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Anthropology and the Study of
Society and Culture
Definitions of Society and Culture, Enculturation, Cultural
Relativism and Anthropological Holism.
The KEY Concepts
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What is society?
What is culture?
What are the four subfields of
anthropology?
What is ‘cultural relativism’?
What is ‘holism’?
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Canada 2004
The Study of Societies
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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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Canada 2004
The Study of Culture
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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:
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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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Canada 2004
Western Society and Individualism
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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.
Copyright © Pearson Education
Canada 2004
Copyright © Pearson Education
Canada 2004
The Fields of General
Anthropology
Cultural
anthropology
Linguistic
anthropology
Archaeology
Physical
(or biological)
anthropology
Applied anthropology?
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Archaeology
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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ETHNOLOGY
Comparative
Studies and
compares
institutions across
cultures.
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Cultural Relativism (1)
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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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Canada 2004
Cultural Relativism (2)
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Critical
– poses questions
about cultural
practices in terms of
who is accepting
them and why
– recognizes
oppressors, winners,
victims
– a critique
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Absolute
– whatever goes on in
a culture must not be
questioned by
outsiders
– Holocaust?
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Holistic Study of Local cultures
Any individual is likely to fit into several
different categories, all of which are
Important to study in order to write an
ethnography.
Class
Race
Ethnicity
Institutions
Gender
Age
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Canada 2004