Anthropology Overview and Fields

Anthropology

• Study of humankind across time and place, encompassing prehistoric origins and contemporary diversity.
• Aims to understand human origins, globalization, social change, and world history.
• Seeks to find commonalities and differences among humans to understand human nature and cultural diversity.
• Encourages critical self-reflection on one's own culture, encouraging awareness of cultural faults and potential improvements.
• Generates new knowledge about human behavior and applies it to address human challenges.

Anthropology Fields

• Cultural Anthropology: Study of living cultures, their variations, and changes over time and across different societies; includes art, religion, migration, marriage, and family.
• Linguistic Anthropology: Study of human communication, its origins, history, and contemporary variations.
• Archaeology: Examination of past human cultures through material remains, including artifacts.
• Biological Anthropology (Physical Anthropology): Study of human biology, evolution, and contemporary variation; hereditary variations and contributions of heredity, environment, and culture to human biology.

Sociology

• Derived from Latin "socius" (associate) and Greek "logos" (study of knowledge).
• Established by August Comte, considered the "Father of Sociology."
• Systematic study of groups, societies, and their impact on human behavior.
• Focuses on social connections, institutions, organizations, structures, and processes.
• Gathers social inputs (attitudes, viewpoints, values, norms) to understand social institutions.

Sociology Goals & Benefits

• Creates theories and principles about society and social life.
• Critically examines and analyses human nature and roles in society.
• Demonstrates interdependence of aspects of society, connecting personal history, environment, and national history.
• Broadens knowledge of sociological facts through empirical processes, revealing social biases.
• Expands perspective on achieving truth, acknowledging relative truth and the influence of social norms on the perception of good and bad behavior.

Sociology Branches

• Social Organization: Study of social institutions, inequality, mobility, religious groups, and bureaucracy.
• Social Psychology: Study of human nature, emphasizing social processes and individual responses to social stimuli.
• Applied Sociology: Uses sociological research to resolve practical social problems.
• Population Studies: Examination of population size, growth, characteristics, migration, and its interplay with economic, political, and social systems.
• Human Ecology: Study of the impact of social organizations (e.g., religion, politics) on human behavior.
• Sociological Theory and Research: Develops tools, methods, and techniques to scientifically explain sociological issues.
• Social Change: Studies factors influencing social organization, like calamities, drug abuse, social changes, health issues, etc.

Political Science

• Academic discipline studying government, political processes, institutions, and behaviors.
• Examines the complex behavior of political actors (government, opposition, subjects).
• Systemic study of political and government institutions and systems.
• Considers power dynamics and its use within societies.
• Importance extends beyond politicians and lawyers, promoting a relationship between government and citizens.

Political Science Concepts

• Politics: Originates from the Greek "polis" (city-state); art and science of governing, social process of gaining, using, or losing power, influencing various social situations (e.g., bribery, rumors).
• Politics vs. Government: Politics is a broader concept related to power sharing in any organization, while government is the implementation of political philosophy.
• Government: Agency formulating, expressing, and carrying out the state's will; imposes social norms, sets and administers policy, exercises power through institutions and laws.
• Government and the State: State encompasses government, people, territory, and sovereignty. State (political concept) vs. Nation (ethnic concept).
• Importance of government for the benefit of its citizens, not just officials; responsibility for the well-being of citizens, territory, and sovereignty.