IB Anthropology Historical Particularism and Boasian Anthropology

1. Historical Particularism
Anthropological Theory
IB Anthropology
UWC Costa Rica

2. Key Theorist
• Franz Boas – founder
of American Four-
Field Anthropology
• ‘Race, Language and
Culture’ (1940) –
collection of essays
• Contributed mainly to
cultural, biological
and linguistic
anthropology

3. ‘Biological studies of European
Immigrants to USA
• Revealed and measure phenotypical
plasticity
• Children of immigrants differed physically
from parents – not because of genetic
change but because of growing up in
different environment
• Boas demonstrated that human biology
was plastic – it could be changed by the
environment including cultural factors
• Boas strived to prove that biology
(including race did not determine culture

4. Boas + Fieldwork
• Studied language and culture among
Native Americans esp. Kwakiutl of North
Pacific coast
• New York Columbia University… many
influential students e.g Mead and Benedict
• Boas and students took criticised Unilinear
Evolutionism, particularly idea of
preordained evolutionary path

5. Given cultural feature does not
follow single path of development
• E.g. totemism did not follow single path of
development but could arise for many
reasons
• Known as Historical Particularism
• Histories of totemism in societies A, B and
C have all been different, forms of
totemism have different causes which
makes them incomparable
• They might seem to be the same, but are
really different, because they have
different histories

6. Rejection of Comparative Method
• Boasian Historical Particularism rejects
comparative method advocated by Tylor
and Morgan (as well as many
anthropologists today)
• But how to explain cultural generalities
(cultural traits shared by many – but not all
– societies)?

7. Explaining cultural generalities
• Evolutionists stressed independent
invention – eventually, people in may
areas had developed same cultural
solution to a common problem
• E.g. Agriculture was invented several
times
• Boasians reject this view. Stress
importance of diffusion (borrowing) among

8. Analytical Units of Diffusion
• Culture Trait: e.g. a bow and arrow
• Trait Complex: the hunting pattern that goes along
with use of a bow and arrow
• Culture Area: based on diffusion of traits and trait
complexes across a particular geographic area
e.g. Plains or Pacific Northwest
• These areas usually had environmental
boundaries limiting spread of cultural traits
outside that area

9. Analytical Units of Diffusion
• For Boasian anthropologists, historical
particularism and diffusion are
complementary concepts.
• As culture traits diffused, they developed
their particular histories as they entered
and moved through particular societies

10. Summary
• Historical Particularism based on idea that
each element of culture has its own
distinctive history
• Social forms that may look familiar are
actually far from identical because of their
different histories
• Historical Particularism rejects comparison
and generalization – favours an individuating
historical approach