On Historical Anthropology: An Introduction

Abstract

When we talk about anthropology, most people in the English-speaking world think of ethnology. In my view this reduces anthropology to only one of its paradigms. Today it no longer seems meaningful to limit anthropology or ethnology to the study of so-called primitive peoples, preindustrial and pre-state societies, tribal societies and simple societies. I propose a more comprehensive concept of anthropology as historical cultural anthropology covering four different paradigms. My aim is to develop a few of the principles and perspectives of anthropology, comparing and contrasting them with those emerging from research on evolution, philosophical anthropology in Germany, historical anthropology in France, and cultural anthropology in the United States and Europe, while also drawing on my own research.

Keywords: cultural anthropology, ethnology