MA Social Anthropology

The aims and objectives of this module, and its sister module AN71089A Anthropological Research Methods, are to introduce students to the theories and methods of modern anthropology. This module provides an introduction to the main concepts of social anthropology. It begins with an examination of the roots of anthropological theory in the 19th century, and traces the development of various different trajectories, ending with the central questions of anthropological theory in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Our aim is to situate intellectual history of social and cultural anthropology within wider contexts, and to show how particular ideas and approaches arise at specific points in history, and reflect general concerns about inequality, war, racism, feminism etc. What holds anthropology together as a discipline, more than a narrative of scientific progress, or the construction of a specific scientific niche, is a recurrent interest in a set of questions that constitute the anthropological tradition. This module introduces students to this tradition, and encourages them to think critically and analytically about these themes.

Anthropology is one of the social sciences, but it also has considerable affinity with the humanities. Starting out as a branch of humanist philosophy in the Enlightenment and then as evolutionary world history in the age of western imperialism, the discipline became closely associated in the twentieth century with the method of fieldwork based ethnography. Anthropology's object, theory and method are likely to evolve further in the present century. Accordingly, in the first term, the module will examine the premises of British social anthropology as it emerged between the wars and then how it has developed over the last half-century, when French structuralism and, more important, American cultural anthropology were major influences. At the same time, some anthropologists have remained open to Marxist and other critical approaches concerned with the history of development. In a world in which inequality, cultural difference, social fragmentation, and rapid social and economic change are all matters of major concern, the scope of anthropology is enormous. In the complementary module AN71089A Anthropological Research Methods, which runs in the Spring Term, each lecture will focus on a particular area of anthropological research. The material covered will enable you to see how different anthropologists approach a number of central issues, both classical and contemporary.

The topics chosen will focus upon some of the theoretical developments and methodological strategies pursued in response to profound and widespread social transformations. Each lecture will cover a major theory or debate, and examine this in relation to particular ethnographic examples. The principal lecturer and guest speakers will also draw heavily on their own research interests and writings for illustrative material. In a field as vast as anthropology, it is important to maintain a selective focus on areas of personal interest and we encourage students to build on the knowledge they bring from elsewhere to this module. In some cases, it will be possible to present particular theories in relation to specific ethnographies. Good ethnographies, like good novels, create worlds of their own in which it is possible to see the complex interactions of human existence more fully. But intellectual history cannot always be squeezed into ethnographic boxes, and this part of the module encourages you to think critically about the relation between methods (particularly the ethnographic method) and theory.

The aims and objectives of this module are to introduce students to the theories and methods of modern anthropology. This module is designed to complement AN71081B Anthropological Theory. In the autumn term you situated current theoretical concerns in anthropology historically and philosophically. This term we will introduce the methods used by anthropologists as well as returning to some key texts from last term and critically analysing the links between theory and methods within.

The module is designed to follow the three stages of writing a report; planning researching and writing up. Over the term we will cover a number of different types of data including surveys, the use of archives, images and film, in-depth interviews, participant observation and participatory research, conflicts of interest, ethical codes, informed consent, and other challenges. Throughout the module you will also be working on your own group research projects and you are encouraged to use this project to relate to the lectures and readings.

The dissertation is an extended piece of written work of academic standard, i.e. adequately researched, clearly written, well presented and structured and following academic conventions. It will show that you have an understanding of both theoretical debates in anthropology and relevant ethnography and make convincing use of secondary or library based data. Your project can involve fieldwork and/or archives (primary data that you have collected) as well as your analysis of the relevant secondary sources in anthropology (secondary data that you have consulted).

This module is concerned with social and cultural constructions and understandings of gender, sexuality and the body as discussed in anthropology and beyond. The main aim of the module is to develop a critical understanding of some of the major theoretical approaches to gender, sex and the body, as they have been and are relevant to anthropology. In European intellectual history ideas about the body have often revolved around the biological binary categories male and female. In this module, however, using a range of ethnographic examples we look at ways in which the idea of male and female is perceived, embodied and challenged, cross-culturally, in different contexts, and at different historical moments. The topics addressed range from work, performance and narrations of the self, to queer communities and families, and from biopolitics, and new technologies of the body/reproduction, the body, gender, and nation, and gender and globalisation. By the end of the module, you will be expected to be familiar with the main theoretical perspectives in anthropology on gender, sexuality and the related politics. You should also be aware of the historical changes which have marked the analysis of these concepts and be able to use ethnographic material as evidence for theoretical points.

The module will provide an overview of the study of material culture within the discipline of anthropology, with a focus on the materiality of heritage, memory and archival practice. Students will engage in conversations about the materialization of the past through both formal and informal archival practice, including institutional archives, policy archives, oral histories, collective remembering, and other forms of memorialization. They will also engage in discussions on absences and silences in the archives and hold conversations about the immaterial archive, for example exploring how experiences of intimacy or sensuality are denied space within professionalized archival practice.

The module draws on visual art, ethnography and film to think about central anthropological issues such as ‘personhood’, ‘class’, ‘indigeneity’, ‘commodity fetishism’, ‘performance’, ‘identity’, ‘memory’, ‘the sensuous’, ‘realism’, ‘history’, ‘mediation’ and ‘advocacy’. The aim of the module is to reflect on how much images tell us about human beings and their relationships in the contemporary world.

It has been claimed that the contemporary global flows of ideas, commodities and people fragment national political and cultural spaces towards both more local and global directions. Others have argued that nationalist ideologies are, in fact, re-emerging and legitimising growing inequalities in the new global order. We will revise classical theories of state and nationalism in the light of these two positions and discuss ethnographies of conflicting – regional, supranational, national, global – identities.

This module will consider the border politics involved in the making of 'transnational', diasporic', and 'local' communities. We will theorise the border as a material, political, cultural and linguistic boundary that is increasingly defining social life as well as engage with the experiences of those who cross borders. We will ask: How are borders constructed and contested? How do migrants experience borders? How is the discourse of citizenship destabilised when movement and borders become central heuristics by which to understand belonging and membership? Throughout the module we will read academic texts as well as engage with films and literature that focus on migrant lives and border crossings to develop a theoretical and practical knowledge of border politics in relationship to migratory flows.

This module revolves around contemporary debates in the anthropology of social movements. It considers the contribution of ethnographic approaches to activism and protest to the theorisation of politics, collective action and social change. The anti-globalisation movement, #occupy, the anti-corruption movement in India, the anti-foreclosures movement in Spain (PAH), the Landless Workers' Movement, right-wing extremism, feminist reproductive health activists, independent-living activism, queer movements and the Indigenous Environmental Network are some of the examples that the module will explore. Rather than 'explaining away' these movements, the pedagogical orientation of the module is based on learning from them, i.e. devising ways of conceptualising their practice, methods and transformative power. The module will also consider, as a transversal issue, the question of 'engaged' or 'militant' research - and more broadly the relationship between the production of academic and activist knowledges.

The assessment is constructed around student projects that will present, in a multimedia portfolio format, the result of research conducted about/with social movements.

Arguably modern anthropology and modern art are close in terms of both their origins and their critical reflection on the relationships between images, objects and persons, and a concern with anthropological or ethnographic issues is often an explicit feature of contemporary artworks. But despite a long history of dealing with the so-called ‘art’ of other cultures, what does anthropology have to contribute to an understanding of the kinds of artworks you might find at Tate Modern today? Using ethnographic case studies this module will consider key anthropological approaches to art both historically and thematically, and will explore how art and anthropology are entangled with each other, including suggesting ways in which anthropology can productively learn from contemporary art.

The aim of this module is to introduce you to rights in terms of their philosophical foundations, the history and shape of the UN system and anthropological contributions. We will be exploring human rights and humanitarian law a bodies of law, institutions, systems of practice and ideologies – with particular focus on the issue of cultural relativism (historically the key stumbling block for anthropological engagement with rights) and cross-cultural experiences of engagement with, or resistance to, rights.

To introduce you to the core concepts and theories relating to economic and political organisations and the problem of accounting for change, both empirically and theoretically. 

To familiarise you with a number of empirical contexts in order that you may be able to conceptualise the complex socio-economic processes that are affecting the peripheral areas that have long been the concern of anthropologists.

To explore a number of contemporary problems relating to such issues as the apparent contradiction between local or national autonomy and globalisation that do not fit easily into definitions of the "economic" or "political".

Modern anthropology and political economy have their origins in the democratic revolutions and enlightenment philosophy of the 18th century. How could the arbitrary social inequality of the old regime be replaced by a more equal society founded on what all people have in common, their human nature? We consider different approaches to political economy – Marxist, neo-institutionalist and anthropological – and look at the relationships between the state and the economy both historically and how they are experienced in everyday encounters.

This module introduces the fascinating domain of the anthropology of religion: a vast and wide-ranging subject. It introduces some of the many ways anthropologists have approached religious phenomena and highlights what is unique about anthropology’s contribution to the understanding of religion. It raises questions concerning what counts as ‘religious’ and includes within the remit of the module consideration of a variety of non-human agents (gods, God, spirits, witches) and religious practices (meditation, worship, performances).

This module offers an introduction to theoretical debates and methods of digital anthropology. It combines an introduction to the debates that have shaped the field with practical sessions designed to familiarize learners with digital methodologies for anthropological research. As digital technologies transform contemporary experiences of subjectivity, embodiment, sociality and everyday life, the module uses anthropological tools and methods to think through digital technologies in a range of ethnographic contexts. Topics covered will reimagine the object of anthropology through digital ethnography, and explore how the purchase of digital futures and imaginaries remake anthropologists’ conceptual toolkits.

The module will combine an enquiry into the materialities and politics of digital infrastructures, devices and social media platforms with practical learning using digital methods to produce anthropological analysis. Practical sessions will develop independent research skills including research design and ethics, working with digital video, techniques of online data collection and digital qualitative and ethnographic analysis.