LESSON # 3

NAME:_______________________________________________STRAND:____________________DATE:____________

The Discipline of Anthropology

Definition of Terms:
1. Traditions-a long-established custom or belief that has been passed on from one generation to another.
2. Empire-an extensive group of states or countries under a single supreme authority, formerly especially an
emperor or empress.
3. States-a nation or territory considered as an organized political community under one government.
4. Colonialism-the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over another country,
occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically.
5. Imperialism-is when a country controls another country politically and/or economically, often against the
will of the people of the country.
Summary
1.Colonialism is a term where a country conquers and rules over other regions. Imperialism means creating an
empire, expanding into the neighboring regions and expanding its dominance far.
2.In Colonialism, one can see great movement of people to the new territory and living as permanent settlers.
Imperialism is just exercising power over the conquered regions either through sovereignty or indirect
mechanisms of control.

Anthropology –
 Greek words:
anthropos (human)
logos (study)
= about humans- biological and evolutionary past, to ways of life and traditions.
The Development of Anthropology
 Two Historical Events:
1. the rise of empires and states
2. the dawn of colonialism and imperialism

HERODOTUS (484-420 BCE)

 was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus in the Persian Empire. He is known
for having written the book The Histories, a detailed record of his "inquiry" on the origins of the
Greco-Persian Wars.
 known as “the Father of History”. He was the first historian to collect his materials systematically,
test their accuracy to a certain extent, and arrange them in a well-constructed and vivid narrative.
 The Greco-Persian Wars (also often called the Persian Wars) were a series of conflicts between the
Achaemenid Empire and Greek city-states that started in 499 BC and lasted until 449 BC.
 HERODOTUS- encountered a plurality of cultures and peoples.
 he compared the Western civilization(Greeks) to the Eastern civilization (Persians).
14th Century
 Ibn Khaldun(1332-1406) a North African Muslim scholar.
 Recognized as one of the key founders of several disciplines in the social sciences such as
demography, history, sociology, anthropology, and economics.
 Muqaddimah of Ibn Khaldun-most acclaimed work.
In Muqaddimah- Ibn Khaldun
 Examined the social, psychological, and economic factors that led to the rise of ancient civilization in
the Mediterranean.
 On the use of scientific approach, which is based on arguments on logical reasoning and detailed
documentation of the traits of the civilizations instead of basing on commonly accepted religious
framework.
21st Century
 Khaldun’s and Herodotu’s works are considered as forerunners of the “ethnographic method.”
Dawn of Colonialism and Imperialism

 In the 15th-18th centuries(the Age of Exploration)

 European explorers seek new territories
 people having “exotic cultures”
 documented by European sailors, missionaries, and scholars using Western-centric analysis
Western-centric analysis
 = produced a highly Eurocentric view of the world.
= labeling that gave primacy to Western civilization as being the more “advanced culture as
compare to the “exotic other.”
Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778)
 French philosopher
 Discourse on Inequality (1755)
“primitive societies can be expected to progress toward the stage of civilized societies.”
“morality of primitive societies is characterized by peace and harmony.”
“ credited for germination of the term “noble savage”
18th -19th centuries
 rise of imperialism pushed the Western world to engage in cross-cultural research
 global powers situated in Europe ( Belgium, England, France, Portugal,Spain, and the Netherlands)
 Territories that were typically subjected to Western domination: Africa, America, Asia and Pacific.
 Technological developments in Europe
- created social gaps
- impoverished Westerners sought to rebuild their lives in the newly conquered lands.
LESSON # 3
NAME:_______________________________________________STRAND:____________________DATE:____________

- migrants created their own villages in foreign lands and administered control of the “native populace