Applied Anthropology

Question 1

What types of anthropology is this?

Answer 1

• Problem oriented research: A type of anthropological research designed to solve a particular societal problem
• applied anthropology is the application of anthropological knowledge, concepts, theories, and methods to the solution of specific problems. Some applied anthropologists also have further specializations that they acquired in graduate school while completing advanced degrees.

Question 1

Ethnographic vs Applied Anthropology

Answer 1

Ethnographic Anthropology
Primary objective: To investigate questions and describe ethnographic reality
Research methods: Participant observation and interviewing
Time frame: A year or longer
Collaboration: Usually work individually

Applied Anthropology Primary objective	: To help solve societal problems Research methods: Rapid ethnographic assessment Time frame: Several weeks to several months Collaboration: Usually work as a member of a team

Question 2

The Anthropological Perspective

Answer 2

• The way anthropologists look at and understand peoples and cultures; that is, holistically, relativistically, naturalistically, comparatively, globally, bio-culturally, and reflexively.
• holistically
  
  • Anthropologists try to see the larger picture and how one aspect of life connects with others. They are thus good at seeing complexity. For example, if an anthropologist is concerned with agricultural practices, he or she would also look at the influence of political policies, family structure, religious beliefs, and so on.
• Relativistically
  
  • All behaviour takes place within a particular social and cultural context, and can best be understood from within that context. Anthropologists thus attempt to see things from the other’s point of view, which is usually different from our own. We want to know the historical and environmental context of the culture, the values and attitudes the people have, what motivates them, what things mean to them, and consequently why they behave the way they do. Once anthropologists know this, they are in a much better position to provide culturally relevant programs.
• Naturalistically
  
  • Connected with the idea of relativism is the practice of studying people in their natural settings. These settings include hospitals, businesses, local villages, agricultural fields, and so on. This is the essence of ethnographic fieldwork and allows anthropologists to see how people actually interact with one another and use things, and to question them about their thoughts and attitudes.
• Comparatively
  
  • By looking at how behaviours and attitudes vary from one society to another, we can find general patterns and understand why differences exist, and we can suggest why one approach may work in one culture and not another.
• Globally
  
  • Anthropologists are interested in cultures everywhere and are particularly interested in how global forces impact local cultures, and how those local cultures adapt to these forces. With this approach anthropologists are better able to understand how any proposed change may impact a culture.
• Bio-culturally
  
  • Anthropologists recognize that there is a relationship between human biology and culture, and that cultural practices may affect biology. For example, cultures without a history of raising cattle tend to have a higher incidence of lactose intolerance, or an inability to drink milk.
• Reflexively
  
  • Anthropologists are also aware that their gender, race, or social position may influence not only the data they gather, but also how it is applied. For instance, a female anthropologist may find it easier to provide assistance to children than a male anthropologist might.

Question 3

Basic vs Applies vs Practice

Answer 3

• Basic research is oriented toward asking and answering questions that are tied to building knowledge within the discipline
• Applied anthropologists tend to work with community members on research projects focused on solving local issues or problems, or they work as consultants for GOs and NGOs
• Practice anthropologists work in the private or public sector (e.g., Genevieve Bell at Intel labs – page 49 and 50)

Question 4

This isn’t just a new approach

Answer 4

• In 1927 Mair joined the London School of Economics in the Department of International Relations
• Under Malinowski, conducted fieldwork in Uganda; first studies focused on social change
• Concerned with public affairs, including the processes of colonization, land tenure and minority rights
• The Lucy Mair Medal & Marsh Prize for Applied Anthropology is awarded annually by the Royal Anthropological Institute

Question 5

Applying the Anthropological Perspective

Answer 5

• The work of applied anthropology involves (to varying degrees) three major products: information, policy, and action.
• We use methods and theories to get information
• We use the information to build policy
• We use the policy as a guide to craft a plan of action or intervention

Question 6

Examples of Applied Anthropology

Answer 6

• Medical Anthropology (not always applied)
• Business Anthropology
• Development Anthropology
• Environmental Anthropology (not always applied)
• Educational Anthropology (not always applied)

Question 7

Medical Anthropology

Answer 7

• The text features ideas that need considerable qualification and suggests a lack of familiarity with biomedical practitioners
• All cultures have also developed particular institutions and traditions to promote health, and when people become sick they turn to their medical system for help.
  
  • etiology: ideas about the causes of disease
• The text does point out a number of important features of societies when it comes to health and sickness
  
  • Medical system, etiology, biomedical model, medical pluralism, disease-illness distinction
• The text also illustrates the role that medical anthropologists can play to understand and help people solve problems related to health and sickness
  
  • Warry’s work with First Nations group in Canada
  • Kuru among the South Fore – Shirley Lindenbaum
• biomedical model: The primary Western medical system in which disease is thought to be due to genetics or infection that affects the biology of the body, and where diagnosis and treatment are performed by highly trained specialists.
• medical pluralism: A situation in which more than one medical system co-exist., some socities have more than one medical system.
• One of the distinctions that medical anthropologists make is between disease and illness:
  
  • Disease is a biomedical concept and considers the pathogen, such as a virus or bacterium, and the body’s response to it.
  • Illness, on the other hand, is a sociocultural concept and relates to a person’s perception and experience of being sick, the community’s understanding of disease, and the social value associated with being sick.
• Medical anthropology is concerned primarily with comparing the ways societies conceive of and deal with disease, illness, and health, as well as the relationship between patients and healers, and between ill people and others in the family and society.
• Medical anthropologists are also interested in the complex relationships between culture, economics, politics, disease, the environment, and biocultural adaptation.
• Consequently, they also investigate the role of demographics, government policies, genetics, and epidemiology, which looks at the causes and patterns of disease transmission in populations. In other words, medical anthropologists are concerned with the context and experience of illness and health.
• applied medical anthropology: The application of anthropological theories, concepts, and methods in the study of health, illness, and healing to improve the well-being of people everywhere.

Question 8

Business Anthropology

Answer 8

• business anthropology The application of anthropological concepts and methods to help businesses and other organizations improve productivity through understanding and managing culture.
• Four areas of impact
  
  • New product development
    
    • rapid ethnographic assessment by Susan Squires at the North American breakfast table Understanding and managing corporate culture
      
      • Based on her ethnographic research—which determined actual eating patterns rather than asking people what they had for breakfast—Squires developed a new breakfast food product designed for the two-parent, working family on the go called Go-Gurt (known as Yoplait Tubes in Canada).
    • Internal relations, recruitment, mergers and acquisitions
    • Many companies now hire anthropologists or consulting firms to participate in peoples’ daily activities, observe their behaviour as it happens, and use unstructured interviews to gain deeper insights into their customers’ needs and ideas, and to develop successful new products and improve existing ones.
  • Corporate culture
    
    • corporate or organizational culture: Everything people have, think, and do as members of a company or an organization.
    • An organization’s culture can work for or against the strategic goals of the company.
    • Culture also plays a role in the recruitment process.
    • Culture also plays a role in mergers and acquisitions. Since companies have different cultures, when one merges or acquires another the two cultures may clash.
  • Consumers
    
    • Human behaviour, including consumption behaviour, takes place within a particular cultural context and, as Gail Tom reminds us, “to successfully serve the customers in your target market, you must first understand reality as your target market perceives it” (Tom 2001, 1).
    • In other words, businesses need to understand the cultural lens through which consumers assess a company’s brands, and the way they make their purchases.
    • For instance, when the first McDonald’s franchise opened in Hong Kong in 1975 people flocked to the restaurant, not because the food was different or any better but because to be seen going into McDonald’s meant that you were Western and modern
      
      • McDonalds in Hong Kong – being Western more so than getting good food
  • Conducting business internationally
    
    • recontextualized products: Products or brands that take on new meanings and uses in different cultures.
    • Recontextualisation – Whirlpool, coloured refrigerators in living rooms in India
      
      • For instance, in India refrigerators are a sign of status and many people place them in their living rooms. To accommodate this, Whirlpool produces them in bright colours to suit local taste and culture.
    • People interpret products and services, as well as marketing communications, through their own cultural lens. Thus, when products and brands enter a different culture they often take on different uses or meanings.

Question 9

Development Anthropology

Answer 9

• Work involving international development and international aid often done in multidisciplinary teams
• Development anthropology takes international development and international aid as its primary focus.
• Within this specialization, the term development refers to the social action made by different institutions, business enterprises, states, and independent volunteers that are trying to improve the economic, technical, political, and social life of people throughout the world, especially in impoverished areas.
• Focus on improving economic well-being, alleviate poverty, improve health outcomes
• Anthropologists carry out work both at home and abroad with major financial or governmental agencies, or NGOs

Question 10

Environmental Anthropology

Answer 10

• Human-environment interaction/relationship
  
  • Everywhere, humans have changed their environment and in turn have been changed by it and adapted to it.
• Drawing on political ecology (discussed in Chapter 4), this perspective integrates culture, politics and power, globalization, localized issues, and more.
• Environmental anthropologists thus look at economic activities, social practices, and political policies, on the environment, as well as the impact of the environment on health, and cultural practices.
• Often materialist theories – political economy or political ecology, but also anthro of science
• The focus and data interpretation are often used for arguments for and against the creation of policy, and to prevent exploitation and damage of land, water, and forested areas.
• They are also concerned with peoples’ consciousness of their environment, and how this leads to environmental change both locally and globally.
• The goal of environmental anthropologists is to help solve human-environmental problems and develop healthy sustainable communities.
• Help solve human-environment problems and develop healthy sustainable communities
• Eg., Andreatta’s research in the mid 1990s on agrichemical use and its impact on the health of farmers and the land in the West Indies
  
  • Andreatta found that the increased use of chemical biocides was driven by a number of factors: a world marketplace demanding blemish-free fruits and vegetables, international chemical companies wishing to expand their markets into developing countries, growers interested in producing the most marketable produce possible, and a lack of government control of the importation and use of potentially dangerous chemical biocides.
  • Andreatta also discovered that the continued use and misuse of agrochemicals over the decades has had harmful consequences for the health of local producers as well as the quality of their physical environments.
  • After documenting the risks of agrochemicals on both human and environmental health, Andreatta offered some useful suggestions to help ameliorate some of the more negative consequences of using agrochemicals.

Question 11

Educational Anthropology

Answer 11

• educational anthropology: The application of anthropological concepts and methods to the study of educational institutions and processes.
• Educational institutions are vehicles of enculturation.
• Cultural factors also influence the process of schooling, teaching, and learning.
• Working with parents, teachers, administrators, and policy makers to facilitate effective and appropriate instruction, and helping students acclimate and move through the system

Question 12

Career Opportunities in Anthropology

Answer 12

• If you’re looking for a job after getting a BA or BSc in anthropology, you won’t see postings calling for a “cross cultural expert” or an “applied anthropologist”
• Anthropology is the only academic discipline that approaches human experience from historical, biological, linguistic, and cultural perspectives
• More and more, anthropologists (people with PhDs) are working outside the academy, and there is a “trickle down” effect, people with Masters and Bachelors degrees in anthropology in non-academic and/or private sectors

Question 13

Conclusion

Answer 13

• Applied anthropology uses the anthropological perspective to collect information, inform policy, craft action
• My own take: advocacy vs activism
• It is one thing to point out the potential uses of anthropological information, and it is quite another to actually apply that information to make a difference in public policy and the quality of people’s lives.