UNIT 2 HISTORYAND DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIALAND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY

 Introduction to Anthropology

Definition and Emergence

• Anthropology: Study of humans, among the most recent disciplines.
• Historical Context:
  • Societies viewed their ways of life as given truths.
  • Questions about society answered through cosmologies and religious doctrines.

Rise of Anthropology

• 16th Century Paradigm Shift:
  • Europe expanded travel and trade.
  • Growing disillusionment with Church doctrines.
  • French and American Revolutions highlighted human agency in social order.
  • Exposure to diverse societies revealed different customs, ways of life, and physical differences.

Early Theories of Social Evolution

• French Thinkers and Scottish Enlightenment:
  • Formulated hypotheses on human social evolution.
  • Society seen as human rather than divine creation.
• Auguste Comte:
  • Proposed stage-by-stage evolution of societies: Theology, Metaphysics, and Reason.
  • Europeans considered at the top of the evolutionary scale.
• Herbert Spencer:
  • Societies as natural systems where the 'fittest' survive.
  • Theory used to justify colonial rule and industrial capitalism.

Positivist Approach

• Definition:
  • Societies studied and analyzed scientifically like objects.
  • Scholars of society as scientists applying objective detachment and methodological rigor.
• Freud and Marx:
  • Influenced by positivism, developed theories of human bio-psychological and social development.
• Anthropology as a Discipline:
  • Originated from the search for human origins and evolution.
  • Two assumptions: humans as subjects for scientific analysis and the nature/culture dichotomy.

Key Points

Early Anthropology

• Inquisitive Gaze: Humans began studying themselves after centuries of other scientific advancements.
• 16th Century: Geopolitical expansion, philosophical shift, disillusionment with the Church.
• Revolutions: Realization of human agency in shaping social order.

Social Evolution Theories

• Auguste Comte: Societal evolution stages - Theology, Metaphysics, Reason.
• Herbert Spencer: Survival of the fittest applied to societies.

Positivist Approach

• Objective Study: Societies can be studied like natural objects.
• Scientific Theories: Freud and Marx's influence on social sciences and anthropology.

Gender and Anthropology

• Nature/Culture Dichotomy:
• Men associated with reason and civilization.
• Women associated with nature, instinct, and domesticity.

Historical Background to the Development of Social and Cultural Anthropology

Key Points

• Context of Anthropology's Development:

  • Galileo and Copernicus faced resistance, Darwin's theory was timely.
  • Anthropology developed during European colonization.
  • Trade relationships turned into political domination and exploitation.

• Colonial Impact:

  • Respect for Indians turned to disdain post-colonization (Trautmann, 1997).
  • European capitalist needs drove relentless search for resources and markets.
  • Enlightenment ideals of Equality, Humanism, and Liberty contrasted with colonial atrocities.

• Evolutionary Theories:

  • Justified European rule by portraying colonized as 'primitive'.
  • Theories by Comte, Bachofen, Maine, McLennan suggested linear progression of societies.
  • Western societies seen as the peak of evolution; colonized seen as less evolved.

• Survival of the Fittest:

  • Spencer's theory supported European dominance.
  • Colonized compared to immature children by Freud; lower mental evolution by Darwin.
  • Female domination seen as backward by Bachofen and McLennan.

• Nature/Culture Dichotomy:

  • Women associated with nature; men with culture and reason.
  • Patriarchal Western societies considered superior.
  • Justified the 'civilizing' mission of Europeans over 'primitives'.

Summary

Anthropology, as a discipline, emerged during the peak of European colonization. This period saw a transformation from trade-based relationships to political domination and exploitation. Evolutionary theories provided a framework that justified European dominance by portraying the colonized as primitive and less evolved. Enlightenment ideals of equality and liberty stood in stark contrast to the genocidal practices of colonization. Theories by thinkers like Comte and Spencer suggested a linear progression of societies, with Western societies at the apex. The nature/culture dichotomy further entrenched patriarchal views, with Western societies positioning themselves as civilizers of the so-called 'primitives'.

Anthropology as a Discipline

Key Points

• Establishment of Anthropology:

  • Edward B. Tylor became the first chair of anthropology at Oxford University.
  • The discipline aimed to study the origins and diversity of human beings.

• Darwin's Influence:

  • Darwin established humans as a single species biologically.
  • Race theories attributing societal differences to racial differences were discarded.

• Focus of Anthropology:

  • Examination of biological and social evolution of humans.
  • Study of fossil remains (paleoanthropology) and higher primates (primatology).
  • Study of pre-historical remains, archaeology, and existing human societies.

• Theory of Social Evolution:

  • Assumption that spatial differences could be translated into temporal differences.
  • Concept of 'psychic unity of mankind' and a single, ultimate Culture.
  • Belief that all societies would eventually reach the same cultural level as Western civilization.

• Eurocentrism and Ethnocentrism:

  • Early anthropology was criticized for being Eurocentric and supporting colonization.
  • Ethnocentrism: considering one's own culture as superior and 'normal'.
  • Eurocentrism: Europeans viewed their society as the pinnacle of social evolution.

• Branches of Anthropology:

  • Physical/Biological Anthropology: Human biological diversity.
  • Linguistic Anthropology: Relationship between culture and language.
  • Archaeology: The past of human society.
  • Social/Cultural Anthropology: Study of cultural and social aspects.

• Evolution of Anthropology:

• Initial Eurocentric bias was replaced by a more relativistic and humanistic approach.
• Historical transformations influenced changes in anthropological paradigms.

Establishment and Early Focus

• Foundation:

  • Anthropology established with Edward B. Tylor at Oxford University.
  • Focus on studying human origins and diversity.

• Darwin’s Impact:

  • Established humans as a single biological species.
  • Race theories were discarded.

Biological and Social Evolution

• Biological Studies:

  • Paleoanthropology: Study of human and pre-human fossil remains.
  • Primatology: Study of higher primates' behavior and physiology.

• Social Studies:

  • Examination of pre-historical remains and archaeology.
  • Study of existing human societies as indicators of past evolutionary stages.

Social Evolution Theory

• Assumptions:
  • Spatial differences reflected temporal differences.
  • 'Psychic unity of mankind': One mental functioning for all humans.
  • One ultimate Culture; all societies would reach the Western civilization level.

Criticism and Evolution

• Early Criticism:

  • Viewed as Eurocentric, supporting colonial views.
  • Ethnocentrism: Viewing one's culture as superior and 'normal'.
  • Eurocentrism: European culture seen as the peak of evolution.

• Diversification:

  • Four main branches of anthropology: Physical/Biological, Linguistic, Archaeology, Social/Cultural.
  • Integrated approach: Humans evolving as cultured beings underlies all branches.

• Shift in Paradigms:

• Move from Eurocentric bias to relativistic and humanistic perspectives.
• Influenced by historical transformations.

The British and American Schools of Anthropology

Key Points

• Intrinsic Relationship with Colonization:

  • Development influenced by European colonization.
  • British Structural-Functionalism and American Cultural Tradition were the two main schools.

• British Structural-Functional School:

  • Roots in Durkheim's functionalism from the French school of sociology.
  • Critiqued classical evolutionists for speculative theories; focused on empiricism.
  • Developed field study methods; societies viewed as structured entities.
  • Emphasized cultural relativism: all cultures are functional wholes, not stages of evolution.
  • Focused on studying entire societies in depth.

• Key Figures:

  • Bronislaw Malinowski: Master fieldworker, long-term study of Trobriand islanders, emphasized fieldwork.
  • Functional studies helped colonial governments manage and govern colonies.

• American Cultural Tradition:

  • Different context: Native American societies were destroyed or dispersed.
  • Franz Boas: Father of American anthropology, influenced by German Diffusionism.
  • Focused on culture rather than society due to disrupted Native American communities.
  • Emphasized history, migration, and particularism over broad generalizations.
  • Examined myths, folklore, material culture, and narratives of vanishing cultures.

• Diffusionism:

  • The theory that cultures spread from centers of origin rather than evolving independently.

• Key Figures:

  • Alfred Kroeber: Defined culture as "super-organic, supra-individual."
  • Boas’ Historical Particularism: Culture as a product of history, environment, and individual mindsets.
  • Ruth Benedict: Linked culture and personality, developed the concept of cultural ethos.
  • Margaret Mead and others: Laid foundations for psychological anthropology.

• Branches and Influence:

• American school diversified into ecological, economic, medical, and historical anthropology.
• Both schools influenced each other post-1950s, blending structural-functionalism and historical particularism.

British Structural-Functional School

• Foundation:

  • Derived from Durkheim's functionalism.
  • Criticized classical evolutionists; emphasized empirical study.
  • Field study method became the hallmark of anthropology.

• Key Concepts:

  • Cultural Relativism: Cultures are not higher or lower; each is a functional whole.
  • Structural Functionalism: Society as a structured entity with interrelated parts.
  • Fieldwork: Emphasized by Malinowski, study of Trobriand islanders.

• Impact:

  • Functional studies helped colonial governments.
  • Anthropologists often influenced by intimate contact with studied communities.

American Cultural Tradition

• Foundation:

  • Different historical context: devastated Native American societies.
  • Influenced by German Diffusionism.

• Key Concepts:

  • Diffusionism: Cultures spread from centers of origin.
  • Historical Particularism: Culture as a product of history, environment, and individual mindsets.
  • Culture and Personality: Linked cultural practices with personality formation.

• Key Figures:

  • Franz Boas: Father of American anthropology, emphasized history and environment.
  • Alfred Kroeber: Defined culture as "super-organic, supra-individual."
  • Ruth Benedict: Developed concept of cultural ethos.
  • Margaret Mead: Focused on psychological anthropology.

• Impact:

• Diversified into ecological, economic, medical, and historical anthropology.
• Blended with British structural-functionalism post-1950s.

Development of Anthropology in India

Early Development and Ethnographies

• British Colonial Influence:

  • Ethnographies: Conducted by British administrators with racial bias and Eurocentrism.
  • Initial ethnological works combined social/cultural anthropology and biological anthropology.
  • Scholars like S.C. Roy and Ananthakrishna Iyer influenced by European evolutionary philosophy and universal humanism.

• Institutionalization:

  • Calcutta University established first anthropology department in 1921.
  • Bombay University integrated anthropology into sociology syllabus in 1919.
  • Early focus on ethnology, encompassing physical and social aspects of societies.

Ethnographic Studies and Ethnology

• Ethnographic Efforts:
  • H.H. Risley: Initiated Ethnographic Survey of India post-1931 Census.
  • L.K. Ananthakrishna Iyer: Conducted comprehensive ethnography of Cochin tribes.
  • Early works emphasized holistic descriptions including history, migration, physical features, material culture, language, and social institutions.

Influence of Western Scholars

• Prominent Scholars and Works:
  • A.R. Radcliffe-Brown: Monograph on Andaman Islanders (1922).
  • W.H.R. Rivers: Studied the Todas in 1911.
  • S.C. Roy: Studied Mundas and Oraons, comparable to early ethnographers.
  • Iravati Karve: Studied kinship systems in India, disproved link between caste and race.

Analytical Phases and Indigenous Contributions

• Phases of Anthropological Development:
  • Formulation Phase (1774-1911): Compilation and encyclopedia building.
  • Constructive Phase (1912-1937): Empirical fieldwork, qualitative monographs.
  • Critical Phase (From 1938): Analytical studies on tribes, theoretical transformations.
  • Recent shifts towards decolonizing theoretical perspectives, rethinking labels like 'primitive' and 'tribe'.

Contemporary Indian Anthropology

• Current Focus:
  • Shift towards advocacy and applied aspects.
  • Indigenous scholars gaining agency and voice.
  • Emphasis on portraying tribes as not primitive but repositories of valuable knowledge for sustainable futures.