Anthropology Bronislaw Malinowski Is One

Anthropology Bronislaw Malinowski is one of the twentieth century's most prominent and influential anthropologists. He is highly regarded for his pioneering work in the field of ethnographic fieldwork, giving a major contribution to the study of Melanesia and of reciprocity. Malinowski's work can best be described as operating from a functionalist approach to society. The majority of Malinowski's work occurred in the field, studying the cultures of numerous indigenous peoples. Early in his career, he traveled to what is now Papua New Guinea in order to study the local people.

When World War One broke out, Malinowski found himself stranded on the island and, being forced out of loneliness, decided to participate in the Trobrainders society. During this time, he learned the native language and bonded closely with the people. It was also during this unintentional period of study that he developed his theory of participant observation, which is now a key functionalist approach to anthropological methodology.

Whereas prior to Malinowski's work, anthropologist tended to conduct their fieldwork through structured interviews while maintaining a difference, Malinowski's participant observation was based on an argument that anthropologists must have daily contact with their subjects if their intent is to adequately record the "imponderabilia of everyday life that is so essential to understanding a different culture." According to Malinowski's theory, the goal of the anthropologist is to "grasp the native's point-of-view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of his world." Based on this fundamental belief of participation, Malinowski went on to develop the school of social anthropology known as functionalism.

Malinowski's version of functionalism was established in contrast to Radcliffe-Brown's structural functionalism in that Malinowski argued that "culture functioned to meet the needs of individuals rather than society as a whole." Accordingly, "when the needs of individuals are met, who comprise society, then the needs of society are met." Using a functionalist approach to anthropology, the feelings of people and their motives is essential to understanding the way a society functioned. The only way to truly gain this knowledge and understanding is through active participation within the society.

Malinowski states, "Besides the firm outline of tribal constitution and crystallized cultural items which form the skeleton, besides the data of daily life and ordinary behavior, which are, so to speak, its flesh and blood, there is still be recorded the spirit- the natives' views and opinions and utterances." This recording of the spirit in order to understand a society is the essence of functionalism. Specifically, functionalism is the sociological paradigm that attempts to explain all social institutions as being collective means necessary to fulfill an individual's basic biological needs.

Functionalism also includes a social institution's ability to fulfill an individual's social needs, including the need for social stability. As a theory, functionalism studies the structure and workings of a given society. A functionalist sees society as being comprised of inter-dependent segments which work together in order to fulfill the functions needed for the society as a whole to survive. To do this, the individuals who make up the society are socialized into roles and behaviors, each of which specifically fulfill a specific need of the society.

Thus, according to a functionalist, all behavior is structural, or aimed at accomplishing a specific societal goal. For this reason, the functionalist views rules and regulations are created in order to organize the relationships between the various members of society. According to functionalism, societal values also play an important role in governing a society by offering general guidelines for acceptable behavior through the establishment of roles and norms.

For example, such societal institutions as the family, economy, education and government are essential aspects to the social structure, with each institution playing a role, related to the roles of the other institutions. In this sense, individuals will become interconnected through these institutions and therefore form a community. Functionalism is based on three fundamental concepts. First, functionalism views society as a system. Accordingly, society is defined as a collection of interdependent parts that each exhibit a tendency toward reaching an equilibrium.

Second, in order for a society to survive, certain functional requirements must be satisfied. An example of such a function is reproduction. Without reproduction, the population will not survive. Third, all societal phenomena or trends exist for the sole reason that they serve a specific function in society. In other words, nothing occurs without a reason.

With these core concepts in mind, one can say that a functionalist believes that a society is essentially a living organism in that, like a living organism, it is comprised of interdependent parts working together to form systems that function together in order for the greater body to function and thus survive. Specifically, in his book a Scientific Theory of Culture, Malinowski explains functionalism in scientific terms.

His theory is that "anthropology is the study of institutions, which are organized to satisfy human biological needs." Examples of such biological basic needs include metabolism, reproduction, corporeal well-being, security, activity, growth and health. Thus, in order to understand a society, one needs to only follow the scientific theory of understanding these basic needs. In doing so, one finds that a society is comprised of numerous institutions aimed at providing for these basic needs. These.