Author: iamdefinitory

Ecological Anthropology: A subfield that examines how human cultures adapt to and interact with their environment.

Feminist Anthropology: A theoretical approach that critiques male-dominated perspectives in anthropology and highlights the roles and experiences of women in different cultures.

Neo-Evolutionism: A revised version of evolutionism that incorporates ecological and technological factors in explaining cultural development, as seen in the works of Leslie White and Julian Steward.

Postmodernism in Anthropology: A critical perspective that challenges objective knowledge, emphasizing subjectivity, power dynamics, and the role of the researcher in constructing cultural narratives.

Symbolic and Interpretive Anthropology: A perspective focusing on how people create and interpret symbols to give meaning to their world, associated with Clifford Geertz.

Cultural Materialism: Marvin Harris’ theory that material conditions, such as economic and environmental factors, shape cultural practices and societal development.

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.