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Modern socio-cultural anthropology has its origins in 19th century "ethnology." Ethnology involves the systematic comparison of human societies. Scholars like E.B. Tylor and J.G. Frazer in England worked mostly with materials collected by others – usually missionaries, explorers, or colonial officials – and are today called "arm-chair anthropologists." Ethnologists were especially interested in why people living in different parts of the world sometimes had similar beliefs and practices. Ethnologists in the 19th century were divided: some, like Grafton Elliot Smith, argued that different groups must somehow have learned from one another, however indirectly; in other words, they argued that cultural traits spread from one place to another, or "diffused." Others argued that different groups were capable of inventing similar beliefs and practices independently. Some of those who advocated "independent invention," like Lewis Henry Morgan, additionally supposed that similarities meant that different groups had passed through the same stages of cultural evolution.
20th century anthropologists largely reject the notion that all human societies must pass through the same stages in the same order. Some 20th century ethnologists, like Julian Steward, have instead argued that such similarities reflected similar adaptations to similar environments (see cultural evolution). Others, like Claude Lévi-Strauss, have argued that they reflect fundamental similarities in the structure of human thought (see structuralism).By the 20th century most socio-cultural anthropologists turned to the study of ethnographyEthnography refers to the qualitative description of human social phenomena, based on months or years of fieldwork. Ethnography may be " holistic", describing a society as a whole, or it may focus on specific problems or situations within a larger social, in which an anthropologist actually lives among another society for a considerable period of time, simultaneously participating in and observingParticipant observation emerged as the principal approach to ethnographic research by anthropologists in the twentieth century. It relies on the cultivation of personal relationships with local informants as a way of learning about a culture, and involves the social and cultural life of the group. This method was developed by Bronislaw MalinowskiFor the Olympic champion athlete see Bronislaw Malinowski (athlete). Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski ( April 7, 1884 May 16, 1942) was a Polish anthropologist. Malinowski was born in Krakow, Poland. He originated the school of social anthropology known as fun (who conducted fieldworkFieldwork refers to scientific activity conducted in the "field", outside the laboratory, of subject matter in an as-found state, by anthropologists, geologists, botanists, archaeologists or others who study the natural or human world. For instance, archa in the Trobriand IslandsThe Trobriand Islands are a small archipelago off the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea. The population is approximately 12,000, most of it concentrated on the main island Losuia and its 'capital' Kiriwana. The first European visitor to the islands was th and taught in England) and promoted by Franz BoasFranz Boas ( July 9, 1858 December 22, 1942) was one of the pioneers of modern cultural anthropology and is often called the "Father of American Anthropology. Like many such pioneers, he trained in other disciplines; he received his doctorate in physics, (who conducted fieldwork in Baffin IslandBaffin Island ( Inuktitut: Qikiqtaaluk ) is one of the Arctic Islands in the north of Canada in the territory of Nunavut. It is the largest island in Canada and is the 5th largest island in the world, with an area of 195,928 sq mi (507,451 km²). Iqaluit, and taught in the United StatesThe United States of America also referred to as the United States U. America ¹ or the States is a federal republic in central North America, stretching from the Atlantic in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. It shares land borders with Canada in). Although 19th century ethnologists saw "diffusion" and "independent invention" as mutually exclusive and competing theories, most ethnographers quickly reached a consensus that both processes occur, and that both were plausible explanations for cross-cultural similarities. But these ethnographers pointed out that such similarities were often superficial, and that even traits that spread through diffusion often changed their meaning and functions as they moved from one society to another. Accordingly, these anthropologists were less interested in comparing cultures, generalizing about human nature, or discovering universal laws of cultural development, than they were in understanding particular cultures in their own terms. They and their students promoted the idea of "cultural relativism," that a person's beliefs and behaviors could only be understood in the context of the culture in which he or she lived.
In the early 20th century socio-cultural anthropology developed in different forms in Europe and the United States. European "social anthropologists" focused on observed social behaviors, and "social structure", that is, relationships among social roles (e.g. husband and wife, or parent and child) and social institutions (e.g. religion, economy, and politics). American "cultural anthropologists" focused on the ways people expressed their view of themselves and their world, especially in symbolic forms (e.g. art and myths). These two approaches frequently converged (e.g. kinship is both a symbolic system and a social institution), and generally complemented one another. Today almost all socio-cultural anthropologists refer to the work of both sets of predecessors, and are equally interested in what people do and what people say.
Today socio-cultural anthropology is still dominated by ethnography. Nevertheless, many contemporary socio-cultural anthropologists have rejected earlier models of ethnography that treated local cultures as bounded and isolated. These anthropologists are still concerned with the distinct ways people in different locales experience and understand their lives, but they often argue that one cannot understand these particular ways of life solely in the local context; one must analyze them in the context of regional or even global political and economic relations. Notable proponents of this approach are Arjun Appadurai , James Clifford , Jean Comaroff , John Comaroff , James Ferguson, Akhil Gupta , George Marcus , Sidney Mintz , Michael Taussig , Joan Vincent , and Eric Wolf.
Additionally, sociocultural anthropologists have increasingly turned their investigative eye on to "Western" culture. For example, a recent winner of a prestigious prize for ethnography-- In Search of Respect-- had as its object of study the entreprenuers in a Harlem crack den.