I have compiled these notes from different resources during my. I am hopeful that these notes will help students who are willing to grab information on this subject for civil services exams or university exams. Good Luck

1. Chapter 2 | Culture; and Social Anthropology Page 1 of 4
TOPIC 1 WHAT IS CULTURE?
 Everyone has a culture. It shapes how we see the world, ourselves, and others
 Culture isasystemof beliefs,values,andassumptionsaboutlifethatguide behaviourandare
sharedbya groupof people.Itincludescustoms,language,andmaterial artefacts.Theseare
transmitted from generation to generation, rarely with explicit instructions.
TOPIC 2 THE CONCEPT OF CULTURE
1) The concept of culture is central to anthropology
2) The term culture is not used with consistent meanings
TOPIC 3 KINDS OF CULTURE
(a) Instrumental or Utilitarian culture:
 –Modes of production (how we go about making a living)
 –Modes of reproduction (how we go about raising a family)
(b) Expressive culture:
 –Art (painting, sculpture, dance, literature, etc.)
 –Entertainment (play, games, leisure, etc.)
TOPIC 4 CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
 Cultural anthropology is the study of the lifeway of contemporary peoples
 Anthropologists collect data on living peoples by conducting extensive fieldwork (going out into
the world's societies and observing people as they interact and live their lives) (Ethnography)
 Cultural Anthropologists are interested in the extent of variation and in discovering general
cultural principles or patterns
 “Anthropologists! Anthropologists!” The Far Side – Gary Larson
TOPIC 5 GOALS OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY
 Describe, analyse and explain different cultures
 Show how groups adapt to their environments and give meaning to their lives
 Comprehend the entire human experience.
TOPIC 6 RESPONDING TO UNFAMILIAR CULTURES
(a) Ethnocentrism:
 –Responding from the context of one’s own cultural perspective
 Belief that one’s culture is better than all other cultures
 Measures other cultures by how they live up to one’s own cultural standards
 Tend to believe that others too far out of your cultural norm are somehow inferior
 Can help bind a culture together, or can lead to racism
(b) Cultural relativism:
 –Responding within the context of the other culture
 If everysocietycanonlybe evaluatedintermsof its ownstandards,cross-cultural comparisonis
virtually impossible
 There is no behaviour in the world that could be considered immoral if:
1. –The People who practice it consider it acceptable
2. –If it functions for the well-being of the society
TOPIC 7 CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY TODAY
Ethnography:
 “The systematic description of a culture based on first hand observation” (Haviland 1993: 13)
 Understanding the social phenomenon from the perspective of the participants
 Analysing the context of the participants and narrating their “stories”
Ethnology:
 Ethnology is the comparative study of two or more cultures. Ethnology utilizes the data taken
from ethnographic research and applies it to a single cross cultural topic
(a) Multiple Methods:
1. On-Site Observation
2. Prolonged Data Collection

2. Chapter 2 | Culture; and Social Anthropology Page 2 of 4
3. Participants’ Constructed Realities
4. Corroborating Field Observations
5. Salient Observations
6. Recording Observations
(b) Multiple Kinds of Data:
• Artefacts
–Personal documents, official documents, objects, erosion measures
• Interviews
–Experience/behaviour,opinions/values,feelings, knowledge, sensory, background/demographic
• Observations
–Who, what, where, when, how, why
(c) Recording Data:
• Handwritten Notes
• Official Records
• Drawings / Photographs
• Audio Recordings
• Video Recordings
• Physical Artefacts
• Participant Contributions
TOPIC 8 MAIN FEATURES OF CULTURE
1. Culture is all-encompassing
2. Culture is general and specific
3. Culture is socially learned
4. Culture is symbolic
5. Culture seizes nature
6. Culture is shared
7. Culture is patterned
8. People use culture creatively
9. Culture is adaptive
10. Culture is stable and yet it changes
TOPIC 9 SOME IMPORTANT FEATURES OF CULTURE
1. Culture Region (Geographical Territory)
2. Generalized Culture (Occurs in different times and places but not in all cultures)
3. Localized Culture (Traditions unique only to a few societies)
4. Culture Shock (New ideas, concepts, beliefs and practices. Psychological and social
maladjustment at micro or macro level experienced for the first time)
TOPIC 10 ASPECTS OF CULTURE
1. Material Culture: consists of physical products of human society ranging from weapons to
clothing style
2. Values:the standardsby whichmembersof asociety define whatisgoodorbad,holyor unholy,
beautiful or ugly
3. Beliefs:heldbythe membersof asocietyare anotheraspectsof non-material culture.Beliefsare
cultural conventionsthatconcerntrue orfalse assumptions,specificdescriptionsof the nature of
the universe and humanity`s place
4. Norms: a society`s rules of right and wrong behaviour
5. MORES: are much stronger norms than are folkways. People who violate mores are usually
severely punished
TOPIC 10 CULTURAL DIVERSITY
 Throughout history, humans have expressed an interest in cultural diversity
 People who have recognized differences in values, norms, beliefs, and practices everywhere
1. Cultural Relativism
2. Food and Diversity
3. Dress Codes and Symbolism
4. Ethnicity

3. Chapter 2 | Culture; and Social Anthropology Page 3 of 4
5. Cultural Universals (essential behavioural characteristics of societiesfoundall over the
world)
TOPIC 11 STAGES OF CULTURAL EVOLUTION
 The word evolution describes the process of qualitative change
 Evolution is the scholarly activity of describing, understanding and explaining of this process
 The theory was basically drawn from the sociologists and appeared at the formative phase of
anthropology
 For example: Middle part of 17th
century when Darwin and Spencer went forward to explain
evolution behind all phenomena
(a) Herbert Spencer:
 First attempt to define evolution in his book First Principles-1862
(b) Edward B.Taylor:
 He is knownas fatherof modernanthropologyforhiscontributiontothe concept of culture
in his book Primitive Culture-1871
 Embraced the whole field of anthropological investigation through the study of Primitive
Religion
 Began defining the religion in his book Belief in Spiritual Beings
(c) Julian Steward:
 Firsttime gave a broadtypologyof evolutionistsonthe basisof methodicalstudyof different
cultural areas of the world
 Three distinctive ways in which evolutionary data may be handled
1. The Unilateral Evolution
2. The Universal Evolution
3. Multilinear Evolution
TOPIC 1 SOCIAL ANTHROPLOGY
 An importantbranchof anthropology
 Social anthropologistsstudyculturesof contemporaryprimitive communities –Piddington
 Social anthropologyisthatpart of cultural anthropologywhichdevotesitsprimaryattention
to the studyof social structure andreligionratherthanmaterial aspectsof culture –S.C
Dube
 That part of cultural anthropologywhichtreatsof social phenomenaiscalledsocial
anthropology –Penninman
 It isa comparative studyof humansocieties.Ideally,itincludesall societies,primitive,
civilizedandhistoric–M.N.Srinivas
(1) SCOPE OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY: (inchapter one, this topicis discussedcomprehensively)
 Beal`sand Hojer write that “itis concernedwithculture perse,whetheritbelongstothe
primitive menof the Stone Age orthe European citydwellersof today”
 It includesastudyof differentpartsof culture,social institutionsandeconomicandpolitical
administration
 The main branchesof social anthropologyare givenbelow:
(a) ETHNOGRAPHY:
 Main fieldof social anthropology
 Studies the humanrace
 Its scope alsoincludesthe studyof culturesof differentraces
(b) FAMILIAL ANTHROPOLOGY:
 It takesup the comparative studyof the familiesof differentculturesandsocieties
 It studiesdifferentformsof marriage
 It alsostudiesthe bloodrelations

4. Chapter 2 | Culture; and Social Anthropology Page 4 of 4
(c) ECONOMICANTHROPOLOGY:
 It studiesthe economicadministrationof primitiveandcivilizedhumansocietiesand
differentlevelsof evolutioninthem
(d) POLITICAL ANTHROPOLGY:
 It studiespolitical administration,laws,governmentsandrulesof punishment
(e) SYMBOLOGY& LINGUISTICS:
 The study of symbolsof humanbehaviour,whichare currentinlanguagesof different
societies,suppliesmanyimportantfactsforthe studyof society
 The main branchesof linguistics are:
(a) Descriptive Linguistics (Individual andRegional Languages)
(b) Historical Linguistics
(c) Comparative Linguistics (Factsaboutlanguage)
(d) CommonLinguistics (Differencebetweenthe minimumandmaximumrootsof some
languages)
(f) THOUGHT & ART:
 The study of thoughtsintheoretical studyisveryimportant
 Thoughtincludesreligion,magic,science andevenlegends
 Art isan importantpart of culture and culture depictsthe interiorof asociety
 It studiessculpture,metallurgyandevendancingandinstrumental andvocal music
(2) SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGYAS SCIENCE:
 Social anthropologypossessesall the essential elementsof science
(I) Social anthropologymakesuse of scientificmethod
(II) Social anthropologyisfactual
(III) The principlesof social anthropologyare veridical(verificationandre-verification)
(IV) Social anthropology definescause effectrelations
(V) Social anthropologycanpredict
(3) STEPS IN SCIENTIFIC METHOD:
(I) Observation
(II) Recording
(III) Classification
(IV) Generalization
(V) Verification
(4) AIMS OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY:
 Accordingto the Royal AnthropologicalSocietyof GreatBritainandIrelandthe most
importantaimsof social anthropologyare the following:
(a) The study of primitive cultureinitspresentform
(b) The study of cultural contact and specificprocesses
(c) Reconstructionof social history