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Malinowski

Lecture on the importance of Malinowski in the anthropology of science

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Malinowski

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  1. THE ETHNOGRAPHY’S MAGIC OF BRONISLAW MALINOWSKI

  2. Victorian Anthropology: Ethnology and the Comparative Study of “Primitive” Peoples Evolutionism Colonialism Comparative Religion Armchair study “The Noble Savage”

  3. Who was Malinowski and why it matters HIS SON SPEAKS

  4. Modern Anthropology Developed a method. Immersive Fieldwork (Participant Observation) Field note taking. Holistic pursuits. Learning the language. Painstaking documentation. Figure out the social organization. A Functionalism still permeated of evolutionary assumptions Emphasis on present processes Meaning from the perspective of the natives

  5. PARTICIPANT OBSERVATION: Distinction between what people say they do, and what people do. • GOD PROFESSOR • OFF THE VERANDAH

  6. Concern with processes • Trading • Sex Life • Gardening • Enforcement of norms vs self interest. Reciprocity as key to social cohesion. • Rationality • Aspects of a culture can’t be studied in isolation • One can’t relay on rules, but on observation • Importance of context. • Culture as an integrated whole

  7. FUNCTIONALISM • Irrational behaviors appear that way because we do not understand them. • What seems irrational is rational from the native’s point of view. • THEY MAKE SENSE TO THEM • THEY HAVE A FUNCTION IN SOCIETY • E.g. The Kula Ring

  8. MAGIC, SCIENCE AND RELIGION: They are complementary MAGIC AND RITUAL • Not preceding science but complementary • Rational response to uncertainty. • Aims at concrete results. • Rooted in observation • Follows rules, formulas and traditions • Requires belief. • Failure is explained by mistakes in application • Authority comes from tradition • Works through ritual and symbolic acts • Healing: causes/ ritual SCIENCE • Also based on obseration and experience • Works through practical knowledge and experimentation • Explains cause and effect. • Tested by trial and error. Empirical. Testable. • Used as technology (fishing, gardening) • Healing: Herbal medicine

  9. SOCIAL CHANGE Societies as static. Failed to account for social change. Only at the end of his life he considered the effects of colonialism.

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