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CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

I have taught standard level International Baccalaureate Social and Cultural Anthropology (IBSCA) Standard Level for about 12 years. During those 12 years, only two students failed the exam, and that was in my first years. But through the years, I have studied every (well, many) aspects of social and cultural anthropology (SCA), and I plan to keep studying it until I draw my last breath.

Unlike some disciplines, social and cultural anthropology is very easy to connect to our daily lives, because SCA is not just studying other cultures; it is about learning about all humanity, including ourselves. Specifically SCA explores how we think, judge, interpret, and analyze humanity. In a sense, we are all anthropologists. We all observe other people; we look for patterns; we compare one group to the other; some of us even record our observations in a journal or diary. And “certified” anthropologists do all of that, too. But the difference between the experienced and certified anthropologists and everyday anthropologists is that formally trained anthropologists make a conscious effort to rid themselves of biases, assumptions, and moral judgments when observing others. In addition, they often spend years studying a specific group. The study the history and past ethnographies. It is not uncommon, for example, for anthropologists to spend their entire academic careers studying one group or even subgroup of people. They learn the language, history, kinship patterns, and every aspect of the target culture. They live and work among their target populations and gather numerous informants who will teach them about the target culture. Yet, they would never proclaim that they are the expert on that people. They, instead, humbly admit that their study is merely a detailed cultural account at a specific time and place. No more, no less.

Anthropologists may be a humble group readily admitting to biases and rejecting absolutist conclusions. On the other hand, the study of social and cultural anthropology can change your life, because it can deeply change your worldview. It can make you a keener observer by giving you the tools to observe people and human interactions from a more objective and analytical stance. It does this by training you to observe not only explicit culture, but the more elusive, and much more interesting, implicit culture. Social and cultural anthropologists are always looking for implicit culture perhaps even more so than explicit culture. Therefore, hopefully you will find yourself looking for more implicit cultural indicators such as gender relationships, power hierarchies, societal structures, inequalities, kinship relations, et cetera. Explicit culture is more “in your face’, so to speak. It is what the culture presents for us to see. For example, explicit culture would be marriage ceremonies and all the ritual and ceremony that go with them. Most American informants, for instance, could easily describe a traditional middle-class mainstream marriage ceremony where the bride wears a white dress and the groom a dark-colored tuxedo. But anthropologists look more for the implicit. They may ask why there is such a stark differentiation in the dress of the bride and groom especially on the wedding day. Even though women wear pants in everyday American attire, why on this particular day would a bride never wear pants, at least in the traditional heterosexual marriage practice? Why does the bride carry flowers and not the groom? What is the historical context behind the American wedding ritual? How did it evolve? Why is the male and female bodily presentation so starkly differentiated? What are the symbolic meanings of this performance? What about all the props, for example the flowers, the gifts, the church itself, the religious aspect, the performance roles? As you can see, I could go on and on. And that is what an anthropologist does. They look deeply into any human performance, whether it is a formal ritualistic performance like a wedding, or an informal one like a neighborhood gathering. All human interactions are interesting to curious anthropologists, especially the implicit, the questions or topics generally not discussed openly or not a part of the usual discourse. Implicit cultural displays are always ripe for anthropological investigations.

One more final point about the importance of social and cultural anthropology. As briefly mentioned above, this subject has the potential to change your life, because it has the potential to change your worldview. Like most Americans, before I began studying SCA, I had a rather rigid and limited worldview. I am not proclaiming that today I have an infallible grasp on the world and its inhabitants. Far from it. But I have learned that the world is a complex sphere with over seven billion inhabitants and too many cultures and subcultures to quantify. And these numerous groups are constantly in a state of flux. Grasping even the comprehensive knowledge of even one group of people is a monumental task. But SCA can make you more aware of the scope of human understanding and make you a keener and more critical observer of the human condition. And with this awareness, comes a much needed dose of humility, and with that humility you may become more tolerant and less judgmental of others, while becoming more cognizant of your own limitations.

I love social and cultural anthropology, so I admit that I am terribly biased in my assessment of this subject. I do not see how anybody could not absolutely love this subject, because when we study anthropology, we are studying ourselves. And we all have a little narcissism within us, so who could not fall in love with anthropology? However, I also have to admit that some of the ethnographies I have read have put me to sleep within five minutes. One of the reasons for the tedium is that ethnographies have to go into great detail about a group of people in order to present that group in a comprehensive manner. Still, if you hang in there and do not give up, you will learn a great deal not only about the groups you are studying, but about yourselves. It is also my intention that using my suggestions, whether you are a teacher or student, will help you avoid the monotony of some ethnographies. Therefore, I have chosen three of the most interesting ethnographies that exist today. And one of the reasons they are so appealing is that two of them are very controversial as well as having their fair share of sex and violence, something that Americans tend to be drawn towards. So, get ready for a fascinating ride into the captivating world of social and cultural anthropology. The next three sections will discuss the three main ethnographies that will prepare you for your IB examination. Keep in mind that you do not have to use these particular ethnographies. You can choose any three that you find interesting. I merely suggest the following ones because most of my former students and I have found them fascinating along with being effective in preparing for the IBSCA examinations.