over time.
Understanding culture as learned, symbolic, and dynamic facilitates making the strange familiar and the familiar strange.
It allows individuals to recognize that their practices are not the only valid ones.

Cultural Relativism

Accepting a dynamic definition of culture is at the core of being willing to make the strange familiar.
It requires setting aside one's convictions about what is right or wrong to understand other people's practices.
It's not about moral relativism (where there's no distinction between right and wrong). It's about cultural relativism which is understanding practices within their cultural context.

The Other

Myths and folklore often explain cultural differences through stories of encounters with "others."
The concept of "the other" reflects a fascination with those who are different from ourselves. However, the perception of who is "the other" depends on perspective and power.

Anthropology and Colonialism

Exploration and discovery often led to colonial projects, driven by cultural imperialism and ideologies of enlightenment.
Cultural Imperialism: The belief that Europe was the center of civilization, justifying colonialism as a mission to bring culture and values to other parts of the world.
Enlightenment: The idea that human reason can explain everything, leading to a desire to understand human diversity through scientific laws.

Development of Anthropology

Early anthropology was often "armchair anthropology," where scholars developed theories based on reports from colonial officers without firsthand experience.
Armchair anthropologists believed in a single, hierarchical concept of culture, with European culture at the top.
They compared other cultures to European culture to place them on a scale of civilization.

Unilineal Evolution and Social Darwinism

Early anthropologists adopted unilineal evolution, the idea that all cultures evolve through the same stages to reach European civilization.
They also applied Darwinian concepts to culture, arguing that some societies are more "fit" to survive than others.

Methodological Advancements

Boas and Malinowski advocated for long-term fieldwork and participant observation to understand cultures in their specific contexts.
Ethnography, a firsthand and systematic exploration of a specific culture, became the core methodology.
Malinowski argued that practices that seem strange have a specific function within a given society.

Cultural Adaptation

Boas emphasized that linguistic and cultural diversity are shaped by the environment.
Practices are not ranked on a civilizational ladder but adapted to specific environments.
Physical appearances, languages, and cultural practices adapt to the communities' environments.

The Problematic History of Anthropology

Early anthropological research was often intertwined with colonialism, raising ethical concerns.
Anthropologists today acknowledge this problematic history and work to decolonize the discipline.
Efforts are made to diversify the voices and stories presented in anthropological research.

Tutorial Instructions

Tutorials have specific instructions, which includes Icebreaker Activity, Discussion of assigned readings and writing assignments.
Liberal Arts style colleges are known for dialogic learning experience, while research universities are known for lecture based model of academic sharing.
Dialogic Learning experience works best with following principles:
- Generosity
- Provisionality
- Respect