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