The founder of social anthropology was the American anthropologist, Morgan. The science developed for the study of human beings is called anthropology. The Hindi meaning of ‘Anthropology’ is ‘मानवशास्त्र’, ‘Anthropology’ is made up of two words ‘Anthropo’ and ‘Logos’ which respectively mean – ‘Anthropology is the science of man’. Social anthropology is a major branch of anthropology. Social anthropology is social which at least studies man. Pindington has said that “social anthropologists’ study contemporary primitive cultures.” This definition of social anthropology is somewhat narrow because it studies not only primitive cultures but also contemporary culture. From this point of view Dr. S. C. Dubey’s definition is quite apt that “Social anthropology is that part of cultural anthropology that pays more attention to the study of social structure and religion rather than the moral aspects of culture”. So, it is clear that social anthropology studies various aspects of social structure like social institutions, social processes, social events etc.
• Mr. Radcliffe Brown defines social anthropology as saying that social anthropology is that branch of sociology which deals with ‘ primitive ‘ or pre – literate societies.
• According to Nedel, “Social anthropology is the study of societies without history and cultures of unfamiliar nature.” In one of his later articles, Mr. Nedel also wrote that “the main aim of social anthropology is the study of primitive human beings, the culture they created and to understand the social system in which they live and work.” In short, social anthropology as a branch of cultural anthropology deals with the sociological study of primitive societies.
Not only this, while defining social anthropology, Beals and Hoiser have written that – “Social anthropology is concerned with culture itself, whether it is related to the primitive man of the Stone Age or the inhabitants of the European cities of today.”
In the words of Pennyman, social anthropology is that part of cultural anthropology that studies social phenomena. In this regard, Dr. Srinivas, while giving an adequate and detailed definition of social anthropology, has written that- “Social anthropology is the comparative study of human societies. Ideally, it includes all societies, etc., civilized and historical.” Charles Winick also studied social anthropology especially social behaviour from the point of view of comparative systematic study of social forms and institutions. In short, Anthropology is the comparative study of the social practices and social trades of human beings in all countries and times.
Scope of Social Anthropology: It is very clear from these definitions that the field of social anthropology is very broad. Social Anthropology deals with the study of various parts of culture and social institutions and economic and political systems.
1. One of the main areas of social anthropology is ethnography, which deals with the study of the human species. The study of cultures of different species also comes in this area.
2. Since the family is a fundamental unit of human society, social anthropology studies the family as well. The basic branch of social anthropology is called family anthropology. Under this, a comparative study of families of different cultures and societies is done. Along with this, along with family progress, its various forms are also studied. Social anthropology also studies marriage on the basis of family, various forms of marriage and other blood relations associated with it.
3. Social anthropology makes a finer study of the economic systems of primitive and civilized human societies and the different levels of development in them.
4. Social anthropology studies all types of political systems, laws, governments, principles of punishment, etc. Therefore, it is called an important branch of social anthropology – political anthropology.
5. Social anthropology studies linguistics and the various signs of human behaviour prevalent in different societies. All areas and branches of linguistics, such as descriptive linguistics (which studies individual and regional languages), historical linguistics (historical study of languages), comparative linguistics (studies contemporary elements of language), and general linguistics (it studies the difference between the minimum and maximum elements of a language) is also studied by social anthropology.
6. Social Anthropology deals with various thought religions, magic (from science to mythology) and also studies the mirror culture of society.
7. Social anthropology studies all the arts from sculpture, metallurgy etc. to dance, instrumental music etc.
8. Social Anthropology is the anthropological study of social structure, social organization and social relations. According to contemporary American anthropologists, social anthropology is only a branch of cultural anthropology because culture is a broader concept than society, whose field of study is much broader in the field of social life.
9. In Europe, Claude Lévy Strauss considered social anthropology to be the study of communication.
Thus, social anthropology studies those institutional social relationships, behaviours, systems and values which can be known by actual observation. In these contexts, Anthropology lays more emphasis on observation rather than accepting any preconceptions.
On the basis of the above-mentioned statements, in a nutshell, it can be said Well that social anthropology is a detailed study of social system and social relations like sociology.
Nature: Carl Pearson has written that the unity of all sciences lies only in its method and not in its content. It is decided on the basis of the method of study whether any knowledge is science or art. The knowledge which is acquired through scientific method is called science. Scientific method is used in social anthropology. Hence it is a science. The participatory observation method is used in social anthropology. The researcher stays with the people to be studied for a year or two or even more, participates in their various programmes, observes them closely and tries to understand their social structure. The observer does all this with program-asymmetry, that is, without bias. He does not allow his personal desires, aspirations and thoughts to be included in the study. In addition to the participatory observation method, the researcher also uses schedules, questionnaires, personal biographies and community study methods.
The comparative study of “what is” is done in social anthropology. It lays special emphasis on comparative analysis of events and processes. Also, on the basis of studies, the principles which are propounded in social anthropology are of universal type. These principles hold true if the conditions remain unchanged. The principles propounded in social anthropology can be scrutinized, tested and re-examined by any individual at any time. The subject matter of social anthropology can be examined on the basis of facts and its veracity can be proved.
Many thinkers consider social anthropology to be a science on the basis of the following arguments: –
(1) Application of the scientific method: – Social anthropology mainly studies primitive societies. He uses scientific methods to study it. There are methods used by social anthropologists. Completely scientific method is followed in participatory observation, schedule, questionnaire, historical method, comparative methods.
(2) What is it? Description: – Under social anthropology, various situations are described “as is”. The social anthropologist does not study social phenomena from the point of view of “what should be” he studies only “what is”.
(3) Universality: – The principles that social anthropology creates are universal, that is, they can be seen by examining them at any place and their veracity can be checked.
(4) Analysis and classification of facts: – Social anthropology also analyses and classifies the obtained facts to arrive at its conclusions.
(5) Prediction possible: – The rules that are made after observation and study by social anthropologists, there is a cause-effect relationship in them. Therefore, with the help of these principles, predictions can be made about social events without any difficulty.
(6) Explanation of causal relationship: – Social anthropology does not talk only about social events, what is that event? But it also gives an indication as to why that event happened. The main task of a social anthropologist is to find out the causes of events.
(7) Collection of facts by observation: – In social anthropology, the collection of facts is done on the basis of direct observation.
(8) Verification of theories possible: – It is possible to verify the principles of social anthropology. Their theory can be tested and re-examined at any time.
Kirsing wrote that “social anthropology is precisely inclined towards science and belongs to the social sciences.” It is said that social anthropology lacks karma-inequality and does not have a laboratory of its own. It is unable to measure its content, it cannot predict and is not a real science. There is no solid basis for these objections. At present, social anthropologists’ resort to subtle observation creating causality, study their field of study and people in depth with objectivity, they participate in the day-to-day life of the group. Observe people’s behaviour, ask them questions, listen to them and try to fully explain to their informants. The laboratory of a social anthropologist is the whole world, he does not need to lock his material in a room of a building for his study. He himself reaches among the place and the people he has to study. For a subject to be called science, it is not necessary to have the ability to measure. Green wrote that there is really no direct connection between science and measurement. There is very little work of measuring in geology and biology, yet everyone considers them to be sciences. The same is the case with social anthropology. Those who study human behaviour are beginning to realize that there are many regularities in human behaviour on the basis of which predictions can be made. On the basis of their in-depth studies, social anthropologists have been able to find out many such rules about human-nature and human relations, on the basis of which something can be said with credibility regarding the future. As our knowledge of human behaviour increases, our ability to predict will develop.
It is true that less accuracy is found in social sciences than in physical sciences. But reality is a relative term and no direct relation is found between reality and science. Meteorology and Mathematics – Astrology is not a real science but still they are considered as science. In such a situation there should be no objection in treating social anthropology as a science. It is clear from the above discussion that social anthropology is a science, its nature is scientific.