Thanh V. Tran
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195325089
- eISBN:
- 9780199864515
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195325089.003.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Research and Evaluation
Chapter 1 provides the readers an overview of the definitions of culture, a brief discussion of cross-cultural research backgrounds in anthropology, psychology, sociology, and political science, and ...
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Chapter 1 provides the readers an overview of the definitions of culture, a brief discussion of cross-cultural research backgrounds in anthropology, psychology, sociology, and political science, and the influences of these fields on social work. These cross-cultural research fields offer social work both theoretical and methodological resources. The chapter shows that all cross-cultural research fields share the same concern—that is, the equivalence of research instruments. One cannot draw meaningful comparisons of behavioral problems, social values, or psychological status between or across different cultural groups in the absence of cross-culturally equivalent research instruments.Less
Chapter 1 provides the readers an overview of the definitions of culture, a brief discussion of cross-cultural research backgrounds in anthropology, psychology, sociology, and political science, and the influences of these fields on social work. These cross-cultural research fields offer social work both theoretical and methodological resources. The chapter shows that all cross-cultural research fields share the same concern—that is, the equivalence of research instruments. One cannot draw meaningful comparisons of behavioral problems, social values, or psychological status between or across different cultural groups in the absence of cross-culturally equivalent research instruments.
Jerome H. Barkow
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- April 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195130027
- eISBN:
- 9780199893874
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195130027.003.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Evolutionary Psychology
Sociology and social-cultural anthropology have trailed other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences in engaging with the evolution revolution. This is in part because of the horrific ...
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Sociology and social-cultural anthropology have trailed other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences in engaging with the evolution revolution. This is in part because of the horrific misuse in the past of Darwinian theories; in part because of an adherence to a Cartesian folk psychology in which body but not mind can be produced by evolution; and in part because of a misunderstanding of Durkheimian views of psychology and biology. The vertical-compatible approach makes it clear that evolutionary and social science accounts, being at different levels of organization, can never be in competition with one another. An evolutionary perspective is not the antithesis of social constructionism but, in fact, requires it and easily accommodates the frequent maladaptations found in social behavior. An evolutionary praxis can explain why, to the dismay of “moral mission” social scientists, yesterday's good guys are so often today's bad guys.Less
Sociology and social-cultural anthropology have trailed other disciplines in the humanities and social sciences in engaging with the evolution revolution. This is in part because of the horrific misuse in the past of Darwinian theories; in part because of an adherence to a Cartesian folk psychology in which body but not mind can be produced by evolution; and in part because of a misunderstanding of Durkheimian views of psychology and biology. The vertical-compatible approach makes it clear that evolutionary and social science accounts, being at different levels of organization, can never be in competition with one another. An evolutionary perspective is not the antithesis of social constructionism but, in fact, requires it and easily accommodates the frequent maladaptations found in social behavior. An evolutionary praxis can explain why, to the dismay of “moral mission” social scientists, yesterday's good guys are so often today's bad guys.
Bradd Shore
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199794393
- eISBN:
- 9780199919338
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199794393.003.0008
- Subject:
- Philosophy, General, Philosophy of Science
Culture theory has been hampered by tensions between evolutionary psychology and cultural psychology. Evolutionary psychologists tend to see culture through the lens of Darwinian theory, and are ...
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Culture theory has been hampered by tensions between evolutionary psychology and cultural psychology. Evolutionary psychologists tend to see culture through the lens of Darwinian theory, and are interested in the selective conditions producing a stable cognitive architecture for human culture. Stressing culture rather than cultures, evolutionary psychologists see their enterprise as scientific and explanatory; cultural psychologists emphasize human cultures rather than culture, and stress the cultural basis of the diversity of local minds. Their attention has been to detailed descriptions of the systematic character of local cultures, viewed as symbol systems, ideologies, or cognitive and social models, an approach often associated with a humanistic rather than a scientific orientation. The tension between evolutionary psychology and cultural psychology has been intensified by the fact that each has attracted proponents of markedly different intellectual dispositions and methods. This chapter contrasts the presumed universalism of evolutionary psychology and the particularism of cultural psychology. It suggests that the opposition is based on a venerable but mistaken false dichotomy, and proposes a theoretical framework that allows for a reconciliation of their approaches to an adequate theory of culture.Less
Culture theory has been hampered by tensions between evolutionary psychology and cultural psychology. Evolutionary psychologists tend to see culture through the lens of Darwinian theory, and are interested in the selective conditions producing a stable cognitive architecture for human culture. Stressing culture rather than cultures, evolutionary psychologists see their enterprise as scientific and explanatory; cultural psychologists emphasize human cultures rather than culture, and stress the cultural basis of the diversity of local minds. Their attention has been to detailed descriptions of the systematic character of local cultures, viewed as symbol systems, ideologies, or cognitive and social models, an approach often associated with a humanistic rather than a scientific orientation. The tension between evolutionary psychology and cultural psychology has been intensified by the fact that each has attracted proponents of markedly different intellectual dispositions and methods. This chapter contrasts the presumed universalism of evolutionary psychology and the particularism of cultural psychology. It suggests that the opposition is based on a venerable but mistaken false dichotomy, and proposes a theoretical framework that allows for a reconciliation of their approaches to an adequate theory of culture.
Cheryl Mattingly and Linda C. Garro
- Published in print:
- 2001
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520218246
- eISBN:
- 9780520935228
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520218246.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Medical Anthropology
This introductory chapter discusses narrative as a theoretical construct and within the context of anthropology and medicine. It then examines the succeeding chapters and situates them within broader ...
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This introductory chapter discusses narrative as a theoretical construct and within the context of anthropology and medicine. It then examines the succeeding chapters and situates them within broader trends. These trends are not limited to medical anthropology or to cultural anthropology, but extend into various disciplines. It examines the centrality of narrative to some forms of therapeutic practice and discusses the definition of the term “story” and the different uses of the narrative form. The chapter also studies some important terms related to the narrative construct and views the narrative as a form of communication, representation, and construction of self.Less
This introductory chapter discusses narrative as a theoretical construct and within the context of anthropology and medicine. It then examines the succeeding chapters and situates them within broader trends. These trends are not limited to medical anthropology or to cultural anthropology, but extend into various disciplines. It examines the centrality of narrative to some forms of therapeutic practice and discusses the definition of the term “story” and the different uses of the narrative form. The chapter also studies some important terms related to the narrative construct and views the narrative as a form of communication, representation, and construction of self.
Matti Bunzl
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520238428
- eISBN:
- 9780520937208
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520238428.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History
This introductory chapter begins with a brief description of the organization Re'uth, composed of lesbian and gay Jews in Vienna, and then sets out the purpose of the book, which is to present an ...
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This introductory chapter begins with a brief description of the organization Re'uth, composed of lesbian and gay Jews in Vienna, and then sets out the purpose of the book, which is to present an anthropological analysis of the historical conditions that enabled the public emergence of queer Jews. The chapter discusses Jews and queers in late twentieth-century Vienna, their anthropologies, and explains the comparative logic used in the analysis, which was derived from Boasian comparativism. A central argument is that the historical trajectories of Jews and queers have been linked by a joint logic of social articulation. An overview of the three parts of the book is also presented.Less
This introductory chapter begins with a brief description of the organization Re'uth, composed of lesbian and gay Jews in Vienna, and then sets out the purpose of the book, which is to present an anthropological analysis of the historical conditions that enabled the public emergence of queer Jews. The chapter discusses Jews and queers in late twentieth-century Vienna, their anthropologies, and explains the comparative logic used in the analysis, which was derived from Boasian comparativism. A central argument is that the historical trajectories of Jews and queers have been linked by a joint logic of social articulation. An overview of the three parts of the book is also presented.
Lynn Hunt (ed.)
- Published in print:
- 1989
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520064287
- eISBN:
- 9780520908925
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520064287.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
Across the humanities and the social sciences, disciplinary boundaries have come into question as scholars have acknowledged their common preoccupations with cultural phenomena ranging from rituals ...
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Across the humanities and the social sciences, disciplinary boundaries have come into question as scholars have acknowledged their common preoccupations with cultural phenomena ranging from rituals and ceremonies to texts and discourse. Literary critics, for example, have turned to history for a deepening of their notion of cultural products; some of them now read historical documents in the same way that they previously read “great” texts. Anthropologists have turned to the history of their own discipline in order to better understand the ways in which disciplinary authority was constructed. As historians have begun to participate in this ferment, they have moved away from their earlier focus on social-theoretical models of historical development toward concepts taken from cultural anthropology and literary criticism. Much of the most exciting work in history recently has been affiliated with this wide-ranging effort to write history that is essentially a history of culture. The chapters presented here provide an introduction to this movement within the discipline of history. The chapters in Part One trace the influence of important models for the new cultural history, models ranging from the pathbreaking work of the French cultural critic Michel Foucault and the American anthropologist Clifford Geertz to the imaginative efforts of such contemporary historians as Natalie Davis and E. P. Thompson, as well as the more controversial theories of Hayden White and Dominick LaCapra. The chapters in Part Two are exemplary of the most challenging and fruitful new work of historians in this genre.Less
Across the humanities and the social sciences, disciplinary boundaries have come into question as scholars have acknowledged their common preoccupations with cultural phenomena ranging from rituals and ceremonies to texts and discourse. Literary critics, for example, have turned to history for a deepening of their notion of cultural products; some of them now read historical documents in the same way that they previously read “great” texts. Anthropologists have turned to the history of their own discipline in order to better understand the ways in which disciplinary authority was constructed. As historians have begun to participate in this ferment, they have moved away from their earlier focus on social-theoretical models of historical development toward concepts taken from cultural anthropology and literary criticism. Much of the most exciting work in history recently has been affiliated with this wide-ranging effort to write history that is essentially a history of culture. The chapters presented here provide an introduction to this movement within the discipline of history. The chapters in Part One trace the influence of important models for the new cultural history, models ranging from the pathbreaking work of the French cultural critic Michel Foucault and the American anthropologist Clifford Geertz to the imaginative efforts of such contemporary historians as Natalie Davis and E. P. Thompson, as well as the more controversial theories of Hayden White and Dominick LaCapra. The chapters in Part Two are exemplary of the most challenging and fruitful new work of historians in this genre.
Ralph Leck
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- May 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520293373
- eISBN:
- 9780520966673
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520293373.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History
This chapter examines the role played by Edward Westermarck, a Finnish/British scholar who was considered the world's leading authority on sexual “morality and marriage,” in the disciplinary ...
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This chapter examines the role played by Edward Westermarck, a Finnish/British scholar who was considered the world's leading authority on sexual “morality and marriage,” in the disciplinary transition from the ethnocentrism of Darwinian anthropology to cultural relativism. Westermarck wrote extensively on Morocco and expressed his views based on emerging conceptions of anthropology that sometimes challenged earlier imperial tenets. The chapter analyzes Westermarck's scholarship, particularly his sexual anthropology, in the context of parallel epistemic crises in the disciplines of anthropology and sexual science. It also discusses Westermarck's Moroccan anthropology of homosexuality and argues that it was contradictory. Finally, it looks at the emergence of a new relativist epistemology, first in European sexual science and later in British cultural anthropology, and shows how the integration of anthropology with sexual science gave rise to a more interdisciplinary, less medical view of sexuality.Less
This chapter examines the role played by Edward Westermarck, a Finnish/British scholar who was considered the world's leading authority on sexual “morality and marriage,” in the disciplinary transition from the ethnocentrism of Darwinian anthropology to cultural relativism. Westermarck wrote extensively on Morocco and expressed his views based on emerging conceptions of anthropology that sometimes challenged earlier imperial tenets. The chapter analyzes Westermarck's scholarship, particularly his sexual anthropology, in the context of parallel epistemic crises in the disciplines of anthropology and sexual science. It also discusses Westermarck's Moroccan anthropology of homosexuality and argues that it was contradictory. Finally, it looks at the emergence of a new relativist epistemology, first in European sexual science and later in British cultural anthropology, and shows how the integration of anthropology with sexual science gave rise to a more interdisciplinary, less medical view of sexuality.
Michael Macovski
- Published in print:
- 1994
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195069655
- eISBN:
- 9780199855186
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195069655.003.0007
- Subject:
- Literature, 19th-century Literature and Romanticism
The final chapter reasserts that a proper study of Romantic rhetoric should involve an analysis of the evolution of rhetoric dialogue, from the works of first-generation poets to more current ...
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The final chapter reasserts that a proper study of Romantic rhetoric should involve an analysis of the evolution of rhetoric dialogue, from the works of first-generation poets to more current literary pieces. Recognition of the great diversity in the style of these literary works should also be made in order to generate more meaningful and unbounded interpretations. A summary of the differing styles of the works discussed in the previous chapters is provided. The dialogic discourse revealed therein then provides information not only on inherent structures but also on interrelationships with knowledge, interpretation, and the heuristic method. The final assertion put forth in the book concerns the status of dialogue as an investigative tool for “otherness” in allowing main characters to view themselves from the outside or the so-called “third perspective.” Thus, the study of literary dialogue also has implications for the related fields of philosophical methodology and cultural anthropology.Less
The final chapter reasserts that a proper study of Romantic rhetoric should involve an analysis of the evolution of rhetoric dialogue, from the works of first-generation poets to more current literary pieces. Recognition of the great diversity in the style of these literary works should also be made in order to generate more meaningful and unbounded interpretations. A summary of the differing styles of the works discussed in the previous chapters is provided. The dialogic discourse revealed therein then provides information not only on inherent structures but also on interrelationships with knowledge, interpretation, and the heuristic method. The final assertion put forth in the book concerns the status of dialogue as an investigative tool for “otherness” in allowing main characters to view themselves from the outside or the so-called “third perspective.” Thus, the study of literary dialogue also has implications for the related fields of philosophical methodology and cultural anthropology.
William K. Gilders
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199738960
- eISBN:
- 9780199918676
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199738960.003.0004
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion in the Ancient World
Offering a close reading of the writings of Philo of Alexandria, William Gilders pursues a “literary ethnography” that analyzes the gap between Philo’s presentation of the symbolic significance of ...
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Offering a close reading of the writings of Philo of Alexandria, William Gilders pursues a “literary ethnography” that analyzes the gap between Philo’s presentation of the symbolic significance of sacrificial action and the effective practice of sacrifice in his period. Philo is unique among his Jewish contemporaries in his concern to address the meanings of sacrifice in conceptual terms, and the concepts he develops are quite specific to his distinctive context. Written by a highly-literate Greek-speaking Jew from Alexandria, Philo’s arguments can only be decoded in light of his specific cultural lexicon. A similar concern with symbolic meanings, however, is mirrored in the work of cultural anthropologists and scholars of religion today, who also seek universal meanings for what may well have been provisional acts. As such, both Philo and contemporary scholars mistake symbolism for practice, thereby overlooking the cultural and historical contingency of all interpretation.Less
Offering a close reading of the writings of Philo of Alexandria, William Gilders pursues a “literary ethnography” that analyzes the gap between Philo’s presentation of the symbolic significance of sacrificial action and the effective practice of sacrifice in his period. Philo is unique among his Jewish contemporaries in his concern to address the meanings of sacrifice in conceptual terms, and the concepts he develops are quite specific to his distinctive context. Written by a highly-literate Greek-speaking Jew from Alexandria, Philo’s arguments can only be decoded in light of his specific cultural lexicon. A similar concern with symbolic meanings, however, is mirrored in the work of cultural anthropologists and scholars of religion today, who also seek universal meanings for what may well have been provisional acts. As such, both Philo and contemporary scholars mistake symbolism for practice, thereby overlooking the cultural and historical contingency of all interpretation.
Danilyn Rutherford
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780226570105
- eISBN:
- 9780226570389
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226570389.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
Living in the Stone Age scrutinizes a stubborn colonial fantasy: one that has trapped the people of the troubled Indonesian territory of West Papua in the past. The book focuses on the experiences of ...
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Living in the Stone Age scrutinizes a stubborn colonial fantasy: one that has trapped the people of the troubled Indonesian territory of West Papua in the past. The book focuses on the experiences of a handful of Dutch officials tasked with establishing a post in the Wissel Lakes region of the highlands when the territory was still part of the Netherlands Indies. Two of these officials played a key role in the campaign to retain western New Guinea as a separate Dutch colony after the Indies gained independence; they saw the Stone Age Papuans as too primitive to rule themselves. The book explores how these officials relied on the hospitality and expertise of local people and how they used sympathy as a means of colonial state building. It examines the dreams of mastery and vulnerability that their dependence on technology inspired. In doing so, it advances a surprising argument: to account for the historical production of this fantasy, and the historical work it has done, we have to tell the story of colonialism as a tale that begins with weakness, not strength. The book ends with a reflection on the ethical and epistemological implications of cultural anthropologists’ own deployment of sympathy as a method. Living in the Stone Age uses a minor episode in colonial history to ask some big questions: on the origins of colonial ideology, the impassioned nature of colonial practices, and what it takes for cultural anthropologists to make claims about such things.Less
Living in the Stone Age scrutinizes a stubborn colonial fantasy: one that has trapped the people of the troubled Indonesian territory of West Papua in the past. The book focuses on the experiences of a handful of Dutch officials tasked with establishing a post in the Wissel Lakes region of the highlands when the territory was still part of the Netherlands Indies. Two of these officials played a key role in the campaign to retain western New Guinea as a separate Dutch colony after the Indies gained independence; they saw the Stone Age Papuans as too primitive to rule themselves. The book explores how these officials relied on the hospitality and expertise of local people and how they used sympathy as a means of colonial state building. It examines the dreams of mastery and vulnerability that their dependence on technology inspired. In doing so, it advances a surprising argument: to account for the historical production of this fantasy, and the historical work it has done, we have to tell the story of colonialism as a tale that begins with weakness, not strength. The book ends with a reflection on the ethical and epistemological implications of cultural anthropologists’ own deployment of sympathy as a method. Living in the Stone Age uses a minor episode in colonial history to ask some big questions: on the origins of colonial ideology, the impassioned nature of colonial practices, and what it takes for cultural anthropologists to make claims about such things.
Courtenay Raia
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- May 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780226635217
- eISBN:
- 9780226635491
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226635491.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
As a gifted folklorist, Andrew Lang grasped mythic function in ways most cultural anthropologists could not. E. B. Tylor’s positivistic model of social development viewed religion as a species of bad ...
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As a gifted folklorist, Andrew Lang grasped mythic function in ways most cultural anthropologists could not. E. B. Tylor’s positivistic model of social development viewed religion as a species of bad science. Lang took his mentor’s outlook as the sign of a larger problem, one that would eventually extend well beyond anthropology. Science, such as it was, would make for bad religion, killing off the imaginative sources from which civilizations arise. In the 1880s, Lang made his case as a literary wit, pointing to the grim sociology of the modern realist novel: a journey of anxious introspection taken in lieu of a thrilling adventure. Lang famously championed Rider Haggard's “anthropological romances,” in language that was often gendered, racial, and juvenile. Still, Lang was subverting the hierarchy of knowledge: imagination was virile, reason emasculated. In the 1890s, Lang’s proxy battle became direct, as he began to romanticize anthropology with the aid of psychical research. Contemporary evidence for telepathy, clairvoyance, and even telekinesis gave validity to patterns of supernatural wonder repeated around the world. Lang’s new discipline of psycho-folklore was empirically grounded but not physically reductive, suggesting a new kind of scientific encounter with the sacred, one that need not profane it.Less
As a gifted folklorist, Andrew Lang grasped mythic function in ways most cultural anthropologists could not. E. B. Tylor’s positivistic model of social development viewed religion as a species of bad science. Lang took his mentor’s outlook as the sign of a larger problem, one that would eventually extend well beyond anthropology. Science, such as it was, would make for bad religion, killing off the imaginative sources from which civilizations arise. In the 1880s, Lang made his case as a literary wit, pointing to the grim sociology of the modern realist novel: a journey of anxious introspection taken in lieu of a thrilling adventure. Lang famously championed Rider Haggard's “anthropological romances,” in language that was often gendered, racial, and juvenile. Still, Lang was subverting the hierarchy of knowledge: imagination was virile, reason emasculated. In the 1890s, Lang’s proxy battle became direct, as he began to romanticize anthropology with the aid of psychical research. Contemporary evidence for telepathy, clairvoyance, and even telekinesis gave validity to patterns of supernatural wonder repeated around the world. Lang’s new discipline of psycho-folklore was empirically grounded but not physically reductive, suggesting a new kind of scientific encounter with the sacred, one that need not profane it.
Justin E. H. Smith
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691153643
- eISBN:
- 9781400866311
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691153643.003.0010
- Subject:
- Philosophy, History of Philosophy
This chapter surveys some of the more important developments in the history of the concept of race in eighteenth-century Germany. It reveals an inconsistency between the desire to make taxonomic ...
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This chapter surveys some of the more important developments in the history of the concept of race in eighteenth-century Germany. It reveals an inconsistency between the desire to make taxonomic distinctions and a hesitance to posit any real ontological divisions within the human species. This inconsistency was well represented in the physical-anthropological work of Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who was, in many respects, the most important eighteenth-century theorist of human difference. Johann Gottfried Herder, a contemporary of Blumenbach's, was intensely interested in human diversity, but saw this diversity as entirely based in culture rather than biology, and saw cultural difference as an entirely neutral matter, rather than as a continuum of higher and lower. Herder constitutes an important link between early modern universalism, on the one hand, and on the other the ideally value-neutral project of cultural anthropology as it would begin to emerge in the nineteenth century.Less
This chapter surveys some of the more important developments in the history of the concept of race in eighteenth-century Germany. It reveals an inconsistency between the desire to make taxonomic distinctions and a hesitance to posit any real ontological divisions within the human species. This inconsistency was well represented in the physical-anthropological work of Johann Friedrich Blumenbach, who was, in many respects, the most important eighteenth-century theorist of human difference. Johann Gottfried Herder, a contemporary of Blumenbach's, was intensely interested in human diversity, but saw this diversity as entirely based in culture rather than biology, and saw cultural difference as an entirely neutral matter, rather than as a continuum of higher and lower. Herder constitutes an important link between early modern universalism, on the one hand, and on the other the ideally value-neutral project of cultural anthropology as it would begin to emerge in the nineteenth century.
George Gmelch and Sharon Bohn Gmelch
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780520289611
- eISBN:
- 9780520964211
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520289611.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
The authors draw on their 40 years as anthropologists and educators to illustrate through a narrative-style text and photographs what it is like to be an anthropologist and to “do” anthropology—the ...
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The authors draw on their 40 years as anthropologists and educators to illustrate through a narrative-style text and photographs what it is like to be an anthropologist and to “do” anthropology—the problems encountered as well as the pleasures and rewards of living in other cultures and learning from other people. Through accounts of their lives and work in varied cultural settings, the authors describe the many forms fieldwork can take, the kinds of questions anthropologists ask, and the common problems they encounter. From these accounts and the experiences of their students, In the Field makes a powerful case for the value of the anthropological approach to knowledge.Less
The authors draw on their 40 years as anthropologists and educators to illustrate through a narrative-style text and photographs what it is like to be an anthropologist and to “do” anthropology—the problems encountered as well as the pleasures and rewards of living in other cultures and learning from other people. Through accounts of their lives and work in varied cultural settings, the authors describe the many forms fieldwork can take, the kinds of questions anthropologists ask, and the common problems they encounter. From these accounts and the experiences of their students, In the Field makes a powerful case for the value of the anthropological approach to knowledge.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226887517
- eISBN:
- 9780226887531
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226887531.003.0011
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
The rupture of the tradition of cultural anthropology preceded the development of ethnography for present situations; contemporary ethnography takes place in the glorious ruins of classical ...
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The rupture of the tradition of cultural anthropology preceded the development of ethnography for present situations; contemporary ethnography takes place in the glorious ruins of classical anthropology. Ethnography for present situations presumes the classical tradition and indeed attempts to renew that tradition in a new key, and, at the same time, is acutely aware of ways in which the classical tradition is over, that is, it also presumes the rupture. Thus, ethnography for present situations should be understood neither as an effort at revolution nor counterrevolution, but instead as a response to the conflict; not exactly a synthesis, more an intellectually belated answer to the question: what do we do afterward?Less
The rupture of the tradition of cultural anthropology preceded the development of ethnography for present situations; contemporary ethnography takes place in the glorious ruins of classical anthropology. Ethnography for present situations presumes the classical tradition and indeed attempts to renew that tradition in a new key, and, at the same time, is acutely aware of ways in which the classical tradition is over, that is, it also presumes the rupture. Thus, ethnography for present situations should be understood neither as an effort at revolution nor counterrevolution, but instead as a response to the conflict; not exactly a synthesis, more an intellectually belated answer to the question: what do we do afterward?
Tom Shippey
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781781382615
- eISBN:
- 9781786945167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9781781382615.003.0009
- Subject:
- Literature, Criticism/Theory
The relativity of cultural values is effectively axiomatic in modern cultural anthropology. But if cultures are relative, can they not be compared, critiqued, and evaluated? Is there any basis for ...
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The relativity of cultural values is effectively axiomatic in modern cultural anthropology. But if cultures are relative, can they not be compared, critiqued, and evaluated? Is there any basis for the belief that modern liberal democracy is the best solution for humanity as a whole? In this chapter science fiction is seen as presenting a series of test cases. In some stories, science is portrayed as another type of superstition. In apocalyptic stories, moral values are suggested to be inappropriate for changed circumstances. Most strikingly, in many stories the possibility is raised of social engineering to effect desired cultural changes, with in most cases undesired and unexpected consequences. Science fiction offers both self-assertion and self-questioning in ways more probing and more painful than commonly realised.Less
The relativity of cultural values is effectively axiomatic in modern cultural anthropology. But if cultures are relative, can they not be compared, critiqued, and evaluated? Is there any basis for the belief that modern liberal democracy is the best solution for humanity as a whole? In this chapter science fiction is seen as presenting a series of test cases. In some stories, science is portrayed as another type of superstition. In apocalyptic stories, moral values are suggested to be inappropriate for changed circumstances. Most strikingly, in many stories the possibility is raised of social engineering to effect desired cultural changes, with in most cases undesired and unexpected consequences. Science fiction offers both self-assertion and self-questioning in ways more probing and more painful than commonly realised.
Kory Spencer Sorrell
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- March 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780823223541
- eISBN:
- 9780823235582
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fso/9780823223541.001.0001
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Feminist Philosophy
Although widely recognized as a founder and key figure in the current re-emergence of pragmatism, Charles Peirce is rarely brought into contemporary dialogue. This book shows that Peirce has much to ...
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Although widely recognized as a founder and key figure in the current re-emergence of pragmatism, Charles Peirce is rarely brought into contemporary dialogue. This book shows that Peirce has much to offer contemporary debate and deepens the value of his view of representation in light of feminist epistemology, philosophy of science, and cultural anthropology. Drawing also on William James and John Dewey, the book identifies ways in which bias, authority, and purpose are ineluctable constituents of shared representation. It nevertheless defends Peirce's realistic account of representation, showing how the independently real world both constrains social representation and informs its content. Most importantly, the book shows how members of a given community not only represent but transform a shared world, and how those practices of representation may, and should, be improved.Less
Although widely recognized as a founder and key figure in the current re-emergence of pragmatism, Charles Peirce is rarely brought into contemporary dialogue. This book shows that Peirce has much to offer contemporary debate and deepens the value of his view of representation in light of feminist epistemology, philosophy of science, and cultural anthropology. Drawing also on William James and John Dewey, the book identifies ways in which bias, authority, and purpose are ineluctable constituents of shared representation. It nevertheless defends Peirce's realistic account of representation, showing how the independently real world both constrains social representation and informs its content. Most importantly, the book shows how members of a given community not only represent but transform a shared world, and how those practices of representation may, and should, be improved.
Born Georgina
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520202160
- eISBN:
- 9780520916845
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520202160.003.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, European Cultural Anthropology
This book presents an ethnography of the Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) as part of a detailed and critical examination of the social and cultural character of one ...
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This book presents an ethnography of the Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) as part of a detailed and critical examination of the social and cultural character of one important area of the contemporary musical avant-garde. The ethnography is combined with discursive characterizations of musical modernism and postmodernism, which are the historical traditions that underlie IRCAM's aesthetics. The motives of this study concern the state of contemporary serious music and composition, and cultural anthropology.Less
This book presents an ethnography of the Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) as part of a detailed and critical examination of the social and cultural character of one important area of the contemporary musical avant-garde. The ethnography is combined with discursive characterizations of musical modernism and postmodernism, which are the historical traditions that underlie IRCAM's aesthetics. The motives of this study concern the state of contemporary serious music and composition, and cultural anthropology.
Detlev Zwick and Julien Cayla (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199576746
- eISBN:
- 9780191724916
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199576746.001.0001
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Marketing
This book offers a theoretically informed, critical perspective on contemporary marketing practice and its growing cultural, economic, and political influence worldwide. With marketing ...
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This book offers a theoretically informed, critical perspective on contemporary marketing practice and its growing cultural, economic, and political influence worldwide. With marketing activities intensifying, the public has become much more aware of its status as consumers. Yet, the relentless visibility of marketing materials and messages in our everyday life contrasts sharply with the mystery surrounding the inner workings of the marketing profession. The silence on the subject is surprising, particularly because the nefarious effects of rampant marketing are widely recognized and marketers are generally identified as key agents in shaping the face of global capitalism. This collection of essays brings together leading scholars and practitioners from the fields of history, business, economic sociology, and cultural anthropology, who share an interest in inspecting the inner workings and outer effects of marketing as a material social practice, an ideology, and a technique. Their work raises some important and timely questions. For example, how has marketing transformed the pharmaceutical industry and what are the consequences for our lives? How does marketing influence the way we think of progress and modernity? How has marketing changed the way we think of childhood? Or, how does marketing appropriate the creativity of consumers for profit? Scholars, policymakers, and practitioners interested in the question of how marketing ‘works’ need to acquire a profound theoretical and conceptual understanding of the institution as well as its practices and believe systems.Less
This book offers a theoretically informed, critical perspective on contemporary marketing practice and its growing cultural, economic, and political influence worldwide. With marketing activities intensifying, the public has become much more aware of its status as consumers. Yet, the relentless visibility of marketing materials and messages in our everyday life contrasts sharply with the mystery surrounding the inner workings of the marketing profession. The silence on the subject is surprising, particularly because the nefarious effects of rampant marketing are widely recognized and marketers are generally identified as key agents in shaping the face of global capitalism. This collection of essays brings together leading scholars and practitioners from the fields of history, business, economic sociology, and cultural anthropology, who share an interest in inspecting the inner workings and outer effects of marketing as a material social practice, an ideology, and a technique. Their work raises some important and timely questions. For example, how has marketing transformed the pharmaceutical industry and what are the consequences for our lives? How does marketing influence the way we think of progress and modernity? How has marketing changed the way we think of childhood? Or, how does marketing appropriate the creativity of consumers for profit? Scholars, policymakers, and practitioners interested in the question of how marketing ‘works’ need to acquire a profound theoretical and conceptual understanding of the institution as well as its practices and believe systems.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226887517
- eISBN:
- 9780226887531
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226887531.003.0020
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
This chapter reviews the preceding discussions and presents some concluding thoughts from the author. Part 4 of this book has situated refunctioned ethnography vis-à-vis the vagaries of politics, a ...
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This chapter reviews the preceding discussions and presents some concluding thoughts from the author. Part 4 of this book has situated refunctioned ethnography vis-à-vis the vagaries of politics, a critique of the university, and hence the social situation of the academic, who must find new ways to an intellectual. Refunctioned ethnography has much to say about how particular forms of politics are done in the context of globalization; about how the bureaucratic university may engage with the world; and indeed about how academics may engage with each other. Perhaps most surprising of all, the practice of ethnography has much to teach about how to be happy as an intellectual. Thus, it is in response to the current disorientation among intellectuals generally, not merely the unresolved quandaries within the academic discipline of cultural anthropology, that a refunctioned ethnography might begin anew, to start conversations with other people, who move through different spaces in our shared world, perhaps worth our attention.Less
This chapter reviews the preceding discussions and presents some concluding thoughts from the author. Part 4 of this book has situated refunctioned ethnography vis-à-vis the vagaries of politics, a critique of the university, and hence the social situation of the academic, who must find new ways to an intellectual. Refunctioned ethnography has much to say about how particular forms of politics are done in the context of globalization; about how the bureaucratic university may engage with the world; and indeed about how academics may engage with each other. Perhaps most surprising of all, the practice of ethnography has much to teach about how to be happy as an intellectual. Thus, it is in response to the current disorientation among intellectuals generally, not merely the unresolved quandaries within the academic discipline of cultural anthropology, that a refunctioned ethnography might begin anew, to start conversations with other people, who move through different spaces in our shared world, perhaps worth our attention.
Sue E. Estroff
- Published in print:
- 1985
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520054516
- eISBN:
- 9780520907751
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520054516.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Medical Anthropology
This book introduces the lives of forty-three people who participated in a community treatment program intended as an alternative to their psychiatric hospitalization. It also aims to discover their ...
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This book introduces the lives of forty-three people who participated in a community treatment program intended as an alternative to their psychiatric hospitalization. It also aims to discover their worlds and individual lives to gain a human, sociocultural understanding of psychiatric de- and non-institutionalization as practiced and experienced in culture. The lure of cultural anthropology has been its lack of restriction in subject matter combined with its human focus shot through with curiosity, the pursuit of commonsense understanding, and enthusiasm for variety, diversity, creativity, and underlying pattern. It would appear that psychiatric anthropology, rather than being an exotic subspeciality of cultural anthropology, represents a deeply traditional anthropological exercise. Fieldwork and intimate inter- and intrapersonal experience in the process of inquiry and understanding seem powerfully present in the psychiatric arena.Less
This book introduces the lives of forty-three people who participated in a community treatment program intended as an alternative to their psychiatric hospitalization. It also aims to discover their worlds and individual lives to gain a human, sociocultural understanding of psychiatric de- and non-institutionalization as practiced and experienced in culture. The lure of cultural anthropology has been its lack of restriction in subject matter combined with its human focus shot through with curiosity, the pursuit of commonsense understanding, and enthusiasm for variety, diversity, creativity, and underlying pattern. It would appear that psychiatric anthropology, rather than being an exotic subspeciality of cultural anthropology, represents a deeply traditional anthropological exercise. Fieldwork and intimate inter- and intrapersonal experience in the process of inquiry and understanding seem powerfully present in the psychiatric arena.
