Short notes
Emergence, growth and development of Anthropology in India
4. Emergence
Definition
Hence, Anthropology literally means “Study of Human Beings.”
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
- E.A. Hoebel: “Anthropology is the study of man and his works.”
Growth
Definition
Word “Casta” → Portuguese → means race/lineage.
Example / case study
- over-consumption of resources → karma teaches restraint.
Development Of Anthropology In India
Definition
Hence, Anthropology literally means “Study of Human Beings.”
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
- E.A. Hoebel: “Anthropology is the study of man and his works.”
Contributions Of The 18Th, 19Th And Early 20Th Century Scholar-Administrators. C
Definition
It examines humans as biological organisms.
Thinkers
- Radcliffe-Brown: Used genealogies to reconstruct descent groups and social structure in Africa.
- Malinowski: Used them to understand kinship and land inheritance among the Trobriand Islanders.
- Claude Lévi-Strauss: Used genealogical/kinship data to develop Alliance Theory, focusing on marriage and exchange between lineages.
- India: S.C. Roy documented Oraon genealogies; Irawati Karve used genealogical mapping to study village kinship and exogamy in Maharashtra.
- Cultural Materialism: Marvin Harris argued that the primary driver of culture is the material constraints of existence, organized into a hierarchy of Infrastructure, Structure, and Superstructure.