All old-established national industries have been destroyed or are daily being destroyed. They are dislodged by new industries, whose introduction becomes a life and death question for all civilized nations, by industries that no longer work up indigenous raw material but raw material drawn from the remotest zones; industries whose products are consumed, not only at home, but in every quarter of the globe. In place of the old wants, satisfied by the production of the country, we find new wants, requiring for their satisfaction the products of distant lands and climes. In place of the old local and national seclusion and self-sufficiency, we have intercourse in every direction, universal interdependence of nations.

Introductions

Home Town: Lawrence, Kansas. Grew up in Sonoma

County California (Cazadero, Occidental)

Education: Sonoma State University

University of KansasSan Jose State

UniversityResearch Interests:

Urban PovertyDiscourse AnalysisHomelessnessIdentity and the selfTechnology and

learningCultural consequences

of information automation

KU and Lawrence, Kansas

The Syllabus and Textbooks

TextbookEnglish-Lueck et al Emerging Global Cultures

The syllabus

Large university courses VS. small liberal arts courses

Discussion, exchange, collaboration

Anthropology, Globalization, Consumer Capitalism, Elite-driven capitalism

– Introductions, syllabus, Anthropology overview, theory– Anthropology overview, theory, weekly readings

Anthropology Anthropology: “The science of humankind” the most humanistic of the sciences and the most

scientific of the humanities (Wolf 1964).

From Greek- Anthropos: Human- Logos: Discourse, science

First used to define a scientific disciplineprobably around the 16th century. Formally developed into an academicdiscipline in the 18th century.Columbia University offered the first Ph.D. programIn anthropology in America.

4 Fields of Anthropology

• CulturalCulturalSocio-cultural Socio-cultural EthnographyEthnography

• ArchaeologyArchaeologyMaterial CultureMaterial Culture

• Physical/BiologicalPhysical/BiologicalEvolutionEvolution

• LinguisticLinguisticLanguage and Language and MeaningMeaning

Subfields and SpecializationSome subfields…Some subfields…

• Applied anthropology,Applied anthropology,

• Economic anthropology,Economic anthropology,

• Political anthropology,Political anthropology,

• Business anthropology,Business anthropology,

• Medical anthropology,Medical anthropology,

• Forensic anthropology, Forensic anthropology,

• Development anthropology.Development anthropology.

Geographic and RegionalGeographic and RegionalSpecialization Specialization

Paradigm shifts

Ideological change

Culture

Identity

What does Anthropology do?

• Seeks to understand Seeks to understand humanity in time and humanity in time and space. space.

• All subfields united at All subfields united at one time under one time under Evolution/Diffusion. Evolution/Diffusion.

• 1919thth Century. Century.

Anthropology’s Contributions We cannot understand

human behavior without taking different cultures into account.

Culture molds biology: eating, sleeping, sex, bathroom, talking.

Culture

CULTURE is Anthropology’s concept, but it is used in a variety of ways both inside and outside of Anthropology.

Culture: Defined

Difficult to define… EDWARD BENNIT

TYLOR offered the “kitchen sink” definition

"that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society“ (Tylor 1872).

THEORY OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN ANTHROPOLOGY

Uniliear Theory and Cultural Evolution (pre 1900)

Idea: Culture evolves in progressive and linear stages, each stage corresponding to certain types of “technology”

PRIMATIVEstone tools, spear thrower, scavaging

(prehistoric) SAVAGERY fishing, bow & arrow (Aboriginals)BARBARISMpots, domestication of plants/animals, iron

(Native Americans)CIVILIZATIONwriting, phonetic alphabet (Greeks)

Notable anthropologists of this period:Edward B. TylorFrank Hamilton CushingLewis Henry MorganJames G. Frazer

Problems?

What are some problems with these theories?

Implied racialized worldview

Indigenous peoples have just as much history, and are just as “evolved,” as so-called “civilized” societies.

The Indigenous Mind The Dream Time

CULTURAL RELATIVISM (early 1900s-1930s)

CULTURAL RELATIVISM: Behavior in one culture should not be judged by the standards of another culture

ETHNOCENTRICISM: (opposite of relativism) Tendency to view one’s culture as superior and to apply one’s own cultural values in judging the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures

Notable anthropologistFranz BoasAlfred KroeberRobert LowieEdward SapirRuth Benedict Margret Mead

CULTURAL RELATIVISM (cont.)

CULTURES: Particular to geographic areas, local histories, and traditions

RACE: Problematic category because still popularly taken as biological, weighted with the assumptions of inferiority and superiority

Native Americans, African Americans, and other ethnic groups of differing melatonin: NOT RACIALLY INFERIOR, POSSESSED UNIQUE & HISTORICALLY SPECIFIC CULTURES

HOW TO STUDY CULTURE…FIELDWORK METHODS

Bronisław Malinowski

Defining feature of Anthropology since 1920s A “scientific anthropology?”

PARTICIPANT OBSERVATIONTake part in community life as we study it; Use the senses: sound, sight, smell, touch, taste; talk to people, ask questions, learn new language

FIELD NOTESKeep separate notebook in which you record observations & experiences

GENEALOGYTake note of kinship, descent, marriage relationships

INFORMANTS/COLLABORATORS/FRIENDSPeople with interest, talent, or training to provide useful information about particular aspects of life

FIELDWORK METHODS (cont.)

LIFE HISTORYRecollection of a lifetime of experiences; intimate and personal cultural portrait; how specific people perceive, react to, contribute to changes that affect their lives

RESEARCH QUESTIONSQuestions that guide your research

SUBJECT/OBJECT

Position of the researcher in relation to her informants & subject/s being studied

Position will affect the kind of knowledge gathered & analysis

THEORIES OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENTPATTERNS OF CULTURE

Earlier theories: Cultures are homogenous,

harmonious, static forms of patterned behaviors

Undiscovered societies were frozen scientific objects to be discovered & recorded

The post-Boas Era Cultural Relativism: all

cultures are different but equal

Cross-cultural Comparison: Can help anthropologists understand their own cultures. Mead ex.: Samoan girls experience puberty as exciting and their changing bodies as beautiful

SYSTEM OF SYMBOLS & MEANINGS

Clifford Geertz

Blurring boundaries between social sciences & humanities

Cultures: texts to be read and interpreted

Interpretation: way people make sense of differences

“Native’s Point of View”: Perspective of people you are working with

SYSTEM OF SYMBOLS & MEANINGS (cont.)

Meanings are not private or in people’s heads but talked about everyday

People are sophisticated interpreters of their own culture

Anthropologists want access to stories people tell themselves about themselves

“thick description”: layers of meaning stacked on top of each other

New Perspectives

Marvin Harris Emic (internal): seeing things from their

perspective or logic. Etic (external): refers to a comparative

perspective. Relationship between Power and Culture:

how can we analyze social inequality, to move towards Equality

Shift from looking at cultures as consistent wholes to looking at differences within cultures—difference is more typical than sameness

Culture is emergent (always being created) and contested (always being debated)

Many, many changes occurred over the last twenty years in the field of anthropology…

MODERN ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY…Humanism: Engaged Anthropology

Do anthropologists bear the responsibility of putting their ideas into practice to “help” human beings?

If so, does this humanism influence their course of study too much?

Should anthropologists judge which “story” (practice, policy, etc.) is better?

Perhaps the “sameness” of the shared human condition is as important as understanding & respecting “differences”

Paul Farmer-structural violence

It’s a Flat World After All Thomas Friedman

NY Times columnistGenerally a positivist,

utopian writer

Individual countries must sacrifice some degree of economic independence to global institutions.

United Nations Development Programme

Mumbai - about 54% of the population comprises slum dwellers.

Mumbai -1.2 million people, or little under 10% of its population, earn less than Rs (rupee) 20 a day (average price for a apartment: 20 Rs)

Half of Mumbai's population lives in sub-human conditions in shanties, but the land that slums are situated on comprise just 6% of the city's total land area

Flat…

Plays off the notion of “exploration”

Begins in India, Banglador

Suggests the world is "flat"

Globalization has leveled the competitive playing fields between industrial and emerging market countries.

Why? The PC, fiber-optic micro cable, software development, and outsourcing.

Flat…

Globalization 3.0, individuals interconnected in the global market

Globalization 2.0 multinational companies acting to pull the world together

Globalization 1.0 counties and governments motivating global expansion and interconnection

Flat… Friedman is excited

about the Chinese and Indian populations "joining the global supply chain“

This can translate into low cost labor…

Problems?

Falling Flat Robert J Gonzalez

SJSU FacultyResponse to

Friedman’s writings, in particular The World is Flat

Culturally misinformed

Historically inadequate

Intellectually Impoverished.

Falling Flat… Key points:

Gap between rich and poor

Global poverty Outsourcing Environmental damage Friedman calls for

liberalization of developing economies,

ie: he wants privatization and a free market.

Some Websites http://en.wikipedia.or

g/wiki/History_of_anthropology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Burnett_Tylor