Small Places, Large Issues: An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology - Term Paper Example

SMALL PLACES, LARGE ISSUES: AN INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY I. INTRODUCTION Anthropology, the study of all aspects of human life and culture. It examines such topics as how people live, what they think, what they produce, and how they interact with their environments. The comparative study of social and cultural systems is commonly referred to as ethnology or cultural anthropology. Anthropologists try to understand the full range of human diversity as well as what all people share in common. Today's worldwide culture, characterized by the rapid movement of people and ideas throughout the world, is only a few hundred years old. Today's global-scale culture differs vastly from that of the small-scale societies (no industrialized societies, with small populations) in which our ancestors lived for hundreds of thousands of years. Understanding these kinds of societies and their cultures can help us make more sense of how people cope with life in today's culturally diverse and complex world. A. Society and Culture Human societies often include millions or billions of people who share a common culture. Two interrelated anthropological concepts, society and culture, are crucial to understanding what makes humans unique. Culture distinguishes one human group from others. It also distinguishes humans from other animals. A people's culture includes their beliefs, rules of behavior, language, rituals, art, technology, styles of dress, ways of producing and cooking food, religion, and political and economic systems. The society can be small, such as tribal community or large such as modern nation with millions of members. The social groups may be families, communities, economic ethnic groups, political or other types of formal and informal groups.. But human societies often include millions or billions of people who share a common culture. Culture refers to the ways of life learned and shared by people in social groups. Culture differs from the simpler, inborn types of thinking and behavior that govern the lives of many animals. The people in a human society generally share common cultural patterns, so anthropologists may refer to particular societies as cultures, making the two terms somewhat interchangeable. In anthropology culture denotes a people's heritage of customs and belief. It has a powerful effect on a persons daily life as it influences his mode of thinking, feeling and acting. It shapes us but we also shape culture. Since no human society exists in compete isolation, different societies also exchange and share culture. In fact, all societies have some interactions with others, both out of curiosity and because even highly self-sufficient societies sometimes need assistance from their neighbors. Today, for instance, many people around the world use similar kinds of technology, such as cars, telephones, and televisions. Commercial trade and communication technologies, such as computer networks, have created a form of global culture. Therefore, it has become increasingly difficult to find culture that is shared within only a single society. Cultural exchange can provide many benefits for all societies. Different societies can exchange ideas, people, manufactured goods, and natural resources. From the time an individual is born, he or she is socialized by the members first of his or her family, and later of the other groups which he or she joins. The habits, values attitudes, aspirations, of the society are incorporated into the individual's personality. II. UNDERSTANDING HUMAN DIVERSITY Anthropology examines human culture from so many perspectives. Culture has evolved, and continues to evolve, by comparing cultural traits among different groups of people, both past and living. Patterns of similarity and increasing complexity over time can be seen in such cultural traits as forms of language or types of tools. These patterns indicate when and where cultural innovation has occurred and how ideas and people have moved around the world.. According to the book "Studies of the connections among human ecology, biology, and culture in small-scale societies have given anthropologists insights on large-scale, even worldwide." Anthropologists have studied how small-scale hunter-gatherer, gardening, and farming societies manage to make a living without destroying species of plants or animals, or ruining the soil or water. Ethnicity interacts among members of social group who perceive themselves to be different. This is not considered to be important to members of traditional and small-scale societies who rarely interact with members of large-scale societies. In urban areas, ethnic identity is important because people interact with various groups in workplaces, in shopping centers, and even in place of residence. Ethnic groups categorizes as majority cultural groups and the minorities. For instance there are cultural minorities called Aetas, described as short, black in complexion and with kinky hair. Whatever bases are used to categorize them they are known as ethnic groups. They may also be distinguished from others by their occupation or specialization. This particular groups are distinguished by the clothes they wear, and the weaving of clothes using different colors, the combination of black, red and white, has made them unique. A. Social Culture In Ethnology or cultural anthropology a family is the fundamental unit of social structure, the only unit common to all groups of people. The family unit has specific functions with relation to its members and to the total society. It is the primary social institution, serving as the means of transferring culture from one generation to another. Division of labor between sexes is a strong influence in keeping the family together. The institution takes different forms among different peoples. Family systems ordinarily count descent through both father and mother, but many tribes consider a child as belonging to either the father's or the mother's family. This type of inheritance constitutes the unilateral family. The term clan in British usage denotes the unilateral-descent group indicate lines of descent through the mother or father, respectively. The clan has ceremonial, economic, and political functions in many societies. Social culture pertains to people's forms of social organization-how people interact and organize themselves in groups. Ethnicity persistence is ties to identity formation in early socialization. As a child, one learns to value certain aspects of his cultural traditions. In this, he acquires a particular way of life. In effect, he learns through socialization. He considers his cultural tradition and considers others as different. People in all types of societies organize themselves in relation to each other for work and other duties, and to structure their interactions. People commonly organize themselves according to bonds by kinship and marriage, work duties and economic position, and political position. In smaller societies people organize themselves primarily according to ties of kinship (blood relation) and marriage. Kin generally give each other preferential treatment over non kin. People who share ties by blood and marriage commonly live together in families. Small societies categorize kin in many different ways and define appropriate types of behavior. In every household, usually a family, who work collectively to support each other and often to raise children. In small, individual households produce their own food, clothing, and shelter. Men and women commonly divide work duties; men hunting and building shelters and women gardening, cooking, and caring for children. People in small societies often live in extended families, in which several generations of kin and relatives by marriage live in the same household. Sometimes, however, men and women live in separate places, especially if they also often work and participate in ceremonies apart from members of the opposite sex. III. ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY New research agendas have also emerged, and several new trends in world culture have dramatically changed anthropology. Independent, self-sufficient cultures-the focus of traditional anthropology-has virtually disappeared. In addition, the world faces increasing problems of poverty, violence, and environmental degradation. In response to these trends, many anthropologists have shifted their attention to studying urban culture and the workings of global culture. Local culture and social structure are now shaped by large and powerful commercial interests in ways that earlier anthropologists could not have imagined. Early anthropologists thought of societies and their cultures as fully independent systems. But today, many nations are multicultural societies, composed of numerous smaller subcultures. Cultures also cross national boundaries. For instance, people around the world now know a variety of English words and have contact with American cultural exports such as brand-name clothing and technological products, films and music, and mass-produced foods. IV. THE RELEVANCE OF SOCIAL AND CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY The concepts furnish the factual information about our society and culture. We are able to understand everyday concurrences and familiar social groups from a new perspective. We are able to see the connection between our social forces and the society's larger social forces which enable us to see ourselves as parts of a larger social pattern. And may appreciate the society and culture better. Social and cultural anthropology will help everyone to understand that other groups are different from the other and that many differences have been brought about by physical and cultural adaptations to different environments. In a way, social and cultural anthropology can contribute to the formulation of a liberal educated man imbued with a sense of national identity and appreciative of cultural heritage. REFERENCES: Website: http://folk.uio.no/geirthe/Ethnicity.html Read More