GLCb1009 Selected Chapters from Social Anthropology

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2023
Extent and Intensity
1/1/0. 5 credit(s). Type of Completion: zk (examination).
Teacher(s)
Irena Kašparová, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)
PhDr. Patrick Laviolette, PhD. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Irena Kašparová, M.A., Ph.D.
Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Irena Kašparová, M.A., Ph.D.
Supplier department: Department of Sociology – Faculty of Social Studies
Timetable
Mon 12:00–13:40 C34, except Mon 13. 11.
Prerequisites
none
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Global challenges start within self and the way our personhood is organised in a small group of kinship, belief, local exchange groups and politics. The Self bears imprint, as well as imprints itself into the wider net of social relations, structure and institutions. This introduction to social anthropology discloses this fact to all those, who – for the global - may have overlooked the dynamic of the local, its very texture and its backbone. Integrity of the self is linked to primary socialisation within the local and it is only from this perspective, that the global may grow and flourish. Students will learn about constitutive areas of interest of social anthropology, where the individual amidst of the global is the focus of attention. Culture will be looked upon as a complex system, comprised of numerous forms of power relationships among kin (family and kinship studies), believers (religion and belief studies), patrons and clients (economics) and leading and subordinated (politics). Anthropologist believe that in order to understand culture, you must understand it in all such complexity. Basic social theories of social anthropology will frame our exploration of similarities and differences in cultures. Multicultural background of the students in the class offers a wonderful social laboratory to do this.
Learning outcomes
After successfully completing this course, the student gains relativist perspective upon issues of own and other culture and society. She will become aware of multiple approaches to kinship, belief, values, politics and exchange system across the world as well as inside a single country. She will develop sensitivity to power and ideological discourse involved in decision making and promotion of a chosen way of life and be aware of the cultural and social compromise that global issues infilter into the everyday life of people. She can use and apply her knowledge about the nature of social relations, social institutions and social acting in all areas of social life. S/he has the basic knowledge of core anthropological theories and basic orientation in areas of interest for anthropologists. S/he is beginning to recognise the importance of the native point of view and has a basic idea as to how to extract this knowledge.
Syllabus
  • 1. Global starts with Self: I and my culture
  • 2. Holding onto the known, demeaning the unknown: Self and Other relationship in anthropology
  • 3. The myth of a national culture? The place of specific in the global: from cultural relativism to new ethnographies
  • 4. Blood, water and milk: how we establish kinship and social ties
  • 5. (Self)love and (communal)marriage: relative approaches to power and alliances
  • 6. No such thing as coincidence: cosmology and belief
  • 7. Reading week
  • 8. How exotic becomes local: example of tattoo and shamanism
  • 9. Change or repetition? Challenges and workings of the ritual 10. Moneyless economics
  • 11. Economics of money
  • 12. Punishment vs. mediation: norms and conflict resolution around the world
  • 13. The state and beyond: politics without borders
Literature
    required literature
  • ERIKSEN, Thomas Hylland a Finn Sivert NIELSEN. A history of anthropology. London: Pluto Press, 2001. Anthropology, culture and society. pp. 1 – 45 and 138 -220
  • FERRARO, Gary P. Classic readings in cultural anthropology. Belmont: Thomson learning, 2004. pp. 1 – 6, 58 – 75, 93 - 102
  • ERIKSEN, Thomas Hylland. Small places, large issues: an introduction to social cultural anthropology. 2nd ed. London: Pluto Press, 2001. Anthropology, culture and society. Pp. 121 - 353
  • FERRARO, Gary P. Cultural anthropology: an applied perspective. 5th ed. Belmont: Thomson learning, 2004. Pp. 27 – 49; 151 – 259, 317 - 367
  • BENEDICT, Ruth. Patterns of culture. Edited by Margaret Mead. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1959, xvi, 290. info
    recommended literature
  • ERIKSEN, Thomas Hylland. Engaging anthropology : the case for a public presence. London: Bloomsbury, 2013, xii, 148. ISBN 9781845200657. info
  • BOWIE, Fiona. The anthropology of religion : an introduction. 2nd ed. Oxford, UK: Blackwell Pub., 2006, x, 332. ISBN 140512105X. info
  • BENEDICT, Ruth. The chrysanthemum and the sword : patterns of Japanese culture. Edited by Ian Buruma. 1st Mariner book ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2005, xii, 324. ISBN 0618619593. info
  • KUPER, Adam. The reinvention of primitive society : transformations of a myth. 2nd ed. London: Routledge, 2005, xii, 272. ISBN 0203003527. info
  • ANDERSON, Benedict R. O'G. Imagined communities : reflections on the origin and spread of nationalism. Rev. and extended ed. London: Verso, 1991, xv, 224. ISBN 0860915468. info
Teaching methods
1 lecture + 1 seminar and discussion; essay writing and active participation in discussion; individual as well as collective reading and presentation.
Assessment methods
Timed essay 25%, Oral presentation in seminar groups 25%, long-term written essay 25%, oral exam 25%
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2024.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2023, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2023/GLCb1009