Franz Boas And Malinowski Summary

Many men and women have made significant scholarly contributions in the discipline of Anthropology. While there have been many well known contributors, two of the most significant are Franz Boas and Bronislaw Malinowski. Commonly known “Father of American Anthropology”. Boas believed that the study of people and their culture should be conducted using the same scientific method as the physical sciences. Bronislaw Malinowski is especially known for his revolutionary field work methods and developments in ethnographic techniques. Both men are considered revolutionaries for their ground-breaking input to the field of anthropology through their improvements in techniques and methods, and for their input on long standing theories and ideas, which

Together, Boas and Malinowski changed the methods and techniques employed by anthropologists. The methods and techniques introduced by Boas and Malinowski have become the scientific standard for anthropologists throughout the world. Specifically, two of Boas’s students, Margret and Benedict, employed his techniques in their gathering of information. Benedict also shared the same belief as Malinowski, in that “…culture provides the raw material of which the individual makes [their] life” (Benedict 1-2). The meaning behind Benedict’s statement is the same as Malinowski’s, culture exists to benefit the people in

In his article Race, Language, and Culture, Boas states this idea by stating “[if] we could show how people of exactly the same biological composition react in different types of environment, much could be gained” (Boas 5). The message Boas was trying to convey to his audience was that differences do not make people or societies inferior or superior, they were simply adaptations to different environments. This also supports his belief that societies do not all follow the same evolutionary pattern, societies adapt in different ways and develop differently depending on what they are exposed