What are the relevance of anthroplogy?

Question

in tackling problems facing society today?

Answer 1

Anthropology is the study of traditional cultures, mostly tribal and indigenous.  There is biological anthropology which focuses on the evolution of man and his relation to the environment, as well as the impact of his actions.  Archaeology is the study and science of ancient civilizations.  History, religion, ancient cultures and lifestyles are important. I find it truly fascinating that there are kilims from Turkey that go back 9,000 years and that Armenia is an ancient civilization.

The problem in anthropology lies in cultural or social anthropology, which is supposed to focus on research into non-Western cultures.  Sociology was designed for the study of Western industrialized cultures, mainly interested in group interaction and family dynamics.  The division of these studies reflects the inherent differences between Western and non-Western civilizations.  

In social anthropology, the professors claim that they want to eliminate and destroy Western civilization as they feel it was 'created the wrong way' because of their collective guilt over past racism and support for colonialism in anthropology, which I do not condone. As a student, I don't agree with racism and colonialism, but I am also not responsible for past mistakes in Kenya and other countries.  I do not participate in these discussions anymore.

I'd prefer a focus on aboriginal peoples and tribal, communal, traditional cultures rather than the leftist political rhetoric with matriarchal radical feminism and hatred of the West, apparently responsible for every evil in existence.

People pay to study and are not necessarily interested in the New Leftist rhetoric from hippie academics who suffer from a sixties hangover, which all happened before I was born and I see it as a failed period in history that tried to alter our culture in an arbitrary fashion instead of allowing it to develop without interference.  I am not a fan of the fifties, either, but our society is nowhere near this and there is nothing to react to in that sense, at least in Canada, so I suggest these teachers take a good look at the state of Western society before judging but it is up to sociologists to study Western society and critique it, not anthropologists.

If you want to learn about a culture, you must live with the people. In today's globalized world, there are positive and negative influences that people have a right to pick from.  They also have rights to their culture, land, identity, personal freedom and national self-determination.  It is pointless to compare Japanese culture to Turkish culture and then broadly compare them to Western culture.  I'd rather read a good book on Japanese culture like "The Lotus and the Sword" or some work by Margaret Mead on Samoa than be told how to think or what to compare.

Answer 2

Anthropology can help us understand other cultures for the purpose of establishing common ground so we don't end up treating the others like demons, animals, or martians.  It can help us not offend each other by making us aware of differing systems of communication.  It can also help us understand our own culture through comparison with others.

Answer 3

it's not...anthropology can help us understand the indigenous cultures of places where we want to impose our "takers" culture. the ancient wisdom that the old ones have is there for those who understand