ANTHC 318 HISTORY OF ANTHROPOLOGICAL THEORY

M-Th 9:45 –11:00 AM                                                          Prof. Yvonne Lassalle

732 HN                                                                                    Office: 714 B /Tel. x-5429

Fall 2002                                                                       yvonne.lassalle@hunter.cuny.edu

 

READINGS

The following textbooks will be used regularly in class. They have been placed on order at Shakespeare & Co. Booksellers, 939 Lexington Ave. (across the street from the north building)               

McGee, J. and R. L. Warms, eds. (2000) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History.     Second Edition. Mayfield

Erickson, P. A. with L. D. Murphy (1998) History of Anthropological Theory. Broadview.

In addition, several articles have been placed on reserve at the Hunter Library. Readings on reserve are marked with a (·). Hunter library call numbers appear at the end of each citation.

 

REQUIREMENTS AND EVALUATION

Students’ performance will be evaluated on the following:

 1. Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. Students are expected to arrive in timely manner. Students are allowed a total of three (3) unexcused absences; any other absences will be penalized.

2. Class Participation: Students are required to complete readings by the date they are assigned. Consistent and informed participation in class is expected.

3. Written Work:

A. Reading Responses: Students are required to keep a readings log for the duration of the course. There must be an entry for every “required “ article assigned in class. Each entry will consist of three parts: 1) a brief summary or annotation of the article in question; 2) a commentary on issued raised about the article during class discussion; and 3) any further thoughts or comments on the piece you may have. Logs should be typed, double spaced, and compiled in a non-spiral binder.

B. Essays: Students will write three (3) five-to-seven-page (5-7) page essays in response to questions assigned by the professor and/or raised by the student, relating to the history and theory within anthropology. The due dates for each essay appear in the class schedule below. Essays should be typed and double-spaced. Essays will not be accepted after the due date, expect in case of verifiable emergency.

 

                Attendance                             15 pts.                                     10%                                       

                Participation                          15 pts.                                     10%                       

                Reading Log                         120 pts.                   30%

                Essays                                     50 pts. Each                        50%

                                                                300 pts.             100%

CLASS SCHEDULE

Sept 5                Introduction

 

 Part I: Establishing the Discipline

Enlightenment, Modernity, and the Emergence of the “Human Sciences”

Sept 19- 12             P. A. Erickson “The Early History of Anthropological Theory.” In History of Anthropological Theory. Broadview. Pp. 3-59 (suggested) 

 

Sept 17                    Karl Marx and Frederich Engles (2000 [1845-46]) “Feuerbach: Opposition of the Materialist and Idealist Outlook” In J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield.  Pp. 53-67

 

Sept 19                    · Karl Marx (1887) “Fetishism of Commodities and the Secret Thereof.” In Capital: A Critical Analysis of Capitalist Production. New York: Random House. Pp. (Lassalle #14)

 

Sept 23                    P. A. Erickson “The Early History of Anthropological Theory.” In History of Anthropological Theory. Broadview. Pp. 107-112

                                and

Max Weber (2000[1922]) “Class, Status, Party” In J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield. Pp.  117-129

 

Sept 26                    · Max Weber (1958 [1921]) “Religious Foundations of Worldly Aestheticism” In The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. New York: Scribner. Pp. 95-154 (Lassalle #1)

 

Sept  29                   P. A. Erickson “The Early History of Anthropological Theory.” In History of Anthropological Theory. Broadview. Pp.91-93

                                and

Emile Durkheim (2000 [1895]) “ What is a Social Fact?” J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield. Pp. 87-104

 

Oct 3                       Emile Durkheim (1986 [1893]) The Division of Labor in Society. In Robert Alun Jones. Emile Durkheim: An Introduction to Four Major Works. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications, Inc., 1986. Pp. 24-59

 

 

Defining Culture: First Attempts

Oct 7                       Herbert Spencer (2000 [1860]) “The Social Organism.” In J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield. Pp. 11-27

                                and

                                Edward Burnett Tylor (2000 [1871]) “The Science of Culture” In J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield Pp. 27-41

 

Structure and Function: Anthropology in Britain before WWII

Oct 10                     Bronislaw Malinowski (2000 [1922]) “The Essentials of the Kula” In J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield. Pp.161-176

                                And

                                P. A. Erickson  History of Anthropological Theory. Broadview. Pp.99-105

 

Oct 16                     · E. E. Evans Pritchard (1976 [1937]) “The Notion of Witchcraft Explains Unfortunate Events.” In Witchcraft, Oracles and Magic Among the Azande. Oxford. Pp. 18-32 (Lassalle #2)

 

Oct 17                     Film

 

Culture Difference and its History: Anthropology in the United States before WWII

Oct 21                     Franz Boas “ The Methods of Ethnology” In J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield. Pp. 134-141

                                And

                                P. A. Erickson History of Anthropological Theory. Broadview. Pp. 73-90

 

Oct 24                     Margaret Mead “Introduction to Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies” (1935) In J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield. Pp. 209-19

 And

· Zora Neale Hurston (1990[1932]) Mules and Men. Harper Collins.  Selections (Lassalle #15)

 

Oct 28                     Julian Steward (2000 [1955]) “The Patrilineal Band.” In J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield. Pp. 228-243

                                FIRST ESSAY DUE

 

Part II. Theoretical Approaches in the later 20th Century

Structuralism

October 31             Claude Levi Strauss (2000 [1963]) “Structural Analysis in Linguistics and Anthropology” In J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield. Pp. 332-47

                                and

Sherry Ortner (2000 [1974]) “Is Female to Male as Nature is to Culture” In J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield. Pp. 356-68

And

P. A. Erickson History of Anthropological Theory. Broadview. Pp. 94-99

 

Symbolic and Interpretive Anthropology

Nov 4                     P. A. Erickson History of Anthropological Theory. Broadview. Pp. 130-35

                                and

Victor Turner (2000 [1967]) “Symbols in Ndembu Ritual” In J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield. Pp. 478-96

 

Nov 7                     Clifford Geertz (2000 [1973]) “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight” In J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield. Pp. 496-516

 

Political Economy               

Nov 11                   · June Nash (2002[1981]) “Ethnographic Aspects of the World Capitalist System.” In Joan Vincent (ed.) Anthropology of Politics. Blackwell. Pp. 234-252 (Lassalle #5)

                                P. A. Erickson In History of Anthropological Theory. Broadview. Pp. 135-140

 

The Other’s Talk Back: Anthropology during Civil Rights and Decolonization Struggles

Nov 14                   · Dell Jones (1988 [1970]) “Towards a Native Anthropology.” In Johnetta B. Cole (ed.) Anthropology for the Nineties. Free Press. Pp. 30-41 (Lassalle #3)

                                And

                                · Eric Wolf (2002 [1971]) “National Liberation.” In Joan Vincent (ed.) Anthropology of Politics. Blackwell. Pp. 120-126 (Lassalle #9)

 

Nov 18                   · Talal Asad (2002[1991]) “From the History of Colonial Anthropology to the Anthropology of Western Hegemony.” In Joan Vincent (ed.) Anthropology of Politics. Blackwell. Pp.133-142 (Lassalle #8)

                               

III. Recent Trends

Postmodernism

Nov 21                   · Renato Rosaldo (2000 [1989]) “Grief and the Headhunter’s Rage.” In J. McGee and R. L. Warms (eds.) Anthropological Theory: An Introductory History. Second Edition. Mayfield. Pp. 521-535

                                And

                                P. A. Erickson “History of Anthropological Theory. Broadview. Pp. 140-146

Feminism

Nov 25                   · Susan Gal (2002[1991]) “Between Speech and Silence.” In Joan Vincent (ed.) Anthropology of Politics. Blackwell. Pp. 213-221 (Lassalle #7)

                               

Historical Ethnography and Postcolonial Theory

Dec 2                       · Jean and John Comaroff (2000 [1989])“Of Revelation and Revolution.” In Joan Vincent (ed.) Anthropology of Politics. Blackwell. Pp. (Lassalle #6)

 

Dec 5                       · Lila Abu-Lughod (2002 (1998]) “The Marriage of Feminism and Islamism in Egypt: Selective Repudiation as a Dynamic of Post Colonial Cultural Politics” In Jonathan Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo (eds.) The Anthropology of Globalization. Blackwell. Pp. 428-452 (Lassalle #10)

                                SECOND ESSAY DUE

 

Globalization

Dec 9                       · Arjun Appadurai (220[1996]) “Disjuncture and Difference in the Global Cultural Economy” In Jonathan Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo (eds.) The Anthropology of Globalization. Blackwell. Pp. 46-64 (Lassalle #12)

 

Dec 12                     · Joan Gross, David McMurray and Ted Swedenberg (2002 [1996]) “Arab Noise and Ramadan Nights: Rai, Rap and Franco Maghrebi Identities” In Jonathan Xavier Inda and Renato Rosaldo (eds.) The Anthropology of Globalization. Blackwell. Pp. 198-230 (Lassalle #11)

 

 

Dec 19                     FINAL ESSAYS AND READING RESPONSES DUE

 

 

FIRST ESSAY: QUESTIONS

Write an essay, four to six (4-6) pages in length, in response to one of the following questions

 

  1. Contrast and compare what are the relevant categories of social organization for Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim.
  2. Describe and discuss how Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim account for the existence of social inequalities.
  3. How do the concerns of the historical moment in which they were writing manifest themselves in the works of Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim?
  4. How did the writings of 19th Century anthropologists influence the work of Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim?
  5. Describe and discuss how Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim theorize the relation between the individual and the collective.

 

SECOND ESSAY: QUESTIONS

 

Choose two of the theoretical perspectives prevalent in Anthropological writings during the early and middle parts of the 20th Century, which we have discussed in class, and write one essay, four to six pages (4-6) in length,  in response to one of the following questions

 

  1. What role did methodology play in the formulation of their theoretical perspective?
  2. How did the work of 19th Century anthropologists inspire or contribute to their theories?
  3. Describe and discuss the relative importance their theories gave to crosscultural comparison
  4. How did the writings of Karl Marx, Max Weber and Emile Durkheim influence their work?
  5. Describe and discuss how these theorists envisioned the relation between individual and collective aspects of culture.