WHAT IS ANTHROPOLOGY?

Anthropology, in the most general sense, refers to the study of people. It can take a variety of forms, including the study of people in the present and of people in the past. There are two ideas that are fundamental to all anthropological work. The first idea is the importance of context. Context includes issues of time, space, unique historical and environmental circumstances, and various culturally specific practices. It is important to all anthropological work because it shapes what we study. People do not live in a vacuum. Instead, they are inseparable from the context in which they live. For example, if an anthropologist were to fully understand you, they would have to consider your age, where you live, your gender, your life experience, your cultural practices, your family, your place in the broader biological world, and many other factors specific and unique to you. Where you live determines the environmental resources available to you, your food, and possibly your cultural practices. Your cultural practices influence the way you view the world and your place in it. Your biology, such as your sex or age, may affect your place in your culture. And your life experiences often tell the story of all of these factors. It would be impossible to understand you without understanding as much as possible about these other contextual issues. This emphasis on context and on how different aspects of a study subject interrelate and influence one another is often called a holistic approach. With a holistic approach, emphasis is placed on seeing the whole picture because anthropology recognizes that numerous factors and contextual issues contribute to what it means to be human.

The second fundamental idea in anthropology is the use of a comparative approach. The comparative approach can take many forms, and anthropological comparisons can be the focus of a research project or only one component of a project. For example, anthropologists often compare different cultural groups, or the same cultural group in different time periods, or people in one region with people in another region, or humans with other species. No matter what anthropologists study, they recognize the importance of considering similarities and differences through comparisons.

Anthropology is a unique field of study because it takes into account how people are shaped by both their biological and their cultural context, and because it explores and compares people in all time periods and geographic regions. Other social sciences, such as psychology and sociology, have minor components of both of these fundamental aspects of anthropology. While many social scientists consider the role of biology and/or culture in human life, most of these disciplines do not emphasize a comparative approach. They study people in the present or people in particular areas of the world. In contrast, anthropological work considers context and employs a broad, comparative perspective.