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Anthropological Concepts (anthropological + concept)
Selected AbstractsCurrent Views of European Anthropologists on Race: Influence of Educational and Ideological BackgroundAMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST, Issue 1 2009Katarzyna A. Kaszycka ABSTRACT, Significant differences in views on race (once a core anthropological concept) occur between scientists from different countries. In light of the ongoing race debate, we present the concept's current status in Europe. On three occasions in 2002,03, we surveyed European anthropologists' opinions toward the biological race concept. The participants were asked whether they agreed that there are biological races within the species Homo sapiens. A dependence was sought between the type of response and several factors. Three of these factors,country of academic education, discipline, and age,were found to be significant in differentiating the replies. Respondents educated in Western Europe, physical anthropologists, and middle-aged persons reject race more frequently than respondents educated in Eastern Europe, people in other branches of science, and those from both younger and older generations. The survey shows that the views of anthropologists on race are sociopolitically (ideologically) influenced and highly dependent on education. [Keywords: human races, race concept, physical anthropology, Europe] [source] ,An anthropological concept of the concept': reversibility among the Siberian YukaghirsTHE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, Issue 3 2007Alberto Corsín Jiménez This article attempts to sketch a new anthropological epistemology. It does so by revisiting the work that concepts do in economic models, and by suggesting an alternative ,anthropological concept of the concept' for the economy. The article looks to how concepts create their own limits of meaning and uses the very idea of limit to rethink how conceptual thought out-grows and transforms itself. We develop our epistemology by looking at the socio-economic practices and institutions of the Yukaghirs, a small group of indigenous hunters, living along the Kolyma River in northeastern Siberia. The Yukaghirs' moment of creative possibilities is given through the reversibility of every one of their economic practices, informed by the work of a shadow force (ayibii) that aims for the limit. We gain insights from this notion of reversibility to rethink the purchase of the ,economic' in our contemporary world, questioning the validity of such ,conceptual' descriptions as virtualism or the knowledge economy. Résumé Les auteurs tentent ici d'ébaucher une nouvelle épistémologie anthropologique en revisitant l'action des concepts dans les modèles économiques et en suggérant un autre « concept anthropologique du concept » en économie. L'article étudie la manière dans les concepts créent leurs propres limites de signification et utilise cette idée de limite pour revoir la façon dont la pensée conceptuelle se dépasse et se transforme elle-même. Les auteurs développent leur épistémologie par l'étude des pratiques et institutions socio-économiques des Yukaghirs, un petit groupe de chasseurs indigènes vivant le long de la rivière Kolyma, dans le nord-est de la Sibérie. Le moteur des possibilités créatives des Yukaghirs est constitué par la réversibilité de chacune de leurs pratiques économiques, informées par l',uvre d'une force de l'ombre (ayibii) qui tend vers la limite. Cette notion de réversibilité fournit des éléments pour repenser l'emprise de « l'économique » sur notre monde contemporain et remettre en question la validité des descriptions « conceptuelles » telles que l'économie virtuelle ou celle de la connaissance. [source] Literature, Social Science, and the Development of American Migration Narratives in the Twentieth CenturyLITERATURE COMPASS (ELECTRONIC), Issue 3 2007Erin Royston Battat This article traces the complementary relationship between social science and American migration narratives in the twentieth century, with particular attention to texts produced in the Depression era, and to more recent scholarship on the literature of African-American migration. While social scientists borrowed the tools of literary artists to understand migration in the 1920s, writers in the Depression era employed sociological and anthropological methods to bring the plight of the southern migrant into the public consciousness. Narratives of southern white, Mexican-American, and African-American migration proliferated within a social scientific paradigm that depicted the migrant as a marginal figure, and the emergence of the concept of ,ethnicity' shaped the representation of internal migrants. Social science continues to influence literary criticism, as critics employ sociological and anthropological concepts to understand migration narratives. [source] Relevant behavioural and social science for medical undergraduates: a comparison of specialist and non-specialist educatorsMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 10 2006Sarah Peters Aim, To compare what medical educators who are specialists in the behavioural and social sciences and their non-specialist counterparts consider to be core concepts that medical graduates should understand. Background, Previously perceived as ,nice to know' rather than ,need to know', the General Medical Council (GMC) now places behavioural and social sciences on the same need-to-know basis as clinical and basic sciences. Attempts have been made to identify what components of these topics medical students need to know; however, it remains unknown if decisions over programme content differ depending on whether or not educationalists have specialist knowledge of the behavioural and social sciences. Methods, In a survey of medical educationalists within all UK medical schools, respondents were asked to indicate from a comprehensive list of psychological, sociological and anthropological concepts what they considered a minimally competent graduate should understand. Comparisons were made between the concepts identified by specialist behavioural and social science (BSS) educators and those without such training. Results, Despite different disciplinary backgrounds, non-specialist educators largely concurred with BSS specialist educators in the concepts they considered tomorrow's doctors should know about. However, among BSS specialists there remained disagreement on what BSS content was relevant for graduates. Differences reflect specialist knowledge and recognition of the role of theoretical underpinning of BSS and reveal gaps in non-specialists knowledge. Conclusions, Educationalists with formal training in the full range of behavioural and social sciences should be involved in the development of BSS curriculum content at both national and school levels. [source] A bundle of sticks: the debate over Yolngu clansTHE JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE, Issue 3 2000Ian Keen A critique of the clan model as applied in northeast Arnhem Land ethnography has, in turn, drawn a number of critical responses. This article defends the original critique, and takes up points raised in the responses. According to that critique a mismatch between elements of the clan model and Yolngu constructs related to identity, country, and ancestors has generated anomalies. An account of metaphors and other tropes both in Yolngu constructs and anthropological concepts and models supported this contention. This article discusses key points at issue: enclosure and boundaries of groups, descent, the homology of segments, taxonomic levels, corporateness, sets, and networks, the enduring nature of patrifilial identities, and the power of processual models to deal with anomalies. The debate has implications for related models in other regions, and for the nature of anthropological description, translation, and generalization. [source] Front and Back Covers, Volume 24, Number 6.ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY, Issue 6 2008December 200 Front cover caption, volume 24 issue 6 Front cover A television newscaster reports from a prayer meeting organized in support of Barack Obama on the eve of the US election in Kogelo, Western Kenya. Foreign and local journalists descended on this small village which is home to Mama Sarah, Obama's paternal step-grandmother. As this picture was taken, religious and cultural leaders, schoolchildren and local politicians were praying for the success of their ,son', although they were also careful to offer up prayers for John McCain. The newscaster stands in front of a painting by local artist Joachim Onyango Ndalo, famous for his colourful portrayals of historical events, African presidents and other world leaders. The painting shows Obama surrounded by political figures, including Colin Powell, Bill Clinton and the British queen. In January of this year Ndalo was forced to flee from his home in Western Kenya to Uganda during the violence that followed Kenya's contested elections between the Party of National Unity (PNU), led by President Kibaki, and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), the opposition party led by Raila Odinga. Although pro-Odinga, the artist was branded a traitor by some members of his community for accepting a commission to paint Stanley Livondo, a Kibaki supporter and opponent of Odinga for the Langata parliamentary seat. Ndalo's workshop and paintings were destroyed. He has since returned home and plans to send his painting to America as a gift to Obama for his inauguration. Back cover caption, volume 24 issue 6 FINANCIAL CRISIS: The financial crisis unfolding since September this year has wiped out savings and threatens livelihoods across the world. Future generations will have to pay for the nationalization of gigantic debts that we never thought we had. This crisis, the worst of its kind since the Great Depression, demands an overhaul of the world's financial system. What might anthropologists contribute, beyond our insight into the world's informal economies and peasant markets? In this issue, Keith Hart and Horacio Ortiz argue that the breakdown of the economists' intellectual hegemony demands a new approach to money more sensitive to its social dimensions and to redistributive justice. A fresh reading of Mauss and Polanyi would be one good place to start. Stephen Gudeman, in his diary of witnessing the financial markets in October, argues for the relevance of anthropological concepts such as ,spheres of exchange', a realm of people, relationships and materials that cuts across market processes and lies beyond the economic vision of Wall Street and Washington, but should be represented in policy-making. Anthropologists have produced many detailed examples of how communities make use of markets within economies. Now, as the world searches for a new system of governance, is the time for anthropologists to make their voices heard. Perhaps a President's Council of Anthropological Advisors might complement the existing Council of Economic Advisors. What better time for such a proposal than the election of a new US president with roots in Hawaii, Kansas, Indonesia and Kenya, whose mother was herself an anthropologist? [source] Front and Back Covers, Volume 24, Number 3.ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY, Issue 3 2008June 200 Front cover and back cover caption, volume 24 issue 3 Front cover Front cover: Front cover In this issue of ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY, Adrian Peace takes a critical look at the way in which neo-evolutionary theories and anthropological concepts are brought together in an award-winning campaign to sell more meat in Australia (his article is debated by four respondents on pp 23,25). Among others adopting a critical perspective, the animal rights movement was outraged at claims made about red meat as a ,natural', ,healthy' and ,essential' part of the average Australian diet. Just as a prominent film star was recruited to the ,Red Meat , Feel Good' campaign, the hugely popular Missy Higgins was deployed to front the response from the animal rights movement. The youthful and fresh-faced Australian singer-songwriter, cuddling the vulnerable white piglet, iconically represents an informed, intelligent and humane vegetarian approach to the future in the relationship between human and non-human animals. Higgins here makes a striking plea for ,enlightenment'. Enlightenment of a different kind is offered by the poster reprinted on the back cover, where an Indian transvestite celebrates the joy of a minority gender identity. Although the rights of both human minorities and non-human animals may be ,universal', they must be rendered in culturally specific terms in order to be politically effective. Back cover Back cover: modern enlightenment in ancient sacred sites ,Be enlightened!' In 2006 ,Shelly Innocence' launched a new phone service in Bodhgaya, Bihar, offering customers the opportunity to receive personal text messages of EnlightenmentÔ on their mobile phones. Large billboards with images of this virtual transgendered guru were erected outside the main temple to advertise the service. Not only is Bodhgaya a site of inspiration for millions of Buddhists around the world, but the seat of enlightenment has also come to mean very different things as this cosmopolitan pilgrimage town goes global. For many decades the state of Bihar, where Bodhgaya is located, has been one of the least attractive destinations for pilgrims, tourists and anthropologists because of its notorious reputation as one of the most impoverished and ,lawless' states in the country. However in recent years the Mahabodhi Temple complex in Bodhgaya has become the object of global attention as a UNESCO World Heritage site, setting in motion a series of initiatives to encourage tourism and city development plans. As a result of new conservation policies and demands on the built environment, the World Heritage designation has become invested with a diverse set of claims and meanings by various stakeholders and religious communities. As a site of dense historical, religious and political significance, Bodhgaya today is a unique locus where spiritual and digital worlds collide in the shade of the bodhi tree. [source] | ||||||||||