History of Anthropology Brief Introduction to Significant Theorists

History of Anthropology Brief Introduction to Significant Theorists and Ideas

Origins of Anthropology ► Varying theories on when the discipline began ► Differing views on whether it is a natural science or a humanities subject ► Today is clearly considered a social science, and many aspects cross over into other social science disciplines, such as psychology, history, sociology, philosophy, etc. ► Elements of early origins trace back as far as the Greeks in 5 BCE ► Missionaries, explorers, and philosophers all contributed to the early discipline

Early Perspectives ► 19 th C. (Victorian age) idea of social evolution § Belief that all human societies develop in one particular direction (from savage to civilized) § European societies were believed to embody “civilized” (according to Europeans, of course!) ► Technological advances of the Industrial Revolution and the spread of European colonialism contributed to this belief § Europeans believed that “white man’s burden” was to “civilize the savages” through colonialism and missionary work

Cultural Evolutionists: Henry Maine of Britain ► Britain: Henry Maine (1822 -1888) § Made distinction between status and contract societies § Status societies are based on kinship and myth as operating principles § Contract societies are based on individual merit and achievement § Idea corresponds with later, modern theories § Overly simplistic, but still has an impact on anthropological thinking today

Cultural Evolutionists: Lewis Henry Morgan ► America: Lewis Henry Morgan (1818 -82) § Published the first ethnography of the Iroquois § Outlined an evolutionary scheme that traced seven stages of societies from savage to civilized § Each of the stages was connected to technological achievement § Also focused heavily on kinship systems § His work influenced later philosophers and social scientists, such as Marx and Engels

Cultural Evolutionists: Edward Tylor and James Frazer ► Tylor (1832 -1917) teacher § influenced Darwin § Outlined major fields of anthropology still used today § Wrote noteworthy definition of culture: “complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society” ► Frazer (1854 -1941) student § Focused his work on myth and religion § Believed thought developed from the magical via the religious to the scientific § First person to hold title “Professor of Anthropology”

Contrasting perspective: Adolf Bastian (1826 -1905) ► German ethnologist ► Reacted against what he believed to be overly simplistic typological schemata ► Instead of belief that all humans evolve in similar, straightforward pattern toward “civilization, ” he believed that humans all have same pattern of thinking

The Big Three of Social and Cultural Anthropology 1. Franz Boas (1858 -1942): § German immigrant to America 2. Bronislaw Malinowski (1884 -1942): § Polish immigrant to Britain 3. A. R. Radcliffe-Brown (1881 -1955): § British ► Their theories moved the field away from evolutionism to actor, agency, and context studies

Franz Boas: Father of American Cultural Anthropology ► Studied Eskimo and Kwaikutl Indians of North America in 1890 s ► Four-field approach to American anthropology: cultural and social, physical, archaeology, linguistics ► Emphasis on cultural relativism ► Focused on collection of empirical data ► Concerned about cultural change and loss of unique cultures ► Influenced many later American cultural anthropologists who systemized his ideas

Bronislaw Malinowski: Father of British Social Anthropology ► Set the standard for ethnographic field work with his studies in Trobriand Islands ► Emphasized immersing oneself in the culture completely ► Focused on the individual’s actions within the framework of society’s social structure ► Emphasis on “holism” ► Believed inborn human needs were impetus behind development of social institutions (functionalism)

A. R. Radcliffe-Brown: Major Influence on British Social Anthropology ► Developed theory of structural-functionalism ► Saw the acting individual as less important, emphasizing instead the social institutions ► All social and cultural institutions are functional in maintaining overall social structure of a society

Other Significant Theorists ► Emile Durkheim ► Marcel Mauss ► Claude Levi-Strauss ► E. E. Evans-Pritchard ► Clifford Geertz ► Victor Turner ► Edward Sapir and Benjamin Lee Whorf