The Response of Anthropology to Colonialism - Essay Example

? The Response of Anthropology to Colonialism The Response of Anthropology to Colonialism In the history of man, it is very much important to learn about each part not just about the individual person but also in the formation of society. Society plays a big role in the individual lives of the people in it. People interact in various ways and help one another in progress. In the course of progress, conflicts are inevitable which may arise from the differences of the people in the society or from competition which should be a normal part of life for growth. Sometimes competition is healthy for development, but at certain times it is carried out by people personally until they hold grudge against the others. In such, colonialism is also important as it shows how societies form, clash, improve and how people interact and cope up with the situation. For the study then, the viewpoint of anthropologists would be examined in response to colonialism and how ethnographic knowledge would play a significant role in the study and history of colonialism. Before going deeply into the relationships of the concepts of colonialism, ethnographic knowledge and anthropology, it would be better to define and set basic foundations regarding the topics involve in the study. It would greatly help in appreciating and understanding their relationships after knowing each one of them. The first concept in the study is anthropology. It would be the viewpoint to be used in response to ethnographic knowledge regarding colonialism. Anthropology is said to be the “study of human behavior in all places and at all times. It combines humanistic, scientific, biological, historical, psychological and social views of human behavior,” (Angrosino 2002: 1). Various aspects of the human being are being studied in anthropology. The origin of human being is the main concern of anthropology and it would cut across other disciplines like the humanities, scientific research, natural sciences and the social sciences like history, psychology and sociology. The definition supports the claim that “anthropology is holistic in that it combines the study of human biology, history and the learned and shared patterns of human behavior and thought” which is known as the “culture in order to analyze human groups,” (Nanda and Warms 2011: 20). The study is not only concerned with the individual but with the interactions in the society as well. Anthropology can also be defined as “the comparative study of human societies and cultures. Its goal is to describe, analyze, and explain different cultures, to show how groups have adapted to their environments and given significance to their lives,” (Nanda and Warms 2011: 20). The second definition points out that the focus of anthropology is the society and culture as people interact with one another and form groups. And each group and subgroup of the societies formed has its distinct culture or habits that are unique to the members of such groups. The people who study anthropology are called anthropologists. Anthropology has many subfields to allow people to focus on the details that make up the study of man. The two major subfields of anthropology are physical anthropology and cultural anthropology. Physical anthropology can be defined as: the study of the biological, physiological, anatomical and genetic characteristics of both ancient and modern human populations. Physical anthropologists study the evolutionary development of the human species by a comparative analysis of both fossil and living primates. They study the mechanics of evolutionary change through an analysis of genetic variation in human populations (Angrosino 2002: 1). Natural science is the main focus of physical anthropology to study the nature of man and its origin of existence. The history is studied using the fossils to identify the body structure of man in the past. It also involves genetics in studying the populations and the differences of people. On the other hand, cultural anthropology is defined as “the study of learned behavior in human societies. Most cultural anthropologists specialize in one or two geographic areas. They may specialize in selected aspects of culture (e.g., politics, medicine, religion) in the context of the larger social whole,” (Angrosino 2002: 1). Behavior is the main concern of cultural anthropology as it is concern with the physical structure or body of man but the actions exhibited by people. The study of culture, habits, traditions and behavior of man further divides cultural anthropology into several sub-disciplines: archaeology, ethnography, ethnology, social anthropology, and linguistics. Each sub-discipline would be explained in the succeeding paragraphs. Archaeology is concerned with the cultures of people in the past. Modern cultures and societies are also included but they are rather used as evidences or materials used as proofs. They are not used as sources of information through interviews or observations (Angrosino 2002: 2). The people who study archaeology are called archaeologists. They look for artifacts and environmental data that can support the culture existing in certain period of the history of man. It can be considered as both a science and humanity. Ethnography is another sub-discipline of cultural anthropology. It is related with ethnology together with social anthropology as both of them are subgroups of ethnography. It can be defined as: “the description of society or culture. An ethnographer attempts to describe an entire society or a particular set of cultural institutions or practices. Ethnographies may be either emic, or etic, or may combine the two. An emic ethnography attempts to capture what ideas and practices mean to members of a culture. It attempts to give the reader a sense of what it feels like to be a member of the culture […] An ethic ethnography describes and analyzes culture according to principles and theories drawn from Western scientific traditions such as ecology economy, or psychology” (Nanda and Warms 2011: 20). Remember that emic ethnography is more practical while etic ethnology is more of a theoretical portion of ethnography but usually they are used together to strengthen the description of culture and society. Ethnology is the third sub-discipline of cultural anthropology. It comes together with social anthropology as subgroups of ethnography. Ethnology dares to interpret or explain the descriptions of the culture and society based on the findings of ethnography (Angrosino 2002: 2). It is also concerned with the analysis of the root, variety and advancement of religion and social groups of various nationalities and races. It also tries to look for generalizations and principles that guide the culture of people (Nanda and Warms 2011: 3). The people who study ethnology are called ethnologists. The other subgroup of ethnography is social anthropology. The main concern of social anthropology is the social structure like economic exchange, family relationships and social control (Angrosino 2002: 2). As social structure is the main focus, the study is directed towards the broad knowledge on human groups like the way they think and the way they act. Usually fieldwork is done or immersion so the social anthropologists would be able to understand the way of life of their subjects. The last sub-discipline of cultural anthropology is linguistics. It is concerned with the mechanics and uses of language in the interactions and lives of human beings. It is the synthetic medium for communication exchange between and among people (Angrosino 2002: 2). Languages vary among nationalities, cultural groups and races as they are affected by traditions and beliefs of the members of the groups. The next part is about colonialism which is the main concern of the paper. Colonialism had been prevalent in the history of mankind. It played a significant role in the development of nations and societies whether through peaceful or violent means. As land masses were explored and expeditions were funded by the ancient governments in pursuit of the advancement of the human beings as a whole. The concept of colonialism is the geographical expansion of a nation beyond its original boundaries (Kozlowski and Weber 2010: 1). Nations used the concept throughout the history to expand their territories and gain more power and accumulate more wealth. Basically the rulers want more power and gain more control around the world. Once another nation or group of people together with their own territory is captured by a larger nation, the conquered land is now called a colony and the conqueror is called a colonist. There are two types of colonies: settler colonies and dependencies. Settler colonies have the colonists live in the conquered lands permanently while in dependencies they still follow the commands of the parent country but few of the colonists live in the conquered land. In short, colonialism can be defined as “a system of direct political, economic, and cultural control by a powerful country over a weaker one,” (Kozlowski and Weber 2010: 1). Physically colonialism may have been ended throughout history for most nations and many former colonies are already liberated and stand-up as independent nations. Even if in the eyes of many people independence had been achieved, the concept of colonialism is not erased as it still exists until the present era. The concept of colonialism has undergone some changes at that point and it can be called in many ways such as post colonialism, neocolonialism, neo-imperialism, multiple colonialisms, quasi-colonialism or internal colonialism. The control is not direct anymore in the new idea of colonialism. According to Sidaway and Lionnett, developed countries may still have the power over the developing countries through tie-ups, joint ventures, economic aids and many more. It may seem impossible for the neocolonialism to be completely removed from the present society since the world system is so complex that the structures are governed by economic, cultural and political ties and sometimes such existence cause global inequalities (Duncan et.al. 2004: 472). In such cases, the world is not perfect and the human mind can only perceive the perfection in theories and concepts. Once concepts are put into practice, it would not be perfect as human beings are prawn to error, so neocolonialism as others may call it will still exist even if efforts are done to reduce prejudices and inequalities. Going on to the topic of colonialism and ethnographic knowledge, a history may point out how ethnography developed together with colonialism as humans dared to explore in search of knowledge and development. As ethnography is the practice in expressing the past using politics, spirituality and aesthetics, it stemmed out from colonization. It offers a way of expressing the rich history of mankind through culture. It can be said that the first wave of colonialism started when the history is said to be a creative work. It rooted from Ancient Greece from the philosopher Herodotus who traveled to various places to learn and experience traditions and cultures of people. He made books about it which he called History which is a Greek term for Inquiry. His practices also created ethnography as it involved the geographical traveling to understand human traditions. The second wave of colonialism happened when the ethnographical interest was renewed to save the culture and traditions that were endangered from being annihilated. It occurred during the Mercantilist period until the 1800s. The third wave of colonialism involves World War I and II as parent countries used military power to hold their existing colonies. The fourth wave is the existence of capitalist economy and the boom of first world and third world countries (Clair 2003: 3-15). Perhaps as conflicts and formation of nations, groups of people and cultures and traditions flourish, diminish and mix, ethnography and anthropology is born as the advancement of overall human development happen as each person adapts to the changes in his environment. Works Cited Angrosinio, Michael 2002 The Essentials of Anthropology. USA: Research Education Foundation. Clair, Robin Patric 2003 Expressions of Ethnography: Novel Approaches to Qualitative Methods. USA: State University of New York. Duncan, James with Nuala Christina Johnson and Richard H. Schein 2004 A companion to cultural geography. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing. Nanda, Serena and Richard Warms 2011 Cultural Anthropology. USA: Wadsworth.  Ni Serena Nanda, Richard L. Warms Kozlowski, Darrell and Jennifer Weber. 2010 Colonialism. New York: DWJ Books. Read More