Presented by: Miqdad SibtainBS Social Sciences Section B

Instructor: Sohail Muhammad Ali

Types of Anthropologies

•Symbolic anthropology•Cultural anthropology•Biological anthropology•Masculine anthropology•Feminine anthropology•Interpretative anthropology•Physical anthropology•Psychological anthropology•Forensic anthropology•Social anthropology

Basic PremisesSymbolic AnthropologyAn area of Cultural anthropologysymbolic system that arises

primarily from human interpretations of the world

Continuation….Furthermore there are two major

premises governing symbolic Anthropology:

Basic Premises: The ways in which people understand and interpret their surroundings as well as the actions and utterances of the other members of their society

The second major premise is that actions are guided by interpretation.

CultureGeertz believes that an analysis of

culture should "not (be) an experimental science in search of law but an interpretive one in search of meaning".

Principal Concepts of CultureThick Description was a term which

was originally borrowed by Clifford Geertz from a renowned anthropologist Gilbert Ryle to describe and define the aim of interpretative anthropology.

Social Anthropology is based on ethnography or the study of culture.

In order to understand culture, it is very important to understand symbols that guide social behavior.

By analyzing culture, one develops a thick description of culture.

3 characteristics of thick descriptionInterpretative

Interpretative consists of taking the said and changing it into things that can be studied.

Microscopic

(A twitch and a wink can look exactly the same, but have completely different intents)

Object of Thick Description“Stratified hierarchy of meaningful

structures” thin description – what you can observe thick description – the meaning behind the

action.

Examples of Thick DescriptionWhy do Muslims condemn the eating of pork,

ham or any other foods related to pigs swine?

Why do Muslims condemn drinking when a hardcore drinker can stand upright or behave normally(according to the social circle) even if he is 5 pegs down?

Why do male teachers usually act cheeky with female students?

Sources and References:en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_scienceswww.ssrc.orgvlib.org/SocialSciences www.doaj.org/doaj?func=subject&cpid=88www.doaj.org/doaj?

func=subject&cpid=87 Ssrn.comNotes and HandoutsClass Lectures

SAY

To Social Sciences… Warning: It causes mental disorder

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