✅ Part 1.1 - Unit 1.1 / 1.2 / 1.3 : Introduction to Anthropology

Unit 1.1 : Introdcution to Anthropology

Introduction

Anthropology looks at every aspect of human beings. From historical perspective to geographical extent. Anthropology is the study of human beings.

Anthropology:

Anthropos = related to human logy = science

It is a discipline with infinite curiosity about human beings. A discipline that studies humans in all the possible aspects like typical biological aspects, cultural characteristics of various human populations in all periods of time and in all the parts of the world.

Anthropologists are not only interested about a particular society or culture or population but is also interested in comparative aspects with other populations. Comparison in terms of both similarities and differences.

Definitions of Anthroopology by Various People

Aristotle (Father of Anthropology)

Anthropology is the gossip that revolves around man and an anthropologist is the gossiper talking about himself.

He also coined the term Anthropology

1. It is generally considered that Aristotle coined the term anthropology, and he is considered by many as a father of anthropology.

2. In your mains answer, never write “Aristotle is the father of anthropology” because it is not absolute. Write that “Aristotle is considered as the father of anthropology by many”.

Emmanuel Kant (German Philosopher)

Defines Anthropology as the “Study which describes and explains the animal origins, social as well as cultural development and progress of man” in his book ‘anthropology’

He says that anthropology is the study of human origin + biological evolution + culture + social development

He was one of the first pioneers of biological evolution of humans from animals

Edward Burnett Tylor

Anthropology is “Study of old remains of people and physical features, racers, languages, customs and practices of primitive people”

He is called as the the Founder of Cultural Anthropology

He restricted anthropology to historical perspective

He was Criticized by Paul Broca (A French Anatomist and Anthropologist)

He emphasized that scope of anthropology extends even to the modern cultures also

That anthropology is not only about primitive society and people but extends to modern societies and culture as well

Malnowski, Brown & Boas

Bronislaw Malinowski (Polish but worked as an Anthropologist in England)

Radcliff Brown (English lower middle class)

Franz Boas (German Austrian born, American Anthropologist) defined anthropology

during beginning of 20th century

“Study of men at all levels of development”

Franz Boas

Franz Boas shaped the modern-day Anthropology in various aspects

Scope of anthropology pertains to study of social, cultural and biology of human beings – throughout time from pre-historical times to present – and in all the parts of the world

Kluckhohn - Nearest Study of Man

out of all other scientific disciplines that deal with various aspects of humans, anthropology is the science which comes nearest to the study of man.

It may be called as Holistic or Synthesizing Discipline or a science of a man in its totality

Alfred L Kroeber

“Anthropology is the most humanistic of the sciences and the most scientific of the humanities”

Ruth Benedict - Safer for Human Differences

“the purpose of anthropology is to make the world safe for human differences”

Anthropology wrt Other Disciplines

Most of disciplines are concerned with human beings that they have existed longer than anthropology with a distinctive focus such as:

Economics Studies

economic systems and relations of various communities within themselves and with the outside world

For Example : hunting gathering societies (foragers), horticultural society, agricultural society etc

Political Science

studies the political organizations and systems found in different parts of the world such as tribal association, band, chiefdoms etc

Sociology

studies social relations like marriage, family, kinship etc. for a population

Human Physiology or Anatomy

deals various body mechanisms and abnormalities associated with these systems

Appraoches to Anthropology - Detailed

Broader in Scope

Anthropology is broader in scope and is a holistic discipline studying humans in terms of their entire patterns of their life such as social, political, economic,biological and religious

It is Broader in scope, both geographically and historically and hence it is concerned

with all varieties of people without any boundaries of time and space

From simplest of the societies to the most complex ones

A unique combination of holistic, historical and comparative methods

Historical & Comapartivie Approach

Moreover, it follows a historical and comparative approach

Historical involving description of entire course of human biological and cultural evolution, and to place each way of life in a historical perspective

is the study of cultures and indigenous people’s customs by examining historical records as well as other sources of information on their lives and history. It is also the study of the history of various ethnic groups that may or may not still exist. Ethnohistory uses both historical and ethnographic data as its foundation. Its historical methods and materials go beyond the standard use of documents and manuscripts. Practitioners recognize the use of such source material as maps, music, paintings, photography, folklore, oral tradition, site exploration, archaeological materials, museum collections, enduring customs, language, and placenames

Comparative methods are used to explain similarities and differences between various people considering them as unique in themselves without giving considering one superior over the other

An anthropologist is interested in the earliest forms of humanity as in the contemporary forms.

Background

In the initial years, anthropologists were from the western countries such as England, Germany and the USA who were focusing on studying non-western societies only being primitive small-scale societies

Later the discipline was extended to all societies, simple primitive to modern, complex and industrial in all parts of the world

Able to correct mistaken beliefs about different groups of people

For Example : American researchers thought that the black community did not consume milk because they were poor, but it was later found that the lack of milk consumption was due to a lactose intolerance found in most of people

Summary of Appraoches to Anthropology

Broader in Scope - All aspects such as Social, Political, Economic, Biological, Religious etc

Historical and Comparative Approach

Historical

All Evolution - Biological and Cultural

Studying Each way of life in Historical Perspective

Comparative

To Depict Similarities and Difference amongst people considering them as unique

Comparitivity free form Ethnocentric Bias

Applied & Action Anthropology Approach

Holistic and Universalistic Approach

Approaches / Methods to Study Anthropology - Summary

Holistic

Historical

Comparative

Empirical

knowledge based on experience derived from senses. Evidence backing for statements made

Rationalist Approach

concepts and knowledge are gained independently of sense experience; has to be scientifically backed and explained

Adaptable

studying humans according to changes in society. For example, from studying joint families to nuclear family to homosexual families to single-parent family

Foundung Fathers of Anthropology

The Four Anthropologists

Branislow Malinowski

polish physicist but a prominent name in British anthropology.

Case Study by Malinowski

Studied Trobriand Islanders of New Guinea

Functionalism by Malinowski

He gave the concept of Functionalism. He co-related society and social institutions with the human body; just as body is made up different organs that come together as a whole as a functional unit without which the body cannot function. society too as different functional elements such religion, politics, family, kinship, crime, etc.

Radcliffe Brown

born in a middle-class family in Britain. Prominent structural functionalist.

Case Study by Brown

Studied tribes of Andaman

Strcutural Functionalism by Brown

Functionalism was modified by Brown through structural functionalism

Franz Boas

German-Jew by birth but is an American diffusionist

Case Study by Boas

Studied the Inuits/ Eskimos of the North America and Canada region

Diffusion by Franz Boas

Diffusion is when cultural elements are being fluxed from point of origin to other places

For Example: Diffusion can take by migration of people, due to war, due to trade

Diffusionism emerged as a reaction against evolutionism – that society moved from savagery to barbaric to civilized nature. Diffusionists criticized this view

Marcel Mausse (Not in our Syllabus)

French. Professor of ancient religion. Out of the four, only one who was an armchair anthropologist while other three were field workers.

Common Take Aways from the Founding Fathers

They believed that anthropology was a holistic discipline – they wanted anthropology to develop as a true science

Idea of comparing individual culture traits was unacceptable (to not make any moral judgements about superiority and inferiority)

Anthropology must become a true science, where hypothesis is tested and theories are put forth on the background of detailed, well documented and empirical data

Whether fieldwork was carried out individually like Malinowski or in teams, as was common elsewhere, technique of observation, interviewing and documentation must be critically reviewed and systematically applied

Example of Case Study

Tepostzan –This village in Mexico was studied by Marxist, sociologists and by functionalists.

Marxists saw the village as having constant power struggle between classes while the

Functionalist saw the village as peaceful. They came out withdiffering conclusions about the village.

Hene Fieldwork is very important

Evolution of Anthropology as a Discipline - Running Notes

4th century philosophers like Herodotus and Aristotle in a way practised anthropology

Some argue that anthropology is a new discipline. However, other say that anthropology as discipline is recent in its naming but it began much earlier

When Aristotle said that man without a societal order is the most dangerous things on the earth – these kind of studies by Aristotle should be considered as anthropological studies

Herodotus when he went on a study of nearby regions in Greece and asked that is it necessary that father is the natural head of the family or clan because he saw this is many societies. He also found varied types marriage in multiple societies. This was anthropology being practised by Herofotus

Travelers like Sir Marco Polo (13th Century) & Vasco-da-Gama (15th century)

When travelers were visiting parts of the world and collecting data about different societies, this is anthropology.

Immanuel Kant (German Philosopher of 18th Century)

As a specified discipline, anthropology began in late 18th or early 19th century

Kant also studied various aspects of culture, particularly religion and family systems

Experts from different disciplines like historians, sociologists, philosophers had some approach in their studies which matched anthropological approach.

Vesalius compared humans with apes

In 16th and 17th centuries, Christian Missionaries studied various cultures.

Historians found Anthropology with Renaissance and Colonialism

Sociologists like Herbert Spencer and August Comte contributed to development of anthropology

Herbert Spencer first spoke of “survival of the fittest” in a sociological perspective. He stated that societies and cultures who can change their social institutions as per the demand of the time, will survive and best fit to the changing conditions, while other societies will perish

Darwin’s “Voyage of Beagle” (1845) and “Origin of Species” (1859)

This concept of survival of fittest was used by Darwin in a biological context. Here Darwin said that natural selection is those species which are better adapted to the changing conditions who can handle the new climatic conditions, new environments, locations and geographies, will be selected by nature and rest will be eliminated

The concept of genetic diversity emerged from here - variations of genes within a specie. If there are more variations of genes within species, it means that there are more characters controlled by those genes, if more character is controlled by genes, it means that those genes can better adapt to changing environment. Meaning if genetic diversity is more, then that specie is better adaptable to their environment

For Example : rice and wheat rice has more genetic diversity than wheat and hence more adaptable. Wheat is only cultivated in specific conditions, while rice is widely grown

HMS Beagle – Darwin’s ship for research. Based on this he called his first work as Voyage of Beagle. The islands which he studied are Galapagos located of the coast of Ecuador and Peru

The 1st school of thought of anthropology emerged from Darwin’s study – when he said species move from simpler to complex form

19th century witnessed systematic beginning of anthropology through Four Founding Fathers

Asiatic Society formed in 1774

Asiatic society of Bengal formed in 1784. Look this up – to study cultures and societies in Asia

After 1875, universities in the west established department of anthropology; first being Cambridge

In India, the university of Bombay in 1919 created dept of social anthropology within dept of sociology

In 1920, the first dept of anthropology was created in University of Calcutta. DN Majumdar studied in Calcutta University

By combining various branches of anthropology, a new discipline emerged.

T K Penimnas Classification of Anthropology - Class Dictation

Among these, T. K. Penniman’s contribution is worth mentioning. He classified the development of anthropology into four Periods viz.

Formulatory Period

Convergent Period

Constructive Period

Critical Period

He proposes these classifications in his book “Hundred Years of Anthropology” (1935) as discussed below

Formulative Phase (< 1835)

Introduction

formulation of anthropology was going on through missionaries, traders, travelers

This is the first and longest period in the history of Anthropology.

It extends from the time of the Greek historians, philosophers and naturalists

Penniman considers Herodotus (484BC – 425BC) as the first anthropologist

Herodotus

Herodotus is also considered as the father of Greek Ethnography. He travelled throughout the world and researched about races and customs entirely alien to him. Herodotus collected a large number of facts about peoples in different cultural stages

He not only talked about the origin of culture, but also described the spoken language, physical types, material culture, marriage and divorce, social laws customs etc

Protagoras

Protagoras (480-410 BC) is another Greek philosopher who has contributed to the knowledge about human beings and culture.

In his opinion “Man is the measure of all things”. He was the first to propose the theory of relativism

He also introduced the evolutionary scheme, which explains how different social traits come into existence

Socrates

Another Greek scholar of this period is Socrates (470-399 BC). He was of the opinion that every society is guided by certain universal values. He mainly put forwarded the philosophical aspect of social thinking

Plato

Plato (428 BC – 348 BC), another Greek thinker proposed the ideas about state, marriage, education, etc

According to him, humans outside social control are but animals and it is really the society that makes the individual, a social being

Aristotle

Like Plato, Aristotle (384 – 322 BC) also proposed his view of the state and the humans. He had clearly understood the difference between functional and structural similarities. This is clear from the fact that he classified bats with the mammals and not with the birds and the whales with the mammals and not with the fishes

Aristotle believed that the state determines the behavior of humans. Without law and justice, humans would be the worst of all animals and he also proposed that human being is a social animal

Medieval Travellers

In the medieval period, various travelers and explorers wrote details about the people they encountered

Among these, Marcopolo (1224-1313) and Vasco-Da-Gama (1397-1499) contributed a lot towards the enrichment of knowledge on Anthropology.

Sociologist & Philosophers

During the 17th century, Francis Bacon and Thomas Hobbes formulated different theories for the study of society

John Locke provided the metaphysical foundation upon which the Anthropologist formulated their formal definition of culture

German philosopher Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) wrote the book Anthropology in 1789 suggesting the animal origin of man an concluded that human knowledge comes from pre-human condition

Scientific Contributions

There was a lot of curiosity to learn about the different races of humankind during the 16th century

Demonstration of Blood Circulation by William Harvey in 1628 Discovery of Microscope by Leeuwenhoek opened a new world of study.

Vesalius had made an attempt to compare human being with ape. He also tried to dissect the human body

In 1735, Carl Linnaeus published his book ‘Systema Naturae’ wherein he has clearly mentioned about the inclusion of human in the Zoological classification

British Administration & Christian Missionaries

During 16th and 17th centuries, Christian Missionaries travelled all around the world for the spread of Christian ideology and conversion of people into Christianity.They studied the culture of native people to make their attempt of conversion easy

During the period of colonization British administrators conducted many studies on native people to make their administration easy

Edgar Thurston, (Castes and Tribes of India)

William Crook (Tribes and Castes of the Northwestern Provinces)

Verrier Elwin,(Philosophy of NEFA)

John Russel

made significant contributions in Anthropology by conducting various studies on the culture of different groups in India

Britishers also studied Indians in order to ease their administration during the period of colonization

Verrier Elwin came as Christian missionary to study the Baigas of Madhya Pradesh

Note : Baigas were the 1st PVTGs to get habitat rights in the Forest Rights Act 2006

Convergent Phase (1835 -1859)

During this period, divergent views about the origin of biological and social aspects of human being were expressed by scholars of different countries

Among these, the contributions of

Karl Marx 1 (1818 – 1883)

Charles Lyell (1797 – 1895)

William Smith (1769 – 1839)

Karl Marx accepted the dialectical process as the moving power of history

In the field of Archaeology, Boucher Deperthe’s discoveries of flint implements at Abbeville in 1838 and 1846

Dr. Rigollet’s discovery at Saint Acheul in 1854 are some of the new developments.

Neanderthal’s discovery at Dusseldorf in 1857 gave a new outlook about human evolution

James Prichard classified and systematized the facts about races of humankind in his book “The Natural History of Man”, 1833 ”Physical History of Man”, 1836

He proposed the differences of colour, hair, stature and form and examined the criteria of racial classification

The convergence of all these ideas was completed with the publication of Charles Darwin’s book ”The Origin of Species”, 1859

In this book, he proposed his theory of organic evolution popularly known as ‘Darwinism’.

With the publication of this book, physical evolution of human being based on scientific investigation was established. Thus, diversities of arguments expressed about origin of human being and society came to an end with the publication of Origin of Species

Constructive Phase (1859 – 1900)

During this period Anthropology started as an independent discipline in many universities. A Department of Anthropology was started in Oxford University in 1884 and Cambridge University in 1900

Scientific research and publications by scholars like E B Tylor, James Frazer, Henry Maine, and L. H. Morgan, came out during this period

Different branches of anthropology like ethnology, pre-history, social anthropology and physical anthropology were also evolved

Apart from England, Germany and USA, anthropological research had flourished in France and some other countries as well

Socio-cultural anthropology and physical anthropology were the 1st types of anthropology to be researched

Earlier, in American anthropological studies, socio-cultural anthropology

Initial schools of thoughts like classical evolutionism, diffusionism and historical particularism emerged in this time period.

Critical Phase (> 1900 onwards)

Penniman used the term ‘critical’ to denote this period because of the crucial contribution made to the development of Anthropology during this period

Some significant developments had also marked this period

The first chair of social anthropology was started in 1908 in the University of Liverpool in Britain. It was chaired by Sir James Frazer
The first Anthropology department in India was started in the University of Calcutta in 1920
In 1919, Social anthropology had been introduced as a subject in the Department of Sociology at the University of Bombay

During this period, different schools of thought in anthropology were founded. Functional school of thought, Structural school of thought, School of diffusion, and culture and personality school are prominent among them

Authors of this period specialized in theorizing the concepts, definitions and different aspects of culture.

For instance, B K Malinowski, based on his field expedition among the Trobriand Islanders proposed his idea of Functionalism

Radcliffe Brown, based on his study of the Andaman Islanders established his theory of Social Structure during this period

Similarly, the American scholars such as A L Kroeber, Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, and Clark Wissler played their own role in shaping the destiny of world anthropology.

The first 40 years of the 20th century are seen to be dedicated to the development of anthropology.\

There was a slow development and growth for anthropology mainly due to the lack of vision on the part of the Europeans to recognize the similarities and homogeneity in physical aspects of various populations

Also, earlier researchers were not ready to accept the socio-cultural elements of the non-whites. All remotely located societies that were not sharing the fundamental cultural values of Europeans hardly deserved to be regarded as humans according to the Europeans

Anthropology: A Natural Science or Social Science ?

Introduction

A debatable issue since the inception of the discipline

Radcliffe Brown and Nadel regard it as a natural science

Kroeber, Bidney & Evans consider anthropology as a branch of history

Malinowski and some German scholars find anthropology in between natural and social sciences

Robert Redfield says that holistic tendencies are on rise in anthropology and under this, man is scrutinized on different levels of culture, so in future, anthropology will come closer to social sciences

Arguments against scientific nature of anthropology

1. Problem of objectivity

When the Balinese society of Indonesia was studied, they found that they indulged in the sport of cock (rooster) fighting. The reason behind why the game was played could be different for different observers

Problem of experimentation

Problem of quantification

Problem of generalization

problem of reliability and validity.

Branches of Anthropology

Summary Image

Introduction

Anthropologists today specialize in one area or sub-area of the discipline. Some are concerned with human physiology or anatomy while others are concerned with socio-cultural elements scattered in the society, some will focus on the application of knowledge of anthropology

Some scholars will expertise in studying fossils, population biology or the epidemiology (social context of a disease) and due to these vast options, anthropology is not restricted to just the core branches

In the earlier phases of emergence of discipline anthropology was considered to have two branches – Physical / Biological Anthropology && secondly socio-cultural anthropology

Archaeology and Linguistics ethnology were included in socio-cultural anthropology in the beginning phases. Franz Boas is credited with the four-fold classification of anthropology. (In order of emergence)

4 Branches of Anthropology

1. Socio - Cultural Anthropology

talks about various cultural elements, various societal norms. For ex, forms of marriages, kinship ties, versions of family, economic organization, political organization, religion

Religion: Example of Totemism Called as elementary form of religious life by Emile Durkheim Definition : the study of culture and societies of human beings and their very recent past. Traditional cultural anthropologists study living cultures and present their observations in an ethnography

2. Biological Anthropology

Defintion : also called as biological anthropology, physical anthropology is the study of human evolution and variations, both past and present

Human Genome Project

The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the base pairs that make up human DNA, and of identifying, mapping and sequencing all of the genes of the human genome from both a physical and a functional standpoint

BT cotton – example of genetic modification

Stem cell therapy

RT-PCR

real time polymerase chain reaction. This is an application of biotechnology

DNA to DNA is called replication. DNA to RNA is transcription. RNA to Protein Translation. RNA to DNA reverse transcription (not found in human but in some

viruses such as HIV, coronavirus. Humans have both DNA and RNA, but viruses only have either DNA or RNA).

3. Archaeological anthropology

interested in the chronology; study about culture, history and civilizations for which we have evidence available

Defintion : the study of past societies and their cultures, especially the material remains of the past, such as tools, food remains and places where people lived

4. Linguistic anthropology

influence of language on culture

Example : Sapir-Whorf hypothesis

Defintion : the study of language, especially how language is structured, the evolution of language and the social and cultural contexts for language

Extra but Not Extra Branch → Applied & Action Anthropolog

Applied Anthropology

anthropology put into use. It is any kind of anthropological research done to solve practical problems

Anthropology can be used to solve problems in an enormous variety of fields: a) Health and medicine b) Human rights c) Education d) Environmental issues e) Community development f) Museums g) Disasters research and management h) International relations

Action Anthropology

It is a sub-set of applied anthropology. Action Anthropology is an approach used by anthropologists and other applied social scientists to help indigenous and underrepresented communities solve problems. Action anthropologists are generally motivated by concerns of social justice, though this is more important for some than others

Action anthropology is an applied aspect of anthropology when a researcher is studying a group and finds out the problems and requirements of the group. Information so collected is used for the upliftment and development of the group. This is action anthropology

Action anthropologists are interested in solving anthropological problems, but perused in the context of action; hence, a subdiscipline called action anthropology

Indian Example of Action Anthropology - M N Shrinivas

MN Srinivas studied Corgs of Mysore (Rmapura Village). He got to know about their problems which he highlighted on various platforms for them to be rectified. This information was used for the upliftment of the tribal group

American Example of Action Anthropology - Sol Tax

Studied tribal groups near USA – Mexican groups. One of those tribes is the Hopi Indians tribe. In 1951, the term action anthropology was coined by Sol Tax

Detailed → Biological/Physical Anthropology - Classical and New Physical

Background

Earliest branch to emerge

The biggest watershed for this branch was Charles Darwin ‘Origin of Species’ where he spoke about Darwinism

Darwin said that to get adjusted to new demands of climate, species adapt themselves, only through adaption will they be able to survive. This information was used by other anthropologists to say that society and institutions also change and emerge as per demands of time

Just like species, institutions and society also moved from simple to complex forms

Change in human forms – from simple to complex – changed according to demands of the local conditions and environment

Primates are the closest relatives of human, closest ancestors. Primates are animals like monkeys, lemurs, gibbons, chimpanzees.

Primates have grasping capabilities and well-developed large size brain and learned behavior (most skills are learnt (acquired) rather than being born with them (innate)) and socialization

General Introduction

Focus: Study of human as biological organisms dealing with emergence and evolution of human species and with contemporary biological variation among human populations

There are two basic agendas fulfilled by Biological Anthropology

Study of Human Evolution

mainly past biological study – emergence of humans

It is the study of human species from the perspective of its close relatives like primates and also the mergence of present human forms, from various stages of human species evolution like from Dryopithecus to present human forms

These variations are studied using principles of genetics, population biology, and epidemiology (scientific study of spread and control of Diseases)

Biological Variations

mainly present biological study – how and why humans vary biologically

Development of physical anthropology is closely linked with the theoretical development in the fields of medicine and genetics

Theory of organic evolution by Darwin and principles of Genetics by Mendel have made significant contributions in the development of anthropology as a discipline

Paul Broca, Blumenbach, Darwin and Wallace were some significant biologists and medicine practitioners responsible for founding biological anthropology.

To reconstruct evolution, human paleontologists or paleo-anthropologists research for and study the fossils of humans, pre-humans and related animals like primates

Dr. Birbal Sahni is a prominent the Indian paleontologist. findings of fossil studies give an idea about approximate dates, when our ancestors and close relatives were found, contemporaries of what all other species were present and also how anatomical features got changed

Emergence of Primatology

Study of the closest relatives of man that is primates is a separate domain of physical anthropology that is primatology. Primates are mammals with grasping hands, large brain size, capability and tendency to socialize and high degree of learned behavior rather than innate behavior. Primates can be prosimians and simians

Anthropologists, psychologist, biologists specializing in the study of primates are primatologists. The prominent name is Jane Godall who found that sociality and socialization is the most fundamental behavior of primates

Physical anthropology is the starting phases was restricted to measurements, statistics, indices and various other elements of human body systems like study of evolution, body measurements. This was classical physical anthropology.

Gradually with time, a reorientation of methodology of physical anthropology became necessary to find out reasons for variations. This gave rise to new physical anthropology

Washburn attempted to bring the borderline between classical and new physical anthropology. He argued that field of interest and the final outcome of both classical and new physical anthropology is the same which is comprehension and interpretation of human evolution, races, close relatives, etc. the main difference lies in the approach used.

Human Population Genetics, Epidemiology and Evolutionary Studies in the context of recent populations opened multiple facets in Physical Anthropology (present in running notes part).

Physical anthropology started as a discipline to study man’s physical characters, its evolution with the help of anthropometric studies, from time to time like other disciplines physical anthropology was transformed to incorporate the advancements of the disciplines and took the form of new physical anthropology having applications in diverse domains of sports, nutrition, forensics, genomic research and multiple others.

Human Genome Project – HGP Read. HGP Write (ENCODE – Encyclopedia of DNA Elements)

The Human Genome Project (HGP) was an international scientific research project with the goal of determining the base pairs that make up human DNA and of identifying, mapping and sequencing all of the genes of the human genome from both a physical and a functional standpoint

It remains the world's largest collaborative biological project. Planning started after the idea was picked up in 1984 by the US government, the project formally launched in 1990, and was declared essentially complete on April 14, 2003, but included only about 85% of the genome

Level "complete genome" was achieved in May 2021, with a remaining only 0.3% bases covered by potential issues. The final gapless assembly was finished in January 2022.

Famous names for this branch – Charles Darwin, Alfred Wallace, Paul Broca and Blumenbach.

Under Physical Anthropology, we will study

Paleontology

study of past history based on fossils. Famous Indian scientist Dr. Birbal Sahni

Primatology

study of the primates. Two categories of Primates

Prosimians - Lower primates, anthropoids. Before monkeys

For Example : Lemurs, lorises and bush babies and Tarsiers

Simians - Higher primates.

For Example : new world monkeys, old world monkeys, gibbons, orangutans, gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos.

3. Prominent forms of humans

Homo Habilus emerged in Andaman Islands – first form to emerge in humans

Human Population Genetics
Epidemiology and Evolutionary Studies in the context of recent Populations opened multiple facets in Physical Anthropology
Neonatology

study of new life forms like the living Primates in the context of comparative anatomy, genetics, racial classification, etc

Ethology

scientific study of animal and human behavior like understanding communication pattern in Primates and using the information for development of language

Serology

Scientific study of blood and body fluids to have better understanding of diseases

Eugenics

branch of modern genetics which aims to improve quality of human population like by reducing impact of genetic disorders in populations

Somatology

comparative study of human evolution, variations and classification through measurements and observations

Kinanthropometry

assessment of G & D, nutrition, Physical fitness and muscular strength to have application in sports, defence etc

Dermatoglyphics

study of skin patterns and markings on finger, hand and feet for its applications in forensics and criminology

Euphenics
Euthenics

Unit 1.2 : Relationship with Other Discipline (Some Pending)

Clearly Defined Other Disciplines (6 Discipline - 11 Sciences)

Relationship of Anthropology with other Disciplines

When you are studying any other discipline in the context of anthropology, few things to note are :

Focus on interdependence and independence of those disciplines – how they are connected to each other and how they are different

Scope of the disciplines – how they are matching in their scope. Relevance of matter of a discipline, say sociology, in anthropology

Specifically, about similarities and differences between the 2 disciplines (convergence and divergence)

Basically, compare and contrast the two

Make a common conclusion for all comparisons with anthropology, interdependence, in past and present and future etc

1. Anthro and Social Sciences (Sociology)

Define Anthropology & Define Sociology

Sociology It is the study of society and social institutions.Here, the focus of study is not humans, but the institutions formed by humans. August Comte is the father of sociology – “sociology is the priesthood of humanity”

Many anthropologists claim that it is most scientific of all the disciplines talking about humanity. Many sociologists as well as anthropologists, they consider anthropology, particularly, socio-cultural anthropology as an offshoot of social sciences. They justify it by saying that if you are studying humans, it cannot be studied without the larger society they live in

Emile Durkheim – prominent German sociologist - was a functionalist – he was the guide for two prominent anthropologists – Malinowski and Radcliffe Brown (both of them are functionalists)

He Compared the society to human body – saying that different social institutions come together to form a society just like how different systems in a body (digestive, nervous, etc) come together to form the human body.

When you study anthropology, you cannot deny the role of sociology in its development.

The most famous anthropologist in India in MN Srinivas – He is a very famous socio-cultural anthropologist as well as sociologist

Then you have Prof. Yogendra Singh – gave concepts of social change, modernization of social tradition – these helped in understanding the dynamism in socio-cultural anthropology

For Example : the same subject matter of marriage, family, kinship, religion, economic organization, political organization – all are studied in sociology as well as socio-cultural anthropology

Mention Certain Similarities & Differences between the two disciplines

Similarities

Similarity was discussed in the above point just now – how you subject the similar subject matters of marriage, family, kinship, religion, economic organization, political organization – study not only their conventional aspect, origin, static information but also their change aspect which is evolution over time. For example, change of family structure from joint to nuclear family these days

Differences

sociology focuses on society and institutions while anthropology focuses on human beings as the center

Sociology uses a particularistic / limited approach to study only the social aspect - social behavior and social institutions. But anthropology has a holistic/universal approach to human beings, from all angles. This point can be used as a difference with all disciplines

Sociology only looks at recent and very past societies while anthropology looks at it from the very prehistoric to the present. In fact, we are interested in studying societies from the very past to understand the evolution and changes over time

Sociologists are not studying on field; only studied and analyzed the data available. Anthropology started filed work tradition to do studies such as participant observation research

Concepts like races and ethnicities – in sociology these are defined on the basis of better developed, superior-inferior, more ethnocentric understanding. While anthropology, it is the least ethnocentric discipline; compares only facts without any moral judgement

In the context of Indian anthropology, we have Gopal Sarana and Dharni Sinha who highlighted that socio-cultural anthropology is neither a branch of sociology in India not is co-terminus to it.

2. Anthro and Behavioral sciences (Psychology)

Defintion

Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Psychology includes the study of conscious and unconscious phenomena, including feelings and thoughts. It is an academic discipline of immense scope, crossing the boundaries between the natural and social sciences. Psychologists seek an understanding of the emergent properties of brains, linking the discipline to neuroscience. As social scientists, psychologists aim to understand the behavior of individuals and groups.

History of Psychology

The earliest known reference to the word psychology in English was by Steven Blankaart in 1694 in The Physical Dictionary. The dictionary refers to "Anatomy, which treats the Body, and Psychology, which treats of the Soul."

In 1890, William James defined psychology as "the science of mental life, both of its phenomena and their conditions." This definition enjoyed widespread currency for decades. However, this meaning was contested, notably by radical behaviorists such as John B. Watson, who in 1913 asserted that the discipline is a "natural science," the theoretical goal of nwhich "is the prediction and control of behavior." Since James define "psychology", the term more strongly implicates scientific experimentation

The agenda of psychology is humans in the context of mind (mental aspects), cognitive skills, emotions, social behavior, decision-making. Then define anthropology

Social Pscyhology

Social Psychology is the closest branch of psychology to anthropology → Social psychology is the scientific study of how the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals are influenced by the presence of others and the internalized social norms that humans are influenced by, even when alone Social psychologists typically explain human behavior as a result of the relationship between mental state and social situation, studying the social conditions under which thoughts, feelings, and behaviors occur and how these variables influence social interactions

Social Psychology & Anthropology

Anthropologists have a prominent cultural personality school – how sociocultural elements and institutions are influencing the personality of individuals. That adult personality is structurally patterned based on childhood experiences & social institutions.

Anthropologists – Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead, Abram Kardiner, Cora-Du-Bois

Concept of Psychic Unity of Mankind by Adolf Bastien

It says that every part of the earth irrespective or geography or races, psychological or mental framework is the same which is changed due to local factors. This concept propagated used by various evolutionary anthropologists based on social psychology.

The postulate of "the psychic unity of mankind" states that all human beings, regardless of culture or race, share the same basic psychological and cognitive make-up; we are all of the same kind. The postulate was originally formulated by Adolf Bastian, the "father of German anthropology", who was a classical German humanist and a cultural relativist, who believed in the intrinsic value of cultural variation

Bastian passed it on to his similarly minded student, Franz Boas, who, as the "father of American anthropology", transmitted it on to all of his students. Edward B. Tylor introduced it to 19th century British evolutionist anthropology, where it became a fixture, defended by all the major British evolutionists. The postulate, indeed, was essential to the great comparative projects of evolutionism, which would be futile if cultural differences were determined by differing biology. For the same reason, it has been central to later comparative projects, e.g. Radcliffe-Brown's, Barth's, Steward's, Godelier's etc. Today, the postulate is shared by all anthropologists (exceptions are hard to think of).

Similarities

In both social psychology and socio-cultural anthropology, we study about various aspects of human behavior, cognition, learning, communication, socialization, etc., are affected by social institutions

Deviance from the social norms and the reasons behind them are looked at by both SP and SCA

Theory of suicide – looked at by both disciples to understand reasons behind it

We try to find out trends, patterns in larger social behavior in both SP and SCA. For ex, typical middle class family behavior in India

Applied aspect studied by both – modern days issues such caste-based violence, gender-based violence, sexuality

Both would like to keep their discipline as free from biases and prejudices as possible by studying individuals in themselves without making any moral judgements.

Differences

Holistic v/s psychology being a particular disciple.

Anthropology considers/studies man as a part of greater society and culture. Psychology looks at an individual’s way of thinking, behavior, etc., i.e., individual’s behavior in social environment is preferred

Psychologists are restricted to their own societies or nearby societies whereas anthropologists are spread far and wide in their research and looked at simple small societies located in some isolated belts even though now they are studying their own societies

Psychology does not have mass observations but at most have research in small groups. Anthropology does large scale studies, studying entire societies at a time

3. Anthro and Life Sciences (Biology)

Background

Anthropology emerged with physical anthropology, Charles Darwin’s “Origin of Species” which spoke of natural selection (Darwinism). Hence Anthropology began as a very close relative of life sciences

Biological anthropology is the nearest to life sciences. In life sciences we speak of living beings and their physiology, taxonomy, biochemistry as well as structural/anatomical study

Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types.

Genetics

Genetics is a branch of biology concerned with the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.

See how you can use Charles Darwin for both biology and physical anthropology. He did not speak of human evolution directly. He only said that his studies would help with human evolution as well. Look more into this.

Paul Broca

(French Anatomist) – connected medicine, anatomy with physical anthropology.

Lisley, Usinger and Ernst Myers

they published a work known as “Methods and principles of systematic zoology” – this gave us an idea about how species originated, how species transformed, how species develop features that make them similar or dissimilar to other living beings – which group them together. This enriched the development of anthropology and led us to the idea of Primatology as a group

Rudolf Virchow

he said that “all cells are formed form pre-existing cells” – this discovery enriched physical anthropology

Conclusion

Biology speaks of all living beings. It is a complete biological science. But in anthropology, we only discuss about human beings. Anthropology is known as bio-social or bio-cultural science as we study biology, society, societal institutions and culture of human beings

Similarities

Both considers human as unique species in animal kingdom

Both study the evolution, physiology, taxonomy etc of human beings

Both are scientific disciplines using scientific principles and methodologies, particular the physical anthropology of anthropology

The basis of various applied aspects of anthropology and concepts of physical anthropology find their basis in biological sciences

For Example: research in genetics helps a great deal in applied anthropology by help finding new cures etc

Differences

Biological sciences are way wider than anthropology as they study all livings beings while anthropology only studies humans. On the other hand, biological sciences only study the biology of humans while anthropology studies all angles to a human being including the biological aspect

Biology is one the oldest scientific discipline while anthropology is a fairly new discipline

Biological sciences are purely scientific discipline. So, reliability and validity of experimentation and research is more. Anthropology is blend of social and pure sciences and hence focuses on trend and patterns so reliability and validity of experiments is less

Biological sciences conduct experiments and scientific research with element of objectivity being high. While in Anthropology uses case studies, surveys, interviews, questionnaires for research which are not used in biological sciences, reducing the objectivity is low

Conclusion

anthropology as a discipline emerged as an off shoot of biological theory of evolution by Darwin, particularly the physical anthropology part. Since the beginning, biological research is enriching the subject matter of anthropology. However, with the emergence of applied anthropology, even the subject matter of biological sciences if getting enriched.

4. Anthro and Medical Science (Medicine, Anatomy, Physiology)

Francis Galton and Sr. Darwin promoted eugenics and dermatoglyphics. Medical science is the study of diagnosis, treatment of diseases and improvement in human body functioning. To improve body functioning, we entered into nutrition

The flourishment of medical science happened parallel to the emergence of anthropology as a discipline in the second half of 19th century. Due to this, medical science contributed a lot to the development of anthropology

Craniology → Paul Broca studied the skull measurements (Craniology – study of the skull), then people realized that skulls measurements differ across the world. This caused he development of anthropometry

Cretinism → Congenital iodine deficiency syndrome is a medical condition present at birth marked by impaired physical and mental development, due to insufficient thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism) often caused by insufficient dietary iodine during pregnancy. It is one cause of underactive thyroid function at birth, called congenital hypothyroidism, historically referred to as cretinism (obsolete). If untreated, it results in impairment of both physical and mental development

He found that it is associated in some specific populations – this led to the study of those populations and societies. So, we realized that whenever we study diseases, we also should study groups that are majorly affected due to it

Social Medicine → This led to social medicine that certain social groups require some specific applications of medicine. Here the role of medicine emerged with anthropology

The field of social medicine seeks to implement social care through

understanding how social and economic conditions impact health, disease and the practice of medicine
fostering conditions in which this understanding can lead to a healthier society

For Example: Project Sunrise is an example of the social medicine

Growth Anthropology

Medicine and anthropology together led to studies new subjects such as – growth studies, nutrition and body types. These are significant in applied anthropology, and these require the backup of medicine

Socio-cultural dimension to diseases became an important part of medicine and medical research after emergence of anthropology. Under anthropology, studies of growth and evolution of primates and humans, this was not only a part of anthropology, but also attracted many medical researchers. This gave us hints about human development

Applied Anthropology & Social Medicine

In the recent time, applied anthropology and social medicine aspects of medical science are used to provide counselling and healthcare facilities or psychological support to old age, children, war affected people, disaster affected people, children in sex trade.

Functioning of certain international institutions like Human and Child Rights Wing of the UN, NGOs like Doctors without Borders can be considered as one of the best examples for blending of medical sciences with anthropology

Similarities

Both anthropology and medical science, borrow concepts, methods, approach and research from biological sciences.

Medical science by nature and applied anthropology focus on improvement of diagnostic and treatments for various diseases. Modern aspects of biotechnology and forensics is equally studied and applied in both the disciplines

Differences

Medical science is mostly interested in the medical (biological) point of view for diseases. Whereas anthropology is mostly focuses on nonmedical aspects such as socio-cultural elements alongside medical reasons behind diseases
Medical Science is particularistic and scientific in nature. Anthropology is universalistic and is blend of science and social sciences
In Medical Science we study humans, body specimens through scientific methods to draw conclusion. But in anthropology, generally populations serve as samples as against individual human beings

Conclusion

roots of relation between anthropology and medical science are as deep as anthropology itself. From the holistic point of view, right from the beginning itself, anthropology seems to have combined various disciplines and their knowledge in a single discipline including medical sciences
Anthropological knowledge of lifestyle, use of traditional medicines, disease control, socio-cultural elements, etc and applied anthropology in the present context is significantly enriching the subject matter of medical science. And in the future also, these two disciplines will be supplementing and complementing each other

5. Anthro & Earth Science (Geology)

6. Anthro & Humanities (History, Economics & Political Science) Read in Addition to Handwritten Class Notes

6.1 Anthro and Economics

Differences

Economics is more about material welfare of humans but anthro talks about human welfare

Various economics institutions directly working with both systems

Example : NABARD is national bank for welfare and village and agrarian communities

Example :

Financial Inclusion (PM Jan Dhan Yojna Scheme). In 2014 we launch jandhan yojana almost every adult people got accounts it was an insurance cover

loan facility(5 lack loan of jandhan account) drastic reduction of rate of suicide after this yojna

Vidharba region of MH and some nearby region of Karnataka and Telangana

Max no. of farmer suicides in period of 2000- 2015 becoz of dry semi-arid areas. Dominance of money lenders.

BT cotton seeds are costly and terminator (which die of after one harvest)

Economics is more towards the data collection. But in anthro we need data for some things only.

Economic anthro as a disciple emerged from the core and concepts of economics to be applied in socio cultural domains, economics deals with resource allocation production,distribution,comsumption of goods and services

But these goods and services do not produce or consumes themselves so economics system should be studied as a part of larger society that’s why intimacy of economics with economic anthro is unavoidable

Economic studies ’economic man’ where as anthro studies man in ‘toto’ in totality ,even though economic anthro is specialization of socio-culture anthro dealing with economic activities of man it considers economic activity as one of the bases for human society becoz it sustains life and shows how economic activity and social relations are inseparable

Traditional economic relations like barter system of primitive societies and jajmani system of Indian society represent close proximity b/n socio cultural anthro and economics, within jajmani system was a caste and class-based system having more title towards socio-cultural aspect in comparison to economic relations

Economics Limited in its scope as its studies particularly the complex industrial societies of recent times. Anthro is universalistic talking about all types of society from primitive to present to industrial

Only economic relations and associated dynamics is studies as a part of production and consumption of resources ,anthro - aspects economic,religion,socio-culture etc

Economics studies how people through different consumption patterns coopete for maximization of profit in modern socities. it shows how people through consumption value and respect the social norms and institutions like non consumption of meat by certain communities

Less involvement of field work tradition and participant observation as its methodology, in anthro we have field work tradition and participant observations are deeply ingrained

Introduction

Economics deals with production ,consumption,dristibuton of goods and services, talks about resource allocation. Talks about economic relations industrial workers, managerial staff, labourer

Economic anthro is guided by economics. Here, We are study economic relations in social aspects also,Jajmani System. Jajman-host , kamin- worker for jajmans.generations per generations they work for them in return kamin were getting award like grains etc but not money.this system was considered as earliest economic organisation of rural society it’s not just an economic system but also social cultural aspect also

Barter system-exchange of goods

Initially economy was influencing the content of anthro but now economist used studies of economic anthro for framing their policies etc

Example : vedanta mining issue-in niyamgiri hills of odisha. Vedanta was for the project of bauxite mining but dongriya khonds protested against it and project did not happen so economic relation should be 1st studied in socio culture aspect

PMKKKY (Khanij Kshetra Kalyan Yojana) → tribals settled in mineral rich area (chota Nagpur plateau,chattisgarh,AP,MP,oddisa) mining done in dense population of tribal then some money will be given to the tribals

Direct benefit transfer,PMKKKY are direct applications of anthro in economics policy making

Economics is more interested in economic welfare of humans but anthro talks about human welfare under which economic welfare is already subsumed in that.

Similarities

Both economics and economic anthro discuss about the welfare of people ,economics mainly talks about economic or material welfare and anthro talks about human welfare at large

Economic anthro borrows man’s concepts from economics like production,consumption,trade ,market, distribution of resources etc while depicting the economic life along with sociocultural life of different people in Different parts of the world

When economist is grabbled/stucked with the problems of unemployment, business cycle, inflation economic anthropologist throw the light of socio cultural conditions as probable reasons behind these

Conclusion

Social and financial inclusion of marginalised sections of the society like tribals and other venerable grps is a blend of economics with economic anthropology in the true spirit of development as highlighted by the governments vision of sab ka saath sabka vikas,needs a merger of principle economics with practical knowledge of socio -culture and applied anthro

Economic principles like DBT direct benefit transfer are guided and implemented integrities of socio cultural perpectivies,concepts like cycle of poverty of armatya sen further enhance the closeness of economics with socio cultural anthropology

6.2 Anthro and Political Science

Introduction

Political Science deals with a defined setup and that is why it is only talking about the modern political systems, it only talks about concept of governance, republic, bureaucracy etc this things are discussed in pol science and it says that this system is defined in modern system there was no political systems were defined in small scale societies

Evans Pritchard studied small scale region of Africa particular in subSaharan region Witten book” African political system”. He mentioned simplest primitive small scale societies it have small political system

There was small political system in each and every society, he referred tribal clans,cheifdoms are classical example of simple political system particular political anthro in socio cultural anthro is near to pollical science. Political anthro has borrowed concepts like state,democry,power etc from pol science only. pol science is mainly interested in studying recently societies particular after French and Industrial Revolution (French revolution propagated equality, fraternity, equality etc

Anthro is considered small scale societies studying, studying voting behaviour, government structure from socio cultural aspect this is application of anthro in pol science

Similarities

Power and authority studied in both disciple polscience talking about recent setups but in pol anthro we talk about power and authority of simple small case societies. Power and anthro based on gov and owner and authoring based on chiefdom, tribal

In pol science political setup is based on population and composition of population

Example- Pakistan is Islamic republic of Pakistan India is republic of India

Head of the pol system is on the dominating person

Differences

Pol science in scope anthro is universalistic

Pol science aspect of man here we talk about political,religious,socio culture aspects of man

Pol science get guided with some field work , field work is heart of anthro

Conclusion

Present political situation and setups in the countries like India voting behavior ,vote bank politics, representation of representation of peoples from all the sections and from all the parts of the countries require the backup knowledge of socio culture anthropology with the political system

upliftment and participation of the most vulnerable section of society in day to day political setups of gov and bureaucracy brings the 2 disciples even together. Election of a tribal women to highest office of the country(madam murmu president of India) is the most practical application in recent times describing the intimacy of the disciplines

pol science and political anthro will require information from both disciplines to full fill the basic human welfare approach a envisage in COI in the principles of equality of all the aspects

Unit 1.3 : Branches of Anthropology

Socio Cultural / Cultural Anthropology

Socio Cultural or Cultural Anthropology

Note : Cultural Anthropology is Sub Set of Socio Cultural Anthropology

B. Malinowski is considered as the father of socio-cultural anthropology

Franz Boas is considered as father of American anthropology. Socio-cultural anthropologists examine social patterns and practices across cultures, with a special interest in how people live places and how they organize, govern and create meaning

Culture is the customary ways that particular society follows such as the thinking patterns and social behavior of individuals as well as the society at large. It is a broader perspective including dialects and languages, religious beliefs and practices, mating behavior, family systems, dietary behavior etc., roles assigned to males, females and children

In the world of Charles Winick, socio-cultural anthropology is the study of social behavior especially from the point of a view of a systematic and comparative study of social forms and institutions in all the societies – Primitive, Historical and Civilized

Socio-cultural anthropology deals with human society and culture as process of social-cultural evolution that interprets, describes, explains and analyze the similarities and differences between various societies and institutions.

A social anthropologist studies social behavior and social interactions whereas a cultural anthropologist focuses on cultural traditions and associated aspects.

Social interaction and behavior take place with reference to culture traditions only. So, social interactions are a part of larger cultural traditions.

Social anthropology is included in cultural anthropology. Meaning social anthropologist is by default a cultural anthropologist.

In the words of Charles Winick, socio-cultural anthropology is the study of social behavior specially from the point of a view of a systematic and comparative study of social forms and institutions in all the societies – Primitive, historical and civilized

Examples of Socio-Cultural Anthropology Case Study 1 - Balinese Cock Fight

when the Balinese society of Indonesia was studied, it was found that people indulged in the sport of cock (rooster) fighting. The reason behind why the game was played could be different for different observers

However, on deeper studies by anthropologists it was found that it was method of social stratification where the lower classes weren’t allowed to participate nor were women allowed to watch or participate

In fact, people who won the fight were seen as more trustworthy in terms of social and/or economic relations built with them by others in the village

Examples of Socio-Cultural Anthropology Case Study 1 - Papua New Guinea Pig Fest

In another village in Papa New Guinea, the village head always held a pig feast for the people of his village. This was a sigh of showing of the wealth and status of the village chief. It was also agreed that the more pigs a person owned, the richer he was. And if you had more pigs, you could take on more than one wife

Society v/s culture : culture is broader than society such as languages, dialects, religious behavior etc. whereas society is a social group within that larger culture

For example ; how people chose their partners is a part of culture, but the bond form is a social process. Or a matrilineal system being followed is part of the culture while such a system in a nuclear family and the aspect of that family being nuclear is social

Ethnology v/s Ethnography

Ethnography is the in-depth study of a particular cultural group, while ethnology is the comparative study of ethnographic data, society and culture

Ethnology

Ethnology is an academic field that compares and analyzes the characteristics of different peoples and the relationships between them (compare cultural, social, or sociocultural anthropology)

First used in the USA where ethnology designated socio-cultural anthropology

Franz Boas is considered as the father of ethnology

Ethnology is an interpretative disciple and is incline towards making some hypothesis or theories

For Example

How and Why some societies and cultures have matching characteristics or are different to each other

Later the term ethnology was merged into the broader term of socio-cultural anthropology

Term socio-cultural anthropology was promoted by British anthropologists and became the most common term used for anthropological studies of various societies and cultures

Comparative Aspect

two different cultures having similarities and differences

Interpretive

let’s try to interpret the cause between any social reality

Using the above two aspects, we try to build theories - may not be able to build a scientific theory or call something an absolute universal fact. We try to make generalizations and trends

Ethnography

Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study

Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining the behavior of the participants in a given social situation and understanding the group members' own interpretation of such behavior

Ethnography is study of individual cultures and tradition of a particular group/society/tribe which is primarily descriptive and is less interpretative. The approach of theory building is absent in ethnography

For example, “Kinship Studies in India” by Dr. Irawati Karve is an ethnological study but study of Coorgs of Mysore by MN Srinivas is an ethnographic study Detailed study, of all the aspects, of a particular culture/society is Ethnography. From Historical perspective to current perspective.

For Example looking the Baigas of MP – looking at all society from all aspects

Social anthropologists consider that their consider subjects encompasses all human cultures and societies including their own whereas early ethnographers used holistic coverage for understanding people’s way of life. Recent ethnographers tend to specialize or even narrower realms like specialized study religious rituals, impact of modernization, globalization, Sanskritization on marriage patterns and kinship ties in a particular group.

Ethnocentrism v/s Cultural Relativism

Ethnocentric elements are one of the biggest concerns in any sociological research.

Ethnocentrism: Ethnocentrism in social science and anthropology—as well as in colloquial English discourse—means to apply one's own culture or ethnicity as a frame of reference to judge other cultures, practices, behaviors, beliefs, and people, instead of using the standards of the particular culture involved. Sincen this judgment is often negative, some people also use the term to refer to the belief that one's culture is superior to, or more correct or normal than, all others—especially regarding the distinctions that define each ethnicity's cultural identity, such as language, behavior, customs, and religion. In common usage, it can also simply mean any culturally biased judgment. Ethnocentrism is sometimes related to racism, stereotyping, discrimination, or xenophobia. However, the term "ethnocentrism" does not necessarily involve a negative view of the others' race or indicate a negative connotation. The opposite of ethnocentrism is cultural relativism, which means to understand a different culture in its own terms without subjective judgments.

Increased ethnocentrism will always lead to oppression of the minority groups and even human rights violations for them. For example, propagation of white supremacy, notion of upper caste, heterosexuality are examples of ethnocentrism. These may manifest in behavior that can lead to clashes between groups/villages/clans or even between countries.

Anthropology is one of the least ethnocentric disciplines considering and comparing each and every aspect of all societies and cultures by taking them as a unique lifestyle without any sentiments of superiority or inferiority.

Ethnocentrism way of studying was replaced with cultural relativism.

Cultural relativism: Cultural relativism is the idea that a person's beliefs and practices should be understood based on that person's own culture. Proponents of cultural relativism also tend to argue that the norms and values of one culture should not be evaluated using the norms and values of another.

It was established as axiomatic in anthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the 20th century and later popularized by his students. Boas first articulated the idea in 1887: "civilization is not something absolute, but ...is relative, and ... our ideas and conceptions are true only so far as our civilization goes."

However, Boas did not coin the term. The first use of the term recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary was by philosopher and social theorist Alain Locke in 1924 to describe Robert Lowie's "extreme cultural relativism," found in the latter's 1917 book Culture and Ethnology

The term became common among anthropologists after Boas' death in 1942, to express their synthesis of a number of ideas he had developed. Boas believed that the sweep of cultures, to be found in connection with any subspecies, is so vast and pervasive that there cannot be a relationship between culture and race. Cultural relativism involves specific epistemological and methodological claims. Whether or not these claims necessitate a specific ethical stance is a matter of debate. The popularization of cultural relativism after World War II was somehow[vague] a reaction to such historical events as Nazism, and to colonialism, ethnocentrism and racism more generally Ruth Benedict, Margaret Mead, AL Kroeber were supporters of cultural relativism.

Archaeological Anthropology

There is a thin line between archaeology and archaeological anthropology.

Archaeology

It is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or Eco facts, sites, and cultural landscapes. Archaeology can be considered both a social science and a branch of the humanities (wiki definiton)

Archaeologists study human prehistory and history, from the development of the first stone tools at Lomekwi in East Africa 3.3 million years ago up until recent decades. Archaeology is distinct from paleontology, which is the study of fossil remains.

Archaeology is particularly important for learning about prehistoric societies, for which, by definition, there are no written records. The discipline involves surveying, excavation, and eventually analysis of data collected, to learn more about the past. In broad scope, archaeology relies on cross-disciplinary research

Archaeological Anthropology

it is the study of socio-cultural behavior in the protohistoric and prehistoric past. The archaeologist deal with such remains from the past societies such as tools, shelters, remains of plants and animals were eaten as food, and other objects that have survived

It attempts to reconstruct, find, interpret, describe (RFID) human behavior and culture patterns though material remains so that the daily life and customs of people who lived in the past can be traced and the cultural changes which took place with time can be understood. Material remains like pottery and other artifacts, stone pieces, bones, pollens stuck in dirt etc. are studied in both archaeology and archaeological anthropology

While the subject matter of Archaeological anthropology is similar to Historical Anthropology, under Archaeological anthropology, the researcher is reaching much further back in time. Historians primarily deal with societies having written records/scripts/past which limit their scope to the last 5000 years of human history; for a small portion of societies that have developed writing, but human societies have existed for more than a million years. So archaeological anthropology serves as a historian for those societies that lacked written records

Archaeological anthropologists are equally concerned for the grand sized remains of Mayan civilization (Mexico, Latin America) like the Mayan temples or the large granaries of Harappan civilization but is equally interest in finding out small evidence and socio-cultural behavior behind that such as the lipstick evidences of Channudharo or the double burial sites of Lothal

Different evidence or material remains hints towards various forms of socio cultural elements and the human forms living during those times such as the evidence of Narmada man had strong bite marks on skull and neck region indicating that they lived in close proximity with wild animals like tigers

For Example : Different burial pattern tells us about the social stratification, suage of metals and minerals, different rituals for different strata’s, male female parity etc. Various potteries, artifacts and figurines tell us about the social life, dressing patterns from any painting drawn on it, storage of grains etc

Branches of Archaeological Anthropology

Old (up to the 1950s to 60s)

was very close to historical archaeology, mainly focused on chronology and descriptive parts only for the extinct cultures and was not interpretative in nature

Contemporary (post 1960s)

interpretation of evidence based on sociocultural evolution, interrelationship of socio-cultural factors with environment etc

Ethnoarchaeology

it is considered as an extension of contemporary archaeology dealing with study of present in order answer questions about the past. Ethnoarchaeology delas with use of parallels drawn from the study of contemporary simple small-scale societies for reconstructing and interpreting the archaeological cultures that is ethnography serving as a tool for archaeological reconstruction

Ethnoarchaeology is the ethnographic study of peoples for archaeological reasons, usually through the study of the material remains of a society (see David & Kramer 2001)

Ethnoarchaeology aids archaeologists in reconstructing ancient lifeways by studying the material and non-material traditions of modern societies. Ethnoarchaeology also aids in the understanding of the way an object was made and the purpose of what it is being used for. Archaeologists can then infer that ancient societies used the same techniques as their modern counterparts given a similar set of environmental circumstances. One good example of ethnoarchaeology is that of Brian Hayden (1987), whose team examined the manufacture of Mesoamerican quern-stones, providing valuable insights into the manufacture of prehistoric quern-stones.

Linguistic Anthropology

Introduction

Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. It entails a comprehensive, systematic, objective, and precise analysis of all aspects of language, particularly its nature and structure. As linguistics is concerned with both the cognitive and social aspects of language, it is considered a scientific field as well as an academic discipline; it has been classified as a social science, natural science, cognitive science, or part of the humanities

Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that studies how humans produce and perceive sounds, or in the case of sign languages, the equivalent aspects of sign

Linguistic anthropology is the interdisciplinary study of how language influences social life. It is a branch of anthropology that originated from the endeavor to document endangered languages and has grown over the past century to encompass most aspects of language structure and use

Linguistic anthropology explores how language shapes communication, forms social identity and group membership, organizes large-scale cultural beliefs and ideologies, and develops a common cultural representation of natural and social worlds

Mentioned Sapir-Whorf theory – will discuss this in detail later

What is Linguistic Anthropology

Linguistic anthropology emerged as an offshoot of Socio Linguistics. Socio Linguistics is the study of language and society, how language helps to divide people into social groups, and how these linguistically based power relations change or are maintained. Socio Linguistics is derived from the larger branch of linguistics

Earlier linguistic anthropology was termed as anthropological linguistics renamed as Linguistic anthropology by Dell Hymes. Linguistic anthropology is the study of human language as part of human culture. Study of the ways that human beings use language to create a cultural model of the world and how that model influences the way they live their lives. To prominent names are EB Tylor and Dell Hymes

It is the study of languages as socio-cultural phenomena across space and time, i.e., how languages influence socio-cultural phenomena and vice-versa

Linguistic Anthropology is the interdisciplinary study of how language influences social life. It is a branch of anthropology that originated from the endeavor to document endangered languages and has grown over the past century to encompass most aspects of language structure

Linguistic anthropology is about evolution, structure, meaning and variations associated with languages.

Scope of Linguistic Anthropology

To study similarities and variations in languages

Help in understanding not only socio-cultural evolution of language but also socio-cultural evolution of the place and people itself

Can help in better understanding of socio-cultural anthropology as languages transferred from one generation to another and from one geographical location to another

Linguistic anthropologists describe how languages are produced and used

Linguistic anthropology resulted in exchange of cultural ideas

For Example: Traders travelling from place-to-place causes exchange of languages and of socio-cultural elements. With language there is influx of cultural elements as well

Linguistic anthropologists study how language changes through time

Linguistic anthropologists study how language usage varies in different social contexts

In psychological linguistics, the basic human thought process is studied in broader social perspective Linguistic anthropologists’ study how knowing a particular language influence how people think

Linguistic anthropologists study how people communicate non-verbally though gestures, body language and the use of space

Development of Pidgin in Lingusitic Anthropology

Linguistic anthropology led to emergence of pidgin → A pidgin language, is a grammatically simplified means of communication that develops between two or more groups that do not have a language in common

typically, its vocabulary and grammar are limited and often drawn from several languages

It is most commonly employed in situations such as trade, or where both groups speak languages different from the language of the country in which they reside (but where there is no common language between the groups). Linguists do not typically consider pidgins as full or complete languages

Fundamentally, a pidgin is a simplified means of linguistic communication, as it is constructed impromptu, or by convention, between individuals or groups of people. A pidgin is not the native language of any speech community, but is instead learned as a second language

A pidgin may be built from words, sounds, or body language from a multitude of languages as well as onomatopoeia. As the lexicon of any pidgin will be limited to core vocabulary, words with only a specific meaning in the lexifier language may acquire a completely new (or additional) meaning in the pidgin

Development of Creole in Linguistic Anthropology

Creole

Linguistic anthropology led to emergence of Creole - A creole language, or simply creole, is a stable natural language that develops from the simplifying and mixing of different languages into a new one within a fairly brief period of time

often, a pidgin evolved into a full-fledged language. While the concept is similar to that of a mixed or hybrid language, creoles are often characterized by a tendency to systematize their inherited grammar

For Example : by eliminating irregularities or regularizing the conjugation of otherwise irregular verbs

Like any language, creoles are characterized by a consistent system of grammar, possess large stable vocabularies, and are acquired by children as their native language. These three features distinguish a creole language from a pidgin

Creolistic / Creology

Creolistics, or creology, is the study of creole languages and, as such, is a subfield of linguistics. Someone who engages in this study is called a creolist

The lexicon of a creole language is largely supplied by the parent languages, particularly that of the most dominant group in the social context of the creole's construction

However, there are often clear phonetic and semantic shifts. On the other hand, the grammar that has evolved often has new or unique features that differ substantially from those of the parent languages

Modern Linguistic Anthropology

Modern Linguistic Anthropology is focusing on studying the available primitive cultures and civilizations or tribal groups for which there is no significant research and almost negligible written text is available

So, present day linguists are interested in reconstructing the history of unwritten languages in sociocultural contexts in comparison to the present day languages and civilizations and inferences are drawn on the basis of these comparisons

Branches of Anthropological Linguistics

can be directly asked as a 10-marker question

Descriptive (Synchronic) Linguistics – Structural Linguistics

In this branch, a non-historical approach is used to describe the dialects or languages used by a particular community

For Example : Grammar of the language, combination of words to form a meaningful sentence

Historical (Diachronic) Linguistics – Comparative Linguistics

Following the developmental changes that have taken place over time such as those during course of evolution in various dialects and languages

Ethno Linguistics - Socio Linguistics

It is about the mutual relationship of various elements of society and culture with languages and the associated changes brought by socio-cultural elements in the structure and use of languages and vice-versa

Ethnosemantics

it is a detailed study of a dialect or language taking into nconsideration the viewpoint of the local people using that language, i.e. use of EMIC approach in understanding dialects and languages

Ethnosemantics, sometimes called “ethnoscience,” is the scientific study of the ways in which people label and classify the social, cultural, and environmental phenomena of their world. Beginning in the 1960s, ethnosemantics continued the Boasian tradition of focusing on linguistic relativity and the importance of native language terms, with a focus on developing theories of particular cultures, rather than an overarching theory of culture in general

Nevertheless, ethnosemantic studies have contributed to the latter by making it possible to find universal constraints on the ways in which humans deal linguistically with their environments

Examples- Terminology People Use for Naming Color

Studies have shown that while color-naming systems vary, the different systems can be organized into an implicational scale
All languages appear to have terms for black/dark, white/light, and red
If a language has four terms, it adds either green or yellow;
the fifth term added is the missing yellow or green;
the sixth is blue; and so on
Because color varies continuously along a spectrum, the boundaries between colors tend to be arbitrary
For Example, the boundary between English Green and Blue is not the same as the boundary between Spanish verde and aula
The scope of red, however, is relatively uniform, a result of the biology of color perception that makes the wavelengths in the red area of the spectrum the most neurologically salient part of the spectrum

Psycholinguistics

It studies the mental framework, underlying processes behind acquisition and use of words in a particular language. Linguistic anthropology started as a discipline to study the languages, has been transformed from time to time based on parallel research going on in linguistics and socio-cultural anthropology. Later it enriched the content of, both linguistics and socio-cultural anthropology

Applied & Action Anthropology

Cross-cutting the four fields of anthropology, the 5th is the Applied and Action anthropology is when anthropological knowledge is put to use

Applied Anthropology

Applied is identifying and analyzing practical applications of anthropological knowledge to benefit humanity in various domains like sports, health and medicine, defence equipment, education, hygiene, etc

Applied is when anthropology is “used” – Applied anthropology is the application of the methods and theory of anthropology to the analysis and solution of practical problems

Van Willengen simply defined anthropology as " anthropology put to use"

However, it must be noted that the concept of applied anthropology was put forward by Daniel G. Brinton

For example any kind of anthropological research when used to solve practical problems in different domains

For example, when genome studies are sued for diagnosis of diseases and improved treatment aspects of diseases, use of anthropometric measurements in sports

Action Anthropology

It is the term was coined and propagated by Sol Tax when he was studying the Hopi/Sauk Indians in south-western part of USA and Mexico. Sol Tax considered action anthropology as an offshoot of Applied anthropology

It is branch of anthropology extending its hand to help a group of people like a tribal population in resolving and minimizing their problems by raising their voice for issues they are facing like forest rights given to tribal and traditional forest dwellers

Study of various tribal groups in different parts of India by Verrier Elwin led to development of tribal Panchsheel by PM Nehru. Sol Tax compared action anthropology with clinical experiments like use of different medicines for different diseases and even a single medicine for a particular disease is not suitable for all individuals

So, a common approach in handling issues of various tribes is not practically appropriate

PYQ Question How can synergizing the core branches of anthropology reinvigorate the holistic spirit of the discipline? (15 Marks; 200-250 Words) Class Pointers 1. Define anthropology – Aristotle. Justify time and geography with an example 2. Franz boas – name and explain the four. 3. How 4 are interlinked – how the 4 merge. 4. Conclusion - How they four disciplines merge into each other and how they complement and supplement each other and how none of them can self-sustain without the other