Social anthropology

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Social anthropology is the dominant constituent of anthropology throughout the United Kingdom and Commonwealth and much of Europe (France in particular), [1] where it is distinguished from cultural anthropology. [2] In the United States, social anthropology is commonly subsumed within cultural anthropology (or under the relatively new designation of sociocultural anthropology).[ citation needed ]

United Kingdom Country in Europe


France Republic with majority of territory in Europe and numerous oversea territories around the world


Cultural anthropology Branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans

Cultural anthropology is a branch of anthropology focused on the study of cultural variation among humans. It is in contrast to social anthropology, which perceives cultural variation as a subset of the anthropological constant.


In contrast to cultural anthropology, culture and its continuity (including narratives, rituals, and symbolic behavior associated with them) have been traditionally seen more as the dependent "variable" (cf. explanandum ) by social anthropology, embedded in its historical and social context, including its diversity of positions and perspectives, ambiguities, conflicts, and contradictions of social life, rather than the independent (explanatory) one (cf. explanans ).

A narrative or story is an account of a series of related events, experiences, or the like, whether true or fictitious. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, which is derived from the adjective gnarus. Along with exposition, argumentation and description, narration, broadly defined, is one of four rhetorical modes of discourse. More narrowly defined, it is the fiction-writing mode in which the narrator communicates directly to the reader.

Ritual set of actions, performed mainly for their symbolic value




Convention (norm) set of agreed, stipulated, or generally accepted standards




Politics is a set of activities associated with the governance of a country or an area. It involves making decisions that apply to members of a group.



Qualitative research scientific method of observation to gather non-numerical data

Qualitative research is a scientific method of observation to gather non-numerical data. This type of research "refers to the meanings, concepts definitions, characteristics, metaphors, symbols, and description of things" and not to their "counts or measures". This research answers why and how a certain phenomenon may occur rather than how often. Qualitative research approaches are employed across many academic disciplines, focusing particularly on the human elements of the social and natural sciences; in less academic contexts, areas of application include qualitative market research, business, service demonstrations by non-profits, and journalism.

Participant observation is one type of data collection method typically used in qualitative research and ethnography. It is a widely used methodology in many disciplines, particularly cultural anthropology, European ethnology, sociology, communication studies, human geography and social psychology. Its aim is to gain a close and intimate familiarity with a given group of individuals and their practices through an intensive involvement with people in their cultural environment, usually over an extended period of time.


Substantive focus and practice


Holism is the idea that systems and their properties should be viewed as wholes, not just as a collection of parts.

Sociology Scientific study of human society and its origins, development, organizations, and institutions

Sociology is the study of society, patterns of social relationships, social interaction and culture of everyday life using the principles of psychology neuroscience and network science. It is a social science that uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order, acceptance, and change or social evolution. While some sociologists conduct research that may be applied directly to social policy and welfare, others focus primarily on refining the theoretical understanding of social processes. Subject matter ranges from the micro-sociology level of individual agency and interaction to the macro level of systems and the social structure.

Demography The science that deals with populations and their structures statistically and theoretically

Demography is the statistical study of populations, especially human beings.



More recent and currently cognitive development; social and ethical understandings of novel technologies; emergent forms of "the family" and other new socialities modelled on kinship; the ongoing social fall-out of the demise of state socialism; the politics of resurgent religiosity; and analysis of audit cultures and accountability.


Ethical considerations

The subject has both ethical and reflexive dimensions. Practitioners have developed an awareness of the sense in which scholars create their objects of study and the ways in which anthropologists themselves may contribute to processes of change in the societies they study. An example of this is the "hawthorne effect", whereby those being studied may alter their behaviour in response to the knowledge that they are being watched and studied.



The British Museum, London British Museum from NE 2.JPG
The British Museum, London


Anthropology grew increasingly distinct from natural history and by the end of the 19th century the discipline began to crystallize into its modern form - by 1935, for example, it was possible for T.K. Penniman to write a history of the discipline entitled A Hundred Years of Anthropology. At the time, the field was dominated by "the comparative method". It was assumed that all societies passed through a single evolutionary process from the most primitive to most advanced. Non-European societies were thus seen as evolutionary "living fossils" that could be studied in order to understand the European past. Scholars wrote histories of prehistoric migrations which were sometimes valuable but often also fanciful. It was during this time that Europeans first accurately traced Polynesian migrations across the Pacific Ocean for instance - although some of them believed it originated in Egypt. Finally, the concept of race was actively discussed as a way to classify - and rank - human beings based on difference.

Tylor and Frazer

E.B. Tylor, 19th-century British anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor.jpg
E.B. Tylor, 19th-century British anthropologist





Malinowski and the British School

Bronislaw Malinowski, Anthropologist at the London School of Economics Bronislawmalinowski.jpg
Bronislaw Malinowski, Anthropologist at the London School of Economics





The main LSE entrance LSE main entrance.jpg
The main LSE entrance


Alfred R. Radcliffe-Brown Alfred Radcliffe-Brown.jpg
Alfred R. Radcliffe-Brown



Post-World War II trends





1980s to present



Anthropologists associated with social anthropology

See also


  1. Dianteill, Erwan, "Cultural Anthropology or Social Anthropology? A Transatlantic Argument", L’Année sociologique 1/2012 (Vol. 62), p. 93-122 Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine .
  2. "Benchmark Statement Anthropology (UK)" (PDF). QAA (UK). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2013-09-21. Retrieved 2012-01-09.
  3. "The Department of Anthropology at Harvard University". Archived from the original on 2011-04-08. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
  6. "Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology". Archived from the original on 2012-02-24.
  7. "School of Anthropology and Conservation". Archived from the original on 2012-02-14.
  8. Bernard, R. 2006. Research Methods in Anthropology. Lanham: Alta Mira Press
  11. Kuper, Adam (1973). Anthropology and Anthropologists: The Modern British School. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 14–16. ISBN   0-7100-9409-4. Archived from the original on 2018-04-29.
  13. Stocking, George Jir. (1963) "Matthew Arnold, E. B. Tylor, and the Uses of Invention," American Anthropologist, 65:783-799, 1963 Archived 2007-12-02 at the Wayback Machine
  18. Jack Goody (1995) The Expansive Moment: The Rise of Social Anthropology in Britain and Africa, 1918-1970 Archived 2007-11-06 at the Wayback Machine review at JSTOR   646577
  22. "Welcome to Association of Social Anthropologists of the UK and Commonwealth". Archived from the original on 2011-04-08. Retrieved 2011-03-27.
  25. Alan, Macfarlane, (7 March 2006). "Interview of Mary Douglas". Archived from the original on 12 October 2016. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  26. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-06-07. Retrieved 2007-04-12.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) Rosemary Firth interview by Alan Macfarlane: about her arrival in anthropology and fieldwork in Malaya with Raymond Firth, and about the position of a woman anthropologist.
  27. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-08-10. Retrieved 2007-04-12.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link) Eight lectures for first-year Cambridge University students in February 2006. Introducing some of the major approaches to the anthropology of politics and economics.

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Bronisław Malinowski Polish anthropologist and ethnographer based in England and the USA

Bronisław Kasper Malinowski was an anthropologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research were a lasting influence on the discipline of anthropology.

Edward Burnett Tylor English anthropologist

Sir Edward Burnett Tylor was an English anthropologist, the founder of cultural anthropology.

Cross-cultural studies, sometimes called holocultural studies or comparative studies, is a specialization in anthropology and sister sciences that uses field data from many societies to examine the scope of human behavior and test hypotheses about human behavior and culture.

Alfred Radcliffe-Brown British anthropologist

Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown, FBA was an English social anthropologist who developed the theory of structural functionalism and coadaptation.


In the social science fields of anthropology, sociology, history, religious studies, human-centered design and organizational development, a thick description results from a scientific observation of any particular human behavior that describes not just the behavior, but its context as well, so that the behavior can be better understood by an outsider. A thick description typically adds a record of subjective explanations and meanings provided by the people engaged in the behaviors, making the collected data of greater value for studies by other social scientists.

Hortense Powdermaker

Hortense Powdermaker was an American anthropologist best known for her ethnographic studies of African Americans in rural America and of Hollywood.


Meyer Fortes was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana.

Sir Edmund Ronald Leach was a British social anthropologist.

Legal anthropology, also known as the anthropology of laws, is a sub-discipline of anthropology which specializes in "the cross-cultural study of social ordering". The questions that Legal Anthropologists seek to answer concern how is law present in cultures? How does it manifest? How may anthropologists contribute to understandings of law?

Ward Hunt Goodenough was an American anthropologist, who has made contributions to kinship studies, linguistic anthropology, cross-cultural studies, and cognitive anthropology.

<i>Argonauts of the Western Pacific</i> book by Bronisław Malinowski


Theories about religions metatheories of religion in the social sciences

Sociological and anthropological theories about religion generally attempt to explain the origin and function of religion. These theories define what they present as universal characteristics of religious belief and practice.

This bibliography of anthropology lists some notable publications in the field of anthropology, including its various subfields. It is not comprehensive and continues to be developed. It also includes a number of works that are not by anthropologists but are relevant to the field, such as literary theory, sociology, psychology, and philosophical anthropology.

Annette Barbara Weiner née Cohen was an American anthropologist, Kriser Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at New York University. She was known for her ethnographic work in the Trobriand Islands and her development of the concept of inalienable wealth in social anthropological theory.


Further reading