Essay: Meaning and impact of anthropology

Anthropology is a social science that is believed to have started in the 16th century but accelerated in popularity and understanding during the 19th century. Anthropology was started in the United States by Franz Boas and since has become one of the most widespread disciplines of social science. Modern day anthropology includes lots of research methods including ethnography and using empirical data to determine the differences in groups of people be It due to their habitats or evolution. In this essay I will seek to explore the meaning of anthropology and evaluate the impact it has on people’s lives. I will also look to show the relationship anthropology has with development.
Anthropology is the study of humans and their culture in order to gain knowledge in their way of life and compare it to other groups. This is done through examining the cultural and social surroundings of a group of people which scholars believe to be pivotal to determining what we will become. There are multiple different types of anthropology such as cultural, physical and social and each of these look as different aspects of lives and habitats. This is particularly relevant to international development scholars as we can use this information to hopefully improve people’s way of life and quality of living without eradicating their identity and culture. Anthropology is a distinct discipline as it looks at human culture whilst comparing different ways of living which gives a unique perspective on the way people live. Anthropologists look both as historical events which have shaped a society such as physiology and evolution alongside social aspects such as language and culture (Anthropology, 2019). Anthropology is also unique as it looks at the history of a society not just the modern day one it’s become now but also where the society has come from because ‘Contemporary societies cannot be understood without consideration of historical and evolutionary processes’ (Anon, 2018). Lots of anthropologists believe change to society and culture in order to develop must happen at a local scale in order to succeed.
Anthropology works hand in hand with development. This is because the information gained by anthropologists can be used to decide what is prioritised in a community to develop. Furthermore, social anthropologists are interested in the changes and transformations that come with a community becoming more developed and how that will affect a way of life especially in more rural communities. Alongside this, social anthropologists are also interested in people moving from one way of living to a different one such as people moving out of home to live on their own and how this effects their relationships. Anthropologists can uniquely criticise agendas and ventures from an irreplaceable stand point. This is because they know the needs of a population, in most circumstances, better than an international aid giver such as the new donors. In my view, the most important way in which anthropology impact the poorest people is being at the forefront of creating the ‘grass roots’ or ‘bottom up’ method of aid. This involved giving to local people and communities not governments which is more common. Firstly, this eradicates the risk of corruption however more importantly it gives aid to the people that need it allowing them to invest it more wisely and develop their community.
One key theme studied by anthropologists is the anthropology of development. This is where an anthropologist views development from a critical perspective, asking questions like ‘Are our goals for this area being achieved?’. One of the key components of anthropology of development is exploring how development agendas such as the millennium development goals are formed. This is key as without a critical opinion on the development of agendas the focus of the agenda could be lost. Secondly, another focus of the anthropology of development is exposing the problems local people face all over the world. This is a key part of development as this can help form agendas to help impoverished communities and increase their quality of life.
Another theme closely studied by anthropologists is development anthropology. This is the application of anthropology to the multidisciplinary branch of development studies such as international development and foreign aid. Development anthropologists use key aspects and theories of anthropology in order to aid development (Cummins, n.d.). The key focus of development anthropology is groups of people either in companies or individuals volunteering in order to improve either economic or social aspects of underdeveloped regions of the world, primarily those with a high proportion of their population under the obdurate poverty line.
Anthropologists uses a varying range of techniques to gain information whilst researching. One of these methods is ethnography. Ethnography is when a researcher imbeds themselves with a culture and spends a long period of time (usually over a year) observing their way of life whilst conducting other research methods such as questionnaires and focus groups, depending on who they’re researching. This helps show anthropologists the way of life over a long time period. One example of ethnography from recent years is a visual ethnographic survey of the first deaf rabbi, Rebecca Dubowe. (Kerr-Carpenter, 2017). Another research technique used by scholars is interviewing and biographies (Anon, 2013). This helps build up understanding of the local people and can be couples as a prerequisite to ethnography to have more information on the culture. This is pivotal in an effective research period because you must have prior knowledge of the way of life before you go. Through ethnography, anthropologists can present data empirically meaning it can be useful to compare different societies and allow them to be critically reviewed.
Anthropologists also use non-participant observation as a method to view a culture. This is unlike ethnography as the researcher doesn’t imbed themselves with the people their observing, rather tries to interfere as little as possible. This approach is used to examine how people interact with each other and socialise, exploring their speech and movements. However, nonparticipant observation is thought to be limited by the observer effect (Cherry, 2018). This is that people’s movements and behaviours could be affected because they know someone is watching them, distorting the results of the study. (Spradley, 2019)
Contemporary development theory is putting stress on multiple levels of organisation in people’s lives such as biology and nature. (Lerner, 2002). An example of a piece of literature that links anthropology and contemporary development is called ‘Anthropology, development and modernities’ by A Arce and N long. (Acre & Long, 2003) This journal is relevant in our understanding of contemporary development as its links anthropology to contemporary development as it explains even through anthropologies struggles of how to engage cultures (Acre & Long, 2003), it still helps us look at the ‘good and bad sides of development’ (Acre & Long, 2003) meaning that we can be more effective in the future.
In conclusion, anthropology has been crucial in changing people’s lives for the better for decades. Examples of this are all over the word such as the research on Rebecca Dubowe. In my opinion the point that resonated with me the most is that many anthropological studies are carried out over years, working closely with people to learn their way of life instead of just throwing aid at a government which is what some non-governmental organisations do. Furthermore, anthropology has been fundamental to the development of many deprived nations by carrying out observations through techniques like ethnography to allow development to be carried out in the most effective way. Alongside this anthropologist have also had critical opinions on agendas helping to improve them for countries. In my opinion anthropology is one of the most important social sciences to help development because it outlines where aid is needed from the perspective of who needs it, whilst maintaining their culture, way of life and interactions.
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