Anthropology : Meaning, Scope & Development

Meaning & Definition of Anthropology

Anthropology is a discipline of infinite curiosity about human beings its, Origin , Development, Nature. It’s most Comprehensive definition is the “The study of man in totality in terms of time & space.  

Apart from this, various others definitions are

• Basic Definition – Etymological The term comes from the Greek anthropos for “man, human” and logos for “study.” Anthropology is, thus study of humanity. 

It’s definition & meaning has not been the same since the time its was envisioned for the first time by Aristotle (father of Anthropology, coined term). Definition at various times by scholars at different period of time revels Evolution of the meaning & scope of the discipline. 

• 18th century – Immanuel Kant in his book “Anthropology from a pragmatic point of view” 1798 – defined it as – “ the study which describe & explain the animal origins, social, as well as cultural development & progress of man. 
• During 19h Century – E.B Tylor in his book Anthropology defined it as study of old remains of people & physical factor, races, Language & custom of primitive people. 
• Paul Broca – extend it even to study of modern culture. 
• During 20th Century – Scholars like Malinowski, Radcliffe Brown & Franz Boas defined it as “study of man at all levels of development.”
  • This was the solution to divide the opinion about scope. 
• Scientific Study of Man in Totality – A discipline that studies humans, focusing on the study of differences and similarities, both biological and cultural, in human populations. Anthropology is concerned with typical biological and cultural characteristics of human populations in all periods and in all parts of the world.
• Clyde Kluckhohn –  says that out of all other scientific disciplines that deal with various aspects of man, Anthropology is the science which comes nearest to the total study of man. It may be called a holistic or synthesising discipline or a science of “Man in its totality.” (Use in holism) 
• Jacobs & Stern – “Anthropology is the scientific study of the physical, social & cultural dev & behaviour of human beings since their appearance on this earth.”
• Kroeber – “Anthropology is the science of groups of men & their behaviour & production.
• Herskovits – Anthropology may be defined as the measurement of human beings.

Conclusion – Anthropology is a holistic study of human being while other social sciences are part of sciences. 

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Nature & Scope of Anthropology 

Anthropology is defined as the study of human being in time & space in totality. In time, Anthropology deals with the evolution of man, while in space it refers to the variation at a particular moment at time. 

From the definition, it becomes obvious that anything that refers to, forms, affects or results from man should form the subject matter of Anthropology. Thus the central problem of Anthropology is explanation of humanity. 

Hence  Anthropologist

• want to discover when, where, and why humans appeared on the earth, 
• how and why they have changed, and 
• how and why the biological & cultural features of modern human populations vary. 
• Manners in which human form Group & develop distinctive ways of life & culture
• Various limitation & potential inherent in humanity. 
• Anthropology has a practical side too. Applied & practicing anthropologists put anthropological methods, information, and results to use in efforts to solve practical problems.

Thus it makes its scope unlimited. Hence to study its disciple without ambiguity, scope & subject matter of the discipline is defined. 

Scope of Anthropology can be broadly described in the form of four sub- disciplines of Anthropology which are : 

• Biological / Physical Anthropology
  • It deals with biological evolution & biological variation 
  • Biological evolution is studied thr theories (Darwin’s. Theory, synthetic theory etc) & processes (Micro – Marco evolution) 
  • Biological variation is studied thr the study of race, genetics, human physical growth & development, human adaptability etc 
• Sociocultural Anthropology
  • In it we study sociocultural evolution & variation in terms of non material & material culture 
  • Sociocultural Anthropology is further studied in the form of evolution & variation in family, marriage, kinship, economy, polity & religion in various cultures & societies.  
• Archaeological Anthropology
  • It studies evolution of material culture with the help of excavation of f fossils & arts & artefacts.
• Linguistic Anthropology
  • It focuses on mainly unwritten language of non-western people. It puts to test theories of language based mainly on European languages & examine languages in the full range of social & cultural setting. It also studied by evolution & variation in language. 

Conclusions – Thus to sum up, scope & nature of Anthropology is very wide & includes biological, sociocultural, archaeological & linguistic aspects of human being. More ever, unique features of Anthropology such as holism, cultural relativism, cross – cultural studies and participant observation distinguish it from other social sciences.   

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Uniqueness of Anthropology : Why Anthropology 

Anthropology is a synthetic science & has strong links with other social sciences & biological sciences. Yet its contribution in human sphere is unique. The major issues resolved by Anthropology in short span of its existence makes it study imperative. 

Anthropology helps in following ways

1. Understanding human differences
   • Before anthropological researchers the simple pre-industrial societies were considered being comprised of savage, barbarous people who would go all extremes to fulfill their selfish aims. Anthropology has clarified all such myths regarding tribals.
   • Cultural relativism (by Ⓐ) exposed cultural biases in terms of ethnocentricism and negated myth of superiority of western cultures which provided morale booster to developing societies.
   • Study of human races in terms of physical and genetic features revealed number of facts to prove the oneness of human races and absence of pure races.
   • It also revealed that physical differences b/w different groups are the consequences of the adaptation of each group to its environment.

• Understanding ourselves
  • The knowledge gained through anthropology proves that all behaviour is learned and not inherited, can help us understanding ourselves and make necessary changes in our cultures.
  • Anthropological perspective like cultural relativism can be utilized for solving intragroup and intergroup problems and enmity. 
• Applied anthropology
  • Here administration utilizes services of anthropologists in policy making and administration of various areas utilizing their knowledge of ‘cultural variations and ‘felt need approach’. 
• Action anthropology
  • Here anthropologists themselves involve in planning and administering the policy of development of tribals.
• Unique approaches of anthropology Unique approaches of anthropology in studying human being like holism, participant observation, cross cultural studies etc. also help in holistic understanding of human being.

Thus, due to holistic nature of anthropology its study becomes imperative.

Cause of Special Role

Due to unique combination of Holistic Methods, Historical Method, Comparative Method

• Holistic Methods – study of human beings or group of human beings in terms of entire pattern of lives.
  • I.g considering particular aspect with all other aspects of human endeavour & humanity. 
• Historical Method – About historical perspective of life
  • Describe the entire course of human biology & cultural evolution 
• Comparative Method – To explain similarities & differences
  • Can only used in limited way to construct explanation of variations within single political unit or among closely related people. 

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Origin & Development of Anthropology : History

Introduction : Even though anthropology as a discipline of study did not appear until 16th century, many philosophers like Herodotus, Aristotle etc.were conducting studies of anthropological nature as early as 4th century B.C. However, independent work, research or any kind of study was never carried out before 9th c A.D.

Prime Factor of Emergence

• inherent curiosity of man about himself – who they are ? Where they come from ? Why they acts so ? 
• Acc to Anthropologist Hoviland much of human history is result from the efforts of people to answer the basic question  

Informal Beginning of Study of Anthropology

• Anthropology had its beginning in 5th century B.C. First time talking about (conducting studies of anthropological nature) it was a Greek philosopher called Herodotus. Other early Greek philosophers who conducted related research were Aristotle 400 B.C. and Strabo in 100 B.C.
• In this era, Roman Philosophers like Lucretius made significant contribution to this field while in AD era; Roman Philosophers like Tacitus, Aquinas were significant contributors.

Unsystematic Beginning of Study of Anthropology

• Historians often claim that anthropology as a discipline originated during and due to renaissance and systematic development of anthropology is caused by colonialism.
• In 16th and 17th century, some scholars of sociology talked about anthropology in the wake of French revolution e.g. Herbert Spencer.
• The term anthropology was coined in 16th century by German university professor. In those times, it was not studied as a different discipline but was understood to be systematic examination and observation of evolution of man as a physical and moral being.
• Some of the noted writers and researchers who tried to differentiate anthropology as a different discipline were Michel de Montaigne, Jean Bodin, Blaise Pascal etc.
• Some of the noted early publications in the field of anthropology were ‘Histoire Naturelle‘ of French naturalist Georges and Buffon, which is an encyclopaedia in which two out of 44 volumes have been dedicated to anthropology.
• Most revolutionizing works in anthropology were written by in Charles Darwin in the form of the ‘Voyage of the Beagle (1845 AD)’ and ‘Origin of Species (1859 AD)’

Systematic Beginning of Study of Anthropology (Anthropology as a separate discipline)

• In 19th century, Anthropology was systematically synthesised and started as a separate branch/discipline by combining various branches of anthropology such as Physical Anthropology and Sociocultural Anthropology by some scholars calling themselves anthropologists. 
• However the different branches of anthropology had begun to exist at different times right from 16th and 17th century A.D.
• Physical Anthropology: The oldest of the branches is physical anthropology. German anthropologist Johan F. Blumenbach played instrumental role in development of physical anthropology.
• Sociocultural Anthropology: During 17th and 18th century, same sociologists and other scholars started talking about social anthropology for e.g. Herbert Spencer and August Comte. Thus, a branch of sociocultural anthropology was started.

Origin and Development of Anthropology– Darwinism v/s Colonialism

• Role of Darwinism – R. R. Marret, a British anthropologist remarked that anthropology is a child of Darwinism. But this judgement is refuted on following grounds.
  • Darwin was himself inspired by the concept of evolution which was in existence in some social sciences.
  • Darwin was also inspired by economist Malthus, implying that seat of anthropology was already there at the time of Darwin.
  • Hence, Anthropology was influenced by Darwinism but it cannot be called as child of Darwinism.
• Role of Colonialism
  • Industrial revolution in Europe was going on at that time. Consequently Europeans were in pressing need of new markets & raw material which made them to move out to other areas like America, Africa and Asia.
  • As a result of this, missionaries, travellers, administrators etc. collected a lot of information about society culture and physical features of the natives for the purpose of establishing colonialism.
  • This information flooded Britain and other European countries. Various scholars studied it for their theoretical interpretation. On the basic of this information scholars in Britain and America come out with theories of evolution of society and culture in anthropology, thereby systematic beginning of anthropology took place.
  • Talal Asad in his book ‘Anthropology and Colonial Encounter’, (1973), clearly identifies how anthropology has been a handwork of colonial empire. 
  • Hence there is a need to decolonize anthropology. 

Development of Anthropology in 19th & 20th century

• First academic position in anthropology was held by Edward Tylor at Oxford in 1884. 
• Almost immediately after, Franz Boas became the first professor of anthropology in United States at Clark University, Massachusetts.
• First course in ‘General Anthropology’ was offered in 1885 at University of Vermont. 
• Reasons for slow development/growth of anthropology
  • Lack of vision on the part of the Europeans to recognise the similarities and homogeneity in physical and cultural aspects with the non-whites.
  • All remotely located societies, which were not sharing the fundamental cultural values of the Europeans, hardly deserved to be regarded as humans.
• When human diversity was accepted as natural, it opened doors for formal studies. Credit goes to European Explorers, adventurers, travellers, missionaries etc. who provided rudimentary and basic information about people inhabiting the remotest of areas.
• Early anthropologists like Tylor, Morgan, Spencer, Boas etc. were by and large Arm chair Anthropologists who were basing their conclusions on the secondary data.
• Malinowski, the great British Anthropologist of Polish origin introduced the fieldwork in anthropology and transformed it into art and craft.
• During the first quarter of 20th century, when anthropology started blossoming as a full-fledged academic discipline century, sense of detachment and tradition of relative objectivity became the distinctive attributes of anthropology.
• During same period, scholars from natural science background got attracted into its fold for eg – Haddonwas a marine zoologist, Rivers was a physicist, Seligman a pathologist, Elliot Smith an anatomist, Malinowskiaphysicist and back home in India. N. K. Bose was a physicist and geographer. They brought with them scientific temper and objectivity which during the later stages helped anthropology to become a mature science.

Later with the specialisations, special branches such as Political anthropology, Legal anthropology, Genetic anthropology etc. are developing in India and world over.

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TK Penniman, in his book, ‘ A Hundred Years of Anthropology (1935),” has described the phases of growth of world Anthropology as follows

1. Formulatory Phase (before 1835) : This phase includes the views of ancient scholars of Greece and Rome like Socrates, Aristotle and Plato.
2. Convergent Phase (1835-1859) : Divergents views regarding society emerged in this period. An important development was the term coining of the sociology by Auguste Comte. 
3. Constructive phase (1859-1900)
   • 1859 was landmark year in biological and social sciences, as Charles Darwin’s work, ‘On the Origin of species by means of Natural Selection was published. Subsequently, two theories on evolution developed – organic and cultural theory.
   • The cultural / classical evolutionists such as E.B. Tylor & L.H. Mayan suggested that culture evolves in a unilateral and sequential manner. Due to this theory, in 1884, Anthropology got a place in the Oxford Univ. as an independent discipline.
   • Most of the scholars from the 19th century utilized secondary Sources of data, excluding a very few like Morgan. ( In 1898 conducted, the Torres Straits Expedition, led by W.H.R. Rivers – the first systematic fieldwork in Anthropology) 

• Critical Phase (1900-1935)
  • Radcliffe-Brown visited Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and studied the Onge tribe. On the basis of study, he developed the on his structural functionalist school of thought, working concepts like social structure and institution. 
  • In 1914-18 Malinowski conducted his fieldwork among Trobriand Islanders. This landmark work led to the dev of the technique of participant observation. which became hallmark of a Anthropological fieldwork. It also led to the emergence of fields like functionalism and economic anthropology. 
  • After 1920 with there was a turning point in Anthropology investigation, the onset of studies on peasant societies. It was Robert Redfield who was the pioneer. He postulated critical concepts like little-great tradition, folk society, peasant society  and folk urban continuum – Since then, Anthropology has been study of tribal societies. , it has became a study of all societies. 
  • Post 1935, Anthropology  grown rapidly. An international interdisciplinary approach has enhanced its holistic out look, and seen the emergence of several specialisations such as psychological Anthropology, economic Anthropology & medical Anthropology. 

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Most Liberating of all Sciences /Social sciences 

Anthro is study of human in totality in terms of time and space. It is the science of man and his work (Herskovits)

In terms of its work and relevance over the last one hundred years, Anthropology has consistently tried to liberate us from many fallacies and misnomers. 

1. It has successfully exploded the myth of social and cultural superiority and racism.
2. It puts the entire mankind on one and the same pedestal. 
3. Thus it helped in attaining and maintaining peace and harmony in the world which is a prerequisite for development and progress. 

Right from the beginning it has aptly performed the responsibility of informing its students about the nature of the world as we know it. Further as Whiten and Flunter (1975) rightly point out, it has:

1. Taught its students a way of thinking about the world as we conceive of it. 
2. Discipline them as critical thinkers.
3. At the same time provided them with intellectual equipment enabling them to open their minds so that they can contemplate new ideas, facts and concepts. 

Thus, anthropology also contributed to the formation of an enlightened citizenry free from narrow and parochial feeling which in itself is a liberating phenomenon.

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Understanding Genetically & Culturally Transmit Difference 

Anthropology not only help us to understand genetically transmitted differences but also cultural differences.  The concept of cultural relativism  helps us to understand cultural differences.

Genetically transmitted differences such as

1. ABO Blood Group
2. RH Blood Group
3. Height
4. Eye Colour
5. Hair Colour, texture etc.
6. Skull Shape- brachycephalic, dolichocephaly.
7. Skin Colour etc.

Causes of Genetic Differences:-Paternity/ Parents

1. Mutation
2. Isolation
3. Migration
4. Selection
5. Inbreeding
6. Genetic drift 
7. Genetic load etc.

Apart from knowledge of genetically transmitted differences, there are cultural differences in society such as differences in eating, clothing and living habits etc. These differences some time can lead to conflicts due to intolerance. Here comes the relevance of anthropological principle of cultural relativism which helps us to understand cultural differences in society.

Cultural relativism

1. Cultural relativism: it is an anthropological attitude which means that all cultural patterns are equally valid and hence every culture or any part thereof should be viewed in objective terms through its own problems, logic and rational.
   • It implies that one should not judge others by one’s own standards
   • for ex beef eating by non-Hindus & cousin marriage by many communities such as Muslims, Christians and tribals.

• Cultural relativism opposes ethnocentricism which is an attitude and belief that one’s own values, traditions, customs are better and correct as compared to those of other cultures.
• Features of cultural relativism
  • Every cultural pattern is equally valid. 
  • Analyzing the things in terms of internal consistency, logic and relevance.
  • Posture of neutrality.
  • Tries to understand why people do this.
  • Non-judgmental appreciation of strengths and weaknesses of cultures. 

Thus anthropology helps us understand not only genetic differences through its study of changes in gene frequency but also cultural differences through its study of cultural relativism and ethnocentricism.

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Research strategy of Anthropology 

Introduction : Anthropology is study of human being in totality with respect to space and time. Anthropology not only deals with the evolution of human being but also studies about their culture, behavior, language, religion and all other social and cultural activities that human beings involve themselves in. To deal with such vast and universal scope, anthropology has adopted a research strategy in terms of several approaches, namely the field-work approach, the holistic approach (Holism), the comparative approach, the systems and processes approach, the emic and etic approach and the case study approach.

1. Fieldwork approach:  is hallmark of anthropology. Fieldwork involves first hand observation, recording or documenting what one sees and hears. It deals with the process of collecting information about the biology, culture and society of peoples extinct or present, wherever they lived or live. It highlights collection of raw material for the use of anthropology.
2. Holistic approach: It tries to understand every aspect of humankind in relation to the whole. Anthropology deals with human being in totality in time and space. Its subject matter includes Biological Anthropology, Archeological Anthropology, Sociocultural Anthropology and Linguistic Anthropology. This holistic approach had made anthropology the widest discipline as it is related to biological sciences and plethora of social sciences. This enables us to have a full understanding of the subject matter of anthropology.
3. Comparative approach
   1. It compares the biology, culture and society of different peoples in order to learn how people came to be what they are and also learn how the biological pattern of one people is related to the biological pattern of another people and the culture one of the people is related to the culture of another people and how the society of one people is related to the society of another people.
   2. It tries to find out those elements common to the biology, culture or society of all peoples which are true of all humans. At the same time, where there are differences, comparative approach tries to find out the causes for these differences.
   3. This approach enables us to have a clear-cut understanding of the universal, general and particular featuresof human biology, culture and society of humankind
4. Emic and etic approach: These words came from linguistic when cognitive anthropology was evolving.
   1. It deals with the emic or the people’s view and the “etic” or the anthropologist’s view about the biology, culture and society.
   2. It tries to translate the people’s view into anthropological view so as to communicate the perspectives of the people in terms of the perspectives of anthropology. Thus, this approach provides completeness to the description, analysis and interpretation of the subject matter of anthropology.
   3. Being aware of these approaches is imp to do objective studies. 
5. Case study approach: It examines in depth the biological, cultural or social aspects of an individual, a family, an association, a community or a single episode. By analyzing several case studies from the same society on the same topic, one can learn much about the subject matter of anthropology.
6. Systems and processes approach
   1. It tries to understand each aspect in terms of its major systems: morphological, anatomical, serological, genetic, respiratory, digestive, reproductive and other systems in human biology; marriage, family, kinship, economic, political, and religious and other systems in culture; and status, role, structural, organizational and functional and other systems in society.
   2. The focus of attention is on the study of the nature and working of every system in relation to every other system and ultimately gains understanding of the whole aspect. This approach reinforces the holistic understanding of the subject matter of anthropology.
7. Reflexivity – Means taking account of itself or of the effect of the personality or presence of the researcher on what is being investigated. Being aware of one’ one biases and preconceived notion, power position. 

Conclusion: These research strategies make anthropology a holistic study of human being.

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Holism and Atomism

Introduction: Holism implies total study while atomism means part study. Former is the approach of anthropology while later is that of other social sciences. Anthropology studies total aspect of human being to ensure generalisationof human behaviour.

Holism is seeing thing in totality, thinking in holistic manner, being aware of every dimension

Atomism (Reductionist Approach) 

• Atomism means reduction of an element into a particular thing. So it is a part study.
• This kind of approach has been adopted by all other social sciences except anthropology.
• For ex Sociology is concerned with social structure of man, History with past aspect of man etc. Thus these social sciences study human being in piecemeal manner which is different from the Holistic approach of anthropology.

Holism

• It is an attempt to get whole picture and apply knowledge from many different fields to understanding of human beings.
• Anthropology deals with human being in totality in time and space. Its subject matter includes Biological Anthropology, Archeological Anthropology, Sociocultural Anthropology and Linguistic Anthropology. This holistic approach had made anthropology the widest discipline as it is related to biological sciences and plethora of social sciences.
• Anthropology is not ashamed of borrowing knowledge from other disciplines; rather it takes pride in it to present a total picture of human being.

Characteristics of Holism

• Pooling of knowledge of many different fields for understanding of humanity.
• Study of an area from all possible angles such as positive, negative etc. For example study of Joint Family: Holistic study of Joint Family includes not only studying it from angle of Family but also its political and economic ramifications, impact on size of landholdings, agri-practices, innovations, varying rates of fertility, socialisation etc.

Relevance of Holism: Holism gives overall understanding about the human society where noting is treated in isolation. It helps in better understanding of human being regarding its past, present and future.

Limitations/ Barriers to Holistic Study

• Explosion of Knowledge.
• Increased communication.
• Increasing expanse of subject hence not possible to study personally everything that has to do with human being.
• Growing specialisation. Yet b/c of commitment to specialisation anthropologists continue to communicate with fellow anthropologists from other branches and use information gathered by others for holism.

Conclusion: This approach has made anthropology a unique discipline in comparison to other social sciences.

Related Questions

• Holistic approach is a unique feature of anthropology. Discuss.   

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Comparative Method in Anthropology

As laid down in EncyclopediaBrittannica”Social anthropology is one of the social sciences engaged in the comparative study of human societies.” 

Comparative method can be defined as the practice of equating of contemporary primitive society and non western society with the past and compare it with industrial society in order to trace origin and evolution of society.

Proponents

• Durkheim was the first to explain comparative method in the study of social events most clearly in his book entitled, “The Rules of Sociological Methods”
• In Anthropology Evolutionists were proponent of this comparative method. 
• E. B. Tylor and L. H. Morgan used this method to illustrate past and its usefulness for evolutionary purpose.
• Different stages of evolution can be illustrated by using this comparative method. 

Methodology: It includes sending questionnaire to the administrator or missionaries within whose jurisdiction particular human group under study lives.

Uses – Comparative method has been successfully applied in many studies in the field of anthropology 

• by different anthropologist to study and compare different societies and universalize their analysis regarding evolution of society and culture.
• to generate meaningful scientific law which can describe the behaviour of people everywhere.
• This comparative study is of special advantage in understanding primitive societies and in evaluating their institutions, art and literature, etc.
• This knowledge can be of great help to us in understanding the problems of primitive societies and solutions, according to their cultural ideology, can be easily obtained.

Examples

• Cross cultural survey of G.P. Murdock later converted into Human Relations Area Files.
• Raymond Firth has said that social anthropology aims at a reasoned comparative analysis of how people behave in social circumstances.
• Hobhouse, Wheeler & Ginsberg studied chief social institutions in primitive societies through a comparative method. In this study, various kinds of economic organizations in primitive societies were differentiated and then the reaction of the difference among economic organizations on the social standardization was discovered.

Criticism

• Contemporary primitive societies were considered as the descendent of prehistoric society.
• As evolution means gradual change how it can be assumed that these societies did not change for millions of years.
• Moreover they were called survival of past relics and social fossils which is highly derogatory.
• Criticising the comparative method, Redcliffe Brown has written that “The comparative methods alone give you nothing. Nothing will grow out of the ground unless you put seeds into it. The comparative method is one way of testing hypotheses.” It is clear from this criticism of the comparative method that formation of a clear hypothesis is necessary before applying the comparative method.
• Also, comparison among all societies, through this method, is difficult. A comparative study of special social institutions in one and the same society is easier.

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Role of Anthropology In Contemporary India 

Anthropology has this unique feature of fieldwork to study about the socio-cultural features of all societies from modern to most primitive ones. It has also studied many rural societies and with the increased focus on rural development by govt in recent past, the prospects of utilizing his expertise can bring significant results.

The role of anthropologist in rural development can be assessed from the functions performed by him in policy making and execution. Some of the major functions are:

• Ethnographic study: First of all he/she carries out an ethnographic study of village. Ethnography plays an important role to find out the socio-cultural features of a village. The success of anthropological knowledge in policy making depends on the quality of fieldwork carried out.
• Policy making: Based on the ethnographic study, the anthropologists help to work on the policy making. They give inputs on the likely change to happen by the policy, the key members from village to be involved or made aware on the policy for its acceptance by villagers etc. 
• Implementation: Further anthropologist during implementation helps to gather the support for policy and involve the key members of the rural society with him. She/he helps in getting the social acceptance and allays the fears of village society.
• Monitoring: This is the second most important role of anthropologist after ethnographic study. Anthropologist identifies the results of policy, any lag and reasons for it (if faces) and the direction in which the changes might go. This helps in early detection of any future challenges and removes them at the earliest.

Based on applied and action anthropology approach, the role of anthropologists can differ and under action anthropology it extends beyond the help till formulation and extends it to execution phase also. 

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Importance of Anthropology In Modern India

After the independence of the country, the study of social anthropology has gradually been on the increase in the Indian universities. It has many practical advantages, some of which are given below:

• As a remedy for ethnocentrism – A/t to Dr. M.N Srinivas social anthropology removes ethnocentrism through a comparative study of different civilised and primitive societies.
• Scientific Viewpoint towards Social Problems – S.A helps in comparative study of social reactions in different societies & of different events in one and the same society. It removes partiality in social problems and other preconceptions and imparts scientific viewpoint.
• Help in Solving Problems – it’s clear ; for ex SA helps in solving problem arising from the r/l b/w man & women, & also help to solve other rural problem. Raymond Firth has said that social anthropology aims at a reasoned comparative analysis of how people behave in social circumstances.
• Help in understating the primitive societies – The comparative studies approach of SA is of special advantage in understanding primitive societies & in evaluation their institutions, art & literature, etc. This knowledge can be of great help to us in understanding the problems of primitive societies and solutions, according to their cultural ideology, can be easily obtained.
• As remedy against all kinds of Social prejudices – as it removes prejudiced attitude of civilised society towards a primitive society and that of an individual of one society towards an individual of another society, because a comparative study of anthropology helps in understanding the difference caused among different cultures in relation to their institutions, customs and traditions, etc. It goes to form an advanced and a liberal attitude towards domestic, economic and political institutions. It also removes vanity in relation to language.

Above discussion clearly proves the imp its study. Modern India is a progressive country. Along with the progress of civilised people in India, attention has to be paid to the progress of primitive tribes. The study of social anthropology is very helpful in that respect. 

Along with solving the problems tribals,  it is also helpful in understanding and solving the problem of civilised society.  It will also help in ending the great struggle and animosity going on in India today on the question of language as well as in expanding the scientific outlook regarding the language question.

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Questions to Ponder over

1. Discuss the relevance of applied anthropology in human welfare in twenty-first century. 
2. Critically examine the role of anthropology in contemporary India. 
3. Discuss the importance of anthropology in present day scenario. 
4. Is anthropology a science or humanities ? Give your reasons.