Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
The ethnographer has a vast array of specific theories from which to choose.
Each theory has application for specific topics and is uninformative or mislead-
ingwhenappliedtoinappropriateproblems.Theoriesthatofferlittleexplanatory
power,areinappropriateformosttopics,orhavebeendebunkedarebestleftrot-
ting on the vine. Most researchers, explicitly or implicitly, use one of two types
of theory:ideational or materialistic. Ideational theories suggest that fundamen-
tal change is the result of mental activity—thoughts and ideas. Materialists
believe that material conditions—ecological resources, money, and modes of
production—aretheprimemovers.Neitherapproachanswersallproblems;indi-
vidualethnographersselectoneofthetwoapproachestosuittheirtraining,per-
sonality, and specific needs or questions of interest.
Cognitive theory is the most popular ideational theory in anthropology
today.Cognitivetheoryassumesthatwecandescribewhatpeoplethinkbylis-
teningtowhattheysay—notanunreasonableassumption.Usinglinguistically
driven (ethnosemantic) techniques, we can create taxonomies of how people
view the world. For example, we may learn from Eskimos about their concep-
tion of snow—specifically, that they identify many types of snow within the
largercategory,correspondingtoitsmanyusesintheirlives.Ideationaltheory
researchersviewthehumanworldfromtheperspectiveofitsmentalorigins—
ideas, cognitive maps, beliefs, and knowledge. Classic ideational theories in
anthropologyincludecultureandpersonalitytheory(includingpsychoanalytic
theory), sociolinguistics (Cazden, 1979; Gumperz, 1972; Heath, 1982), sym-
bolic interactionism (Blumer, 1969), and ethnomethodology (Bogdan &
Taylor, 1998; Garfinkel, 1967; Mehan, 1987; Mehan & Wood, 1975).
In contrast, ethnographers who adopt materialist theories view the world
according to observable behavior patterns. A limited but classic political and
economicmaterialisttheoryishistoricalmaterialism,orneo-Marxism.Marxist
theory assumes that all change results from shifts in the modes of production
and in the control over these modes. Economic forces, class consciousness,
classconflict,andvariousformsofsocialorganizationdrivesocialandcultural
change. Other materialist approaches in anthropology include technoenviron-
mentalism (Harris, 1971) and cultural ecology (Geertz, 1963; Steward, 1973).
I found many theories useful in my study of a national program for
dropouts—the Career Intern Program (CIP). Both static and dynamic theories
were necessary to understand what was going on.A static functionalist theory
(Geertz, 1957; Radcliffe-Brown, 1952; Vogt, 1960), combined with the static
equilibrium model (Gluckman, 1968), was useful in creating a descriptive
baseline. A structural functionalist approach made the structure and function
of the schools and their relationship to the various government and quasi-
government institutions easy to map. The equilibrium model allowed me to
hold everything still, as if the situation were in stasis for a moment, to identify
where everyone stood in the picture. The theory and the model used were
