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1. Anthropology and the Work of Marx and Engels The area of study in social sciences which has gone under the name of anthropology in English-speaking countries has traditionally concentrated on primitive peoples. Anthropology as an organized subject goes back to the mid-nineteenth century (Fortes 1969:g, following Kroeber) and was closely associated with the study of evolution. Cultural and social anthropology was then concerned with the evolution of human society and culture. Inevitably the early history of anthropology became close allied to the history of Darwinian evolutionary theory and many controversies which now seem obscure relate to the burning debate surrounding the concept of natural selection. None the less, anthropology soon became an independent academic study, first by amatures and later by university researchers. In time, academic anthropology became less directly associated with evolutionary ideas, and it tried to establish itself as a respectable, if not conservative branch of social sciences. How then did this apolitical, academic subject come to play such an important part in the development of Marxism? Marx was, as Engels stressed in his funeral oration, first and foremost a revolutionary, and so the importance which he attached to the study of pre-literate peoples, the traditional field of anthropology might at first seem strange. In fact, his intense interest, an interest which he passed on to Engels and other revolutionary Marxists, is neither accidental nor peripheral: it is one indication of the difference between Marx's thought and that of other revolutionaries, whether his predecessors or his contemporaries. It is one indication of why he has such a unique influence on the history of mankind. Marx was not the first to denounce the wretched condition of the working class in capitalist countries, nor was he the first to point out the apparent anomaly that those who produced the wealth, the workers, were the poorest while those who were apparently useless drones, the capitalists and their associates, were the richest. However, he was the first who did not underestimate the power and complexity of the system which has produced such a state of affairs. Because of this, Marx took as one of his main tasks the understanding how this system came into being, and this was in
order to discover why this system had such power over minds of those who operated, whether exploiters or exploited. This is what made Marx so different from his socialist contemporaries. At the same time as he was engaged in more political work, Marx attempted to rewrite the history of mankind for the use of the oppressed, so that he could be able to understand the nature of oppression to which they were subjected, and how it had come about. For Marx this historical work was also political, because he believed that understanding the worker's condition through the study of history would enable them the better to fight it. Anthropology had a place in the scheme because for Marx it was the study of early history of mankind. This rewriting of history was not so much a matter of starting it again, but of making use, for a new purpose, of knowledge which was already available, whether in works of philosophers like Hegel, economists like Ricardo, biologists like Darwin, or anthropologists. This new use meant severe criticism of earlier knowledge, since Marx believed that the studies he was using had originally been made for exactly the opposite purpose to his; they had been made in order to justify the oppression which Marx saw as the core of capitalist system. This was particularly true Marx felt, of the economists, but he was to show that it was also true of some anthropologists. Naturally Marx started by explaining the historical mechanism of inner working of the social system which dominated the condition of the working class at the same time when he wrote about capitalism. This is where he devoted most of his energies. However, in order to expose the nature of capitalism, Marx first had to show that capitalism is not based on some eternal immutable truth, as presented by economists, but is the product of a long history. For example the law of supply and demand, as it operated in mid-nineteenth century England, he argues, was not simply a matter of eternal logic, nor were such rights as that of private property self evident truths, but they were the product of particular historical circumstances. Those circumstances have brought about the capitalist system and had also created the concepts on which it was based. In showing capitalism and capitalist values to be the creation of a moment of history Marx negated the transcendental claim of capitalism to be the only possible natural system for civilized man, and in this way challenged the basic percepts of capitalism.
Notes 1. anthropology - science dealing with humans 2. Fortes - Meyer Fortes (1906-1983) was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana. Originally trained in psychology, Fortes employed the notion of the "person" into his structural-functional analyses of kinship, the family, and ancestor worship setting a standard for studies on African social organization. His famous book, Oedipus and Job in West African Religion (1959), fused his two interests and set a standard for comparative ethnology. He also wrote extensively on issues of the first born, kingship, and divination. Fortes received his anthropological training from Charles Gabriel Seligman at the London School of Economics. Fortes also trained with Bronisław Malinowski and Raymond Firth. Along with contemporaries A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, Sir Edmund Leach, Audrey Richards, and Lucy Mair, Fortes held strong functionalist views that insisted upon empirical evidence in order to generate analyses of society. His volume with E. E. Evans-Pritchard, African Political Systems (1940) established the principles of segmentation and balanced opposition, which were to become the hallmarks of African political anthropology. Despite his work in Francophone West Africa, Fortes' work on political systems was influential to other British anthropologists, especially Max Gluckman and played a role in shaping what became known as the Manchester School of Social Anthropology, which emphasized the problems of working in colonial Central Africa. Fortes spent much of his career as a Reader at the University of Cambridge. 3. empirical study - study based on observation 4. Kroeber - Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11, 1876–October 5, 1960) was one of the most influential figures in American anthropology in the first half of the twentieth century. Although he is known primarily as a cultural anthropologist, he did significant work in archeology, and he contributed to anthropology by making connections between archeology and culture. He conducted excavations in New Mexico, Mexico, and Peru. Kroeber and his students did important work collecting cultural data on western tribes of Native Americans. The work done in preserving California tribes
appeared in Handbook of Indians of California (1925). These efforts to preserve remaining data on these tribes has been termed "Salvage ethnography." He is credited with developing the concepts of Culture Area and Culture Configuration (Cultural and Natural Areas of Native North America, 1939).His influence was so strong that many contemporaries adopted his style of beard and mustache as well as his views as a social scientist. During his lifetime, he was known as the "Dean of American anthropologists". His anthropological paradigms have introduced the word Kroeberian into the English language. Kroeber and Roland Dixon were very influential in the genetic classification of Native American languages in North America, being responsible for groupings such as Penutian and Hokan. He is noted for working with Ishi, who was claimed (though not uncontroversially) to be the last California Yahi Indian. His second wife, Theodora Kroeber, wrote a well-known biography of Ishi, Ishi in Two Worlds. Kroeber's relationship with Ishi was made into a film The Last of His Tribe (1992), starring Jon Voigt as Kroeber. His textbook, Anthropology (1923, 1948), was widely used for years.
order to discover why this system had such power over minds of those who operated, whether exploiters or exploited. This is what made Marx so different from his socialist contemporaries. At the same time as he was engaged in more political work, Marx attempted to rewrite the history of mankind for the use of the oppressed, so that he could be able to understand the nature of oppression to which they were subjected, and how it had come about. For Marx this historical work was also political, because he believed that understanding the worker's condition through the study of history would enable them the better to fight it. Anthropology had a place in the scheme because for Marx it was the study of early history of mankind. This rewriting of history was not so much a matter of starting it again, but of making use, for a new purpose, of knowledge which was already available, whether in works of philosophers like Hegel, economists like Ricardo, biologists like Darwin, or anthropologists. This new use meant severe criticism of earlier knowledge, since Marx believed that the studies he was using had originally been made for exactly the opposite purpose to his; they had been made in order to justify the oppression which Marx saw as the core of capitalist system. This was particularly true Marx felt, of the economists, but he was to show that it was also true of some anthropologists. Naturally Marx started by explaining the historical mechanism of inner working of the social system which dominated the condition of the working class at the same time when he wrote about capitalism. This is where he devoted most of his energies. However, in order to expose the nature of capitalism, Marx first had to show that capitalism is not based on some eternal immutable truth, as presented by economists, but is the product of a long history. For example the law of supply and demand, as it operated in mid-nineteenth century England, he argues, was not simply a matter of eternal logic, nor were such rights as that of private property self evident truths, but they were the product of particular historical circumstances. Those circumstances have brought about the capitalist system and had also created the concepts on which it was based. In showing capitalism and capitalist values to be the creation of a moment of history Marx negated the transcendental claim of capitalism to be the only possible natural system for civilized man, and in this way challenged the basic percepts of capitalism.
Notes 1. anthropology - science dealing with humans 2. Fortes - Meyer Fortes (1906-1983) was a South African-born anthropologist, best known for his work among the Tallensi and Ashanti in Ghana. Originally trained in psychology, Fortes employed the notion of the "person" into his structural-functional analyses of kinship, the family, and ancestor worship setting a standard for studies on African social organization. His famous book, Oedipus and Job in West African Religion (1959), fused his two interests and set a standard for comparative ethnology. He also wrote extensively on issues of the first born, kingship, and divination. Fortes received his anthropological training from Charles Gabriel Seligman at the London School of Economics. Fortes also trained with Bronisław Malinowski and Raymond Firth. Along with contemporaries A. R. Radcliffe-Brown, Sir Edmund Leach, Audrey Richards, and Lucy Mair, Fortes held strong functionalist views that insisted upon empirical evidence in order to generate analyses of society. His volume with E. E. Evans-Pritchard, African Political Systems (1940) established the principles of segmentation and balanced opposition, which were to become the hallmarks of African political anthropology. Despite his work in Francophone West Africa, Fortes' work on political systems was influential to other British anthropologists, especially Max Gluckman and played a role in shaping what became known as the Manchester School of Social Anthropology, which emphasized the problems of working in colonial Central Africa. Fortes spent much of his career as a Reader at the University of Cambridge. 3. empirical study - study based on observation 4. Kroeber - Alfred Louis Kroeber (June 11, 1876–October 5, 1960) was one of the most influential figures in American anthropology in the first half of the twentieth century. Although he is known primarily as a cultural anthropologist, he did significant work in archeology, and he contributed to anthropology by making connections between archeology and culture. He conducted excavations in New Mexico, Mexico, and Peru. Kroeber and his students did important work collecting cultural data on western tribes of Native Americans. The work done in preserving California tribes
appeared in Handbook of Indians of California (1925). These efforts to preserve remaining data on these tribes has been termed "Salvage ethnography." He is credited with developing the concepts of Culture Area and Culture Configuration (Cultural and Natural Areas of Native North America, 1939).His influence was so strong that many contemporaries adopted his style of beard and mustache as well as his views as a social scientist. During his lifetime, he was known as the "Dean of American anthropologists". His anthropological paradigms have introduced the word Kroeberian into the English language. Kroeber and Roland Dixon were very influential in the genetic classification of Native American languages in North America, being responsible for groupings such as Penutian and Hokan. He is noted for working with Ishi, who was claimed (though not uncontroversially) to be the last California Yahi Indian. His second wife, Theodora Kroeber, wrote a well-known biography of Ishi, Ishi in Two Worlds. Kroeber's relationship with Ishi was made into a film The Last of His Tribe (1992), starring Jon Voigt as Kroeber. His textbook, Anthropology (1923, 1948), was widely used for years.
