Anthropology 2222F/G Lecture Notes - Malagasy People, Margaret Mead, Ethnography

• School: Western University
• Department: Anthropology
• Course: Anthropology 2222F/G
• Professor: Andrew Walsh

Document Summary

An important concept in early american anthropology, under boas" influence. An alternative to race and 19th century ways of thinking about human diversity. Culture commonly understood by anthropologists as: something that is learned, something that people share with others as members of a particular group, something to be interpreted (as geertz suggests) or to be studied scientifically (as carneiro suggests) The idea that anthropologists write what they think and portray it to others who read their material as facts. Everyone was being called out on their methods, etc. of conducting research. Using culture can suggest that a group of people share more in common with one another than they really do. Using culture as a way of explaining diversity can be problematic in the way that using race is. Using culture can lead anthropologists exaggerate the differences between themselves and the people they study. Brumann looks at how the term culture has been used in the discipline.