APPLYING ANTHROPOLOGY Chapter 3

Early Applied Anthropology Practical Anthropology Branislaw Malinowski Westernization Legitimizing colonialism World War II Predicting Behavior AAA Objections Vietnam 1970s Return to Academic Anthropology

Applied Anthropology Today More than half of Anthropology PhDs will pursue careers outside the classroom Exceedingly different from colonial anthropology Assisting the local, indigenous, or disenfranchised Not all “clients” are poor or helpless Cultural resource management Market researcher Ethical dilemmas

Developmental Anthropology Examining the sociocultural factors surrounding economic development International development and aid Plan and follow through with policy Ethics Where do funds go? Planner's interests vs those of the people Increased Equity Reducing poverty and distributing wealth Common goal for developmental anthropologists Negative equity Wealth gap widens Often unintended side effect

Strategies for Innovation Working with locals Sorting out the needs of different groups in the same region Avoid overinnovation, or too much change Locals generally want just enough change to improve their lives Guaranteeing crop productivity Amassing resources Paying taxes Getting kids through school

Underdifferentiation The fallacy that under-developed societies function similar, irrespective of cultural differences Planners should avoid blanket solutions and abandon universal approaches to development Rural development plans The First World Model Individual production by individuals or a family Nuclear family and extended family The Cooperative Model Only successful where cultural patterns of communal institutions already exist The Indigenous Model Most governments cannot or do not provide for improving the lives of all citizens Government as agency Precolonial Madagascar example When elites rule, elites prosper

Anthropology and Education Focus on process of enculturation Classrooms Homes Communities Helps us to unravel common misconceptions in educational practices, beliefs, and standards

Urban Anthropology Ethnographic study of cities and urban life Inherently cross-cultural Global capitalism and colonialism Mass media Shapes life in cities Draws rural dwellers to cities Locals and International migrants More than half the world lives in cities 3% in % by 2050

Urban vs Rural Urban Less personal More independent invention to solve urban problems Rural More personal, face to face Cultural innovations spread from the cities Cultural diffusion Migrant workers take information and practices to and from urban centers Applied Urban Anthropology – assisting with legal or social services, generally for which migrant or indigenous people are unfamiliar

Medical Anthropology Unique in that it often encompasses all four fields of anthropology Examine questions of disease and health, and why or how the effect particular populations How are illnesses diagnosed, managed, and treated Disease – an identified health threat, generally caused by bacteria, a virus, parasite, or other pathogen Illness – a condition felt by an individual Perceptions of what marks good and bad health are social constructs Big or Small - Healthy or Unhealthy Disease patterns often vary culturally Biological and Social reasoning Health standards

Medical Anthropology (cont’d) Colonialism New diseases Servitude Hunter-gatherers (foragers) Small size Generally lack epidemic Malaria as a direct result of population growth Obesity Result of economic shift HIV/AIDS Africa and Haiti Truck routes and migrant work communities Prostitution Views on Health Naturalistic Biomedicine Balanced bodies (Hot and Cold) Emotionalism Emotional experiences

Medical Anthropology (cont’d) All societies have methodologies of health care Health-Care System - Beliefs, customs, and specialists concerned with preventing, treating, and curing illnesses Curer - the one who diagnoses and treats illness Cultural process of curer selection Inheritance Education Scientific Medicine – health care system based on scientific knowledge Distinction from “western medicine” Prescriptions and antibiotics Industrialization Pros and Cons to health New ideas alter or beliefs about life and death Personhood debate

Anthropology and Business Ethnographic research in a business setting Different employment levels as different social classes Microenculturation – learning behavior in a limited social system Importance of anthropological work to business 1 – ethnography as a way of gathering useful data 2 – a focus on diversity 3 – cross cultural expertise