Anthropology – Geertz
Instructions Geertz also tells us that we need to ‘see’ and build the system of meaning. That is because meanings are related to each other. People’s actions are symbolic, and they aremeaningful in a particular way only in that context. (Their meaning might change if contexts are changed). For example, a wink is perceived as a wink (and not as a twitch) only by someone who understands the meaning behind it and who is involved, either directly or indirectly, with the actor who is winking. For an outsider the wink can be seen as an involuntary twitch, a parody of someone’s wink or a twitch, or even a rehearsal wink (see Thick Description, p.6-7). Geertz argues that culture is a symbolic system and thus anthropological work is a search for meanings (as opposed to a search for laws of human origin or evolution, or laws of the operation of human mind – the concern of previous anthropologists). And the search for meaning necessarily requires an attention to cultural particularities and avoiding generalizations. Foucault makes us aware of the presence of power in space, bodies, and time. Your goal is to try to ‘see’ the working of power in your blocks. This does not mean that you need to find a soldier or go to a nearest school to look at how the bodies and minds of young people are being disciplined. The signs and workings of power are visible from things as mundane as street lights; passerby waiting for a green light; the bodies hurrying during rush hour; clothing: dresses, suits, and shoes that confine and/or enable movements; the same clothes can contain other meanings than being the tools for confinement; the sizes of sidewalks that force people into limited space; road-crossing signs that limit and control the movement of passerby on the roads; enclosures such as gates, fences, green spaces; the open spaces that are both inviting, but also restricting due to multiple gazes ; surveillance by police and other actors; surveillance by non-police; self-surveillance due to expected norms (i.e. not talking loudly in the public) Both Geertz and Foucault essentially teach us to look deeper at the things that you observe and to rethink things that we might take for granted. Write not more than 3 pages on an activity that is very familiar to you and explore their deeper meaning.
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