Anthropology
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Anthropology is the study of human behavior and societies in the past and present. Social anthropology and cultural anthropology study the norms and values of societies, while linguistic anthropology examines how language affects social life. Biological anthropology studies the biological development of humans. Archaeology, which studies past human cultures through physical evidence, is considered a branch of anthropology in the United States and Canada, while in Europe, it is viewed as a discipline in its own right.
Origin and development of the term[edit]
The term anthropology was first used in reference to history. Its present use appeared in Renaissance Germany in the works of Magnus Hundt and Otto Casmann. Their New Latin anthropologia derived from the Greek words ánthrōpos ("human") and lógos ("study"). Its adjectival form appeared in Aristotle's works. It began to be used in English by the early 18th century.
Through the 19th century[edit]
In 1647, the Bartholins defined anthropology as the science treating of man, divided into anatomy and psychology. Sporadic use of the term followed, such as Étienne Serres' use in 1839 to describe the natural history of man. Various short-lived organizations of anthropologists were formed, including the Société Ethnologique de Paris in 1839.
The publication of Charles Darwin's On the Origin of Species was pivotal. Darwin himself arrived at his conclusions through comparative studies. Anthropologists began to suspect that similarities between animals, languages, and folkways were results of unknown processes. Paul Broca, influenced by Darwin, studied the pathology of speech and discovered the speech center of the human brain, now called Broca's area.
Broca founded the Société d'Anthropologie de Paris in 1859. Theodor Waitz's Die Anthropologie der Naturvölker defined anthropology as "the science of the nature of man," emphasizing empirical data and the unity of the human species.
In 1863, the Anthropological Society of London was formed, adopting Waitz's definitions. Edward Burnett Tylor, a key figure, shifted from ethnology to anthropology. Similar organizations followed, leading to the proliferation of anthropology curricula in higher education by the late 19th century.
20th and 21st centuries[edit]
Anthropology has diversified into numerous subdivisions and practical applications, such as forensic archaeology. Organizations like the World Council of Anthropological Associations represent anthropologists globally. Since the work of Franz Boas and Bronisław Malinowski, anthropology has emphasized cross-cultural comparisons, long-term fieldwork, and participant observation. In the United States, anthropology is divided into biological anthropology, sociocultural anthropology, archaeology, and linguistic anthropology. European anthropology tends to focus on ethnology.
Fields[edit]
Anthropology is a global discipline involving humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. It builds upon knowledge from natural and social sciences to understand human diversity and cultural practices.
Sociocultural[edit]
Sociocultural anthropology combines cultural and social anthropology, studying how people make sense of the world and the relationships among individuals and groups. It is related to philosophy, literature, arts, sociology, and history. Ethnography, based on long-term fieldwork, is a key methodology. It examines kinship, social organization, economic and political organization, law, conflict resolution, material culture, technology, gender relations, religion, and language.
Biological[edit]
Biological anthropology studies humans and non-human primates in their biological, evolutionary, and demographic dimensions. It examines the biological and social factors affecting human evolution and variation. Key areas include hominid evolution, human genetics, growth and development, biological flexibility, and the biology of apes and monkeys.
Archaeological[edit]
Archaeology studies the human past through material remains. It reconstructs human behavior and cultural patterns, focusing on prehistoric remains. Archaeologists examine animal bones, artifacts, and landscapes to understand past societies. Ethnoarchaeology studies living human groups to interpret past human groups.
Linguistic[edit]
Linguistic anthropology seeks to understand human communication, language variation, social uses of language, and the relationship between language and culture. It uses methods from sociolinguistics, pragmatics, cognitive linguistics, semiotics, discourse analysis, and narrative analysis.
Key topics by field: sociocultural[edit]
Art, media, music, dance and film[edit]
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| Anthropology of art, media, music, dance and film |
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Art[edit]
The anthropology of art examines aesthetic qualities in objects, transforming the study of art into an anthropology of culturally specific aesthetics.
Media[edit]
Media anthropology studies producers, audiences, and cultural aspects of mass media through ethnographic methods. It includes cyber anthropology and the study of media in development work and social movements.
Music[edit]
Ethnomusicology studies music in its cultural, social, material, cognitive, biological, and other contexts.
Visual[edit]
Visual anthropology studies ethnographic photography, film, and new media. It encompasses the anthropological study of visual representation, including performance, museums, art, and mass media.
Economic, political economic, applied and development[edit]
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| Economic, applied, and development anthropology |
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Economic[edit]
Economic anthropology explains human economic behavior, focusing on exchange systems and the impact of corporations and the global financial system.
Political economy[edit]
Political economy applies historical materialism to anthropological concerns, including pre-capitalist societies, peasantry, colonialism, and industrial capitalism.
Applied[edit]
Applied anthropology uses anthropological methods to address practical problems, involving researcher activism within communities.
Development[edit]
Anthropology of development critically examines why development goals often fail and how development is externally driven.
Kinship, feminism, gender and sexuality[edit]
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Kinship[edit]
Kinship studies patterns of social relationships in human cultures, including descent groups, lineages, affines, cognates, and fictive kinship.
Feminist[edit]
Feminist anthropology seeks to reduce male bias in research and promote the study of gender across societies. It includes birth anthropology and the work of Vera Mae Green on ethnic and family relations.
Medical, nutritional, psychological, cognitive and transpersonal[edit]
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Medical[edit]
Medical anthropology studies health, disease, healthcare systems, and biocultural adaptation. It examines medical knowledge, patient-physician relationships, alternative medical systems, and the impact of biomedicine in non-Western settings.
Nutritional[edit]
Nutritional anthropology studies the interplay between economic systems, nutritional status, and food security, linking culture and biology to historical and economic trends.
Psychological[edit]
Psychological anthropology studies the interaction of cultural and mental processes, focusing on how culture shapes cognition, emotion, perception, motivation, and mental health.
Cognitive[edit]
Cognitive anthropology explains patterns of shared knowledge and cultural innovation using methods from cognitive sciences. It examines how cultural knowledge affects perception and relation to the world.
Transpersonal[edit]
Transpersonal anthropology studies altered states of consciousness and transpersonal experiences, considering the roles of myth, ritual, diet, and texts in evoking extraordinary experiences.
Political and legal[edit]
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Political[edit]
Political anthropology studies political systems and the structure of societies, examining political organization and the relationship between formal and informal political institutions.
Legal[edit]
Legal anthropology studies social ordering, conflict management, human rights, legal pluralism, and political uprisings.
Public[edit]
Public anthropology demonstrates the ability of anthropology to address broader social issues and foster social change.
Nature, science and technology[edit]
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Cyborg[edit]
Cyborg anthropology studies the relationship between humans and technological systems, examining how technology shapes notions of humanity.
Digital[edit]
Digital anthropology studies the relationship between humans and digital-era technology, including techno-anthropology, digital ethnography, cyberanthropology, and virtual anthropology.
Ecological[edit]
Ecological anthropology studies cultural adaptations to environments and the relationship between human populations and their biophysical environment.
Historical[edit]
Ethnohistory studies ethnographic cultures and indigenous customs by examining historical records. It uses maps, music, paintings, photography, folklore, oral tradition, site exploration, archaeological materials, museum collections, enduring customs, language, and place names.
Religion[edit]
The anthropology of religion studies religious institutions, beliefs, and practices across cultures. It assumes continuity between magical thinking and religion, viewing every religion as a cultural product.
Urban[edit]
Urban anthropology studies urbanization, poverty, and neoliberalism. It examines types of cities and social issues within cities, using social, economic, and political factors to categorize cities and study their dynamics.
Key topics by field: archaeological and biological[edit]
Anthrozoology[edit]
Anthrozoology studies the interaction between living things, including humans and animals. It examines the positive effects of human-animal relationships and the study of their interactions.
Biocultural[edit]
Biocultural anthropology studies the relationships between human biology and culture, examining how culture plays a role in shaping human biology.
Evolutionary[edit]
Evolutionary anthropology studies the evolution of human physiology and behavior, combining natural and social sciences. It examines human development, socioeconomic factors, archaeology, behavioral ecology, psychology, primatology, and genetics.
Forensic[edit]
Forensic anthropology applies physical anthropology and human osteology in legal settings, assisting in the identification of deceased individuals whose remains are decomposed, burned, mutilated, or unrecognizable.
Palaeoanthropology[edit]
Palaeoanthropology combines paleontology and physical anthropology, studying ancient humans through fossil evidence such as petrified bones and footprints.
Organizations[edit]
Contemporary anthropology is an established science with academic departments at most universities and colleges. The American Anthropological Association (AAA), founded in 1903, is the single largest organization of anthropologists. The European Association of Social Anthropologists (EASA), established in 1989, serves as a major professional organization for anthropologists working in Europe. Hundreds of other organizations exist in various sub-fields of anthropology, and many anthropologists work with collaborators in other disciplines.
List of major organizations[edit]
- American Anthropological Association
- American Ethnological Society
- Asociación de Antropólogos Iberoamericanos en Red, AIBR
- Moving Anthropology Student Network
- Anthropological Society of London
- Center for World Indigenous Studies
- Ethnological Society of London
- Institute of Anthropology and Ethnography
- Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
- Network of Concerned Anthropologists
- N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology
- Radical Anthropology Group
- Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland
- Society for anthropological sciences
- Society for Applied Anthropology
- USC Center for Visual Anthropology
Ethics[edit]
Anthropologists have developed ethical principles to protect research subjects and researchers. Professional societies have generated codes of ethics, emphasizing cultural relativism and the avoidance of judgment based on external values. Anthropologists study genocide, racism, mutilation, torture, and other ethical issues, using theories ranging from nutritional deficiencies to genes to acculturation.
Cultural relativism[edit]
Cultural relativism is the notion that cultures should not be judged by external values but examined on their own terms. Anthropologists seek to understand cultures without imposing value judgments, promoting a holistic and empirical approach to studying human diversity.
Military involvement[edit]
Anthropologists have been involved with the U.S. government, assisting in state policies and projects. During World War I, Franz Boas publicly objected to U.S. participation and exposed the espionage activities of American archaeologists in Mexico. During World War II, many anthropologists served in the armed forces or worked in intelligence. David Price's work highlights the pursuit and dismissal of anthropologists for communist sympathies during the Cold War. In the Vietnam War, anthropologists were active in the antiwar movement, and the American Anthropological Association passed resolutions condemning the war.
Professional anthropological bodies object to the use of anthropology for state benefits, emphasizing the incompatibility of secret research with disciplinary ethics. Anthropologists working with the U.S. military in Afghanistan and Iraq under the Human Terrain System (HTS) program have faced criticism for their involvement in counterinsurgency efforts. The AAA's Commission on the Engagement of Anthropology with the US Security and Intelligence Communities has stressed the incompatibility of HTS with disciplinary ethics.
Post–World War II developments[edit]
After World War II, British social anthropology and American cultural anthropology began to converge, leading to the term 'sociocultural' anthropology. Anthropology tends to provide a holistic and empirical account of phenomena, often involving long-term fieldwork and a variety of methods. Biological anthropologists study human variation and universals, using methods such as population genetics, participant observation, and fieldwork. Anthropologists divide the world into cultural traditions and regions, using comparative methods to understand human diversity.
See also[edit]
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- Outline of anthropology
- Anthropological Index Online (AIO)
- Anthropological science fiction
- Christian anthropology, a sub-field of theology
- Engaged theory
- Ethnology
- Ethnobiology
- Ethnomusicology
- Ethology
- Folklore
- Human ethology
- Human evolution
- Human Relations Area Files
- Intangible cultural heritage
- List of anthropologists
- Memetics
- Origins of society
- Prehistoric medicine
- Qualitative research
- Sociology
- Philosophical anthropology, a sub-field of philosophy
- Anthropology in Tinbergen's four questions
Notes[edit]
References[edit]
Further reading[edit]
Dictionaries and encyclopedias[edit]
- Barnard, Alan; Spencer, Jonathan, eds. (2010). The Routledge Encyclopedia of Social and Cultural Anthropology. London: Routledge.
- Barfield, Thomas (1997). The dictionary of anthropology. Hoboken: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.
- Jackson, John L. (2013). Oxford Bibliographies: Anthropology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Levinson, David; Ember, Melvin, eds. (1996). Encyclopedia of Cultural Anthropology. Volumes 1–4. New York: Henry Holt.
- Rapport, Nigel; Overing, Joanna (2007). Social and Cultural Anthropology: The Key Concepts. New York: Routledge. Search this book on
Fieldnotes and memoirs[edit]
- Barley, Nigel (1983). The innocent anthropologist: notes from a mud hut. London: British Museum Publications. Search this book on
- Geertz, Clifford (1995). After the fact: two countries, four decades, one anthropologist. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Search this book on
- Lévi-Strauss, Claude (1967). Tristes tropiques. Translated from the French by John Russell. New York: Atheneum. Search this book on
- Malinowski, Bronisław (1967). A diary in the strict sense of the term. Translated by Norbert Guterman. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World. Search this book on
- Mead, Margaret (1972). Blackberry winter: my earlier years. New York: William Marrow. Search this book on
- —— (1977). Letters from the field, 1925–1975. New York: Harper & Row. Search this book on
- Rabinow, Paul (1977). Reflections on fieldwork in Morocco. Quantum Books. Berkeley: University of California Press. Search this book on
Histories[edit]
- Asad, Talal, ed. (1973). Anthropology & the Colonial Encounter. Atlantic Highlands, NJ: Humanities Press. Search this book on
- Barth, Fredrik; Gingrich, Andre; Parkin, Robert (2005). One Discipline, Four Ways: British, German, French, and American anthropology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Search this book on
- Darnell, Regna. (2001). Invisible Genealogies: A History of Americanist Anthropology. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press. Search this book on
- Gisi, Lucas Marco (2007). Einbildungskraft und Mythologie. Die Verschränkung von Anthropologie und Geschichte im 18. Jahrhundert. Berlin; New York: de Gruyter. Search this book on
- Harris, Marvin. (2001) [1968]. The rise of anthropological theory: a history of theories of culture. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press. Search this book on
- Hunt, James (1863). "Introductory Address on the Study of Anthropology". The Anthropological Review. London: Trübner & Co. I.
- Kehoe, Alice B. (1998). The Land of Prehistory: A Critical History of American Archaeology. New York; London: Routledge. Search this book on
- Lewis, H. S. (1998). "The Misrepresentation of Anthropology and Its Consequences". American Anthropologist. 100 (3): 716–731. doi:10.1525/aa.1998.100.3.716.
- —— (2004). "Imagining Anthropology's History". Reviews in Anthropology. v. 33.
- —— (2005). "Anthropology, the Cold War, and Intellectual History". In Darnell, R.; Gleach, F.W. Histories of Anthropology Annual, Vol. I. Search this book on
- Pels, Peter; Salemink, Oscar, eds. (2000). Colonial Subjects: Essays on the Practical History of Anthropology. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. Search this book on
- Price, David (2004). Threatening Anthropology: McCarthyism and the FBI's Surveillance of Activist Anthropologists. Durham: Duke University Press. Search this book on .
- Sera-Shriar, Efram (2013). The Making of British Anthropology, 1813–1871. Science and Culture in the Nineteenth Century, 18. London; Vermont: Pickering and Chatto. Search this book on
- Schiller, Francis (1979). Paul Broca, Founder of French Anthropology, Explorer of the Brain. Berkeley: University of California Press. Search this book on
- Stocking, George, Jr. (1968). Race, Culture and Evolution. New York: Free Press. Search this book on
- Trencher, Susan (2000). Mirrored Images: American Anthropology and American Culture, 1960–1980. Westport, Conn.: Bergin & Garvey. Search this book on
- Wolf, Eric (1982). Europe and the People Without History. Berkeley; Los Angeles: California University Press. Search this book on
Textbooks and key theoretical works[edit]
- Carneiro's circumscription theory
- Clifford, James; Marcus, George E. (1986). Writing culture: the poetics and politics of ethnography. Berkeley: University of California Press. Search this book on
- Geertz, Clifford (1973). The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books. Search this book on
- Harris, Marvin (1997). Culture, People, Nature: An Introduction to General Anthropology (7th ed.). Boston: Allyn & Bacon. Search this book on
- Salzmann, Zdeněk (1993). Language, culture, and society: an introduction to linguistic anthropology. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. Search this book on
- Shweder, Richard A.; LeVine, Robert A., eds. (1984). Culture Theory: essays on mind, self, and emotion. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Search this book on
- Waitz, Theodor (1863). Introduction to Anthropology. Translated by J. Frederick Collingwood for the Anthropological Society of London. London: Longman, Green, Longman, and Roberts. Search this book on
External links[edit]
Definitions from Wiktionary
Media from Wikimedia Commons
News from Wikinews
Quotations from Wikiquote
Texts from Wikisource
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Resources from Wikiversity
| Library resources about Anthropology |
- Haller, Dieter. "Interviews with German Anthropologists: Video Portal for the History of German Anthropology post 1945". Ruhr-Universität Bochum. Retrieved 22 March 2015.
- "AAANet Home". American Anthropological Association. 2010.
- "Home". European Association of Social Anthropologists. 2015.
- Hagen, Ed (2015). "AAPA". American Association of Physical Anthropologists.
- "Home". Australian Anthropological Society. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
- "AIBR, Revista de Antropología Iberoamericana" (in Spanish). Antropólogos Iberoamericanos en Red. Retrieved 24 March 2015.CS1 maint: Unrecognized language (link)
- "Home". Human Relations Area Files. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- "Home". National Association for the Practice of Anthropology. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- "About". Radical Anthropology Group. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- "Home". Royal Anthropological Institute. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- "Home". The Society for Applied Anthropology. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
- "Anthropology". American Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- "Department of Anthropology". Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Retrieved 25 March 2015.
- "AIO Home".
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