1.3 Main branches of Anthropology: Scope & Relevance


Main Branches of Anthro:

A)Social-Cultural Anthropology:
>Intro:
=Social Anthro origined as colonial study specially in UK.
=earlier Scope in UK during colonial era= studied only “Social Structure” (Marriage + Family + Kinship+Political organisation + Economic Activities).
=USA increased the scope  to include  all possible cultures(Qualities not inherited).
=Gopal Saran (1983) said “It is neither feasible nor desirable to make a very sharp distinction b/w social Anthropology and Cultural Anthropology.
=Therefore now India under the influence of USA used Scope cultural Anthro(social Anthro is a subset of Cultural Anthro)……………………To avoid confusion we use Socio-Cultural Anthropology.

>Scope:
=Anything that is not inherited by Human comes under Socio-Cultural Anthro.
=May iclude= Family+ kinship+ political organisation+ law + economic activities etc.

>Relevance:
=to understand present society it involves two methods:
1)Synchronic = Social Anthropology—Same time diff location
2)Diachronic= Cultural Anthropology--- same location diff time---archeological Anthro is best way to study.
=Why and hows of scoial structure…….Hindu gods are polygamous but society is monogamous.

>Key terminology used:
=Ethnology --- Detailed discription pf a culture group primarily on comparitive lines which occassionally results in Ethnocentric writing.
=Ethnocentricism--- A belief that ones own culture is superior to others.
=Ethnography(impact of Malinowsky.. Culture should be studied with a viewpoint of its usefullness  for man )--- Detailed discription of a cultural group without comparision.


B)Biological Anthropology:
>AKA Physical Anthro
>Scope:
=Study man as a product of evolutionary process.
=Analyses human Population= Mating pattern +Blood group distribution+ disease/immunities in communities.
=Man’s interaction with Environment = adaptation and aclimatisation.

>Relevance:
=Helps us to now about the variation in human population.
=Diseases in relation to human morphological traits, hair histology, human adaptablity and immunisation.
=Demographic pattern---in breeding , out breeding, marrainge distance ,preferential mating pattern.

>How Biological Anthro is diff from Biology?
=Biological Anthro studies relationship b/w Biology and culture .


C)Archaeological Anthropology:

>Scope:
=Studies material objects as a means of describing and explaining human behaviour.
=mainly deals with Preshistoric past…bcoz historians can deal only with the written records.
=Interdisciplinary approach… suppose excavation of ground is required “we will nee d Geologists”... now if a skeleton is found beneath it “We need Physicist and chemist for dating exact time”…..to infer various meaning Paleantologists are required.

>Relevance:
=We can reconstruct the past beyond written record of human.
=Can understand evolution of culture from long distance.
=Limitation= since we can work only from material evidence we cant know stuff like, “which language they spoke what color they liked etc”


D) Linguistic Anthropology:

>Scope:
=Relationship b/w language and cultural behaviour.
=how human language developed?
=How diff languages are related to each other
=Relationship of language with other aspect of culture.
=Understand the thought process and the organisation of human mind as it is expressed in language.

>Relevance:
=Language gives us insights into culture and as such it is a valuable tool for studying and understanding people.

 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Critical Analysis of the Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005

  The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005 was introduced in India to amend the previously existing Hindu Succession Act, 1956. It aims at providing equality, which has been enshrined in the constitution. In this study, an attempt has been made to understand the various key changes brought in by the amendment. The impact of the amendment has been assessed and the various flaws in the amendment have also been pointed out. The findings of this study reveal that the Act has not been implemented satisfactorily. Introduction Hindu women have suffered time-hallowed disproportion in terms of rights related to inheritance. The first major step towards emancipation was achieved by the enactment of the  Hindu Succession Act, 1956 , which reformed women’s rights to a certain extent. Almost 50 years later, the  Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005  (hereinafter referred to as The Act), an amendment to the Hindu Succession Act, 1956, received the assent from President of India on 5 September 20
Read more

Sanskritisation /Sanskritization and caste mobility

 Table of Contents The Word Itself 3 The Process 3 Helps and Hinderances 4 Functions of Sanskritisation 5 Case Studies 6 Westernization 7 Aspects Westernized 8 Present Situation 8 Trends 9     Sanskritisation As both the processes of sanskritisation and westernisation are going on at the same time, there is a conflicting, or more correctly, a confusing situation. On the one hand, there are the lower castes trying to take on the traditional values and customs of the upper castes, to raise their status. On the other hand, the upper castes are discarding some of these customs. Westernisation may be characterised as a movement from the. sacred to the secular. It is difficult to characterise Sanskritisation in a 'toe red-secular' of 'folk-urban frame of reference. In any case, from the view point of culture content the more important aspect to be noted is that these processes are likely to result in having a common set of cultural elements in all of Hindu socie
Read more

Media and social change: Paper 2 chap 5.3

BIOGRAPHYCONTRIBUTIONS OF EVERETT M. ROGERS TO DEVELOPMENT COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL CHANGEArvind Singhal Though initially not interested in pursuing a college education, Ev Rogers, thanks to the encouragement of a High School teacher, enrolled at Iowa State University for a degree in agriculture. In those years, ISU had a great intellectual tradition in both agriculture and in rural sociology. Numerous agricultural innovations were generated by scientists at Iowa State, and rural sociologists, notably George Beal, who later advised Rogers’ MA and Ph.D. Singhal, A. (2016). Contributions of Everett M. Rogers to development communication and social change. Journal of Development Communication,  Ev Rogers was intrigued by these questions because back on the family farm, he saw that his father loved electro-mechanical farm innovations, but was highly resistant to adopting biological-chemical innovations. Rogers Sr. resisted adopting the new hybrid seed corn for eight years, even though it y
Read more