How Anthropology can help

[Guest]

Interesting final item on the Today programme today (08.50)

The President of the World Bank Dr Jim Yong Kim says if world leaders promoted an anthropological approach to understanding others they would be able to help the planet deal with extremism and xenophobia. Dr Jim Yong Kim says understanding otherness is the world's biggest challenge. Speaking on the programme is the presenter of the current Radio 4 series From Savage to Self, Farrah Jarral and Gillian Tett is a Financial Times journalist and an anthropologist.

I remember an inspirational history teacher talking to us about anthropology and its role in helping us to understand other cultures when I was studying A level history, 50 years ago. I'd make it a compulsory segment in any university history course. I always enjoy Gillian Tett's contributions on "Newsnight" where she is a regular guest. I hadn't realised she was also an anthropologist.

[french frank]

Up my street - I may give this one a spin (nothing on R3 atm ).

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Interesting final item on the Today programme today (08.50)

02:53:53 from the start of the i-Player recording. Well worth hearing - a useful taster of an important topic. (Reminded me that Barbara Castle began her political life going "undercover" as a factory/mill worker.)

[Serial_Apologist]

02:53:53 from the start of the i-Player recording. Well worth hearing - a useful taster of an important topic. (Reminded me that Barbara Castle began her political life going "undercover" as a factory/mill worker.)

Anthropology only deals with the problem at the superstructural level.

[Richard Tarleton]

Anthropology only deals with the problem at the superstructural level.

What does that mean, S_A?

Just to save time: when our distant ancestors first came down from the trees and started to roam the African savannah in small bands, they developed ways of behaving, and beliefs, that constituted their culture. These cultures varied from place to place, separated, diversified, clashed....Anthropology is the study of culture, past and present, with a good dash of human zoology and evolution. At least that's how I understand it. Anthropologists study past cultures, and present ones.

[Serial_Apologist]

What does that mean, S_A?

Cultural problems, which are anthropology's remit, have material bases.

As long as these bases are subject to equal scrutiny, this is a start.

What I fear is that giving primacy to anthropologic answers is yet another diversion, like blaming the rich or human nature.

The problem is that we lack a "Higgs Boson" equivalent capable of tying all the disciplines needed together, like we once thought we had in eg Structuralism.

Until we have one the separate disciplindes with their different angles will have to act in harness, evidence-based, without any one discipline assuming primacy or superiority over any other.

What we need is a systemic approach, which would, at a basic minimum, involve the latest in the fields of

Anthropology
Psychology
Biology
Linguistics
Economics
Ecology
Meteorology
Oceanography
Geology
Physics
Sociology
Technology (especially sustainable)

being brought together in some kind of international symposium - maybe under the aegis of the UN.

[Anna]

I have no idea if this is of any interest to anyone whatsoever but I did notice while flipping through the RT at the weekend that there's been some sort of a series on Radio 4 about anthropology. I've not heard any of them but here is the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06z...pisodes/player

[Richard Tarleton]

Cultural problems, which are anthropology's remit, have material bases.

As long as these bases are subject to equal scrutiny, this is a start.

What I fear is that giving primacy to anthropologic answers is yet another diversion, like blaming the rich or human nature.

The problem is that we lack a "Higgs Boson" equivalent capable of tying all the disciplines needed together, like we once thought we had in eg Structuralism.

Until we have one the separate disciplindes with their different angles will have to act in harness, evidence-based, without any one discipline assuming primacy or superiority over any other.

What we need is a systemic approach, which would, at a basic minimum, involve the latest in the fields of

Anthropology
Psychology
Biology
Linguistics
Economics
Ecology
Meteorology
Oceanography
Geology
Physics
Sociology
Technology (especially sustainable)

being brought together in some kind of international symposium.

Ah, a sort of super-discipline....The premise of this morning's discussion that anthropology was a discipline that was often lacking in addressing contemporary problems (rather than suggesting it should have primacy), whereas we are familiar with the contributions to be made by psychology, economics, and, er, the others you list, Gillian Tett said as much.

Nothing wrong with an international symposium as attempt to solve a particular problem...you just need a few polymaths capable of transcending their particular disciplines to bring it all together. Jared Diamond is one such.

I've steered clear of structuralism, largely on the grounds I don't understand a word of it

[Serial_Apologist]

I have no idea if this is of any interest to anyone whatsoever but I did notice while flipping through the RT at the weekend that there's been some sort of a series on Radio 4 about anthropology. I've not heard any of them but here is the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06z...pisodes/player

That looks interesting - thanks for drawing it to one's attention, Anna.