-Malinawski is considered as the father of cultural anthropologys cornerstone

method of fieldwork
f.3. Franz Boas (158-1942)
- born in Germany
- educated in Physics and geography
-Introduce the concept of cultural relativism
* Cultural Relativism- the position that each culture must be
understood in terms of the
values and ideas of that culture and should not be
judged by the
standards of another
-promoted the detailed study of individual culture s within their own historical
contexts as the
only way to understand them
*Historical particularism- the view that individual cultures must be
studied and describe
on their own terms and that cross-cultural
comparison and
generalizations ignore the realities of individual
cultures and are
thus invalid
g. Post World War II
-cultural anthropology expanded in the US
g.1. Julian Steward (1902-1972)- a major supporter of environmental
determinism
g.2. French Anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss
-concerned with tribal peoples thought, myths and symbols
-believed that we can best learn about a culture by analyzing all
myths and stories to
discover the themes that are the underlying structures of culture
-established the Symbolic Anthropology
APPROCAHES TO ANTHROPOLOGY
A. 1960s
1. Cultural Materialism- reflects the conviction that understanding of a
culture should be pursued first by examining the material aspects of life:
natural environment and how people make a living within particular
environment
2. Interpretivism or Interpretive Anthropology- developed from Levi-Strauss
Symbolic Anthropology
- Focuses on understanding culture by studying what people
think about, their ideas and the meanings that are important
to them
B. 1990s or The Post-Modernism
- Aspect of modernism such as scientific method, urbanization,
technological change, mass communication and the idea that
human progress is based on scientific knowledge
1. Structurism- says that powerful structures such as the political economy
and media shape cultures and create entrenched systems of inequality
and oppression rather than social change
2. Human Agency or Free Will- power of individuals to create and change
culture by acting against structures

Culture
-the shared products of human being
- the sum total skills, beliefs, knowledge, and products that are commonly
shared by a number
of people and transmitted to their children. (Dressler)
- A fabric ideas, beliefs, skills, tools, aesthetics objects, methods of thinking,
customs and institutions into which each member of society is born.
( Smith)
- May be material (tangible) or non-material (intangible) in form
- A complex whole which includes knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, morals,
customs and other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member
of society. (Taylor)
- Refer to expressive culture, which includes plastic and graphic arts such
as sculpture and painting
- Sociologists and anthropologist define culture as the total and distinctive
way of life or designs fir living of any society
- Sum total of human creations-intellectuals, technical, artistic, physical and
moral
- Culture is a peoples social heritage; it refers to the customary ways in
which groups organize their ways of behaving, thinking and feeling