Anthropology short notes · Paper 1

Demographic theories

11.2 Demographic theories—biological, social and cultural.

Short notes

Demographic theories

Demographic Theories

Definition

Errors in DNA & protein synthesis accumulate → cellular malfunction → ageing.

Thinkers

  • L.H. Morgan (Iroquois, 1840s – though semi-field): British Field Tradition.

Biological

Definition

Errors in DNA & protein synthesis accumulate → cellular malfunction → ageing.

Thinkers

  • E.A. Hoebel: “Anthropology is the study of man and his works.”

Social

Definition

Ageing is also shaped by social expectations, roles, norms, and culture.

Example / case study

  • Herbert Risley: Racial theory of caste; The People of India.
  • Thurston: Castes & Tribes of Southern India.
  • Beginning: Institutionalisation of anthropology (Dept. of Anthropology, Calcutta University – 1920).
  • Nature: Empirical fieldwork, study of social institutions.

Thinkers

  • S.C. Roy (1871–1942) – First Indian Ethnographer

Cultural

Definition

Mysore Tribes & Castes (4 vols.)

Example / case study

  • Chiapas, Mexico — Coca-cola addiction → Diabetes

Thinkers

  • S.C. Roy (1871–1942) – First Indian Ethnographer
  • • Ta-ta theory(E.B Tylor) – imitation of gesture movements