The Scope of
Anthropology,
Sociology and
Political Science
The Holistic Study of
Humanity: Anthropology
ANTHROPOLOGY is derived from two Greek words anthropos and
logos, which intensively studies human and the respective cultures
where they were born and actively belong to.
The term anthropology means scientific study of man or human
beings.
The goal of studying anthropology is to understand the origin
human evolution and the diverse forms of its existence throughout
time
The father of American anthropology, Franz Boas, a physicist,
strongly believed that the same method and strategy could be
applied in measuring culture and human behavior while
conducting research among humans including uniqueness of
their cultures
Two American anthropologists Alfred Kroeber and William
Henry Morgan, became prominent in their field since their
specialization included the championing of indigenous rights
like traditional cultural preservation and ancestral domain of
the American Indian tribes they intensively studied.
became a specialist in anthropology and folklore and authored
the famous book Patterns of Culture.
The field of anthropology offers several topics for relevant
research and discussion in various academic fields since its
distinct way of data gathering from their respondents applies
participant observation which is central to ethnography.
Bronislaw Malinowski is the founding father of this strategy.
The Study of the Social World:
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society, social institutions, and social relationships.
Sociology is interested in describing and explaining human behavior,
especially as it occurs within a social context (Merriam Webster)
The purpose of sociology is to understand how
human action and
consciousness both shape and are shaped by surrounding cultural and social
structures.
Studying sociology is practical and useful. A social
beings, we gain understanding of how the social world
operates and of our place in it. C.Wright Mills (1959)
calls it sociological imagination which he defined as “the
vivid awareness of the relationship between private
experience and the wider society.”
Sociology’s point of view is distinct from other sciences. Peter
Berger explains that the perspective of sociology enables us to see
“general patterns in particular events” (Macionis, 2010). This means
finding general patterns in particular events. The first systematic
study on suicide provides a good example. Emile Durkheim’s
pioneering study on suicide in the 1800s revealed that there are
categories of people who are more likely to commit suicide.
Sociology emerged with the two of the most significant social and political revolution in
the history. The French Revolution of 1789, along with the Industrial Revolution in
England during the 18th century, tremendously changed people’s lives.
August Comte (1798-1857) is the person who “invented”
sociology in 1842, by bringing together the Greek word socius
or “companion” and the Latin word logy or “study”. He originally
used “social physics” as a term for sociology. Its aim was to
discover the social laws that govern the development of society.
Comte suggested that there were three stages in the
development of societies, namely the theological stage, the
metaphysical stage, and the positive stage.
The founding mother of sociology is Harriet Martineau
(1802-1876), an English writer and reformist. In her
accounts in her book How to Observe Morals and
Manners (1838), the deep sociological insights wecall
now ethnographic narratives are fully expressed.
Karl Marx (1818-1883), a German philosopher and revolutionary
further contributed to the development of sociology. Marx
introduced the materialist analysis of history which discounts
metaphysical explanation for historical development.
He wrote the Communist Manifesto a book that is focused on the
misery of the lower class (working class) caused by the existing
social order. He reiterated that political revolution was vital in the
evolutionary process of the society, the only means to achieve
improvement of social conditions
Emile Durkheim (1864-1920) a French sociologist who put
forward the idea that individuals are more products rather than
the creator of society; the society itself is external to the
individual. In his book Suicide, Durkheim proved that social
forces strongly impact on people’s lives and that seemingly
personal event is not personal after all.
Max Weber (1864-1920) Weber stressed the role of
rationalization in the development of society. For Weber,
rationalization refers essentially to the disenchantment of the
world. As science began to replace religion, people also
adopted a scientific or rational attitude to the world. People
refused to believe in myths and superstitious beliefs.
The Study of Politics:
Political Science
Political Science is part of the social sciences that deals with the study of politics,
power, and government.
Politics refers to “ the process of making collective decisions in a community, society, or
group through application of influence and power” (Ethridge and Handelman 2010,
p.8).
Political Science is a social science that deals with humans and their interactions. It is
a branch of sociology; it essentially deals with the large-scale actions of humans, and
group mentality
Generally, politics is associated with how power is gained and employed to develop authority
and influence on social affairs. It can also be used to promulgate guiding rules to govern the
state. It is also a tactic for upholding collaboration among members of a community, whether
from civil or political organizations.
Politics is allied with government which is considered as the ultimate authority. It is the
primary role of the government to rule the society by stipulating and transmitting the basic
laws that will supervise the freedom of the people. Each form of government possesses
power to attain order that should lead toward social justice.
Science is commonly defined as the knowledge derived from experiment and observation
systematically done. Policy-making and government decisions should be done through
proper research, social investigation, analysis, validation, planning, execution and evaluation.
Thus, politics is a science.
Anthropological
perspectives
Sociological perspective
Theoretical perspective
Political science
perspective
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