ANT 101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Margaret Mead, Feminist Anthropology, Symbolic Anthropology
10 Dec 2020
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Contributed to knowledge of south pacific cultures, gender roles, and the impact of child- rearing practices on personality. Early public anthropologist who took seriously the importance of bringing cultural anthropology knowledge to the general public in order to create positive social change. Introduced the term prehistory into the english language. Offered courses in comparative societies as early as 1855. Theories of culture based on environmental factors. Similar environments (for example, deserts, tropical rainforests, or mountains) would predictably lead to the emergence of similar cultures. Cross-cultural generalizations, conflict with boasian historical particularism. Best way to understand a culture is to collect its myths and stories and analyze the underlying themes in them. Inspired the development of symbolic anthropology, or the study of culture as a system of meanings. Importance of people"s access to the means of production. Emergence of a new theoretical school called cultural materialism.
