Lecture 2 Flashcards
what is the role of anthropologists
interpreters
what is the goal of anthropologists
to understand the diversity of human life
what was the foundation of the discipline in 19th century
to explain humanity through the comparatives study of different societies
associated with a movement to bring people to an understanding of pre-civilization
helped to inform understanding of what it was to be human
what was a criticism of anthropology in the 19th century
the fact that they were relying on reports from officers and such to understand society raised questions as to how it could be scientific
what are the methods of anthropology
ethnography and participant observation are examples of methods to collect data
what did anthropologists study with regard to legal structures
how they resolved disputes
what is participant observation
participant observation; typically 16 months (to get a feel for language and customs, etc)
who started participant observation
Malanouski
what was the problem of participant observation
problem is that the participant could have bias (most likely did, as the societies could have been colonized or whatever by the participant observing’s people)
what did legal anthropologists do to begin with
the colonial power was a source of corruption of the societies that they were making efforts to describe
the societies were disappearing
had to be aware that the colonial power was there but not make it part of the description
so they described the societies that they were trying to develop a sophisticated awareness of without so much including the colonial presence
this didn’t last long
what did anthropologists do with regard to law
law was a problem of what people were doing and what the systems of resolution were; interpreted by the anthropologist
when did the job description of legal anthropologists change
1970-70s
what did the legal anthropologist’s job description change to
when anthropologists were called to critique the colonial power, in the 1970-70s, that is when there job description changed
they started to bring attention to the colonial power itself and analyze it
they saw marginalization and other negatives of colonial powers, they saw it as destruction
they explored the daily lives of people who were subjected to that power
the critique of power relations in anthropology became central to what anthropology was
what is relativist and how did it relate to anthropology
Relativism; key factor in anthropology and studying people
the people’s interpretation of religious tellings
concerning human differences
engage with the people without bias/judgement
how was legal anthropology made possible
legal anthropology made possible by the post-colonial era
