Anthropology
not the science of culture, but the social science that studied dominated coloured people and their ancestors living outside the boundaries of modern white societies
Unilineal evolutionism
Savagery - Barbarism - Civilization
Cultural relativism
scientific anti-racism (We are all humans, share same DNA) - All men are created equal
Who was responsible for the decolonization of anthropology?
William S Willis Jr
What is anthropology?
The study of humanity, including its prehistoric origins and contemporary human diversity
What are the four fields of anthropology?
Cultural Anthropology
Study of the life ways of the world’s living people, for example:
Who is Franz Boas?
Cultural relativism
Who is Margaret mead?
Public anthropology
Who is Cluade Levi-Strauss
French structuralism
Who is Karl Marx?
Marxism and cultural materialism - industrialism
Three Debates in Cultural Anthropology
Agency
Free will vs institutional barriers
Cultural materialism
Behaviour
Cultural Interpretivism
Belief/thought
Four Models of Cultural Interaction (Figure 1.3)
Ethnocentrism
Judging another culture by the standards of one’s own culture rather that by the standards of that particular culture - CONTEXT
Cultural Relativism
The perspective that each culture must be understood in terms of the values and ideas of that culture and not judged by the standards of another culture
Absolute Cultural Relativism
whatever goes on within a particular culture cannot be questioned or changed by outsiders, as that would be ethnocentric
Critical Cultural Relativism
anyone can pose questions about what goes on in various cultures, including their own culture, in terms of how particular practices or beliefs Amy harm certain members
What is an Economic System?
What is a Mode of Livelihood?
A mode of livelihood is the dominant way of making a living in a culture
Modes often overlap or are mixed
The Five Modes of Livelihood
Foraging