sandr010

The view of cultural diversity in a country as something good and desirable is called multiculturalism.The multicultural model is the opposite of assimilationist model in which the minorities are expected to abandon their cultural traditions and values,replacing them with those of the majority population. The multiculturalist view encourages the practice of cultural-ethnic traditions.A multicultural society socializes individuals not only into the dominant culture but also into an ethnic culture. Multiculturalism seeks ways for people to understand and interact that donot depend on sameness but rather on respect for differences.Multiculturalism stresses the interaction of ethnic groups and their contribution to the country.It assumes that each group has something to offer to and learn from the others. The global scale of modern migration introduces unparalleled ethnic variety to host nations.Multiculturalism is related to globalization where people use modern means of transportation to...

According to American Anthropological Association, anthropology has two dimensions- Academic anthropology and practicing or applied anthropology. The latter refers to the application of anthropological data, perspectives, theory and methods to identify, assess and solve contemporary social problems. Applied anthropology is the field of inquiry concerned with the relationships between anthropological knowledge and the uses of that knowledge in the world beyond anthropology. Many anthropologists now are working in the areas such as public health, family planning, business, economic development and cultural resource management. Applied medical anthropologists consider both the sociocultural and biological contexts and implication of diseases and illness. Perceptions of good and bad health along with actual health threats and problems differ among societies. Various ethnic groups recognize different illnesses, symptoms and causes and have developed health care systems and treatment s...

Related to symbolic anthropology is interpretive anthropology advocated by Clifford Geertz. Geertz defined culture as ideas based on cultural learning and symbols. During enculturation, individuals internalize a previously established system of meanings and symbols. They use this cultural system to define their world, express their feelings, and make their judgments. Interpretive anthropology approaches cultures as texts whose forms and, especially, meanings must be deciphered in particular cultural and historical contexts. Geertz’s approach recalls Malinowski’s belief that the ethnographer’s primary task is “to grasp the native’s point of view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of his world”.  Since the 1970s, interpretive anthropology has considered the task of describing and interpreting which is meaningful to natives. Cultures are texts that natives constantly “read” and ethnographers must decipher.  According to Geertz anthropologists may choose any...

In his book The Evolution of Culture (1959), White claimed to be returning to the concept of cultural evolution used by Tylor and Morgan, but now informed by a century of archaeological discoveries and a much larger ethnographic record. White’s approach has been called general evolution, the idea that over time and through the archaeological, historical, and ethnographic records, we can see the evolution of culture as a whole. For example, human economies have evolved from Paleolithic foraging, through early farming and herding, to intensive forms of agriculture, and to industrialism. Socio- politically, too, there has been evolution, from bands and tribes to chiefdoms and states. There can be no doubt, White argued, that culture has evolved. But unlike the unilinear evolutionists of the 19th century, White realized that particular cultures might not evolve in the same direction.  For White, energy capture was the main measure and cause of cultural advance: Cultures advanced ...