How have anthropologists responded to colonialism in different Essay - 1

How have anthropologists responded to colonialism in different historical moments - Essay Example Sometimes competition is healthy for development, but at certain times it is carried out by people personally until they hold grudge against the others. In such, colonialism is also important as it shows how societies form, clash, improve and how people interact and cope up with the situation. For the study then, the viewpoint of anthropologists would be examined in response to colonialism and how ethnographic knowledge would play a significant role in the study and history of colonialism. Before going deeply into the relationships of the concepts of colonialism, ethnographic knowledge and anthropology, it would be better to define and set basic foundations regarding the topics involve in the study. It would greatly help in appreciating and understanding their relationships after knowing each one of them. The first concept in the study is anthropology. It would be the viewpoint to be used in response to ethnographic knowledge regarding colonialism. Anthropology is said to be the â₠¬Å"study of human behavior in all places and at all times. It combines humanistic, scientific, biological, historical, psychological and social views of human behavior,† (Angrosino 2002: 1). Various aspects of the human being are being studied in anthropology. The origin of human being is the main concern of anthropology and it would cut across other disciplines like the humanities, scientific research, natural sciences and the social sciences like history, psychology and sociology. The definition supports the claim that â€Å"anthropology is holistic in that it combines the study of human biology, history and the learned and shared patterns of human behavior and thought† which is known as the â€Å"culture in order to analyze human groups,† (Nanda and Warms 2011: 20). The study is not only concerned with the individual but with the interactions in the society as well. Anthropology can also be defined as â€Å"the comparative study of human societies and culture s. Its goal is to describe, analyze, and explain different cultures, to show how groups have adapted to their environments and given significance to their lives,† (Nanda and Warms 2011: 20). The second definition points out that the focus of anthropology is the society and culture as people interact with one another and form groups. And each group and subgroup of the societies formed has its distinct culture or habits that are unique to the members of such groups. The people who study anthropology are called anthropologists. Anthropology has many subfields to allow people to focus on the details that make up the study of man. The two major subfields of anthropology are physical anthropology and cultural anthropology. Physical anthropology can be defined as: the study of the biological, physiological, anatomical and genetic characteristics of both ancient and modern human populations. Physical anthropologists study the evolutionary development of the human species by a comparat ive analysis of both fossil and living primates. They study the mechanics of evolutionary change through an analysis of genetic variation in human populations (Angrosino 2002: 1). Natural science is the main focus of physical anthropology to study the nature of man and its origin of existence. The history is studied using the fossils to identify the body structure of man in the past. It also involves genetics in studying the populations and the differences of people. On the other hand, cultural anthropo