SOSA 3400

This course explores how the central concepts of anthropology emerged in the context of capitalist expansion and the making and unmaking of the colonial world. We consider the work of classic social theorists (Marx, Weber, and Durkheim) who struggled to characterize, and in some cases, change modern society. Twentieth-century anthropology emerged out of this intellectual tradition, asking questions about tradition and modernity, continuity and change, the individual and their culture or society, and power and inequality. We also consider some of the voices at the margins of the discipline and what they tell us about the creation of disciplinary canons. This course will be of interest if you would like to explore the evolution of the modern concept of race, the impact of colonialism on anthropological thinking, or the idea of cultural relativism.