PART 1. Theoretical OrientationsISSUE 1. Should Cultural Anthropology Model Itself on the NaturalSciences?YES: Marvin Harris, from "Cultural Materialism Is Alive and Welland Won't Go Away Until Something Better Comes Along", in RobertBorofsky, ed., Assessing Cultural AnthropologyNO: Clifford Geertz, from The Interpretation of Cultures:Selected Essays by Clifford GeertzCultural anthropologist Marvin Harris argues thatanthropology has always been a science and should continue to bescientific. He contends that anthropology's goal should be to discovergeneral, verifiable laws as in the other natural sciences. Culturalanthropologist Clifford Geertz views anthropology as a science ofinterpretation. He believes that anthropology's goal should be togenerate deeper interpretations of diverse cultural phenomena, usingwhat he calls "thick description", rather than attempting to prove ordisprove scientific laws.ISSUE 2. Do Native Peoples Today Invent Their Traditions?YES: Roger M. Keesing, from "Creating the Past: Custom andIdentity in the Contemporary Pacific", The ContemporaryPacificNO: Haunani-Kay Trask, from "Natives and Anthropologists: TheColonial Struggle", The Contemporary PacificCultural anthropologist Roger M. Keesing argues that whatnative peoples in the Pacific now accept as "traditional culture" islargely an invented and idealized vision of their past. He contendsthat such fictional images emerge because native peoples are largelyunfamiliar with what life was really like in pre-Western times andbecause such imagery distinguishes native communities from dominantWestern culture. Hawaiian activist and scholar Haunani-Kay Traskasserts that Keesing's critique is fundamentally flawed because heonly uses Western documents--and native peoples have oral traditions,genealogies, and other historical sources that are not reflected inWestern historical documents. Anthropologists like Keesing, shemaintains, are trying to hold on to their privileged position asexperts in the face of growing numbers of educated nativescholars.ISSUE 3. Do Museums Misrepresent Ethnic Communities Around theWorld?YES: James Clifford, from The Predicament of Culture:Twentieth-Century Ethnography, Literature, and ArtNO: Denis Dutton, from "Mythologies of Tribal Art", AfricanArtsPostmodernist anthropologist James Clifford argues thatthe very act of removing objects from their ethnographic contextsdistorts the meaning of objects held in museums. Exhibitionsmisrepresent ethnic communities by omitting important aspects ofcontemporary life, especially involvement with the colonial or Westernworld. Anthropologist Denis Dutton asserts that no exhibition canprovide a complete context for ethnographic objects, but that does notmean that museum exhibitions are fundamentally flawed.PART 2. Some Specific Issues in Cultural AnthropologyISSUE 4. Was Margaret Mead's Fieldwork on Samoan AdolescentsFundamentally Flawed?YES: Derek Freeman, from Margaret Mead and Samoa: The Makingand Unmaking of an Anthropological MythNO: Lowell D. Holmes and Ellen Rhoads Holmes, from SamoanVillage: Then and Now, 2d ed.Social anthropologist Derek Freeman contends that MargaretMead went to Samoa determined to prove anthropologist Franz Boas'scultural determinist agenda and states that Mead was so eager tobelieve in Samoan sexual freedom that she was consistently the victimof a hoax perpetrated by Samoan girls and young women who enjoyedtricking her. Cultural anthropologists Lowell D. Holmes and EllenRhoads Holmes contend that during a restudy of Mead's research, theycame to many of the same conclusions that Mead had reached aboutSamoan sexuality and adolescent experiences.ISSUE 5. Does Language Determine How We Think?YES: John J. Gumperz and Stephen C. Levinson, from "Introduction:Linguistic Relativity Re-examined" and "Introduction to Part 1", inJohn J. Gumperz and Stephen C. Levinson, eds., RethinkingLinguistic RelativityNO: Steven Pinker, from The Language Instinct: How the MindCreates LanguageSociolinguists John J. Gumperz and Stephen C. Levinsoncontend that recent studies of language and culture suggest thatlanguage structures human thought in a variety of ways that mostlinguists and anthropologists had not believed possible. Cognitiveneuropsychologist Steven Pinker draws on recent studies in cognitivescience and neuropsychology to support the notion that previousstudies have examined language but have said little, if anything,about thought.ISSUE 6. Are San Hunter-Gatherers Basically Pastoralists Who HaveLost Their Herds?YES: James R. Denbow and Edwin N. Wilmsen, from "Advent and Courseof Pastoralism in the Kalahari", ScienceNO: Richard B. Lee, from The Dobe Ju/'hoansi, 3rded.Archaeologists James R. Denbow and Edwin N. Wilmsen arguethat the San of the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa have beeninvolved in pastoralism, agriculture, and regional trade networkssince at least a.d. 800. They imply that the San, who were hunting andgathering in the twentieth century, were descendants of pastoralistswho lost their herds due to subjugation by outsiders, drought, andlivestock disease. Cultural anthropologist Richard B. Lee countersthat evidence from oral history, archaeology, and ethnohistory showsthat the Ju/'hoansi group of San living in the isolated Nyae Nyae-Dobearea of the Kalahari Desert were autonomous hunter-gatherers until thetwentieth century. Although they carried on some trade with outsidersbefore then, it had minimal impact on their culture.ISSUE 7. Do Hunter-Gatherers Need Supplemental Food Sources toLive in Tropical Rain Forests?YES: Thomas N. Headland, from "The Wild Yam Question: How WellCould Independent Hunter-Gatherers Live in a Tropical Rain ForestEcosystem?" Human EcologyNO: Serge Bahuchet, Doyle McKey, and Igor de Garine, from "WildYams Revisited: Is Independence From Agriculture Possible for RainForest Hunter-Gatherers?" Human EcologyCultural anthropologist Thomas N. Headland contends thattropical rain forests are poor in energy-rich wild foods that arereadily accessible to humans, especially starches. Culturalanthropologists Serge Bahuchet and Igor de Garine and biologist DoyleMcKey argue that rain forest foragers harvest far fewer wild foodsthan the forests actually contain, precisely because they now haveeasy access to cultivated foods.ISSUE 8. Do Sexually Egalitarian Societies Exist?YES: Maria Lepowsky, from Fruit of the Motherland: Gender inan Egalitarian SocietyNO: Steven Goldberg, from "Is Patriarchy Inevitable?" NationalReviewCultural anthropologist Maria Lepowsky argues that amongthe Vanatinai people of Papua New Guinea, the sexes are basicallyequal, although minor areas of male advantage exist. SociologistSteven Goldberg contends that in all societies men occupy most highpositions in hierarchical organizations and most high-status roles,and they dominate women in interpersonal relations. He states thatthis is because men's hormones cause them to compete more stronglythan women for high status and dominance.ISSUE 9. Is It Natural for Adopted Children to Want to Find OutAbout Their Birth Parents?YES: Betty Jean Lifton, from Journey of the Adopted Self: AQuest for WholenessNO: John Terrell and Judith Modell, from "Anthropology andAdoption", American AnthropologistAdoptee and adoption rights advocate Betty Jean Liftonargues that there is a natural need for human beings to know wherethey came from. Adoption is not a natural human state, she asserts,and it is surrounded by a secrecy that leads to severe social andpsychological consequences for adoptees, adoptive parents, and birthparents. Anthropologists John Terrell and Judith Modell, who are eachthe parent of an adopted child, contend that the "need" to know one'sbirth parents is an American (or Western European) cultural construct.They conclude that in other parts of the world, where there is lessemphasis placed on biology, adoptees have none of the problems said tobe associated with being adopted in America.ISSUE 10. Has the Islamic Revolution in Iran SubjugatedWomen?YES: Parvin Paidar, from "Feminism and Islam in Iran", in DenizKandiyoti, ed., Gendering the Middle East: EmergingPerspectivesNO: Erika Friedl, from "Sources of Female Power in Iran", inMahnaz Afkhami and Erika Friedl, eds., In the Eye of the Storm:Women in Post-Revolutionary IranIranian historian Parvin Paidar considers how the positionof women suffered following the 1979 Iranian Revolution because of theimposition of Islamic law (shari'a), as interpreted by conservativemale clerics. She contends that the Islamic Revolution marked asetback in the progressive modernist movements, which had improvedwomen's rights during the secular regime of the Shah; new rights andopportunities have emerged since 1979 only in opposition toconservative interpretations of Islamic law. American anthropologistErika Friedl asserts that men in Iran have consistently tried tosuppress women's rights since the 1979 Iranian Revolution. Despitethese efforts to repress them, women in all levels of society haveaccess to many sources of power. In fact, argues Friedl, women haveconsiderably more power available to them than either Western orIranian stereotypes might suggest, even though they must work withinIslamic law to obtain this power.ISSUE 11. Are Yanomami Vi olence and Warfare Natural Human Effortsto Maximize Reproductive Fitness?YES: Napoleon A. Chagnon, from "Reproductive and Somatic Conflictsof Interest in the Genesis of Violence and Warfare Among Tribesmen",in Jonathan Haas, ed., The Anthropology of WarNO: R. Brian Ferguson, from "A Savage Encounter: Western Contactand the Yanomami War Complex", in R. Brian Ferguson and Neil L.Whitehead, eds., War in the Tribal Zone: Expanding States andIndigenous WarfareAnthropologist and sociobiologist Napoleon A. Chagnonargues that the high incidence of violence and warfare he observedamong the Yanomami in the 1960s was directly related to man's inherentdrive toward reproductive fitness (i.e., the innate biological driveto have as many offspring as possible). Anthropologist and culturalmaterialist R. Brian Ferguson counters that the high incidence ofwarfare and violence observed by Chagnon in the 1960s was a directresult of contact with Westerners at mission and governmentstations.ISSUE 12. Is Ethnic Conflict Inevitable?YES: Sudhir Kakar, from "Some Unconscious Aspects of EthnicViolence in India", in Veena Das, ed., Mirrors of Violence:Communities, Riots and Survivors in South AsiaNO: Anthony Oberschall, from "The Manipulation of Ethnicity: FromEthnic Cooperation to Violence and War in Yugoslavia", Ethnic andRacial StudiesIndian social researcher Sudhir Kakar analyzes the originsof ethnic conflict from a psychological perspective to argue thatethnic differences are deeply held distinctions that from time to timewill inevitably erupt as ethnic conflicts. He maintains that anxietyarises from preconscious fears about cultural differences. In hisview, no amount of education or politically correct behavior willeradicate these fears and anxieties about people of differing ethnicbackgrounds. American sociologist Anthony Oberschall considers theethnic conflicts that have recently emerged in Bosnia and contendsthat primordial ethnic attachments are insufficient to explain thesudden emergence of violence among Bosnian ethnic groups. He adopts acomplex explanation for this violence, identifying circumstances inwhich fears and anxieties were manipulated by politicians forself-serving ends. It was only in the context of these manipulationsthat ethnic violence could have erupted, concludesOberschall.ISSUE 13. Do Some Illnesses Exist Only Among Members of aParticular Culture?YES: John E. Cawte, from "Malgri: A Culture-BoundSyndrome", in William P. Lebra, ed., Culture-Bound Syndromes,Ethnopsychiatry, and Alternate Therapies, vol. 4 of MentalHealth Research in Asia and the PacificNO: Robert A. Hahn, from Sickness and Healing: AnAnthropological PerspectivePhysician and medical anthropologist John E. Cawte askswhether or not one particular illness, called malgri by theLardil Aborigines of Australia, is restricted to this one culturalgroup. After documenting how this condition does not fit standardpsychiatric diagnoses, he concludes that malgri is indeed a"culture-bound syndrome" that can only occur among people who shareLardil cultural values and beliefs. Medical anthropologist Robert A.Hahn counters that the very idea of the so-called culture-boundsyndrome is flawed. He contends that culture-bound syndromes arereductionist explanations for certain complex illness conditions--thatis, explanations that reduce complex phenomena to a single variable.Hahn suggests that such conditions are like any illness condition;they are not so much peculiar diseases but distinctive local culturalexpressions of much more common illness conditions that can be foundin any culture. PART 3. Ethics in Cultural AnthropologyISSUE 14. Did Napoleon Chagnon and Other Researchers Harm theYanomami Indians of Venezuela?YES: Patrick Tierney, from "The Fierce Anthropologist", TheNew YorkerNO: John Tooby, from "Jungle Fever", Slate,http://slate.msn.com/?id=91946Investigative journalist Patrick Tierney contends thatgeneticist James Neel caused a measles epidemic among the YanomamiIndians of Venezuela by inoculating them with a virulent measlesvaccine. He also states that Neel's collaborator, anthropologistNapoleon Chagnon, exaggerated Yanomami aggressiveness and actuallycaused violence by indiscriminately giving machetes to tribesmen whohelped him, sometimes even inducing them to break their own taboos.Anthropologist John Tooby counters that medical experts agree that itis impossible to produce communicable measles with the vaccine thatNeel used. He also argues that Tierney systematically distortsChagnon's views on Yanomami violence and exaggerates the amount ofdisruption caused by Chagnon's activities compared to that of suchothers as missionaries and gold miners.ISSUE 15. Does It Matter if Nobel Peace Prize Winner RigobertaMenchu's Memoir Contains Inaccuracies?YES: David Stoll, from "The Battle of Rigoberta", in Arturo Arias,ed., The Rigoberta Menchu ControversyNO: Carol A. Smith, from "Why Write an Expose of RigobertaMenchu?" in Arturo Arias, ed., The Rigoberta MenchuControversyAnthropologist David Stoll argues that Rigoberta Menchumisleads readers of her book by implying that she experienced eventsto which she could never have been a witness. Contrary to what Menchuimplies, he asserts that the guerrillas used violence to forceotherwise complacent Mayan peasants to join their fight.Anthropologist Carol A. Smith contends that Menchu'smisrepresentations are inconsequential. She states that what is moreimportant is that Menchu's book was instrumental in drawing nationalattention to the plight of the Guatemalan Maya, who, Smith maintains,were ripe for revolution and eager to fight with the guerrillaarmy.ISSUE 16. Should Anthropologists Work to Eliminate the Practice ofFemale Circumcision?YES: Merrilee H. Salmon, from "Ethical Considerations inAnthropology and Archaeology, or Relativism and Justice for All",Journal of Anthropological ResearchNO: Elliott P. Skinner, from "Female Circumcision in Africa: TheDialectics of Equality", in Richard R. Randolph, David M. Schneider,and May N. Diaz, eds., Dialectics and Gender: AnthropologicalApproachesProfessor of the history and philosophy of scienceMerrilee H. Salmon argues that clitoridectomy (female genitalmutilation) violates the rights of the women on whom it is performed.Professor of anthropology Elliott P. Skinner accuses feminists whowant to abolish clitoridectomy of being ethnocentric. He states thatAfrican women themselves want to participate in the practice, whichfunctions like male initiation, transforming girls into adultwomen.ISSUE 17. Do Anthropologists Have a Moral Responsibility to Defendthe Interests of "Less Advantaged" Communities?YES: James F. Weiner, from "Anthropologists, Historians, and theSecret of Social Knowledge", Anthropology TodayNO: Ron Brunton, from "The Hindmarsh Island Bridge and theCredibility of Australian Anthropology", AnthropologyTodayAnthropology professor James F. Weiner asserts thatanthropologists have a responsibility to defend traditional nativecultures, particularly if secret cultural knowledge is involved.Applied anthropologist Ron Brunton argues that even when hired asconsultants, anthropologists have a moral and professionalresponsibility to the truth, whether the gained knowledge isconsidered by the native community as secret or not.
