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Table of Contents
ANTH 1002: Anthropology in the world
Semester 2, 2022
Anthropology is the study of what it means to be human. It begins with the assumption that diversity is the defining characteristic of humanity, and more specifically by the capacity to acquire a specific way of life and set of roles in a system. Hence, anthropologists conclude (1) there is no right, correct, or normal way for people to live or to create a community for itself, and (2) by looking at humanity in a global frame, each person can also gain critical insight into their own life. If there are so many ways of life that people have created and continue to create for themselves, then anthropologists say we each must ask why do I have to be this way? and isn’t there some alternative way people can adopt? This class introduces the tools of anthropology with the aim of equipping students to question their own existence and the authority of dominant ideas.
Coordinator: Ryan Schram
Weekly plan of lectures and topics
| Week & Date | Topic | Main reading | Other reading |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Anthropology as “ruthless criticism” | Marx ([1843] 1978) | |
| Aug 01 | 1. Why do we need anthropology? | ||
| Aug 03 | 2. Anthropology as critique | ||
| 2 | Society as a system of total services | Eriksen (2015b) | Mauss ([1925] 1990) |
| Aug 08 | 1. Society as a total system | ||
| Aug 10 | 2. The obligations of the gift | ||
| 3 | A world of commodities | West (2012) | Marx ([1867] 1972) |
| Aug 15 | 1. Commodities, capitalism, and private property | ||
| Aug 17 | 2. Global capitalism and its contradictions | ||
| 4 | Spheres of exchange & The efflorescence of exchange | Sharp (2013) | Bohannan (1959); Bohannan (1955); Sahlins (1992) |
| Aug 22 | 1. Spheres of exchange in historical perspective | ||
| Aug 24 | 2. The efflorescence of exchange | ||
| 5 | Family matters | Eriksen (2015c) | Carsten (1995) |
| Aug 29 | 1. Kinship is culture, not nature | ||
| Aug 31 | 2. Kinship as social action | ||
| 6 | Global gifts and body shopping | Zharkevich (2019) | Krause and Bressan (2018); Leinaweaver (2010); Vora (2009) |
| Sep 05 | 1. Global gifts | ||
| Sep 07 | 2. The commodification of kin | ||
| 7 |