Contemporary Theory and Method

Anthropology underwent major changes in the years around World War II. By the 1940s, the Boasian research program had been abandoned and was replaced by modernist programs as American and European anthropologists began to do fieldwork in new locations. Anthropology since 1945 can be divided into two broad periods: modernity (1945–1980s) and postmodernity. Modernism is essentially the continuation of Enlightenment ideals of human progress and rationality. It represents a conceptual break with religion and explanations that rely upon divine intervention in human history. Postmodernism holds that human culture is subjective and contingent. Julian Steward was a student of Alfred Kroeber. He studied Numic speaking Indians called the Shoshone, who lived in the Great Basin of the Western United States. Lévi-Strauss developed his ideas about kinship systems and the rules that underpinned social organization after his fieldwork in Brazil. Materialism, structuralism, and humanist approaches developed in the postwar period. Theoretical constructs of scientism vs. humanism in categorizing the field took place in the late 20th century. Methods for increasing reliability of participant observation also evolved in that period. At present coproduction of ethnographic knowledge, decolonization of the field, and positionality of the ethnographer and subjects of study are important methodological considerations. New approaches include posthumanism and multispecies ethnography.