Prove It: Anthropological Theory

This website is designed to be a place where anthropological enthusiasts and others can engage in discussions about anthropology and anthropological theory by pitting classical anthropologists and their respective theories up against each another. Discuss theory, post pictures, squabble respectively (i.e. agree to disagree), and engage in anthropological ideas and critical thought!

Boas doing his thing

Boas doing his thing
Kroeber: "WHERE'S THE THEORY??"

This week's debate: Boas vs. Kroeber:

Debate Beginnings

Franz Boas entered the anthropological scene at a time where anthropology was beginning to gain momentum as an exciting new field and it offered an opportunity to get some idea of the dynamics of culture, its growth, development, adaptation and the way they spread, etc… all of which would be fundamental to understanding our own culture and our own way of life. This kind of research was innovative and pioneering, and it offered very exciting prospects of knowledge and understanding.


Kroeber, on the other hand, is all business

Kroeber, on the other hand, is all business
Kroeber criticized Boas for the lack of theory to make sense of all the data he collected. Kroeber wanted to reconstruct history to find out why cultures are the way they are. Which of Kroeber's theories and methods respond to his own criticism of Boas’ methods? Does Kroeber succeed in interrogating concrete cultural phenomena, cultural configurations and area, and lastly patterns of culture to respond to the original criticism he voiced against Boas? With this in mind, is Boas still relevant?

Thursday, March 4, 2010

example post

Boas was the first white social anthropologist to remove race as a determinant from concepts of human sociology and to rather explore the thoughts, feelings and activities of tribes and peoples once considered inferior. Boas used his science to explain and challenge the assumptions of culture superiority and social evolution. Maybe Kroeber was right to criticize Boas' lack of theory, and the fact that Boas may have rejected physics in favor of history as a model for his anthropological research. But what is without question is Boas' great positive influence on the emerging science of anthropology...

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