We explain what anthropology is, its object of study and the branches in which it is divided. In addition, what are its characteristics and importance.
What is anthropology?
Anthropology is The science dedicated to the study of the human being from an integral perspective including its biological and cultural features. His name comes from the union of Greek words Anthropos (“Human”) and Logos (“Knowledge, know”).
He is interested in The social, political and cultural practices of humanity as well as for the meeting and interaction processes that lead to them. His approach, therefore, is necessarily multiple, since human existence is complex and has multiple facets. Anthropology aspires to produce and organize the specialized knowledge of each of them.
To those who are dedicated to this type of study, They are known as anthropologists .
How did anthropology originate?
As a science endowed with a unique and independent field of study, anthropology exists since the nineteenth century . That is to say that it is One of the youngest sciences arising around the interest of the moment with respect to the human being.
The use of the term for the first time is attributed to the explorer François Péron to appoint an essay on the natives of Tasmania. However, he was not the first researcher in history who was interested in the complexity of the social, cultural and political manifestations of the human being. This origin linked the nascent anthropology with the paternal gaze of the great European empires with respect to the rest of the world, during the era of colonialism.
For that reason, research of classical anthropology (that prior to 1960) It was based more than anything on ethnographies of Asia, Oceania, Africa and America . This perspective was revolutionized with the emergence of social or cultural anthropology in the mid -twentieth century.
What studies anthropology?
There is still a debate regarding the most precise definition of the object of study of anthropology. Broadly speaking the purpose of the discipline is produce and order knowledge regarding human being and human society which implies an extremely wide perspective.
The disagreement occurs when defining the address of the subject. For example, it is possible to analyze humanity according to its linguistic, historical, biological or behavioral life. A way to set out this debate is to consider as an object of study the reactions of the human being before his sociocultural and interpersonal environment .
Branches of anthropology
The traditional conception of anthropology recognizes four great branches of discipline, which are:
- Cultural or social anthropology. Also called ethnology, he directs his study of the human being to the aspects commonly considered as “culture”: his beliefs, rituals, ceremonies, customs, norms, representations and values.
- Physical or biological anthropology. It is characterized by addressing the study of humanity emphasizing its evolutionary history, its biological variability and other aspects related to its body or its functioning as a species.
- Archeology. His approach to humanity has to do with the reconstruction of the past of the same, through the encounter, recovery and analysis of the existing traces of the civilizations and cultures of the past, already extinct or not.
- Anthropological linguistics. It consists of approaching human languages from a genetic point of view and human development. That is, he studies the human being through the linguistic manifestations of which he is capable of his cultural, social and idiomatic diversity.
Subramas of Anthropology
Just as the branches organize the areas of interest of anthropology in four great sets, the sub -banks of each further delimit the focus of the discipline, focusing on very specific matters, such as: such as:
- Urban Anthropology. Study human living conditions in the context of cities, from an ethnographic and transcultural point of view. It is the most common and popular subrama of anthropology today.
- Philosophical Anthropology. It focuses on the problem of human existence, going to philosophy to inherit arguments and knowledge of the ontological type. Among other things, he tries to respond to “What is human being?”
- Forensic Anthropology. From the hand of Biology and Forensic Sciences, it deals with the study and identification of skeletal human remains, trying to rebuild their death conditions or obtain important conclusions about the culture to which it belonged in life.
- Paleoanthropology. He focuses his interest on the hominid ancestors of the human being (or Homo Sapiens) to understand the process of human evolution.
- Underwater archeology. Apply the techniques of terrestrial archeology, adapting them to the underwater or underwater context.
Main orientations
The main schools of traditional anthropology are three:
- The French school. Of origins less clear than the others, it had a strong imprint of structuralist thought. It is mainly due to the work of Claude Lévi-Strauss, who organized anthropological study centers that dialogue with the British and American schools, outside the universities.
- British functionalism. Originated in Great Britain, it was based on the work of Émile Durkheim, and proposed an approach focused on the social structures of human communities, understanding their progress as the consequence of harmony in the functioning of its parts.
- American culturalism. He differentiated himself from the British school in which he focused his attention on culture, despite having a rigorously empirical spirit. Proposed the study of each human group in the context of its particular history and culture, and not generalizing around all that exist.
Anthropology in Latin America
Anthropological studies in Latin America They were born following the American culturalist school between 1930 and 1970. Its purpose was to mostly integrate communities from the modern state.
This trend was displaced since 1960 that Marxism became a dominant current In anthropology schools. At the same time the anthropologist’s gaze turned to cities and its rapid urban expansion in countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador, Mexico and Peru.
Why is anthropology important?
Anthropology is The main tool of humanity to know itself . It is a multidisciplinary science that tries to give an integral understanding, of what humanity means.
To achieve your goal, Go to any type of sample: arts, history, archaeological deposits language pieces, etc. Without it our understanding of who we are as a species would be much more limited.
University career of anthropology
THE STUDY OF ANTHROPOLOGY It is dictated in universities, over five years of bachelor . The career enjoys special interest in multicultural or multinational nations, in which there is no unique social and linguistic tradition, but also coexist different cultures.
What does an anthropologist do?
Anthropologists have a rather diverse labor field for being Specialists in the interpretation of internal and external processes of societies. They are trained to intervene positively in social conflicts, in educational, cultural or political reforms.
Besides, They can be part of NGOs International Cooperation Organizations and Public Institutions. As teachers, they can perform in museums, universities, academies, depending on their specific training.
Why is it criticized to anthropology?
The colonialist birth of this discipline has often criticized. Anthropologists are accused of gaining greater power and benefits that the peoples they investigate and whose traditions and artifacts benefit scholars.
Anthropology It must be very careful to reproduce a reducing look and relevant to those peoples I study. This should be taken into account especially when it comes to aboriginal ethnicities or nations that are not represented in the global nations concert.
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References
- “The 4 main branches of anthropology: how they are and what they investigate” at ttps: //psicologiaymente.com/
- “Anthropology” at https://www.pucp.edu.pe/
- “What is anthropology?” (video) at https://www.youtube.com/
- “Anthropology” at https://www.britannica.com/
