Month: February 2025

• Structuralism: A theoretical perspective developed by Claude Lévi-Strauss, which argues that human culture is shaped by underlying structures such as language, myths, and kinship.

• Functionalism: A theory that views cultural elements as serving specific roles in maintaining social stability, as proposed by Bronisław Malinowski and A.R. Radcliffe-Brown.

• Historical Particularism: Franz Boas’ approach that emphasized studying each culture in its own historical and environmental context rather than assuming universal stages of development.

• Diffusionism: The theory that cultural traits spread from one society to another through contact and migration rather than independent invention.

• Multilinear Evolution: A later concept that suggests societies evolve in different ways depending on their environmental, social, and historical contexts.

• Unilinear Evolution: The idea that all societies follow a single path of development, often classified as savagery, barbarism, and civilization (as proposed by early theorists like Lewis Henry Morgan).

• Evolutionism: An early anthropological theory suggesting that societies progress through linear stages from primitive to advanced civilization.

• Anthropological Thought: The development of theoretical perspectives and methodologies used to study human societies and cultures over time.

Anthropology and Human Rights: The responsibility of anthropologists to advocate for the rights and well-being of marginalized or vulnerable groups.