Transcript What is Anthropology?

Society Challenge and Change
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What is Social Change:
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Social change refers to changes in the way society
is organized and in the beliefs and practices of the
people who live in it
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Social Scientists try to understand the nature of
social change and what forces drive it rather then
predict the future.
What are the Social Sciences?
Groups
Social Science is the
study of humans in
their social, economic
and political relations.
Personality
Government
Climate
Culture
Goods & Services
The Social Sciences
Human Behaviour
Human behaviour is so
varied, that social
sciences have been
organized into specialties
according to areas of
concern.
Each area asks different
questions when trying to
account for human
behaviour.
Anthropology, Psychology &
Sociology
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Anthropology – the
study of the unity and
diversity of humanity
(and related primates)
and of human culture
and society from a
comparative and global
perspective.
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Psychology – the study of thought processes
and the behaviour of humans
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Sociology – the study of human social life,
groups and societies
Venn Diagram – Compare & Contrast
Anthropology
Cultural Customs
& Rituals
Behaviours of
individuals & groups
Sociology
All Study
Human
Behaviour
Group dynamics,
roles, rules, &
institutions
Personality
Development
Behaviour of
Individuals
Psychology
Behaviours of
Groups &
institutions
How Do The Experts Compare and
Contrast Social Change?
DISCIPLINE
QUESTIONS ASKED
Anthropology focuses What are the known basic mechanisms of social change?
on what causes an
What ideas or explanations can we use to describe what causes
entire culture to change cultures to change?
How adequate are these ideas or explanations when we apply
them to the modern world?
What are the implications for anthropology?
Psychology focuses on
behaviours of
individuals
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What must people do to successfully change their behaviours?
What factors make behaviour-modification programs successful?
Do most people need help in making behavioural changes or can
they be self-changers?
Sociology focuses on
changes in a society.
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What are the massive shifts in the behaviours and attitudes of
groups and whole society?
How does social change come about?
What are the patterns of social change?
The study of people, whether it is through
anthropology, sociology, or psychology, helps
us to learn what drives people.
The study of people helps to breed
understanding, and understanding begets
empathy and compassion
What is Anthropology?
Anthropology
Anthropology is the broad study of humankind
around the world and throughout time.
It is concerned with both the biological and the
cultural aspects of humans.
Anthropology
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What makes humans different from other animals?
Is there such a thing as human nature, and if so, what
is it like?
How and why do human groups differ, both
biologically and culturally?
Why have humans changes so much in the last 10,000
years?
How are people who live in urbanized nations
different from “traditional” or “indigenous” people?
Anthropologists are interested in all human
beings – whether living or dead.
No place or time is too remote to escape the
notice of anthropologists.
No dimension of humankind from skin color to
dress customs falls outside the anthropologist’s
interest.
Anthropology is made up of
five sub-divisions
Let’s get started…
Physical Anthropology
A.K.A. Biological Anthropology
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Biological (also called Physical) anthropology is concerned
with the anatomy and behavior of monkeys and apes, the
physical variation between different human populations,
and the biological evolution of the human species.
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The specialization of primatology studies the evolution,
anatomy, adaptation, and social behavior of primates, the
taxonomic order to which humans belong.
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We humans or Homo sapiens sapiens share 98% of our
genes with chimpanzees.
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Another important goal of biological anthropology
is to understand how and why the human species
evolved from prehuman, apelike ancestors.
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The specialization that investigates human
biological evolution is known as
paleonanthropology.
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Paleonanthropologists have reconstructed the
history of how humans evolved anatomically.
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Through analyzing fossils, comparing DNA
sequences and other methods, the outlines of
human evolution are becoming clear.
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Many scholars agree that the evolutionary
line leading to modern humans split from
those leading to modern African apes,
chimpanzees and gorillas around 5 to 6
million years ago.
Cultural Anthropology
Cultural Anthropology…
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Is the study of contemporary and historically
recent activities and cultures
Is the studying firsthand and reporting about
the ways of living in particular groups
Is understanding the causes and consequences
of cultural change
Is enhancing public understanding and
appreciation of cultural differences and
multicultural diversity
Cultural Anthropology
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Culture
Emotions and behaviors
Languages and communication
Religion
Technology
Political systems
Social control
Economic patterns
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Kinship
Sex and marriage
Socialization
Class
Ethnicity
Gender
Culture change
Ethnocentrism
Archaeology
Prehistoric Archaeology is the study of
ancient pre-literate cultures—those that
never kept written records of their
activities, customs and beliefs.
Although prehistoric peoples lacked writing,
some information about their way of life can
be recovered from tools, pottery, ornaments,
bones, plant pollen, charcoal and other
materials they left behind, in or around the
ground.
Through careful excavation and laboratory
analysis of such material remains,
prehistoric archaeologist reconstruct the
way people lived in ancient times and trace
how human cultures have changed over
centuries and even over millennia.
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Contrary to the impression given by much
North American media, the main goal of
digging a particular site is not to recover
valuable treasures and other artifacts.
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The goal is to understand how people of a
particular place lived long ago.
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Many archaeologists today are employed
not in universities but in museums, public
agencies, and for profit corporations.
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Provincial highway agencies employ
archaeologists to conduct surveys of
proposed new routes in order to locate and
excavate archaeological sites that will be
destroyed.
Linguistic Anthropology
Applied Linguistics
Linguistic Anthropology
• The human communication process focusing
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the importance of socio-cultural influences
nonverbal communication
the structure of language
The function of language
The history of languages, dialects, pidgins, and
creoles
Applied Linguistics…
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Is the ability to communicate complex
messages with greater efficiency
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Is concerned with the complex relations
between language and other aspects of human
behaviour and thought e.g.
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How is language used in various social
contexts? How does one order a drink in
Japan?
What style of speech might one use with
people of a higher social order?
Does the language we learn while growing up
have any important effects on how we view the
world or how we think and feel?
Applied Anthropology
Now we now about it…what do we
do with it?
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Applied Anthropologist are problem solvers.
They solve problems drawing upon the cultural
context for clues about how to address a problem
in ways that will make sense to the people of that
culture.
Today, hundreds of anthropologists hold full time
positions that allow them to apply their expertise
in government agencies, nonprofit and for profit
organizations, and international agencies.
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Applied anthropologists can be medical
anthropologists—investigate the complex
interactions among human health, nutrition, social
environment and cultural beliefs and practices.
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Also development anthropologists—apply their
expertise to the solutions of practical human
problems especially in the developing world—
development anthropologists provide information
about communities that help agencies adapt
projects to local conditions and local needs.
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Development anthropologists working for
the World Bank, United Nations
Development Program provide policy
makers with knowledge of local-level
ecological and cultural conditions, so that
projects will avoid unanticipated problems
and minimize negative impacts.
Research Methods Used
by Anthropologists
Just how do they find out about this
stuff?
Research Methods used by
Anthropologists
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Participation-observation
Collection of statistics
Field interviews
Rigorous compilation of detailed notes
Fieldwork by anthropologists is know as
“ethnography”
Participation-observation
• Anthropologists have learned that the best way to
really get to know another society and its culture is
to live in it as an active participant rather than
simply an observer.
• By physically and emotionally participating in the
social interaction of the host society it is possible
to become accepted as a member.
Dian Fossey
• Dian Fossey believed that in
order to study gorillas effectively
she had to immerse herself with
them in an effort to get them to
accept her presence
• She was murdered in her cabin
at Karisoke on December 26,
1985. Her death is a mystery yet
unsolved.
Why do we need Anthropologists? Don’t they tell
us what we already know to be true?
• Intuition is believing something to be true because a
person’s emotions and logic support it
• Intuition is not proof of fact – this is why we need
anthropologists – they prove or disprove what we
BELIEVE to be true
Anthropology & Family
One of the major functions of an
Anthropologists is to help us increase our
knowledge regarding “What it is to be
human?” by noting and comparing cultural
differences.
One of the ways that this is done is
by examining how different cultures
view “FAMILY”.
Is a family relationship based on what a culture
considers a family to be?
KINSHIP
• Kinship is a family relationship based on what a culture
considers a family to be.
• The family unit can vary depending on the culture in which
the family lives
• Through study Anthropologists have concluded that
human cultures define the concept of kinship in three
ways:
• Mating – (marriage)
• Birth – (descent)
• Nurturance (adoption)
How do we track Kinship?
• Patrilineal – Method of tracing and organizing families
through the father's line
• Matrilineal – Method of tracing and organizing families
through the mother's line.
• Patriarchy – A place in history designed for the
convenience of men, and structured according to rules
that men find comfortable. Consisting in society male
dominate institutions that oppress women.
Anthropological Schools of Thought
Functionalism
• The theoretical school of Functionalism considers a
culture as an interrelated whole, not a collection of
isolated traits.
• The Functionalists examined how a particular cultural phase
is interrelated with other aspects of the culture and how it affects the
whole system of the society.
• The method of functionalism was based on fieldwork
and direct observations of societies.
Structuralism
• Structuralism assumes that cultural forms are based on
common properties of the human mind.
• This theory states that humans tend to see things in terms
of two forces that are opposite to each other - e.g.. night
and day.
• The goal of Structuralism is to discover universal
principles of the human mind underlying each cultural
trait and custom.
• This theoretical school was almost single handedly
established by Claude Levi-Strauss.
Cultural Materialism
• Technological and economical factors are the most
important ones in molding a society – known as
materialism.
• Determinism – states that the types of technology and
economic methods that are adopted always determine
(or act as deciding factors in forming) the type of
society that develops.
Schools of Thought
Functionalism
Structuralism
Cultural Materialism
Similarities
Attempts to
understand cultures
Attempts to understand
cultures
Attempts to understand
cultures
Differences
Investigates the
social functions of
institutions
Seeks out and explains
rules that are based on
binary opposites
Explores members’ decisions
regarding human reproduction
and economic production
Criticisms
Presents societies as
being more stable
than they are a and
downplays the
negative results of
some practices
Overemphasizes logic
and stability in human
societies; societies
wouldn’t die out if they
always met the needs
of their members
Tries to establish laws that
apply to all cultures and
development; observes
cultures through biased eyes