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ANTH 2301 (Chapter 1 Notes: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology)
Introductory Cultural Anthropology (ANTH 2301)
Southern Methodist University
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Through the Lens of Cultural Anthropology Laura Tubelle de Gonzalez
Chapter 1: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology Introduction Holmes (medical anthropologist) traveled with a group of undocumented Triqui migrant laborers across the Mexico-US border in 2004 as part of a long-term study on the lives of farm workers. - Holmes’ fieldwork is focused on the way hierarchies and injustices are reproduced in health care and food systems - He was interested in structural violence (i. the way that larger systems reproduce and justify poor treatment of some and not others) Important Elements of Cultural Anthropology (1) Relationship between anthropologist and their study participants (2) The importance of collaborating with the people they study in order to seek solutions (3) The production of food, sustainable environments and lifestyles, social equity, and the practice of cultural anthropology This book focuses on cultural anthropology, emphasizing the thoughts, feelings, beliefs, behaviors, and products of human societies (i. culture) - Tends to focus on living cultures - As a social science, seeks patterns of behaviors, placing it in a larger context Fieldwork: a period of research undertaken by anthropologists during which they insert themselves in the midst of the people they wish to work among, with, and for Ethnography: the process of doing and analyzing fieldwork, and then writing about it in the form of a book, essay, dissertation, or film Cultural anthropology focuses on qualitative over quantitative information - Cultural anthropologists hope to reveal the thoughts, words, and actions of the people they work with (i. informants) rather than imposing their own opinions Culture is dynamic, much like human behavior Agency: people have the ability to make their own decisions and interact with established social institutions in ways that demonstrate power over their destinies Definitions of Culture “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” Tylor (1871: 1) “All those historically created designs for living, explicit and implicit, rational, irrational, and non-rational, which exist at any given time as potential guides for the behavior of men” Kluckhorn and Kelly (1945: 78) “Those patterns relative to behavior and products of human action which may be inherited, that is, passed on from generation to generation independently of biological genes” Parson (1949: 8) “Learned and shared human patterns or models for living, day-to-day living patterns” Damen (1987: 367) The Culture Concept Culture is all of the understandings that people share as members of a community whether physical, virtual, and diasporic COMMON THEME - culture is learned and shared
Major Components of Culture - Ethnicity - Language - Food Procurement and Diet - Social Organization - Economic Systems - Kinship, marriage, and family - Gender and Sexuality - Political Systems - Belief Systems - Illness and Healing - Relationship with environment The Field of Anthropology Four Main Fields (1) Cultural Anthropology - see previous notes (2) Biological Anthropology - looks at humans as biocultural organisms and includes the study of inheritance, primates, hominins, and human biological diversity (3) Archaeology - the study of past cultures as represented by what is left behind (4) Linguistic Anthropology - the study of the relationship between language and culture, and how people use language to interact with others Subfield of All Four Fields: Applied Anthropology - uses the methods and skills of anthropology to work with communities to help solve problems Types of Cultural Anthropology Subfields - Anthropology of Education - Economic Anthropology - Anthropology of Family/Kinship - Political Anthropology - Anthropology of Food/Nutrition - Psychological Anthropology - Anthropology of Gender/Sexuality - Visual Anthropology - Anthropology of Religion - Queer Anthropology - Digital Anthropology - Urban Anthropology - Feminist Anthropology - Environmental Anthropology - Medical Anthropology - Public Anthropology American Anthropological Association (AAA) - the world’s largest organization of anthropologists The Importance of Food to Anthropology Human Relationship to Food - Ancient legacy in which our bodies and communal life were greatly affected by the cooking process - Activities around food procurement are often embedded in a complex of social, economic, political, and religious norms and expectations - Eating can be a cultural and symbolic act Foodways: the methods, knowledge, and practices regarding food in a particular society - Studying peoples’ foodways has become more important than ever due to the impacts of climate change and globalization
Fray Bernardino de Sahagun - One of the world’s first ethnographers - Mostly, anthropological claims from that time enforced white superiority John Locke (17th Cen.) “Tabula Rasa” = “blank slate” - Each person is born with a blank slate, and they adopt culture as they develop under certain circumstances Marx and Engels (1848: 1867) - The way people engage in production shapes their consciousness Class Consciousness: the importance of acknowledging class distinctions Classical Cultural Evolutionists Specialized in cultural institutions - Marriage, kinship, religion, etc. Lewis Henry Morgan Developed a typology for the stages of cultural evolution, which all human societies pass through (1) Savagery (2) Barbarism (3) Civilization - Based loosely on kinship systems and food getting Edward Burnett Tylor Focused on evolution of religious beliefs - Came up with rational explanations for how “primitive” peoples might have understood the mysterious world around them Known for writing the first anthropology textbook, creating the first published definition of culture, and serving as the first professor of anthropology at Oxford University Franz Boaz Father of American Anthropology - Developed ethnography as we know today (fieldwork) and the four-field method of anthropological study - His approach came to be known as cultural/historical particularism - Boaz was committed to social activism - His work led to a re-examination of racist thought in scientific pursuits Claude Levi-Strauss Developed the idea that social life works due to underlying innate structures in thought - Ex: people have an innate mental structure that leads to gift-giving (that it is “natural” for people to give gifts) Bronislaw Malinowski Spent several years living among people Trobriand Islands of Melanesia - Completed detailed ethnographies focusing on family, marriage, and exhange patterns Functionalism: cultures function to fulfill human biological needs Victor Turner Theory of Symbolic Anthropology: argues that symbols are used throughout society in order to maintain order (one way they do this is through ritual) - Turner examines rites of passage as rituals
Clifford Geertz Was a proponent of interpretive anthropology - Promoted “thick description” of a field site in ethnography as a pathway to reading the symbols like a text Rise of Feminist Anthropology (1960s) Shifted narrative towards those who had previously been left out of anthropological study, focusing more on women in the anthropological narrative - Is the root of public and medical anthropology Postcolonial Studies Looks at how former colonies have adapted in terms of their ethnic, economic, political, and cultural identities Post Modern Theory (beginning in the 1980s) Questioning the very notion of truth itself - Encouraged reflexivity (in other words the importance of looking at the self in the process of doing ethnography) - Brought issues of power and resistance to the forefront Michel Foucault (1926-1984) Argued that truth is written by those in power Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002) Showed how individuals with low status could use their skills or connections to create new ideas of what is considered valuable, thereby altering the structures of power Contributions of African American Anthropologists Fredrick Douglass The “vindictionalist” perspective - Criticized early uses of ethnology in its ranking of “racial classifications” based on measurements and the inevitability of innate characteristics W.E. Du Bois - Sought to destabilize the racist idea of African inferiority - Undertook fieldwork in a predominantly Black community, resulting in the first ethnography of an American Black community - Developed the concept of ‘double consciousness’ in African Americans - Among the many African American thinkers who contributed to ideas included in the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Anthropology and Colonialism Colonialism heavily influenced anthropologic thought in the past - Anthropological study was being used to gain control over a certain people and their land (ex. The Vietnam War) The American Anthropological Association (AAA) developed a code of ethics in 1971 - However, the relationship between indigenous people in North America and the anthropological community was manipulative and exploitative Vine Deloria Jr. - Slammed oppressive relationship between tribal people and anthropologists, which led to more collaborative work - Demanded that anthropology re-examine its practices and assumptions Today, anthropologists advocate alongside tribal peoples
ANTH 2301 (Chapter 1 Notes: Introduction to Cultural Anthropology)
Course: Introductory Cultural Anthropology (ANTH 2301)
University: Southern Methodist University
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