3 C H A P T E R Applying Anthropology 3-1

APPLYING ANTHROPOLOGY The Role of the Applied Anthropologist Development Anthropology Strategies for Innovation Anthropology and Education Urban Anthropology Medical Anthropology Anthropology and Business Careers and Anthropology 2

APPLYING ANTHROPOLOGY How can change be bad? How can anthropology be applied to medicine, education, and business? How can the study of anthropology fit into a career path?

RECAP 3.1: The Four Subfields and Two Dimensions of Anthropology 4

THE ROLE OF THE APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGIST Early application: Application was central concern of early anthropology in Great Britain and U.S. Connection between early anthropology and colonialism Use of anthropology during WWII Study “culture at a distance”

ACADEMIC AND APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY Academic anthropology grew most after World War II During 50s and 60s most American anthropologists were college professors During the 70s and 80s, some anthropologists found jobs with international organizations, government, business, hospitals, and schools

APPLIED ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY Modern anthropology usually seen as helping profession Speak up for disenfranchised Highly qualified to suggest, plan, and implement policies affecting people Identifying needs for change that local people perceive Working with those people to design culturally appropriate and socially sensitive change Protecting local people from harmful policies

DEVELOPMENT ANTHROPOLOGY Branch of applied anthropology that focuses on social issues in, and the cultural dimension of, economic development Ethical dilemmas often confront development anthropologists

EQUITY Commonly stated goal of recent development policy is to promote equity Increased equity: means reduced poverty and more even distribution of wealth

STRATEGIES FOR INNOVATION Development anthropology can help sort needs of people and fit projects accordingly Projects that put people first Ensure socially compatible ways to implement

OVERINNOVATION Avoid overinnovation: trying to achieve too much change Projects that fail are usually ones that are economically and culturally incompatible

UNDERDIFFERENTIATION Avoid underdifferentiation: tendency to view so-called less-developed countries as being more alike than they are Ignoring cultural diversity, contrasts Adoption of uniform approach to deal with different sets of people

ANTHROPOLOGY AND EDUCATION Research extends from classrooms into homes and neighborhoods View children as cultural creatures whose enculturation and attitudes toward education belong to a context that includes family and peers Sociolinguists and cultural anthropologists work side by side

URBAN ANTHROPOLOGY Cross-cultural and ethnographic study of urbanization and life in cities Proportion of world’s population living in cities has increased since the Industrial Revolution

URBAN VERSUS RURAL Robert Redfield: contrasted rural and urban contexts in 1940s Urban and rural represent different social systems Applying anthropology to urban planning starts by identifying the key social groups in urban contexts

MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Comparative, biocultural study of disease, health problems, and health care systems Examines which diseases and health conditions affect a particular population, and why Determines how illness is socially constructed, diagnosed, managed, and treated in various societies

MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Disease: scientifically identified health threat caused by a bacterium, virus, fungus, parasite, or other pathogen Illness: condition of poor health perceived or felt by an individual Ethnic groups and cultures may recognize different illnesses, symptoms, and causes and have developed different health care systems and treatment strategies

MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Health standards are cultural constructions that vary in time and space Personalistic disease theories: illness blamed on such agents as sorcerers, witches, ghosts, or ancestral spirits Naturalistic disease theories: illness explained in impersonal terms Emotionalistic disease theories: illness blamed on emotional experiences (susto)

MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Health care systems: beliefs, customs, specialists, and techniques aimed at ensuring health and diagnosing and curing illness Curer: one who diagnoses and treats illness; often a shaman Scientific medicine: based on scientific knowledge and procedures

MEDICAL ANTHROPOLOGY Western medicine Industrialization and globalization spawned own health problems In U.S., good health an ethical imperative More personal treatment of illness might benefit Western systems Medical anthropology considers impact on ideas about life, death, and personhood

ANTHROPOLOGY AND BUSINESS Anthropologists may acquire unique perspective on organizational conditions and problems Ethnography and observation Focus on cultural diversity Cross-cultural expertise

CAREERS AND ANTHROPOLOGY Anthropology’s breadth provides knowledge and an outlook that are useful in many kinds of work Breadth is anthropology’s hallmark Knowledge about traditions and beliefs of social groups within a modern nation is important in planning and carrying out programs that affect those groups 22