ANTHROPOLOGY
PERSPECTIVE
LESLIE BOHON, CARLA COSTELLO, SHARON STONE
EPPL 604
ALBATROSS EXPERIENCE
• Please observe carefully and silently.
WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?
• Anthropology is the study of human behavior. It
includes four broad fields – cultural/social
anthropology, linguistics, physical anthropology and
archaeology.
• Each of the four fields teaches distinctive skills, such
as applying theories and employing research
methodologies, formulating and testing hypotheses
and developing extensive sets of data.
Reference: American Anthropological Association, 2011;
http:/www.aaanet.org/profdev.careers/Careers.cmf
ANTHROPOLOGY AIMS TO ANSWER:
• What does it mean to be
human?
• Why do people behave in particular ways?
• What are historical and environmental pressures
that helped shape the experiences and behavior of
a specific group of people?
• What are the universal facts of human life?
Reference: American Anthropological Association,
2011;http:/www.aaanet.org/profdev.careers/Careers.cmf
CULTURE
• Our focus is on the cultural/social field of
anthropology
• This is where the concern of education lies
• Cultural anthropologists study behaviors, customs
and beliefs that people attain as members of
society (Barret, 1984)
• Culture is a body of learned beliefs and traditions
that guide behavior-Key word is LEARNED (Barret,
1984).
Reference: Barret, R. A. (1984). Culture and conduct : An excursion in anthropology. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth
PARADIGMS
SOCIAL/CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• Post-Colonialism (Leslie)
• Structural-functionalism (Carla)
• Symbolic Anthropology (Sharon)
Anthropology
archaeology
physical
linguistics
cultural/social
Structuralfunctionalism
-Alfred Radcliffe-Brown
-Bronislaw Malinowski
Symbolic
-Clifford Geertz
-Victor Turner
Cultural/Social
Paradigms
Post-colonialism
-Frantz Fanon, Aimé Césaire
-Edward Saïd
-Gayatri Spivak
Sociology roots
-Emile Durkheim
-Max Weber
POST-COLONIALISM
www.qub.ac.uk
• the study of the interactions between European
nations and the societies they colonized in the
modern period
• By WWI, Europe (England, France, Germany)
controlled over 85% of the world.
• After WWII, colonization began to disintegrate,
which led to postcolonial literature, philosophy,
theory, criticism
Sources: Emory Univ.:; http://www.english.emory.edu/Bahri/Intro.html; Brown Univ.:
www.postcolonialweb.org
WHO WAS COLONIZED?
Colonies in 1945
Africa by end of WWI
static.newworldencyclopedia.org
Decolonization after 1945
dt-ss.tripod.com
www.memo.fr
POST-COLONIALISM FIGURES
Edward Saïd,
1935-2003
3QuarksDaily.com
•Born in Palestine
•Wrote about
“Orientalism”
(study of the East
by the West)
•Says Orientalism
is suspect
because it is
written as an
outside view, for
the benefit of the
West
Gayatri Spivak, 1942-
•Born in India
•Revived the term “subaltern”
oppressed, minority groups –
presence is crucial to selfdefinition by colonizers
jackkerouacispunjabi.blogspot.com
POST-COLONIALISM FIGURES
Frantz Fanon,1925-1961
Myelproductions.com
•Born in Martinique
•Supporter of Algerian
independence and
championed
decolonization
Aimé Césaire, 1913-2008
•Born in Martinique
•Poet, author, politician
•One of the founders of the
négritude movement
•Wrote about the cultural
identity of black Africans in the
colonial setting
blackactivism.wordpress.com
LINGERING PROBLEMS OF
COLONIZATION
• Whose language should be used in society?
Language as social and cultural capital (BrockUtne, 2001)
• Failure of the “African Miracle ” – Western
government doesn’t work in many African
countries; brings despair (Livingston, 2009)
• The term “Third World” automatically conjures ideas
of inferiority (Coronil, 1996)
www.phucquach.co.uk
QUESTIONS POST-COLONIALISM
CONSIDERS
• How did the experience of colonization affect those
who were colonized while also influencing the
colonizers?
• What traces have been left by colonial education,
science and technology in postcolonial societies?
• How did colonial education and language influence the
culture and identity of the colonized?
• Are new forms of imperialism replacing colonization and
how?
• Should the writer use a colonial language to reach a
wider audience or return to a native language more
relevant to groups in the postcolony?
Source: www.english.emory.edu; Brock-Utne (2001) Education for All;
Comaroff & Comaroff (2003) Ethnography
Graphic: sherise.files.wordpress.com
STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONALISM,
RADCLIFFE-BROWN
• Alfred Radcliffe-Brown, Birmingham, England
(1881-1955). Influenced by Emile Durkheim
• Developed the structuralfunctional approach to anthropology-Sociology roots
• Conducted extensive research on the
Andaman Islands-Rituals
References:
Radcliffe-Brown, A.F., (1948). The andaman
islanders. Glencose, IL: Free Press.
Chilcott, J.H. (1998). Structuralfunctionalism as a heuristic device.
Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 29(1),
103-111.
Homas, G. C. (1941). Anxiety and ritual: The
theories of Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown.
American Anthropologist, 43(2), 164-172.
RADCLIFFE-BROWN
• Radcliffe-Brown ‘s structural functionalism claimed:
• The rules of conduct within a society lead to a social structure
•
•
•
•
•
consisting of defined roles.
As these roles are enacted, they contribute to maintaining the
social structure.
Social structure is the arrangement of persons in relation to
each other.
Basic premise: Society can be viewed as a system of mutually
interdependent parts
Social organization is the arrangement of activities of two or
more people
Culture functions to meet the needs of society as a whole
Reference: Chilcott, J.H. (1998). Structural-functionalism as a heuristic device. Anthropology
& Education Quarterly, 29(1), 103-111.
STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONALISM,
MALINOWSKI
• Bronislaw Malinowski (1884-1942), Polish Anthropologist.
Influenced by Emile Durkheim.
• Known as the father of the founder of Social Anthropology,
father of the functionalist school
• Trobriand Islands- Ethnography “Writing about the
tribe/nation”
---Participant observation
MALINOWKSI
• Ethnocentrism, by contrast, evaluates others’ beliefs in
comparison to your own. This increases the likelihood of
cultural misunderstandings.
• Believed that anthropologists must have daily contact
with their subjects to fully understand their culture.
Malinowski’s structural-functionalism stressed:
• Culture functions to meet the needs of individuals rather
than society as a whole.
• When the needs of individuals are met, the needs of the
larger society are met.
References: Malinowski, B. (1944). A Scientific Study of Culture. Chapel Hill: UNC Press.
Gregory, K. L. (1983). Native-view paradigms: Multiple cultures and culture conflicts in organizations.
Administrative Science Quarterly, 28 (3), 359-376.
MYTH
• “Malinowksi argued that myths serve primarily to
support social institutions” (Peacock, p. 998).
• He gained support for this argument through his
ethnography of the Trobrianders.
Reference: Peacock, J. L. (1981). Durkheim and the social anthropology of culture. Social Forces,
59(4), 996-1008.
SYMBOLIC ANTHROPOLOGY
• Emerged in the early 1960s
• Rooted in psychoanalysis and sociology of
knowledge
• Tendency to focus on myth and ritual
• Inclined toward qualitative, thick description
• Two major strands:
• Clifford Geertz, University of Chicago
• Victor Turner, Cornell
SYMBOLIC ANTHROPOLOGY
• Clifford Geertz (August 23, 1926 – October 30, 2006)
• Influenced by Max Weber and Sigmund Freud
• Culture is embodied in public symbols
• Symbols are vehicles for communication and
meaning
• His question: “How [do] symbols shape the ways
social actors see, feel, and think about the
world?”
Reference: Ortner, S. B. (1984). Theory in anthropology since the sixties.
Comparative Studies in Society and History, 26(1), 126-166. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/178524
SYMBOLIC ANTHROPOLOGY
• Victor Turner (May 28, 1920 – December 18, 1983)
• Influenced by Emile Durkheim, Max Gluckman, and
Sigmund Freud
• Interested in ritual analysis and the predictive value of
drama
• Symbols are operators producing social transformations
(pragmatic dimension)
SYMBOLIC ANTHROPOLOGY
• Convergence with cognitive anthropology
• Both can be termed “microanthropology,” i.e., an
interest in process rather than structure
• Neither has a strong theoretical framework
• Linguistic theory brings greater precision to both
Reference: Colby, B. N., Fernandez, J. W., & Kronenfeld, D. B. (1981). Toward a
convergence of cognitive and symbolic anthropology. American Ethnologist,
8(3), 422-450. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/644295
SYMBOLIC ANTHROPOLOGY
• Intent is to find meaning through cultural symbols,
including myth and ritual
• Problems
• Rich symbols are multi-layered
• Which meaning is relevant?
• Are all meanings equally important?
• Emerging practice: use linguistic tools to analyze
cultural symbols in the form of metaphors, etc.
ANTHROPOLOGY AND EDUCATION
APPLICATIONS TO EDUCATION
• Ethnographic research-observations and
interviews
• Important in understanding different cultures
• Individuals have different constructs of reality
• Students must make sense of their environment
• “Teachers can recognize, as Malinowski did,
that the introduction of a new element into the
system requires adjustments to be made
throughout the whole system” (Chilcott, p. 107)
Reference: Chilcott, J.H. (1998). Structural-functionalism as a heuristic device. Anthropology & Education
Quarterly, 29(1), 103-111.
APPLICATIONS TO EDUCATION
• Educational phenomena is examined in a crosscultural framework
• Anthropologists, like educators, try to place behaviors
in comparative cross-cultural settings
• “The branches of archaeology are dedicated to
participant observation. Participant observation is
central to anthropological approaches to education”
(Harrington, p. 327-328).
• Anthropological approaches take a very broad view
of education. “Education must encompass both
formal and informal learning” (Harrington, p. 328).
Reference: Harrington, C. (1982). Anthropology and education: Issues from the issues. Anthropology &
Education Quarterly, 13(4), 323-335.
APPLICATIONS TO EDUCATION
• Cultural transmission-can be understood as an
anthropological definition of education
• Examines the ways values and behaviors are taught
within a specific society or culture
• How does a culture transmit itself from generation to
generation?
• How do individuals adjust to change?
• Cultural transmission studies of formal education
focus on schools and classrooms
• Schooling is only one type of cultural transmission
APPLICATIONS TO EDUCATION
• Individuals are seen as members of certain groups
• They learn which actions and beliefs are acceptableencultured
• School teaches us how to mesh with society
• We LEARN to behave in ways that others expect us to
• “Structural-functionalism provides tools for the social
structures that mediate between larger society and
individual choices. This paradigm also shows us that
choices are controlled by social contexts” (Harrington,
330).
Reference: Harrington, C. (1982). Anthropology and education: Issues from the issues. Anthropology & Education Quarterly,
13(4), 323-335.
APPLICATIONS TO EDUCATION
• Symbolic anthropology applies to organizations, like
school divisions, buildings, and classrooms
• However, these cultures are embedded in a wider system
• Organization is maintained through symbols of shared
meaning and shared reality
• How do interpretations of symbol relate to action?
• Leadership in organizations can be described as the
management of meaning
References:
Hannerz, U. (1986). Theory in anthropology: Small is beautiful? The problem of complex
cultures. Comparative Studies in Society and History, 28, 362-367. Retrieved from
http://www.jstor.org/stable/178977
Smircich, L. (1983). Concepts of culture and organizational analysis. Administrative
Science Quarterly, 2(3), 339-358. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2392246
CULTURAL VALUES ACTIVITY