Pim Noomen - 4656520
Mid-Term CA3
Naam: Noomen P
Studentnummer: 4656520
Datum: 15/03/2023
Werkgroepdocent: Joost Haagsma
Cursus: Cultural Anthropology 3: History and Theory in Anthropology (201800017)
Hoorcollege professoren: Rebecca Bryant & David Henig
Question 2) Franz Boas and Bronislaw Malinowski are considered to be the founding fathers
of modern anthropology. While Boas is known for articulating cultural relativism as one of
anthropology's founding principles, Malinowski is known for encouraging ethnographers to
pursue "the native's point of view." What are the similarities and differences between these
two approaches?
Modern anthropology as we know it today has gone through many stages over time. Franz
Boas and Bronislaw Malinowski fulfill an important role within the current approaches to the
field to this day. During the late 19th century Boas argued that we need to move away from
race and look at culture as a factor and an explanation for the differences between people and
groups (Bryant 2023: Lecture 2). Malinowski is mostly associated with the concept of
fieldwork and his way of becoming a native to pursue the native’s point of view (Bryant
2023: Lecture 2). Within collecting data, there are many ways to view and do so. For this
reason both researchers have had different perspectives that overlap each other, but were also
different in some ways. Nevertheless, the most important thing was to investigate a culture or
society in the best way possible.
Franz Boas (German-American Anthropologist) emphasized the principle of cultural
relativism. He thought that every culture must be understood through its own logic and not
put on an evolutionary ladder (Boas 1920: 103-104). This is where the concept of participant
observation, a revolutionized form of fieldwork introduced by Malinowski, connects to this
principle. If you want to understand a society, you have to live, think and behave like it. This
is indeed the case when participant observation takes place during fieldwork research.
Malinowski (British Anthropologist) had observed Kula through participant observation
(Malinowski 1922: 177-178). By learning their language and living with them for a long time
1
Mid-Term CA3
Naam: Noomen P
Studentnummer: 4656520
Datum: 15/03/2023
Werkgroepdocent: Joost Haagsma
Cursus: Cultural Anthropology 3: History and Theory in Anthropology (201800017)
Hoorcollege professoren: Rebecca Bryant & David Henig
Question 2) Franz Boas and Bronislaw Malinowski are considered to be the founding fathers
of modern anthropology. While Boas is known for articulating cultural relativism as one of
anthropology's founding principles, Malinowski is known for encouraging ethnographers to
pursue "the native's point of view." What are the similarities and differences between these
two approaches?
Modern anthropology as we know it today has gone through many stages over time. Franz
Boas and Bronislaw Malinowski fulfill an important role within the current approaches to the
field to this day. During the late 19th century Boas argued that we need to move away from
race and look at culture as a factor and an explanation for the differences between people and
groups (Bryant 2023: Lecture 2). Malinowski is mostly associated with the concept of
fieldwork and his way of becoming a native to pursue the native’s point of view (Bryant
2023: Lecture 2). Within collecting data, there are many ways to view and do so. For this
reason both researchers have had different perspectives that overlap each other, but were also
different in some ways. Nevertheless, the most important thing was to investigate a culture or
society in the best way possible.
Franz Boas (German-American Anthropologist) emphasized the principle of cultural
relativism. He thought that every culture must be understood through its own logic and not
put on an evolutionary ladder (Boas 1920: 103-104). This is where the concept of participant
observation, a revolutionized form of fieldwork introduced by Malinowski, connects to this
principle. If you want to understand a society, you have to live, think and behave like it. This
is indeed the case when participant observation takes place during fieldwork research.
Malinowski (British Anthropologist) had observed Kula through participant observation
(Malinowski 1922: 177-178). By learning their language and living with them for a long time
1
