Anthropology and the Study of Society and Culture Definitions of Society and Culture, Enculturation,...

Anthropology and the Study of Society and Culture

Definitions of Society and Culture, Enculturation, Cultural Relativism and Anthropological Holism.

Copyright © Pearson Education

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The KEY Concepts

What is society? What is culture? What are the four subfields of

anthropology? What is ‘cultural relativism’? What is ‘holism’?


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The Study of Societies The sociological imagination consists of understanding the relation

between individual biographies and general social processes, both through time and in the present (C. Wright Mills, 1959).

Emphasizes the interaction between individual actions and general trends and issues.

– Example #1: Unemployment: When, in a city of 100,000, only one is unemployed, that is his personal trouble, and to understand it we look to the character of the individual, his/her skills and his/her. But when in a nation of 50 million employees, 15 million people are unemployed, that is an issue…in which the structure of opportunities has collapsed. Both the correct statement of the problem and the range of possible solutions require us to consider the economic and political institutions of the society, and not merely the personal situation and character of a few individuals.

– Example #2: Marriage: If the divorce rate is 5%, we may analyze marriage problems through individual personalities. If the divorce rate is 50%, then we would look to issues relating to the family form and institutions bearing upon it.


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The Study of Culture Founded on the presupposition that the way people act, think and believe is shaped by

enculturation, i.e. the conscious and unconscious ways that people learn to become functioning members of a particular culture.

There are many definitions of the concept of culture, some of these include the following:‘the total way of life of a people’, a ‘way of thinking, acting and believing’, ‘an abstraction from behaviour’, etc.

Two definitions have been the most influential:– Edward B. Tylor (1871): Culture is "that complex whole which includes knowledge,

belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society”.

– Clifford Geertz (1973): "The concept of culture I espouse. . . is essentially a semiotic one. Believing, with Max Weber, that man is an animal suspended in webs of significance he himself has spun, I take culture to be those webs, and the analysis of it to be therefore not an experimental science in search of law but an interpretative one in search of meaning.

– Note: the first definition includes social institutions, as well as beliefs and values within its definition; the second focuses only on beliefs, values, and what makes social behaviour and institutions MEANINGFUL. Sees ethnography as a process of translating the meanings of one culture into another.


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Western Society and Individualism We live in a culture that values individualism and the individual.

Individuals are seen as the centre of morality, agency and intention.

This is reflected in– in the political and legal liberty of the individual– in the protestant Christian value placed on individual communion with

god.– Individual liberty and freedom is generally placed on a higher plane

than the overall good of society.– Individual private property.– Autonomy, independence and rationality are centred on the individual.

Anthropology can show how the very values that we hold to be constant and universal are, in fact, specific to our culture.

Example: How the behaviour of people in the floods of Mumbai and New Orleans in 2005 was reported by the press in each case.

– In Mumbai, the press stressed how citizens went out of their way to help people in distress.

– In New Orleans, selfish and individualistic behaviour, e.g. looting, was highlighted by the press.


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The Fields of General Anthropology

Archaeology

Physical (or biological) anthropology

Linguistic anthropology

Cultural anthropology

Applied anthropology?


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Archaeology

The study of the lifeways of past cultures by examining material remains

Data include– bones, tools, remains of buildings, refuse

and coprolites (fossilized fecal matter)


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Physical or Biological Anthropology The study of human and non-human

life, past and present, and the evolution of human life.

Many physical anthropologists research animals in order to understand human origins and behaviour

It includes various sub-branches, including paleontology and primatology.


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Linguistic Anthropology

– The study of languages in their historical, social and cultural contexts, e.g. the study of the relationship between dialects, class, and ethnicity. (e.g. ‘black English).

– Studies language in its context both historically and relationally.

– Scope broadened recently to include aspects of communication

• media, email, popular music, advertising, etc


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Socio-Cultural Anthropology

Tries to look at cultures from the “inside” and from the “outside”, including our own.

Example: the Nacirema The largest of the four sub-disciplines. Encompasses all aspects of human behavior

and beliefs and includes:– making a living, distributing goods, reproduction,

political patterns, religious systems, forms of communication and expressive aspects of culture such as art


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Cultural Anthropology’s Distinctive Practises ETHNOGRAPHY

– means “culture writing”

– provides a first-hand, detailed description of a living culture

– based on personal experience, and should be holistic, i.e. examine all aspects of a culture.

ETHNOLOGY Comparative Studies and

compares institutions across cultures.


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Cultural Relativism (1)

The idea that a culture must be understood in terms of its own values and beliefs and not by the standards of another culture– gained by exposure to “other” ways with a

sympathetic eye and ear to appreciating differences.


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Cultural Relativism (2)

Critical– poses questions

about cultural practices in terms of who is accepting them and why

– recognizes oppressors, winners, victims

– a critique

Absolute– whatever goes on in

a culture must not be questioned by outsiders

– Holocaust?


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Holistic Study of Local culturesAny individual is likely to fit into severaldifferent categories, all of which areImportant to study in order to write an ethnography.

Class

Race

Ethnicity

GenderAge

Institutions

Anthropology and the Study of Society and Culture Definitions of Society and Culture, Enculturation,...

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