INTRODUCTION

TO SOCIAL
ANTHROPOLOGY

BLEN YETNAYET
CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCING ANTHROPOLOGY AND ITS
SUBJECT MATTER

•Definition, Scope and Subject Matter of Anthropology

•A Brief History of Anthropology

•Subject Matter and Scope of Anthropology

•Unique Features of Anthropology

•Misconceptions about Anthropology

•The Relationship between Anthropology and Other

Disciplines

•Contributions of Anthropology
1. DEFINITION, SCOPE AND
SUBJECT MATTER OF
ANTHROPOLOGY
• The term Anthropology is a compound of two
Greek words, ‘anthropos’ and ‘logos’, which can
be translated as ‘human being/ humankind’ and
‘/study/science’, respectively. So, anthropology
means ‘the study or science of humankind or
humanity.
• human has two important characteristics: biological
and cultural:
• Yet this literal definition is not particularly
illuminating; because several other academic
disciplines—including sociology, biology,
psychology, political science, economics, and
history—also study human beings
CONT.

• Anthropology is a broad scientific discipline dedicated to the

comparative study ( reasonable, relative ,proportional ) study of
humans as a group, from its first appearance on earth to its present
stage of development.

• In a more specific term, anthropology is science which

• 1) Investigates the strategies for living that are learned and shared
by people as members of human social groups

• 2) Examines the characteristics that human beings share as

members of one species (homo sapiens) and the diverse ways that
people live in different environments

• 3) Analyzes the products of social groups: material objects (tools,

cloths, houses, etc.) and nonmaterial creations (beliefs, values,
practices, institutions, etc.)
 It should further be stressed that
anthropology focuses on

(1) The origin of humans,

CONT.
(2) The evolutionary development
of humans,

(3) Human physical, biochemical

and cultural variations, and

(4) the material possessions and

cultural heritages of humans.
2. A BRIEF HISTORY
OF ANTHROPOLOGY
The history of anthropological thought is broad with
many and varied ideas, some of which often were wild
extremes resulting from ethnocentric attitudes. Before
anthropology attained the status of scientific discipline,
curious-minded persons from ancient to medieval
times have speculated a lot about the issues and
problems that concern anthropologists today. That is,
the present academic anthropology has its roots in the
works and ideas of the great ancient and Medieval
Greek, Roman, and Hebrew philosophers and social
thinkers. These people were interested in the nature,
origin and destiny of man, and the morality and
ethics of human relationships.
.
CONT.

Then after, Like other social sciences,

anthropology was given its present shape during
the 20th century. BUT
• some would trace its roots back to the
European Enlightenment, (intellectual
atmosphere ) during the 18th century.
• others would claim that anthropology did
not arise as a science until the 1850s,
• yet others would argue that anthropological
research in its present-day emerged After the
First World War. (1914-1918)
• While the roots of anthropology can be CONT.
generally traced through the history of
western culture as far back as ancient
Greek social philosophical thinking, the
discipline did not emerge as distinct
field of study until the mid-19th
century.
• Generally speaking, anthropology as an
academic discipline was born during
the 19th century.
• Finally ,It was given its present shape
during the 20th.
• Anthropology covers all aspects of
2. SCOPE AND
human ways of life experiences and SUBJECT MATTER
existence, as humans live in a social OF
ANTHROPOLOGY
group.
• It touches all aspect of human
conditions as far as there is a relation
between human beings and natural
environment.
Hence, Discovering the meaning, nature,
origin, and destiny of humanity is one of
the key concerns of anthropology.
• Anthropology is not only tries to account CONT.
for the social and cultural variation in the
world, but a crucial part of the
anthropological project also consists in
conceptualizing and understanding
similarities between social systems and
human relationships.
• Claude Lévi-Strauss, has expressed it:
‘Anthropology has humanity as its object of
research, but unlike the other human
sciences, it tries to grasp its object through
its most diverse manifestations’ (1983, p.
49)
• ANTH has distinguishing characteristics :-

• Breadth of scope- Micro-focus

• Uniqueness of its approach 3. UNIQUE (BASIC)

Emphasize
FEATURES OF
on insider views ANTHROPOLOGY

• It’s methods of research

1. BREADTH OF SCOPE :

Its broad scope. A good way to emphasize this broad

scope is to say that anthropologists are interested in
all human beings, whether living or dead, ''primitive''
or '' civilized'' and that they are interested in many
different aspects of humans, including their skin
color, family lives, marriages, political systems,
tools, personality types, and languages.
2. UNIQUENESS OF IT’S APPROACH-
CONT.
Holistic ,(it does not focus on a single part rather the
whole aspects of a given society. political economy,
social configurations, religion and ideology).)

Relativistic (tries to study the way of life of a group of

people as their own context)and

Comparative (Compare the present with the past)

3. EMPHASIZE ON INSIDER VIEWS –

• ANTH focus on how the people them selves

understand their world. These is what anthropologist
call emic perspectives.

• Which is the opposite of etic perspectives – which is

outsider s or researcher views. Then ANTH use
perspective to avoid biased views.
4. IT'S MICRO-FOCUS:.
CONT.
Anthropology focuses on small-scale (limited)
society or community. The kinds of social groups or
communities' anthropologists study, whether they are
in traditional or modern world, are usually small
scaled in their social organization, economic and
political structure, and tend to be homogenous in
their overall character.

5. IT’S METHODS OF RESEARCH-

• the hallmarks of ANTH are qualitative research
methods such as field work, focus group
discussion, participant observation, In-depth and
key informant interview. But they mixed with
quantitative .
Due to lack of appropriate awareness about the
nature, scope and subject matter of the discipline,
different misconceptions are held about
anthropology.
1. Anthropology is limited to the study of "primitive"
societies. Indeed, most of the works done by anthropologists
during early periods focused on isolated, so called "primitive",
small scale societies. However, anthropologists nowadays study 4.
most advanced and most complex societies as well. MISCONCEPTIONS
2. Anthropologists only study the rural people and ABOUT
rural areas. But there is urban anthropology. ANTHROPOLOGY

3. Anthropology is only interested in the study of

far away, remote, exotic communities

4. Anthropology wants to keep and preserve

primitive cultural practice in museum
• Anthropology is similar with other social
sciences such as sociology, psychology, political 5. THE
sciences, economics, history, etc. However, RELATIONSHIP
anthropology differs from other social sciences BETWEEN
ANTHROPOLOGY
and the humanities by AND OTHER
• Its broad scope,- studies humankind in its DISCIPLINES
entirety
• Unique approach, - analyzes human ways of life
holistically comparatively and in a relativistic
manner
• Perspective, - use particularity than universality
• Unit of analysis and Methods - it is unique in
that it undertakes extended fieldwork among the
studied community and develops intimate
knowledge of the life and social worlds of its
study group/society
• To develop anthropological perspective, with its 6. THE
CONTRIBUTIONS
emphasis on our culture is just one way of life OF
among many found in the world and that it ANTHROPOLOGY
represents one way (among many possible ways)
to adapt to a particular set of environmental
conditions.

• Because of its relativistic approach, anthropology

helps us to be more sensitive to and appreciative
of cultural diversity and variability.

• Anthropology also helps us better understand

ourselves or our own ways of life.

• helps us to avoid some of the misunderstandings

that commonly arise when individuals of different
cultural traditions come into contact.
• Anthropology helps us fight against prejudice
(bias) and discriminations. It helps us fight against
CONT.
ethnocentrism; the belief that one's own culture
and one's own way of life is superior to others
cultural, social and material life.

• Anthropology is also used as a tool for

development. Paying attention to local
conditions, is crucial to solve community
problems.

• It gives insight about deferent modes of life in a

given societies

• It helps us to understand our own ways of life

• It’s a tool for development by making different

researches
• In general, anthropology is able to suggest sound
solutions to all human beings. For example, it is
CONT.
often applied in areas of Environmental Change,
Health and Nutrition, Globalization, Social Justice
and Human Rights, cultural resource management
(CRM) and Cultural Dimensions of Civil and
Religious Conflicts.