Anthropological Theory

Download Report

Transcript Anthropological Theory

SUICIDE STATISTICS

http://www.afsp.org/index.cfm?page_id=04ea
1254-bd31-1fa3-c549d77e6ca6aa37

http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/
suicide_rates/en
ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY
BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI
BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f22VsAlOwb
c
3
BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI
 Born:
Krakow, Poland on April 7, 1884
 Parents:
 Family:
Very
Lucyan & Jozefa Malinowski
Upper-class
cultured
Scholarly
4
MALINOWSKI: EDUCATION
 Ph.D.
in Philosophy, Physics, and
Mathematics
University of Krakow in 1908
 1913:
Lectured at London School of
Economics
Ph.D. in Science in 1916
5
MALINOWSKI
Founded:
Social
Functionalism
Anthropology
All
components of society interlock
to form a well-balanced system
6
FUNCTIONALISM
Britain:
Shift
Reaction to
th
19
c. evolution
from Social change
Evolution
To
Social
How
stability
societies stayed the same
7
SOCIAL CONTEXT FOR FUNCTIONALISM
World->Colonies
Problem:
Ruling native people?
Required:
Practical
knowledge of social &
political structures
8
SOCIAL CONTEXT FOR FUNCTIONALISM
Research
focus: Functioning of
social systems
Information
served colonial
administration
Focus:
Maintaining order & stability
BRITAIN – SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY
 Social
Structure = Enduring patterns
of social relationships
 Function: Society= Organism
Parts work together to maintain
system
 Emphasis on equilibrium
Change->Upsets the equilibrium
10
MALINOWSKI INTRODUCTION

Emphasized characteristics of:
Beliefs
 Ceremonies
 Customs
 Institutions
 Religion
 Ritual
 Sexual taboos

11
MALINOWSKI INTRODUCTION
 First
field study came in 1915-18
 Studied
the Trobriand Islanders of New
Guinea in the southwest Pacific
 Used
holistic approach to study
natives’ social interactions including:
Annual
Kula Ring Exchange
12
BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI

1915 WW I started
 Remained
the war
in New Guinea for duration of
Lived
with Trobriand Islanders
Became a well-known anthropologist

1922 Argonauts of the
Western Pacific
13
MALINOWSKI
BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALISM
Society:
Functions to meet needs
of individuals
All people have these needs
3
Levels of Needs:
1. Biological
2. Instrumental
3. Integrative
14
BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALISM
These
fundamental needs must be
supplied by culture
Anthropologists
could study the
ways in which a culture meets
these needs for its people.
BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALISM
1. Biological needs:
Nutrition
Reproduction
Bodily
comforts
Safety
Relaxation
Movement
MALINOWSKI
BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALISM
2. Instrumental needs:
Law
Education
BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALISM
3. Integrative needs:
Religion
Art
BIOPSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONALISM
Culture
provides:
Stability, cohesion, and
physical survival through:
Myths
Symbols
Rituals
TROBRIANDS STUDY
Characteristics of Malinowski’s
method
Lived as a native among natives
Watched them daily at work and at play
Conversations with them their language
Information from personal observation
Statements directly by the natives
20
MW WHAT IS AN ETHNOGRAPHY?
Documents people’s routine daily lives
Explores a cultural group
Live with group being studied, or
spends a lot of time with them
“Guiding question” that evolves
during the study
21
GOALS OF ETHNOGRAPHY
Unobtrusive
Identify geographical & temporal
location
To reveal little known societies
To obtain insider’s view
Understand point of view from inside
the group
22
GOALS OF ETHNOGRAPHY
 Identify
behavior patterns
 Make reader understand perspective
of native
 Understand:
 Context
 Complexity
 Politics
of social processes
23
GUIDELINES FOR DOING ETHNOGRAPHIC
WORK
Accuracy of information
Complexity of information
Careful Observation
Speak native language
No contact with white people
Seek information naturally
Instead of through informants
24
TROBRIAND KULA RING
25
 HOLISM:
Kula is an exchange system in
Trobriand Islands:
 Politics
 Alliance
formation
 Prestige
 Feasting
 Economic
trade
 Magic
 Contributes
to the integration of society
26
KULA
Ethnographic
work (Holism):
Deal with the totality—an
anatomy of culture
To
study only religion (or
technology) creates an artificial
field of inquiry
27
MAKING THE STRANGE FAMILIAR
 Ethnology
introduced law & order into
what seemed chaotic & freakish
 Transformed
sensational, wild &
unaccountable world of “savages” into a
number of well-ordered communities
 Key:
Society exists to fulfill the needs
of the individual
28
TROBRIAND ISLANDERS
• Subsistence--fishing
agriculture
• Matrilineal
and yam
society: Descent
traced from mother’s line
• Inheritance passes from mother’s
brother to sister’s son
• Brother required to gift (yams) his
sister’s family
EXCHANGE AND TRADE
• Most
spectacular and prestigious
exchanges occurred between islands
• Known
as kula
• Involved
long sailing expeditions
across open sea
BASIC FEATURES OF THE KULA
•
Separation between utilitarian exchange
(gimwali) and ceremonial exchanges (kula)
•
Kula: Exchange of ceremonial items: soulava
(necklaces) and mwali (armbands)
•
Items not kept permanently
•
•
At most 1 or 2 years
Possession of famous kula items brings
person renown & prestige
FEATURES OF THE KULA
 Partners
in the kula were lifelong trading
partners obliged to each other for:
 Hospitality
 Help
 Assistance
 Minor
kula exchanges within a group of islands
preceded major expeditions.
 Usually
year.
one overseas trading expedition per
Prow of a Kula Canoe, c. 1993
FEATURES OF THE KULA
 Two
types of Kula gifts
 Symbolic
value
1. Shell-disc necklaces (Soulava) that are
traded to the north (circling the ring in
clockwise direction)
2. Shell armbands (Mwali) that are traded in
the southern direction (circling counterclockwise).
2 TYPES OF GIFTS
Soulava
Mwali
MALINOWSKI’S CONTRIBUTIONS
(1884-1942)
A
founding father of British social
anthropology
British
From
anthropology paradigm shift:
speculative and historical
(evolutionary) to
The ahistorical study of social
institutions
MALINOWSKI’S CONTRIBUTIONS
 Greatest
contribution as an
ethnographer
 Importance of studying social behavior
in cultural contexts
 Participant-observation
 Consider observable differences
between norms and action:
 Between
what people say they do and what
they actually do
MALINOWSKI’S CONTRIBUTIONS
 Detailed
descriptions of Trobriand social
life and thought
 Kinship & Marriage (e.g., "sociological
paternity“ vs “biological”)
 In economic anthropology
 (e.g.,
“Reciprocity")
 Explain
human economic behavior using
both economics and anthropology