The Importance of Anthropology in Public Private and Business Sector

Introduction and Anthropology

The word Anthropology is derived from two Greek words “anthropos” means ‘Man’ as human being and “logy” means ‘Study’. Anthropology is the scientific study of the origin, the behaviour, and the physical, social, and cultural development of humans. Anthropologists seek to understand what makes us human by studying human ancestors through archaeological excavation and by observing living cultures throughout the world. Of all the disciplines that examine aspects of human existence and accomplishments, only Anthropology explores the entire panorama of the human experience from human origins to contemporary forms of culture and social life. Anthropology is a generalizing and comparative discipline with a concern for understanding human diversity on a global scale.  Anthropologists engage in empirical research with established theories, methods, and analytical techniques.  They conduct field-based research as well as laboratory analyses and archival investigations. A hallmark of Anthropology is its holistic perspective–understanding humankind in terms of the dynamic interrelationships of all aspects of human existence.  Different aspects of culture and society exhibit patterned interrelationships (e.g., political, economy, social configurations, religion and ideology). Contemporary societies cannot be understood without consideration of historical and evolutionary processes. Anthropological research is typically conducted via immersion within the community or context under study (including virtual communities and archaeological sites).  The “participant-observer” method of research was developed early in the discipline of Anthropology and remains one of its cornerstones. Anthropology transcends such distinctions in research and applications as macro- and micro-scale (e.g., global-local), the exotic and the familiar, the past and the present. Its distinct epistemology respects the disparities between “our” views of the “other” and their views of us. Anthropologists typically engage in particularistic research that contributes to the “big questions” about the human condition: who we are as a species and a diversity of societies and cultures, how we came to be that way, and what our future prospects are. In recent decades Anthropology has become more self-reflexive and involved with communities and with social conflicts as anthropologists increasingly apply their findings to real world social issues and engage their subjects as colleagues and collaborators. There are classic four branches in Anthropology.

Biological Anthropology: It seeks to understand human behavior from a biological base especially focusing upon human evolutionary history and biological variation among human populations. Biological anthropologists want to know where humans as a species come from, how our bodies evolved to their present form, and what makes humans unique. Some examples of biological anthropology are Paleoanthropology; Primatology; Human biological variation.

Cultural Anthropology: It tries to understand universals and variations in human cultures both past and present. This includes such things as ethnography, ethnology, language, folklore, art, religion, traditions, politics and other aspects that define a culture. Cultural anthropologists study both current and past civilizations and groups and attempt to trace the evolution or development of their unique aspects. They ask questions such as: How does language affect and express culture? What can we learn about a culture from what the people leave behind? Researchers attempt to answer these questions by immersing themselves in a culture for months or years while conducting interviews and taking detailed notes as they study the history and structure of languages and the physical remains of past cultures.

Archaeological Anthropology: Archaeology is the study of past cultures through the material (physical) remains people left behind. These can range from small artefacts, such as arrowheads, to large buildings, such as pyramids. Anything that people created or modified is part of the archaeological record. Archaeologists use these remains to understand and re-create all aspects of past culture, from the daily lives of ordinary people to the grand conquests of emperors. Often, these objects are buried and have to be carefully uncovered or excavated before they can be studied. In many cases, they are the only clues archaeologists have to help them reconstruct the lives of ancient people.

Linguistic Anthropology: Linguistic anthropologists study human languages and how language affects and expresses culture. It seek to understand how human language evolved and the relationship between language and culture, written and non-written, spoken and non-verbal, cognitive and biological aspects of language, and other symbolic forms and media of communication and reasoning. The study of how languages change over time is termed historical linguistics. The study of how language is used in social contexts is termed socio-linguistics.

Scope of Anthropology: Anthropologists are often thought of as individuals who travel to little-known corners of the world to study exotic peoples or who dig deep into the earth to uncover the fossil remains or the tools and pots of people who lived long ago. These views, though clearly stereotyped, do indicate how anthropology differs from other disciplines concerned with humans. Anthropology is broader in scope, both geographically and historically. Anthropology is concerned explicitly and directly with all varieties of people throughout the world, not just those close at hand. Anthropologists are also interested in people of all periods. Beginning with the immediate ancestors of humans, who lived a few million years ago, anthropology traces the development of humans until the present. Anthropologists have not always been as global and comprehensive in their concerns as they are today. Traditionally, anthropologists concentrated on non-Western cultures and left the study of Western civilization to other disciplines. In recent years, however, this division of labor among the disciplines has begun to disappear. Now anthropologists work in their own and other complex societies. What induces anthropologists to study humans so broadly? In part, they are motivated by the belief that any suggested generalization about human beings should be shown to apply to many times and places of human existence. If a generalization does not prove to apply widely, anthropologists are entitled or even obliged to be skeptical about it. The skeptical attitude, in the absence of persuasive evidence, is our best protection against accepting invalid ideas about humans. For example, when American educators discovered in the 1960s that African American schoolchildren rarely drank milk, they assumed that lack of money or education was the cause. But evidence from anthropology suggested a different explanation. Anthropologists had known for years that people do not drink fresh milk in many parts of the world where milking animals are kept; rather, they sour it before they drink it, or they make it into cheese. Why they do so is now clear. Many people lack the enzyme lactase that is necessary for breaking down lactose, the sugar in milk. When such people drink regular milk, it actually interferes with digestion. Not only is the lactose in milk not digested, but other nutrients are less likely to be digested as well; in many cases, drinking milk will cause cramps, stomach gas, diarrhea, and nausea. Milk intolerance is common in adulthood among Asians, southern Europeans, Arabs and Jews, West Africans, North and South American native peoples, as well as African Americans. Because anthropologists are acquainted with human life in an enormous variety of geographic and historical settings, they are often able to correct mistaken beliefs about different groups of people.

Career-oriented approach: the use of Anthropology in policy making and implementation 

Anthropologists can be found working at various levels of government. They may be directly involved in planning and policy-making activities, obtaining jobs in government funding bodies, or senior administrative roles. Equally, they may be part of advisory or lobbying groups that indirectly inform government practice, in grass-roots advocacy, or in agencies responsible for carrying out government activities in public services such as health, welfare, housing or education. Almost every aspect of government decision-making benefits from a deep understanding of the social and cultural dynamics of the actors involved. Anthropologists employed in government often take part in interdisciplinary projects where they work alongside other social scientists, environmentalists, educators and government officials. In these situations, anthropologists use their skills in communicating anthropological knowledge and insight to non-specialists, and demonstrating how anthropology can transcend disciplinary boundaries. Today’s anthropologists do not just work in exotic locations but anthropologists can be found in a surprising array of fields and careers. Anthropologists can be found in corporations, all levels of government, educational institutions and non-profit associations.

Academic Careers: On campuses, in departments of anthropology, and in research laboratories, anthropologists teach and conduct research. They spend a great deal of time preparing for classes, writing lectures, grading papers, working with individual students, composing scholarly articles, and writing books. A number of academic anthropologists find careers in other departments or university programs, such as schools of medicine, public health, ethnic studies, cultural studies, community or area studies, linguistics, education, ecology, and cognitive psychology.

Corporate and Business Careers: Many corporations look explicitly for anthropologists, recognizing the utility of their perspective on a corporate team. A corporate anthropologist working in market research might conduct targeted focus groups to examine consumer preference patterns not readily apparent through statistical or survey methods. These anthropologists use their research skills to talk to consumers and users of technology to find out how products and services could be improved to better meet the needs of consumers.

Government Careers: State and local governmental organizations use anthropologists in planning, research and managerial capacities. Contract archaeology is a growing occupation with state and central government to assess cultural resources affected by government funded projects. Forensic anthropologists, in careers glamorized by Hollywood and popular novels, not only work with police departments to help identify mysterious or unknown remains but also work in university and museum settings. The federal government of the United States is one of the largest employers of anthropologists outside of academia. Possible career paths include: international development, cultural resource management, the legislative branch, forensic and physical anthropology, natural resource management, and defence and security sectors.

Non-profit and Community-based Careers: Non-governmental organizations, such as international health organizations and development banks employ anthropologists to help design and implement a wide variety of programs. However, these aren’t the only opportunities available. Many anthropologists work in local, community-based settings for non-profit agencies. Sometimes, they work through community-based research organizations like the Institute for Community Research. Other times, they might work for established organizations in a community like the YMCA, local schools, or environmental organizations.

Application of Applied Anthropology

Applied Anthropology began to grow in the 1970s as anthropologists found jobs with international organizations, governments, businesses, and schools. In the 1960s, Anthropology’s focus fit with prevailing social interests, which began the turn to practical applications. Anthropology’s ethnographic method, holism, and systemic perspective made it uniquely valuable in applications to social issues and concerns.  There has been a sea change in the discipline of Anthropology whereby ‘classical Anthropology’ and museum approach has been transformed into Anthropology in action, dealing with contemporary issues. There has been a culmination of Anthropological research, fieldwork and training into policy formulation, intervention programs and deriving inferences from Anthropological investigation. Social movements began as early as the 1960s’, industrial revolution brought with it the fine demarcation of the class system, with the elite class, the bourgeoisie, working middle class etc.  Though anthropologists continue to study tribal societies, rural populations, minorities, and the poor in urban settings, these populations themselves are encountering new problems brought on by greater incorporation into (and even exploitation under) national economies, environmental degradation, declining health, lack of education and technical skills, and assaults on their cultural values, languages, and identities influenced by the social movements begun in the 1960s and 1970s (civil rights, the women’s and lesbian/gay rights movements, the environmental movement). The suppression of the minority caste, exploitation of women, discrimination against Dalits, female foeticide, stigma against AIDS victims, etc. are issues requiring attention and urgent addressed. Government sector, private institutions, NGOs, self help groups and voluntary organisations, international bodies, have embedded social scientists in their intervention strategies and programs and applied the inferences of their micro-studies in outreach programs and developmental activities. Applied anthropologists continue to transform their role as experts into one of collaborators, giving much more attention to how community members can shape a research agenda and become equal participants and how anthropologists can help build the skills and capacities of local populations through their participation in the research process.

Medical anthropology: Medical Anthropology is a subfield of anthropology that draws upon social, cultural, biological, and linguistic anthropology to better understand those factors which influence health and well being (broadly defined), the experience and distribution of illness, the prevention and treatment of sickness, healing processes, the social relations of therapy management, and the cultural importance and utilization of pluralistic medical systems. The discipline of medical anthropology draws upon many different theoretical approaches. It is as attentive to popular health culture as bio-scientific epidemiology, and the social construction of knowledge and politics of science as scientific discovery and hypothesis testing. Medical anthropologists examine how the health of individuals, larger social formations, and the environment are affected by interrelationships between humans and other species; cultural norms and social institutions; micro and macro politics; and forces of globalization as each of these affects local worlds. It study healthcare systems and practices, in particular the social and cultural practices that shape healthcare. Sometimes this relates to disease prevalence, treatment, prevention, distribution of medication.

Forensic anthropology: Forensic anthropology is the application of the science of physical or biological anthropology to the legal process. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification of deceased individuals whose remains are decomposed, burned, mutilated or otherwise unrecognizable, as might happen in a plane crash. Forensic anthropologists are also instrumental to the investigation and documentation of genocide and mass graves. Along with forensic pathologists, forensic dentists, and homicide investigators, forensic anthropologists commonly testify in court as expert witnesses. Using physical markers present on a skeleton, a forensic anthropologist can potentially determine a victim’s age, sex, stature, and ancestry. In addition to identifying physical characteristics of the individual, forensic anthropologists can use skeletal abnormalities to potentially determine cause of death, past trauma such as broken bones or medical procedures, as well as diseases such as bone cancer.

Business Anthropology: Business anthropology, as a subfield of applied anthropology, applies anthropological theories and methods in exploring and solving problems in the real business world. It studies how to improve business efficiency and work processes by observing how people perform in
their workplace. It can help business people to understand the culture of an organization by
studying group behaviour. It helps managers dealing with issues of organizational change due to
the merge of companies. Business anthropologists can provide suggestions on marketing
strategies by studying consumer behaviour, they can help in product design by discovering what
consumers want and assist multinational corporations understand the cultures of the many
countries in which they operate in the trend of globalization and diversity that has involved the
business world. Today, after economic reform in the late 1970’s, China has become a locomotive in the world economy and a manufacture base of consumer goods in the world. Measured on purchasing power parity (PPP) basis that adjusts for price differences, China in 2012 stood as the second-largest economy in the world after the US. China’s products can be seen in all corners of the world and Chinese businesspersons are now going out of China to do business in all continents of the world. However, China lacks in-depth research on globalized market, business organization and cultural factors of other countries. Chinese businesspersons have faced many problems in foreign countries; their products were even confiscated or burned down in some countries, bringing tremendous loss to Chinese companies. Chinese business leaders now realize that to better market their products and services internationally, they must have a better understanding of the international market environments from a cross-cultural perspective. It is at this critical period in China’s economic development that business anthropology, as a subfield of anthropology, was introduced and promoted in Chinese universities.

Economic Anthropology: Economic anthropologists study processes of production, circulation and consumption of different sorts of objects in social settings. ‘Objects’ includes material things, as well as what people do for each other (such as provide labour and services) and less visible objects (such as names, ideas and so forth). While the settings and processes that are studied vary tremendously, most economic anthropologists approach them in two main ways. One approach is concerned with social context: what sorts of people make, give, take or consume which sorts of things, and in what sorts of situations do they do so? In a sub-Saharan African village, who is it who tends food crops – men or women, old or young, married or single, and so forth? In England, which sorts of households are likely to have computers, and which household members are likely to use them? Another approach is concerned with cultural context: how do different sorts of people understand their economic activities, the objects involved and the people with whom they carry out those activities? When an artisan sells something to a buyer, how does each party think about their relationship and the objects that they exchange? Thus, while economic anthropologists study economic processes, their approach is different from that of economists. Economists usually restrict themselves to monetary transactions and try to develop formal, abstract models of economic systems. Economic anthropologists, on the other hand, usually are concerned with all forms of production, circulation and consumption, monetary or not. Further, they are concerned less with developing formal models and more with trying to describe and understand economic actions in their social and cultural context.

 Development Anthropology: Development Anthropology is the branch of applied Anthropology that focuses on social issues in, and the cultural dimension of, economic development. Not only do developmental anthropologists carry out the policies planned by others, but they can also develop their own. Ethical issues are often confronted by developmental anthropologists. Some ethical issues that are reviewed by developmental anthropologists vary greatly. One example involves the distribution of foreign aid. At times, instead of giving foreign aid to the neediest countries, it will go towards countries that leaders have political, economic, or strategic priorities. Another issue is whether the aid truly helps the economy of the intended country or not. If aid is given to a country, it is sometimes hard to tell whether or not it was distributed to the needy and under privileged individuals. Applied anthropologists differentiate from economists in some areas in which this is evaluated. Economists often look at things like gross national product and per capita income. These measures are simply averages. They could both rise as the rich get richer and the poor are getting poorer. Therefore, developmental anthropologists deal with a lot of ethical issues within societies, and what is really happening to help these societies prosper.

Museum Anthropology: The field of museum anthropology predates the institutionalization of anthropology as an academic discipline in universities. The formation of collections as early as the 17th century spurred the study of the cultures that produced the objects destined for display. Early on, anthropology collections were integrated either into national museums (e.g., the British Museum), museums of “folk culture,” or, especially in the United States, natural history museums. Eventually, the collections became the foundation for research and documentation of the life ways, material circumstances, and human ecology of diverse cultures. For more than a century, anthropologists situated in museums curate the collections by documenting them through catalogues and publications and by creating public displays. However, after the 1970s, museum anthropology became more research oriented, moving beyond collections-based documentation to an emphasis on field research. Museum-based education programs and publications oriented towards the general public cover the classic four fields of anthropology. Museums of specific cultural groups or heritage-based museums may not always include anthropologists on staff; however, their work represents an important contribution to the understanding of the role of culture and ethnicity in social life. “Eco-museums,” museums dedicated to a single place or a single cultural heritage, represent an important trend of this kind.

Symbolic Anthropology: Symbolic anthropology studies how symbols and ideas are formed and gain meanings among different societies and cultures. In every society, certain activities and ideas stand for many things. To understand another people’s way of life, one has to learn the meanings of their symbols and the occasions and situations when they are appropriately used. Symbols are often demonstrated in their behaviour but they can be more abstract. An anthropologist’s job is to understand the meaning and interpretation of symbols. Symbolic anthropology studies symbols and the processes, such as myth and ritual, by which humans assign meanings to these symbols to address fundamental questions about human social life.

Cognitive Anthropology: Cognitive anthropology is the study of the knowledge of differentiation, classification and categorization of natural objects. Anthropologists who are interested in recording the ways people think and perceive in different societies, i.e., how they make decisions and how they classify natural objects such as plants and animals, call themselves cognitive anthropologists. Language is the most distinctive type of symbolic cultural product of man. All ideas and the entire thought process are a function language. Speech and verbal imply codification of the complex stimuli of experience into finite categories supplied by the grammar and vocabulary of a particular language. Codification simplifies the task of organizing and retaining information. This is referred to as cognitive organization. Cognitive anthropologists attempts to study cognitive organization of different people.

Urban Anthropology: To study the urban and industrial establishment and developments is the major task of urban anthropology. During sixties and seventies, anthropologists who were primarily concerned with tribal studies initiated and promoted several significant researches on urban industrial centres. After decolonization of third world countries by their foreign rulers, there was a spate of industrialization in an effort to develop their economies. Despite financial constraints and lack of infrastructure the efforts on the part of their people picked up gradually. Establishment of industrial units necessarily led to the growth of Urban Centres around them.

Benefits of Anthropology in day to day life

Personal Benefits: You grow intellectually, in part because you’re forced to question some of the basic assumptions that most people take for granted throughout their entire lives. Is gender a social or biological construct? What is the meaning of marriage? How did past cultures deal with practical problems like hygiene? What makes someone beautiful? How are humans evolving today? You more seriously consider your identity, and the factors that shaped who you are. The cultural norms, social expectations, political history of your society, language, religious background, human relationships, and interactions with technology and ideas have helped make you. You learn a lot about yourself. This isn’t something to be taken lightly. You make some effort to understand and appreciate different cultures, and you learn from them. Even if you don’t necessarily adopt other cultural norms, you accept tolerance and subjectivity. You are less likely to make false judgments of others, and you seek to understand rather than blame or hate. You see the good (and less good) in the ideas and practices of others.

Professional Benefits: You become better at interacting with other people, understanding their wants, needs, and interests. You become a better communicator and listener in the workplace. By making an honest attempt at awareness of the issues that others face, you become better equipped to help resolve them and mitigate tensions in the workplace. You become a better co-worker. You’re better equipped to engage in business with other people. If you’ve checked the news lately, we sort of live in a transnational society where it’s becoming routine for people, ideas, and commodities to cross borders. This often results in culture “shock” or “clash” and those that can react appropriately in situations of social unease are better off. If you are more sensitive to the values and norms of others, you are less likely to cause offense and more likely to conduct good business.

Social Benefits: Anthropology is generally qualitative, and identifies and highlights cultural nuances in ways that blunt statistics never will. It’s ground-level work, physical interactions with people and their social contexts. It’s one of the only ways that we can actually see what’s happening. We can quote poverty statistics day and night, but what do we know of the poverty situation in the U.S. (or elsewhere) without witnessing it firsthand? The same can be said of education, healthcare, etc. Anthropology brings about real change. Anthropologists aren’t just a bunch of ivory tower professors and armchair activists that talk the talk without walking the walk. Basically, all of these are real-life applications of anthropology. Believe it or not, anthropological knowledge has (and should have) a great hand in shaping foreign policy, foreign aid, foreign business practices, domestic policy, etc.

Anthropology in Nagaland

Humans are innately curious creatures. We want to know where we came from, how we have evolved as a species and where we might go next. We want to know how other people are similar to and different from the people we know. Anthropology answers those queries for humanity. It gives us a solid picture of our human origins and blends together the various human cultures into one large journey of humanity from the beginning of our existence to the present day. In doing so, it can also help us understand more about where our cultures might be going in the future because we predict future trends based on our past growth and progress. But Anthropology in Nagaland is very negligible, it is sad to say that hardly any of our parents or educators or for that matter even our teachers don’t realised the beautiful subject called Anthropology. It is the fact that the importance of Anthropology is rising immensely in all the sectors of development in the world but it’s hardly evolving in our state. It is also fact that Anthropology is taught only in Kohima Science College Jotsoma, giving a Bachelor degree and only a year ago it was upgraded to Master degree. It is also learned that Master degree is provided in Nagaland University for the past 4 years only. The subject Anthropology is very old subject but it is not provided or given importance by the government of Nagaland or Nagaland University or any other academic institutions for that matter. I urge the colleges to provide Anthropology in undergraduate, graduate and even doctorate so that students can become professional in the field of Anthropology keeping in mind the needs of Anthropologists in this present world. Anthropology is a subject where they emphasis the well being of a community as well as an individual’s development, recently appeared in the local dailies about the Anthropology students of Kohima Science College where they went to study Mopungchuket’s social institutions and they have covered the subjects such as village’s political structure, land holding system, impact of tourism, body mass index and blood pressure. They studied the hierarchy of the Putu Menden (village council), its powers and function, the pattern of land use in the village, the cycle of jhum cultivation, impact of tourism and future prospects of tourism in the village and determined the height, weight and blood pressure of villagers’ physical index. This studies show that the interaction between the students and the villagers and the complete picture of a village social institution through them. There are many Nagas anthropologist but the job opportunities in academic field are very limited since the institutions which provide Anthropology is very few in the state and the job creation in public sector for anthropologists is very less or not at all in our state. In this case I request the government, the bureaucrats, business group, entrepreneurs to employ or to make use of the Nagas anthropologist who are just ready to make use of their ideas of applied Anthropology what they have learnt during their studies, research, practical’s, ethnographic fieldwork, dissertations, presentations, seminars, symposium etc. It is also fact that many western anthropologists have wrote about the Nagas but hardly any books or research have been done by the students who have studied Anthropology, it is high time for us to write our own cultures, customs, religion, moral values, ethics where than the authenticity of the story become genuine and reflect the true sense of our past glorious generations. So imparting micro studies in Anthropology in school and colleges can be of tremendous source of knowledge, a database for developing and formulating macro-level strategies, planning and execution of programs and projects of our state government as well as private enterprises. The programs to be effective and successful need to be charted out and chalked out taking into account the socio-cultural context of our state being affected by it as well as their constraining politico-economic scenario and power structure of our state. Today, Anthropological work has gained momentum and Anthropological knowledge and expertise is well documented, acknowledged and acclaimed the world over in all branches of refinement and development. Thus, Naga anthropologists can be employed for both research activities as well as implementation of intervention packages or policy formulation of our state.

Manjah Tillman
Manjahtillman@gmail.com