Anthropology
Summary:
Anthropology is the study of what makes us human. Anthropologists take a broad
approach to understanding the many different aspects of the human experience,
which we call holism. They consider the past, through archaeology, to see how
human groups lived hundreds or thousands of years ago and what was important
to them. They consider what makes up our biological bodies and genetics, as well
as our bones, diet, and health. Anthropologists also compare humans with other
animals (most often, other primates like monkeys and chimpanzees) to see what
we have in common with them and what makes us unique. Even though nearly all
humans need the same things to survive, like food, water, and companionship, the
ways people meet these needs can be very different. For example, everyone needs
to eat, but people eat different foods and get food in different ways. So
anthropologists look at how different groups of people get food, prepare it, and
share it. World hunger is not a problem of production but social barriers to
distribution, and that Amartya Sen won a Nobel Prize for showing this was the case
for all of the 20th century’s famines. Anthropologists also try to understand how
people interact in social relationships (for example with families and friends). They
look at the different ways people dress and communicate in different societies.
Anthropologists sometimes use these comparisons to understand their own
society. Many anthropologists work in their own societies looking at economics,
health, education, law, and policy (to name just a few topics). When trying to
understand these complex issues, they keep in mind what they know about biology,
culture, types of communication, and how humans lived in the past.
Marcel Mauss (1872-1950) is a French sociologist
and anthropologist whose contributions include a
highly original comparative study of the relation
between forms of exchange and social structure.
According to Marcel Mauss, every self has two
faces: personne and moi. Moi refers to a person's
sense of who he is, his body and. his basic identity.
Personne, is composed of the social concepts of
what it means to be who he is.
Personne has much to do with what it means to live in a particular institution, a
particular family, a particular religion, a particular nationality and how to behave
given expectations and influences from others. He studied non-Western societies
all over the world and proposed the “Total Social Phenomenon”, which tackles that
every sector in a community or society should cooperate to have a well-balanced
living.
Language and culture are intertwined. A particular language usually points
out to a specific group of people. when you interact with another language, it
means that you are also interacting with the culture that speaks the language. you
cannot understand one’s culture without accessing its language directly. When you
learn a new language, it not only involves learning its alphabet, the word
arrangement and the rules of grammar, but also learning about the specific
society’s customs and behavior. when learning or teaching a language, it is
important that the culture where the language belongs be referenced, because
language is very much ingrained in the culture.
Clifford James Geertz was an American anthropologist
who is remembered mostly for his strong support for
and influence on the practice of symbolic
anthropology, and who was considered "for three
decades... the single most influential cultural
anthropologist in the United States." He served until his
death as professor emeritus at the Institute for
Advanced Study, Princeton. "The Impact of the Concept
of Culture on the Concept of Man," The Interpretation
of Cultures. Basic Books. New York City, NY. 1973.
Basic Premises
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Elements of culture (marriage, economy, religion, etc.) can be so entwined
that you cannot easily separate any particular layer and analyze it by itself
o "...The image of a constant human nature independent of time,
place, and circumstance, of studies and professions, transient
fashions and temporary opinions, may be an illusion. What man is
may be so entangled with where he is, who he is, and what he
believes that it is inseparable from them".
o "We must descend into detail if we wish to encounter humanity face
to face".
Look for what makes people/cultures different, not the same; it is more
effective to analyze human nature by noting the differences between
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cultures that arise over time and space than to try to form vague notions of
universals
o "...We need to look for systematic relationships among diverse
phenomena, not for substantive identities among similar ones".
o "It is in understanding that variousness that we shall come to
construct a concept of human nature that has both substance and
truth".
Culture reveals the link between what man is capable of and how he
actually behaves, which in turn helps define human nature.
o "Culture, the accumulated totality of [human behavior] patterns, is
not just an ornament of human existence but an essential condition
of it".
Culture is the "accumulated totality" of symbolic patterns that appear in
different societies