A History of Anthropology Quotes

“Studying ‘from below’ had already become the hallmark of anthropological fieldwork. As opposed to the other social sciences, which often worked with large groups and aggregate populations, anthropologists studied the point of view of people on the ground, and were almost by instinct sceptical of decisions taken ‘from above’, by politicians and bureaucrats, who had no idea what life ‘on the ground’ was actually like.”
― Thomas Hylland Eriksen, A History of Anthropology

“Like all the leading anthropologists of the day, the evolutionists subscribed to the principle of the ‘psychic unity of mankind’, first formulated by the German cultural historian Adolf Bastian.

This principle states that human beings everywhere belong to the same biological species, and genetic differences between cultures are cosmetic. In fact, the entire anthropological project rests on this tenet.”
― Thomas Hylland Eriksen, A History of Anthropology