Theory is a
tool to facilitate reflection on experience (ours and others) as well as
facilitate the application of knowledge to social problems at different scales
of analysis. This course is a general
introduction to anthropological theory that is grounded in engagement with the
so-called Global South. The framing
itself is problematic because there is no homogeneous geographic region wherein
culture and cultural practices can be distinguished from its conceptual
counterpoint—the Global North. Use of
the term is intended to highlight the different lived experiences between
colonizing and colonized groups of nations over the past 500 year, with a
particular emphasis on the power and economic dichotomies between what some
have referred to as “the West and the rest.”
The emphasis is on the way in which global power dynamics (hence the
political) have shaped political relations between different world regions. Because anthropologists typically focus on
culture at the community or group level, the “anthropological turn” is to apply
a critical problem-solving analysis to local relationships through a
consideration of how people in particular contexts understand their place in
the world and respond to a range of social issues. Because the focus in this course is also
largely on Latin America, such issues might include environmental activism,
migration, strategies for economic “development,” social movements, and ethnic
identity politics. The list is
suggestive, and because anthropology is inherently transdisciplinary, course
materials will engage theoretical perspectives that intersect with anthropological
approaches to making sense of what it means to be human—even in the midst of a
pandemic.
- Teacher: Matt Samson