Week 1: Anthropology 11--Introduction to Cultural Anthropology

Lecture Notes for Chapter 1:

The Nature of Anthropology (2-29)

basketweave line
 

Professor John Wolford
Department of Anthropology
University of Missouri-St. Louis

Email: wolfordj@msx.umsl.edu


 
Definitions for Chapter 1 Outline for Chapter 1 Anthro 11 homepage GO TO BOTTOM OF THE PAGE

Links to outside web pages: [Wolford's A11 Web Page] [My Gateway Page] [Reserves Page]


The important questions to consider while reading this chapter:

What is anthropology?
What do anthropologists do?
How do anthropologists do what they do?

Notes for Haviland, Cultural Anthropology, 10th edition: 

Putting the World in Perspective and Chapter 1: 2-29

Putting the World in Perspective (xxiv-xxxiv)

 

Nature of Maps
• way for people to orient themselves

• reflects (does not verify) a way of perceiving space and place

• validates a people's sense of their relationship to the rest of the world
 

Kinds of Maps
 

Eurocentric Maps
 
• Mercator (1569)  [picture of the 4 maps, from Haviland, p. xxv]  
• land in northern hemisphere is exaggerated over southern hemisphere land


• Mollweide (1805)

 
• equal area map  
• land masses are in correct relative size  
• but warps the shapes of continents (compress northern land, stretch equatorial land)


• Van der Grinten (1904)

 
• minimizes the distortions of continental warp and relative size  
• still exaggerates size of northern land masses


• Robinson

 
• replaces the Van der Grinten map  
• adopted by the National Geographic in 1988; also adopted by Rand McNally  
• best compromise to date on relative land size

• still exaggerates northern land positively and southern land negatively


• Peters   [map]

 
• official map of UNESCO

• distorts the shape of continents (those at equator are vertically elongated 2-to-1)

• yet shows relative land mass as correct

 Return to Top  

Non-Eurocentric maps
 
• Japanese  [Japanese World map]  
• places the Pacific Rim as the center

• advantage over others is that it shows proximity of Asia and North America


• Turnabout (1982)  [map]

 
• places the southern pole at the top

• re-orients the position of the viewer

• America is no longer above, or on top of the world

• crafted exclusively to make us reconsider the way we perceive reality
 

Maps and Worldview
 
• Maps are a 2-d construction that reflects the way we think the world is

• They are documents that provide insights about the society from which they derive

 
• Image of the Turnaround Map

Chapter 1: The Nature of Anthropology


What are the GOALS of an Introductory Anthropology class?
 
 

Development of Anthropology (6-7)
page 6 anthropology the study of humankind, in all times and places

  Anthropology is a fairly recent discipline   Herodotus (5th c BC) & Ibn Khaldun (14th c AD) are notable exceptions

first course taught in US college in 1879 at the U of Rochester (NY)

  Why so recent?   Technology only recently has allowed differential people to interact significantly

Westerners never considered others worthy of study until recently

 
 
PEOPLE:  (both on p. 7)
 
Frank Hamilton Cushing 1857-1900 
Matilda Coxe Stevenson 1849-1915
LEARN THEIR IMPORTANCE IN ANTHROPOLOGY

UNDERSTAND WHY THEIR BIO BLURBS ARE PLACED UNDER THIS SECTION
Return to Top

Anthropology and the other Sciences (8-9)
  • Scholars did study people prior to 1879

• Scholars other than anthropologists study people

• Most other scholars specialize their studies of people
 

• political scientists: study of people's political systems

• economists: study of people's resource management

• iologists, anatomists: study of people's bodies

  • Anthropologists try to synthesize studies that other people-oriented studies develop


The Discipline of Anthropology (8-22)
• NB: Haviland's divisions of the subfields of Anthropology are not standard  
• the typical view is that Anthropology consists of four subfields: Physical anthropology, Cultural anthropology, Archaeology, and Linguistic anthropology

• however, for this class, you should understand the discipline of anthropology in terms of Haviland's divisions

 Return to Top

The divisions within anthropology—Haviland's Diagram
 
 

Physical anthropology (or biological anthropology) [8]
page 8 physical anthropology the systematic study of humans as biological organisms
  • concerned mostly with humans as biological organisms

• studies evolution of homo sapiens as a mammal from its origins millions of years ago

• studies present-day human variation

• also studies near-relatives--esp. monkeys and apes other than humans
 
page 9 forensic anthropology field of applied physical anthropology that specializes in the identification of human skeletal remains for legal purposes
 
Anthropology Applied: Forensic anthropology (9-10)
One of the examples of applied anthropology: where anthropology's lessons can be applied to the real world to derive pragmatic results

Forensic anthropologists are specialists in bone analysis who use their craft for legal purposes

Forensic anthropologists are called as witnesses and as experts in criminal investigations to analyze cause and nature of death by analyzing bones

Clyde C. Snow is a well-known forensic anthropologist

• practicing for over 35 years

• Custer and his men at the Little Big Horn

• Brazil to confirm the death of the Nazi Josef Mengele

• Argentina to confirm the human rights abuse case of the desaperecidos, or "disappeared ones," the 9000 who were killed by death squads in 1970s and 80s

• Philippines to confirm human rights abuse case of Marcos and 600 who disappeared

• has worked for FAA (for airplane crashes), FBI, Chile, Guatemala, others
 

Return to Top

Cultural anthropology (8-19)
page 8 cultural anthropology the branch of anthropology that focuses on human behavior
page 10 culture-bound theories about the world and reality based on the assumptions and values of one's own culture
  • culture: the often unconscious standards by which societies (groups of people) operate • the standards are learned, not transmitted genetically

• the standards guide--sometimes determine--human behavior


• related to other social sciences (just like physical anthro is related to other hard sciences)

 
• esp. sociology  
• except sociology deals with urbanized Western society (mostly)


• instrumental in bringing to popular consciousness relativity of cultural perceptions, values, of every cultural form

  • Has three parts: a) archaeology, b) linguistic anthro, c) ethnology
 
page 11 archaeology the study of material remains, usually from the past, to describe and explain human behavior
 
page 13 linguistic anthropology the branch of cultural anthropology that studies human language
 
page 13 ethnologist an anthropologist who studies cultures from a comparative or historical point of view, utilizing ethnographic accounts
 
page 13 ethnography the systematic description of a particular culture based on firsthand observation
Return to Top Archaeology (11-13)   • studies material culture to explain human behavior  
pottery architectural remains tools
food remains bone fragments et cetera


• can study pre-historic or historic human material culture

• historic archaeology can supplement the material culture review with documentary evidence  
• examples of historic archaeology: study of Plimoth Plantation

study of garbage (at the U of AZ)
 

 Linguistic Anthropology (13)  
• language: one of the most distinctive features of being human

• studies human language in order to understand people's behavior and customs better

• language: allows transmission of culture, knowledge, and it does so intergenerationally


• studies the description of language OR the history of languages

• within language, the scholar can discern the outlines of an entire culture

• Americans have a bunch of words for money : greenback, dough, cash, bucks, moolah, etc.  
• Papuans have only one word for it Return to Top Ethnology (aka Sociocultural Anthropology) (13-19)   • study of cultures in the present from a comparative or historical point of view  
• studied, observed firsthand   • discussed with those who live in the society


• fundamental is the ethnography: the descriptive work documenting the ethnologist's work

 
• important that it be balanced‚ observing social, political, religious, economic institutions


• primary dependence is on participant observation in fieldwork

 
• used to be always placed in faraway places, exotic societies

• now can be as validly placed in contemporary, Western society that is the ethnologist's own

 
• each comes with its own benefits AND its own problems  
page 13 participant observation in ethnography, the technique of learning a people’s culture through direct participation in their everyday life for an extended period
  • fundamental also is the holistic perspective: describing and analyzing how all the cultural and societal institutions relate to one another  
• this is a major, fundamental principle in all anthro inquiries  
• going for the "wider perspective"  
• obtaining the "thick description"  
• documenting and accounting for all of the "contexts"
page 14 holistic perspective a fundamental principle of anthropology, that the various parts of culture must be viewed in the broadest possible context in order to understand their interconnections and interdependence
page 14 informants members of a society in which the ethnographer works who help interpret what she or he sees taking place

• cross-cultural comparison is also a major, fundamental principle

 
• EX: Household chores  
• Australian aborigine woman--about 20 hours a week to fulfill all duties

• American woman in the 1920s--about 52 hours

• American woman in the 1970s--about 55 hours

 
 • presents sufficient evidence to undercut the hypothesis that modern conveniences in Western society has made living easier   Return to Top  
Original Study: Encountering Environmentalism in Rural Costa Rico (15-17)
What is the point of putting this ethnographic account here?

• It is an ethnographic account

• Anthropologist involved in an environmental-related incident in Costa Rico

• Costa Rican dispute settlement is enacted by local farmer, North American conservationists, and local authorities (although the anthropologist, Luis Vivanco, doesn't fully realize the significance of what is going on)

• It is by an ethnologist

• It involves the concepts of participant observation, ethnocentrism, and culture-bound behavior
 
page 11 culture-bound theories about the world and reality based on the assumptions and values of one's own culture

• Included within ethnology is the practical application of anthropological fieldwork, known as applied anthropology

 
page 18 applied anthropology  the use of anthropological knowledge and methods to solve "practical" problems, often for a specific client
 
• EXS:  
• Federal programs during the Great Depression, such as the Works Project Administration, or W. Lloyd Warner's study of Newburyport, Massachusetts ("Yankee City")

• Philleo Nash's work in the Federal Executive Branch under FDR and Truman, helping to desegregate the army and moving the government to civil rights activism


• One final thing to note about Ethnology

 
• Ethnology involves the in-depth examination of human cultures wherever they may be found, whether in Costa Rico, Nigeria, and Turkmenistan, or in some neighborhood in the United States—even your very own neighborhood  
• wherever there are people interacting, you hav a potential site for an anthropological study  

Return to Top

Anthropology and Science (19-25)
Anthropology: careful and systematic study of humankind  
• called social science: because it is systematic (science) and analyzes society (social)

• called natural science: because it investigates how humans act and have developed as biological organisms

• called humanities: because it explores the aspect of being human that makes us unique among all creatures


Science: "seeks testable explanations for observed phenomena, ideally in terms of the workings of hidden but universal and immutable principles, or laws." (19)

 
• requires two basic ingredients: imagination and skepticism Both Anthro and "hard" science have in common:  
page 19 fact an observation verified by several observers skilled in the necessary techniques of observation
   
page 19 hypothesis a tentative explanation of the relation between certain phenomena
   
page 20 theory  in science, an explanation of natural phenomena supported by a reliable body of data
 
• development of a hypothesis ("a tentative explanation of the relationship between certain phenomena" [19])

• development of theory ("an explanation of natural phenomena supported by a reliable body of data" [20])

• recognize that no theory, no human-derived "truth," is absolute

 Return to Top  
Difficulties of the scientific approach (20-23)  
• scholar's strong attachment to his/her theory, which contributes to a lack of true objectivity

• anthropologist cannot help but be culture-bound in development of his/her theories

 
• Classic Maya Example  
• Classic Mayan Civilization  
• urban-based civilization in Guatemala, Belize, parts of Mexico & Honduras

• 250-900 AD
 

 • Anthropologists considered the urban sites as religious sites  
• Western bias: an urban civ. could not possibly develop in rainforest with slash-and-burn technology--FAR TOO PRIMITIVE

• 1960s: Anthropologists began asking different questions, re-framed the questions in less culture-bound way

 
• Did anyone live there?

• If so, how did they live there?
 

 • they discovered that it was in fact a thriving society with thriving urban centers  
• tens of thousands of people lived in the cities (such as Tikal)

• slash-and-burn was used, but in tandem with other forms of agricultural subsistence
 
PEOPLE:  (all on p. 22) Franz Boas 1858-1942 Fredric Ward Putnam 1839-1915   John Wesley Powell 1834-1902
LEARN THEIR IMPORTANCE IN ANTHROPOLOGY

UNDERSTAND WHY THEIR BIO BLURBS ARE PLACED UNDER THIS SECTION
Return to Top • this is the reason for participant observation: the anthropologist can live with the people long enough to witness real vs. ideal culture expressions  
Real Culture: the values and beliefs of a people as expressed by their behavior

Ideal Culture: the values and beliefs of a people as expressed by their words and writings
 

 anthropologists require massive amounts of data before deriving conclusions  
• Peruvian Village Example  
• Sociologist did study of a village  
• used preconceived questionnaires to derive data

• conclusion: neighbors and families are in a cooperative economy
 

 • Anthropologist did study of the same village  
• used participant-observation in tandem with questionnaires, etc.

• conclusion: non-cooperative economy
 

 • in any analysis there is the emic (insider) and etic (outsider) perspective  
always recognize this in reading someone's description, someone's ethnography


• anthropologists use many methods to test and verify conclusions

 
questionnaires statistical data comparative data (cross-cultural comparisons)
surveys historical research et cetera
  Comparison in Anthropology (23-25)  
• as mentioned above, cross-cultural comparison is one of the major, fundamental principles in ethnology

• a scholar's ethnological study should be thorough, focused, and comprehensive

 
• but his/her work should be subject to comparison to other ethnographic studies

• ethnological works should be used in conjunction with all sorts of other works

 
• other ethnologies

• sociological works

• writings by non-anthropological observers (missionaries, historians, folklorists, natives, novelists, etc.)


• the incorporation of severl of these categories into an anthropological study is called an ethnohistory

  
page 24 ethnohistory the study of cultures of the recent past through oral histories, accounts left by explorers, missionaries, and traders, and through analysis of such records as land titles, birth and death records, and other archival material

   
People: George Peter Murdoch 1897-1985 (25)
LEARN HIS IMPORTANCE IN ANTHROPOLOGY

UNDERSTAND WHY HIS BIO BLURB IS PLACED UNDER THIS SECTION

  Return to Top

 

Anthropology and the Humanities (25-26)
Humanistic anthropology:  
• focus on values, languages; & achievements in arts (oral, written, material, behavioral)

• dedicated to understanding the experience of culture--as experienced by those who actually live it

• works in tandem with the method of outsider observation

 
• but recognizes, in fact emphasizes, that outsiders can never fully know a society like the insider


EX:  imagine being the opposite gender, say, in your household

 
• then imagine being an opposite age in that same household  
• do you perceive other people differently?

• do you perceive your role, your self-image differently?

• do you have different concerns than you do now?

 
• WHY? Return to Top

 

Question of Ethics (26-27)
  Anthropologists have to be aware of ethics because they are always dealing with people  
• whether living or dead, their objects of study are people

• people always are worthy of respect from the researcher


Ethical questions anthropologists have to be aware of:

 
• effects that publication or availability of their research has on the study group   • respect for the informant's privacy


Laura Nadersays that the anthropologist is responsible to three groups, and in this order:

 
• the people studied

• the scholarly profession (otherwise, why do the research?)

• the organization that funds the research (if any)

 
• sometimes the obligations of any two of these can be antagonistic


• before accepting a fieldwork assignment, the anthropologist must weigh whether all of the demands can be met ethically

 
• sometimes a negative answer will affect the anthropologist negatively in a monetary way

• nonetheless, ethics must always stand first, over monetary gain, over professional advancement, over any other consideration, whenever you are involved in a study that involves other human beings, because your first responsibility is to the people you are studying, the people with whom you are involved

 Return to Top

 

Anthropology and Contemporary Life (27-29)
 
Contemporary life  
= recognizing global diversity of culture and societies  
= recognizing interdependence of ourselves as US (or whatever) citizens and the people of the rest of the world


Such recognition is a necessity for

 
1) the well-being of the world  
2) the economic survival of our country  
3) basic human cooperation
Return to A11 Page Go to Readings and Class Schedule Go to CourseInfo at mygateway.umsl.edu Return to Professor Wolford's Homepage Return to Top
created: December 05, 2000
previously revised: January 03, 2002
last revised: January 22, 2002