CHAPTER TWO: ANTHROPOLOGY

AND HUMANITARIANISM
2.1. Holism: How the Social, the Material and the
Symbolic Are Related;
2.2. Methodological Relativism;
2.3. Anthropological Methods: Fieldwork,
Participant Observation and Ethnography;
2.4. Anthropologists in Armed Conflicts and
Humanitarian Crises;
2.4.1. Anthropologists and Counter-Insurgency;
2.4.2. Fieldwork in Conflict Zones.
 Holism
• Holism refers to ‘the whole’. Each particular culture is and
must be approached as a whole, not just as a single trait or as
disconnected bundle of traits.

• Holism is the prospective on human condition that assumes

that the mind, body, individuals, society, and the environment
interpenetrate, and even define one another.
•
• In Anthropology, holism tried to integrate all that is known
about human beings and their activities.
 Methodological Relativism

• Cultural relativism is an umbrella term that covers different

attitudes, though it relies on a basic notion of emic
coherence.

• Each culture works in its own way, and beliefs and practices
that appear strange from the outside make sense when
contextualized within their particular cultural framework.
 Methodological Relativism

• More specifically, descriptive relativism holds that cultures

differ substantially from place to place.

• Methodological relativism holds that the ethnographer must

set aside his or her own cultural norms in order to understand
another culture and explain its worldview.
 Anthropological Research Methods
• Anthropologists can engage in:
 Informal conversations,
 Formal interviews,
 Surveys, or questionnaires,
 Create photos, sound or video recordings,
 Conduct historical or archival research,,public
records, or reports.
Anthropological Research Methods
– Fieldwork,
– Participant Observation and
– Ethnography.
 Ethnography

Ethnography can mean two things in anthropology:

(a) The qualitative research methods employed during

fieldwork.
(b) The written descriptive and interpretive results of that
research.

• Ethnographic fieldwork is how anthropologists gather data.

 Fieldwork
• Fieldwork is the process of immersing oneself in as many
aspects of the daily cultural lives of people as possible in
order to study their behaviors and interactions.

• Nearly any setting or location can become “the field”:

 A village along the river Abay,
 a large corporate office in Addis Ababa (e.g. ETC),
 a small neighborhood café in Bahir Dar, or even a social
networking site like Facebook.
 Participant Observation

• Your fieldwork might range across the scale of:

– 1. Complete participant,
– 2. Participant observer,
– 3. Complete observer.

• Presence builds trust. Trust lowers reactivity. Lower reactivity

means higher validity of data.
 Participant Observation

• The hallmark method of ethnographic field research in

anthropology is known as participant-observation.

• Participant observation is the foundation of anthropology.

• While doing participant observations anthropologist records

their experiences and observations while taking part in
activities alongside local participants or informants in the field
site.
 Field Notes
• Jottings
• Diary
• Log/timeline and readjustments
• Subject Profiles
• Proper Fieldnotes
 Anthropological Methods
• Emphasizes a holistic perspective and open-ended
interviewing.

• “I cannot escape a feeling that much of the effort ostensibly

devoted to making fieldwork more scientific is really directed
at making it more expedient, less time-consuming and thus
less costly.” Wolcott
 Anthropologists and Counter-
Insurgency
Philippe Bourgois:

• What is the place of political or human rights dimension in

anthropological ethics?

• Participant observation by its very definition dangerously

stretches the anthropological ethic of informed consent.
Anthropological code of ethics while
doing Ethnography
The 7 principles of professional responsibility
• Do No Harm
• Be Open and Honest regarding your work
• Obtain informed consent and necessary permission
• Weigh competing ethical obligations and due collaboration
and affected parties
• Make your results accessible
• Protect and preserve your records
• Maintain respectful and ethical professional relationships
 Quiz (out of 10):
Each question weigh 2 points
1. Provide a brief overview about humanity and
humanitarianism?
2. Define “anthropology of development” and “anthropology in
development”?
3. Discuss “anthropology of humanitarianism” and
“anthropology in humanitarianism”
4. What does it mean when someone says “anthropology uses
a holistic approach”?
5. Describe any three anthropological research methods?