Famous Anthropologists

Bronislaw Malinowski

Functionalist. Inventor of participant observation. Studied Trobriand Islands. Stressed importance of learning the language of the people you study.

Marcel Mauss

The concept of gifts. Studied magic, myths, religious symbols. Theory of reciprocity. The Hau - the spirit of the gift.

Franz Boas

Known as father of anthropology. Known for his involvement in Native American culture and was responsible for bringing this culture to the public. Cultural relativism. Historical particularism - each society is a collective representation of its unique historical past.

Zora Neale Hurston

Produced most of her plays, poems, and short stories in Harlem. Believed in omens and Hoodoo. Drenched in Light - black people giving up their values for white people. Fieldwork in Haiti, Bahamas, South Harlem.

Fredrik Barth

Social anthropologist. Rejected ideas about ethnicity. Lot of fieldwork because comparative perspective. Formalist. Godfather of progressive multiculturalism

Victor Turner

Specialized in symbols, rituals, and cultural performances. Studied a tribe in present day Zambia. Did not think Structuralism or Functionalism satisfied the goals of anthropology to accomplish a comparative understanding of human experience. Along with Geertz, introduced concept of symbology. Reflexive anthropologist - reflected the majority of his work back onto himself. Rituals. Ndembu people.

Ruth Benedict

Struggled with depression in early life. Mentored by Franz Boas while at Columbia. Practiced cultural relativism - practice of analyzing a culture in its own terms. Wrote Race: Science and Politics which argues against racist theory. Colleagues with Margaret Mead

Clifford Geertz

Symbolic anthropologist. Believed religion is a cultural system. Ethnographer. Holistic approach.

E.E. Evans-Pritchard

Fieldwork in Eastern Africa. Ethnographer. Functionalist - everything has a reason behind it. Studied Nuer tribe. Studied Azande people. Proponent of empiricism and studying subjects firsthand. Main theories involved religion. Fetishism accepted as origin of religion until mid-19th century. Primary function of religion is that it is cathartic

Margaret Mead

First fieldwork in Samoa and was concerned with how a baby develops into a full-fledged member of society. Immersive fieldwork was less common. Samoa established her as substantial figure in Anthropology. Studied adolescent girls in Samoa. Received backlash.