All old-established national industries have been destroyed or are daily being destroyed. They are dislodged by new industries, whose introduction becomes a life and death question for all civilized nations, by industries that no longer work up indigenous raw material but raw material drawn from the remotest zones; industries whose products are consumed, not only at home, but in every quarter of the globe. In place of the old wants, satisfied by the production of the country, we find new wants, requiring for their satisfaction the products of distant lands and climes. In place of the old local and national seclusion and self-sufficiency, we have intercourse in every direction, universal interdependence of nations.
Introductions
Home Town: Lawrence, Kansas. Grew up in Sonoma
County California (Cazadero, Occidental)
Education: Sonoma State University
University of KansasSan Jose State
UniversityResearch Interests:
Urban PovertyDiscourse AnalysisHomelessnessIdentity and the selfTechnology and
learningCultural consequences
of information automation
KU and Lawrence, Kansas
The Syllabus and Textbooks
TextbookEnglish-Lueck et al Emerging Global Cultures
The syllabus
Large university courses VS. small liberal arts courses
Discussion, exchange, collaboration
Anthropology, Globalization, Consumer Capitalism, Elite-driven capitalism
– Introductions, syllabus, Anthropology overview, theory– Anthropology overview, theory, weekly readings
Anthropology Anthropology: “The science of humankind” the most humanistic of the sciences and the most
scientific of the humanities (Wolf 1964).
From Greek- Anthropos: Human- Logos: Discourse, science
First used to define a scientific disciplineprobably around the 16th century. Formally developed into an academicdiscipline in the 18th century.Columbia University offered the first Ph.D. programIn anthropology in America.
4 Fields of Anthropology
• CulturalCulturalSocio-cultural Socio-cultural EthnographyEthnography
• ArchaeologyArchaeologyMaterial CultureMaterial Culture
• Physical/BiologicalPhysical/BiologicalEvolutionEvolution
• LinguisticLinguisticLanguage and Language and MeaningMeaning
Subfields and SpecializationSome subfields…Some subfields…
• Applied anthropology,Applied anthropology,
• Economic anthropology,Economic anthropology,
• Political anthropology,Political anthropology,
• Business anthropology,Business anthropology,
• Medical anthropology,Medical anthropology,
• Forensic anthropology, Forensic anthropology,
• Development anthropology.Development anthropology.
Geographic and RegionalGeographic and RegionalSpecialization Specialization
Paradigm shifts
Ideological change
Culture
Identity
What does Anthropology do?
• Seeks to understand Seeks to understand humanity in time and humanity in time and space. space.
• All subfields united at All subfields united at one time under one time under Evolution/Diffusion. Evolution/Diffusion.
• 1919thth Century. Century.
Anthropology’s Contributions We cannot understand
human behavior without taking different cultures into account.
Culture molds biology: eating, sleeping, sex, bathroom, talking.
Culture
CULTURE is Anthropology’s concept, but it is used in a variety of ways both inside and outside of Anthropology.
Culture: Defined
Difficult to define… EDWARD BENNIT
TYLOR offered the “kitchen sink” definition
"that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society“ (Tylor 1872).
THEORY OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN ANTHROPOLOGY
Uniliear Theory and Cultural Evolution (pre 1900)
Idea: Culture evolves in progressive and linear stages, each stage corresponding to certain types of “technology”
PRIMATIVEstone tools, spear thrower, scavaging
(prehistoric) SAVAGERY fishing, bow & arrow (Aboriginals)BARBARISMpots, domestication of plants/animals, iron
(Native Americans)CIVILIZATIONwriting, phonetic alphabet (Greeks)
Notable anthropologists of this period:Edward B. TylorFrank Hamilton CushingLewis Henry MorganJames G. Frazer
Problems?
What are some problems with these theories?
Implied racialized worldview
Indigenous peoples have just as much history, and are just as “evolved,” as so-called “civilized” societies.
The Indigenous Mind The Dream Time
CULTURAL RELATIVISM (early 1900s-1930s)
CULTURAL RELATIVISM: Behavior in one culture should not be judged by the standards of another culture
ETHNOCENTRICISM: (opposite of relativism) Tendency to view one’s culture as superior and to apply one’s own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures
Notable anthropologistFranz BoasAlfred KroeberRobert LowieEdward SapirRuth Benedict Margret Mead
CULTURAL RELATIVISM (cont.)
CULTURES: Particular to geographic areas, local histories, and traditions
RACE: Problematic category because still popularly taken as biological, weighted with the assumptions of inferiority and superiority
Native Americans, African Americans, and other ethnic groups of differing melatonin: NOT RACIALLY INFERIOR, POSSESSED UNIQUE & HISTORICALLY SPECIFIC CULTURES
HOW TO STUDY CULTURE…FIELDWORK METHODS
Bronisław Malinowski
Defining feature of Anthropology since 1920s A “scientific anthropology?”
PARTICIPANT OBSERVATIONTake part in community life as we study it; Use the senses: sound, sight, smell, touch, taste; talk to people, ask questions, learn new language
FIELD NOTESKeep separate notebook in which you record observations & experiences
GENEALOGYTake note of kinship, descent, marriage relationships
INFORMANTS/COLLABORATORS/FRIENDSPeople with interest, talent, or training to provide useful information about particular aspects of life
FIELDWORK METHODS (cont.)
LIFE HISTORYRecollection of a lifetime of experiences; intimate and personal cultural portrait; how specific people perceive, react to, contribute to changes that affect their lives
RESEARCH QUESTIONSQuestions that guide your research
SUBJECT/OBJECT
Position of the researcher in relation to her informants & subject/s being studied
Position will affect the kind of knowledge gathered & analysis
THEORIES OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTPATTERNS OF CULTURE
Earlier theories: Cultures are homogenous,
harmonious, static forms of patterned behaviors
Undiscovered societies were frozen scientific objects to be discovered & recorded
The post-Boas Era Cultural Relativism: all
cultures are different but equal
Cross-cultural Comparison: Can help anthropologists understand their own cultures. Mead ex.: Samoan girls experience puberty as exciting and their changing bodies as beautiful
SYSTEM OF SYMBOLS & MEANINGS
Clifford Geertz
Blurring boundaries between social sciences & humanities
Cultures: texts to be read and interpreted
Interpretation: way people make sense of differences
“Native’s Point of View”: Perspective of people you are working with
SYSTEM OF SYMBOLS & MEANINGS (cont.)
Meanings are not private or in people’s heads but talked about everyday
People are sophisticated interpreters of their own culture
Anthropologists want access to stories people tell themselves about themselves
“thick description”: layers of meaning stacked on top of each other
New Perspectives
Marvin Harris Emic (internal): seeing things from their
perspective or logic. Etic (external): refers to a comparative
perspective. Relationship between Power and Culture:
how can we analyze social inequality, to move towards Equality
Shift from looking at cultures as consistent wholes to looking at differences within cultures—difference is more typical than sameness
Culture is emergent (always being created) and contested (always being debated)
Many, many changes occurred over the last twenty years in the field of anthropology…
MODERN ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY…Humanism: Engaged Anthropology
Do anthropologists bear the responsibility of putting their ideas into practice to “help” human beings?
If so, does this humanism influence their course of study too much?
Should anthropologists judge which “story” (practice, policy, etc.) is better?
Perhaps the “sameness” of the shared human condition is as important as understanding & respecting “differences”
Paul Farmer-structural violence
It’s a Flat World After All Thomas Friedman
NY Times columnistGenerally a positivist,
utopian writer
Individual countries must sacrifice some degree of economic independence to global institutions.
United Nations Development Programme
Mumbai - about 54% of the population comprises slum dwellers.
Mumbai -1.2 million people, or little under 10% of its population, earn less than Rs (rupee) 20 a day (average price for a apartment: 20 Rs)
Half of Mumbai's population lives in sub-human conditions in shanties, but the land that slums are situated on comprise just 6% of the city's total land area
Flat…
Plays off the notion of “exploration”
Begins in India, Banglador
Suggests the world is "flat"
Globalization has leveled the competitive playing fields between industrial and emerging market countries.
Why? The PC, fiber-optic micro cable, software development, and outsourcing.
Flat…
Globalization 3.0, individuals interconnected in the global market
Globalization 2.0 multinational companies acting to pull the world together
Globalization 1.0 counties and governments motivating global expansion and interconnection
Flat… Friedman is excited
about the Chinese and Indian populations "joining the global supply chain“
This can translate into low cost labor…
Problems?
Falling Flat Robert J Gonzalez
SJSU FacultyResponse to
Friedman’s writings, in particular The World is Flat
Culturally misinformed
Historically inadequate
Intellectually Impoverished.
Falling Flat… Key points:
Gap between rich and poor
Global poverty Outsourcing Environmental damage Friedman calls for
liberalization of developing economies,
ie: he wants privatization and a free market.
Some Websites http://en.wikipedia.or
g/wiki/History_of_anthropology
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Burnett_Tylor