1. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. Window on Humanity Conrad Phillip Kottak Third Edition CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology

2. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. Overview Role of the applied anthropologist Development anthropology Applying anthropology –Anthropology and education –Urban anthropology –Medical anthropology –Anthropology and business

3. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Dimensions of American anthropology: –Academic or theoretical anthropology –Applied anthropology Applied anthropology –Application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory, and methods to identify, assess, and solve contemporary social problems –All four subdisciplines

4. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Early applications –Application was a central concern of early anthropology in Great Britain (during colonialism) and in the U.S. (Native American policy) –Modern applied anthropology differs from earlier approaches During World War II, a number of American anthropologists studied Japanese and German culture “at a distance” Malinowski advocated working with the British Empire to study indigenous land tenure Colonial anthropologists faced ethical problems posed by their inability to set or influence policy

5. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Academic and applied anthropology –Academic anthropology expanded after World War II –Students’ interest in anthropology increased during Vietnam War, when many anthropologists protested superpowers’ disregard for “Third World” peoples –Applied anthropology began to grow in the 1970s - many anthropologists found jobs with international organizations, governments, businesses, hospitals, and schools

6. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Applied anthropology today –Applied anthropologists are likely to adopt a local, grassroots perspective in approaching a problem –Appropriate roles for applied anthropologists: Identifying locally perceived needs for change Working with local people to design culturally appropriate, socially sensitive change Protecting interests of local people

7. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Development anthropology –Branch of applied anthropology that focuses on social issues in, and the cultural dimension of, economic development –Development anthropologists help to plan and guide policy –Foreign aid usually does not go where it is most needed –Planners’ interests do not always coincide with the best interests of local people

8. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Development anthropology –Equity Commonly stated goal of recent development policy is to promote equity Increased equity means reduced poverty and a more even distribution of wealth Wealthy and powerful people typically resist projects that threaten their vested interests

9. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Strategies for innovation –To maximize social and economic benefits, development projects must: Be culturally compatible Respond to locally perceived needs Involve men and women in planning and carrying out the changes that affect them Harness traditional organizations Be flexible

10. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Strategies for innovation –Overinnovation – too much change Development projects must avoid overinnovation if they are to be successful People generally resist development projects that require major changes in their daily lives Development projects need to be sensitive to traditional cultures and the specific concerns of people –Underdifferentiation – tendency to overlook cultural diversity and view less-developed countries as more alike than they truly are –Most humane and productive strategy for change is to base the social design for innovation on traditional social forms in each target area

11. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Strategies for innovation –Third World models Best models for economic development are to be found in target communities Realistic development promotes change but not overinnovation, preserving local systems while making them work better Descent groups, with their traditional communalism and corporate solidarity, have important roles to play in economic development

12. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Anthropology and education –Anthropological research in classrooms, homes, and neighborhoods –Recognizes the influence of family, peers, and society on students’ enculturation and attitudes toward education –Highlights the need to accommodate cultural differences in the classroom

13. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Urban anthropology –Cross-cultural and ethnographic study of global urbanization and life in cities –Increasing urbanization worldwide –Cultural diffusion (borrowing) between urban and rural social systems –Applied urban anthropology Most humane and productive strategies for change build upon existing social forms

14. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Medical anthropology –Study of disease, health problems, health care systems, and theories about illness in different cultures and ethnic groups –Academic (theoretical) and applied (practical) dimensions –Includes anthropologists from all subfields –Disease – a scientifically identified health threat –Illness – a condition of poor health perceived or felt by an individual

15. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Medical anthropology –Theories about the causes of illness: Personalistic disease theories – illness caused by agents such as sorcerers, witches, ghosts, or ancestral spirits Naturalistic disease theories – impersonal explanations of illness (e.g., Western biomedicine attributes illness to organisms, accidents, or toxic materials) Emotionalistic disease theories – illness caused by emotional experiences (e.g., susto in Latin America)

16. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Medical anthropology –Health-care systems Beliefs, customs, specialists, and techniques aimed at ensuring health and preventing, diagnosing, and treating illness Health-care systems are universal (all societies have them) –Western vs. non-Western medicine Advantages and disadvantages of Western medicine (biomedicine) Differences between scientific medicine and Western medicine per se “Holistic” perspective of non-Western medicine Applied medical anthropology –Public health programs must take local theories about the nature, causes, and treatment of illness into account

17. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Medical anthropology –Medical anthropologists increasingly examine how new scientific and medical techniques impact ideas about life, death, and personhood

18. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Anthropology and business –Anthropologists’ contributions to business: Study organizational conditions and problems Mediate between executives/managers and workers Observe how consumers with diverse cultural backgrounds choose and use products –For business, key features of anthropology include: Ethnography and observation as ways of gathering data Cross-cultural expertise Focus on cultural diversity

19. © 2008 McGraw-Hill Higher Education. All right reserved. CHAPTER 18 Applying Anthropology Careers and Anthropology –Anthropology’s breadth provides an excellent foundation for many careers –Anthropology majors go into medicine, law, business, and other professions with little explicit connection to anthropology