ANTHROPOLOGY AND THE

STUDY OF CULTURE
LESSON 3
INTRODUCTION TO ANTHROPOLOGY
Humans studying humans. This is the field of
anthropology. Anthropology promotes a holistic
study of humans. Derived from two Greek words
antropos (human) and logos (study).

As such, anthropology can be defined as “the

study of people-their origins and their development.”
The five subdisciplines of anthropology:
1. Archaeology examines the remains of ancient and
historical human populations to promote an
understanding of how humans have adapted to their
environment and developed.
2. Cultural anthropology promotes the study of a
society’s culture through their belief systems,
practices and possessions.
3. Linguistic anthropology examines the language
of a group of people and its relation to their
culture.
4. Physical anthropology looks into the biological
development of humans and their contemporary
variation.
5. Applied anthropology attempts to solve
contemporary problems through the application
of theories and approaches of the discipline.
Tristes Tropiques is one of the classic studies in
anthropology. It was made by Claude Levi-Strauss, a
french anthropologist.
Philippe Bourgois a professor of anthropology at
the University of Pennsylvania, studied the lives
of street-level drug dealers.
• Key informants are individuals in a society
who have significant knowledge on the topic
being studied by the anthropologist.
CULTURE
Culture is everything. It is what a person has, does,
and thinks as part of society.
2 types of culture:
1. Material culture includes all the tangible and
visible parts of culture.
2. Nonmaterial culture includes all the intangible
parts of culture, which consist of values, ideas,
and knowledge.
Culture is learned. Culture is a set of beliefs,
attitudes, and practices that an individual learns
through his or her family, school, church and other
social institutions.
enculturation the process of learning your
own culture.
acculturation culture can be modified to
accommodate desirable traits from other
cultures.
 Deculturation happens when the culture of
the older generation comes into conflict with the
needs and realities of the younger generation. The
reason for the culture has been lost and even the
cultural trait itself is in the process of being
forgotten.
ACTIVITY:
You may have heard your parent utter phrases that
question your behaviour, in comparison to how they
behave when they were your age.
1. An example of a behaviour that your parent
questions you of
2. Reason(s) why your parent thinks this behaviour is
problematic
3. Your reason(s) for behaving as such
Culture is shared. The set of behaviors, attitudes
and beliefs that a person possesses is part of a
greater collection of values and ideas that is
communally owned and practiced by members of a
society.
.
 Culture affects biology. Humans are born into
cultures that have values on beauty and body
Lip plate as worn by a
Mursi woman. Wearing lip
plate is a sign of beauty.
Lotus feet in china.
One of the most popular
traditions in China is that
of foot binding among
women that ensures their
potential for good
marriage.
Culture is adaptive. Culture is a tool for survival
that humans use in response to the pressures of
their environment.
Inuits of the Arctic region tupiqs (during summer)
are well-known for building are tents made of
igloos during fishing and animal skin, as their
hunting expeditions. temporary homes.
In MUSLIMS, the consumption of pork is not allowed,
so cattle is one of their primary source of meat.
In India, on the other hand, cows are venerated,
so consuming beef is considered taboo.
According to Marvin
Harris, these taboos are
responses to the
environmental pressures
on food supply in these
areas.
Culture is maladaptive. Culture can also cause
problems for the people who subscribe to it.
These problems arise when the environment has
changed and culture has remained the same.
Culture changes. The final characteristic of
culture is that it is never static. This dynamism of
culture is due to the changing needs of humans
as they interpret and survive in their
environment.
 THEORIES ON CULTURE
Comparison of Theories on Culture
THEORY PERSPECTIVE ON CULTURE
Cultural evolution All cultures undergo the same
development stages in the same order.
Diffusionism All societies change as a result of
cultural borrowing from one another.
Historicism Each culture is unique and must be
studied in its own context.
Psychological Personality is largely seen to be the
anthropology result of learning culture.
 THEORY PERSPECTIVE ON CULTURE

Functionalism Society is thought to be like a

biological organism with all of
the parts interconnected.
Neo-evolutionism Culture is said to be shaped by
environmental and
technological conditions.
Materialism Culture is the product of the
“material conditions” in which
a given community of people
finds itself.
ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE 21ST CENTURY
The key strength of anthropology as a
discipline of the social science is its holistic
approach to the study of humans.
1. Humans both as biological and social creatures
2. Human behaviour from the time the species
existed to the time that it will desist
3. Human behaviour from all regions of the world
4. All forms of human actions and beliefs.