Construction and development of anthropology

Type :

Term papers

Pages :

10 pages

Format :

.doc

Published date :

06/02/2009

Category :

Philosophy & literature

Sub category :

Humanities/philosophy

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Summary :

Introduction
Brief origin and history of anthropological theory
The reasons for not being able to study social life objectively
Challenges to classical anthropology
1. The rational mind
2. The primitive mind
3. Classic ethnographies
Reinventing anthropology
1. Meaning of culture
2. Role of anthropology in global era
3. Doing ethnography
4. Reflexivity
5. Representing the other
Conclusion
Bibliography

Abstract

Often times, especially in ideological disciplines, there is a great gap between theory and practice. Not all theories apply to lived experiences and not all lived experiences can be summarized in theories. Nevertheless, this paper seeks to construct an ideal relationship between anthropological theory and ethnography. Part 1 examines a brief history of anthropological theory and explores why social life cannot be studied "objectively". Part 2 considers some challenges to classical ethnography. It highlights some important concepts in anthropology such as knowledge system theories. It also includes several case studies to demonstrate why Western ideals of science do not always apply when studying other cultures. Part 3 attempts to reinvent anthropology, providing a working definition of culture as well as considering the role of anthropology in the global era. Part 4 shifts to ethnography and considers many post modern concerns of representation, reflexivity, and proposes a brief outline for how to do ethnography. This "ethnography" is compiled employing various sources, such as Boston University's anthropology Theory Seminars (AN461 and AN462), course readings, as well as personal readings and personal experience.