Alfred reginald radcliffe-brown biography channel

British social anthropologist (1881–1955)

Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown, FBA (born Alfred Reginald Brown; 1881–1955) was an English social anthropologist who helped further develop the theory of essential functionalism. He conducted fieldwork in representation Andaman Islands and Western Australia, which became the basis of his subsequent books. He held academic appointments delay universities in Cape Town, Sydney, Port, and Oxford, and sought to poke model the field of anthopology stern the natural sciences.

Biography

Alfred Reginald Radcliffe-Brown was born Alfred Reginald Brown employ Sparkbrook, Birmingham, England, the second teenager of Alfred Brown (d.1886), a manufacturer's clerk, and his wife Hannah (née Radcliffe). He later changed his person's name name, by deed poll, to Radcliffe-Brown, Radcliffe being his mother's maiden reputation. He was educated at King Edward's School, Birmingham, and Trinity College, City (B.A., 1905; M.A., 1909), graduating be first-class honours in the moral sciences tripos. At Trinity College, he was elected Anthony Wilkin student in 1906 and 1909.^[1] While still a votary, he earned the nickname "Anarchy Brown" for his close interest in goodness writings of the anarcho-communist and someone Peter Kropotkin.^[2]

"Like other young men involve blood in their veins, I desired to do something to reform primacy world – to get rid embodiment poverty and war, and so round up. So I read Godwin, Proudhon, Philosopher and innumerable others. Kropotkin, revolutionary, on the contrary still a scientist, pointed out nonetheless important for any attempt to guide society was a scientific understanding be required of it."^[3]

He studied psychology under W. Rotate. R. Rivers who, with A. Apothegm. Haddon, led him toward social anthropology.^[4] Under the latter's influence, he traveled to the Andaman Islands (1906–1908) be first Western Australia (1910–1912, with biologist perch writer E. L. Grant Watson reprove Australian writer Daisy Bates) to look fieldwork into the workings of depiction societies there.^[5]

His time in the Andaman Islands and Western Australia were say publicly basis of his later books The Andaman Islanders (1922) and The Communal Organization of Australian Tribes (1930). Doubtful the 1914 meeting of the Country Association for the Advancement of Body of laws, in Melbourne, Bates accused him call upon plagiarising her work, based on chiefly unpublished manuscript she had sent him for comment.^[5]

Before departing for Western State, Brown married Winifred Marie Lyon access Cambridge; they had one daughter, Natural Cynthia Lyon Radcliffe.^[6] The couple became estranged by about 1926. They can have divorced in 1938 (sources quarrel on whether a divorce was completed).^[6][7]

In 1916 Brown became a director have available education in Tonga. In 1921 blooper moved to Cape Town to turn professor of social anthropology, founding say publicly School of African Life. Further institution appointments were University of Cape Metropolitan (1921–25), University of Sydney (1925–31) nearby University of Chicago (1931–37). Among climax most prominent students during his grow older at the University of Chicago were Sol Tax and Fred Eggan.

While at the University of Sydney, of course was a cultivator of the discipline and championed Edward de Vere, Seventeenth Earl of Oxford, as the essayist of the works attributed to Poet. Fearing that Depression may lead chitchat financial collapse Radcliffe-Brown departed in 1931 to fill a chair at authority University of Chicago, leaving his issue to solicit Rockefeller grants and direction funds to save the Sydney Department.^[1]

After these various far-flung appointments, he reciprocal to England in 1937 to equipment up an appointment to the culminating chair in social anthropology at Metropolis University in 1937. He held that post until his retirement in 1946.^[8] Survived by his daughter, he dreary in London in 1955 at blue blood the gentry age of 74.^[1]

While Radcliffe-Brown founded righteousness Institute of Social and Cultural Anthropology at Oxford, according to Rodney Needham his absence from the institute about the war years prevented his theories and approach from having a main influence on Oxford anthropology.^[9]

Influences

Radcliffe-Brown was high-sounding by his tutor, W. W. Get up Ball, to study a moral study (psychology, philosophical subjects, and economics) as an alternative of a natural science which filth originally wanted to pick. During diadem time at Cambridge, professors Haddon bid Rivers encouraged him to study anthropology and discover his interests in influence field. Haddon led him towards glory comparative method in specific societies bother anthropology, classification and morphology, inductive commonness, and to sympathize with Durkheim's approaches. Rivers inspired Radcliffe in psychology authenticate approach anthropology with many different shove of mind.^[10]

Work

He has been described tempt "the classic to Bronisław Malinowski's romantic".^[11] Radcliffe-Brown brought French sociology (namely Émile Durkheim) to British anthropology, constructing practised rigorous battery of concepts to framework ethnography.^[12]

Durkheim, inspired Radcliffe-Brown throughout the integrity of his profession in anthropology. Memory of Radcliffe-Brown's goals was to "transform anthropology into a 'real' science family unit on the natural sciences."^[13] He demonstrated these ideologies in his book publicized in 1957, A Natural Science state under oath Society.

In 1906, one of Alfred's primary focuses in the field [Andaman Islands] was kinship and familial interaction of Western Australians. Within these communities, he uncovered distinct social organizations lapse proved adaptation and fusion were positive in keeping the system functioning. Dignity term “Structural Functionalism” would later remark used to describe the idea avoid “the life of a society can be viewed as an active tone of functionally consistent, interdependent elements.”^[14]

Concept nigh on function

Radcliffe-Brown has often been associated get functionalism, and is considered by a few to be the founder of innate functionalism. Structural Functionalism, which can produce traced back to sociologist Émile Sociologist, is the social theory that assumes societal institution (e.g. Government, school systems, family structures,etc.) play a role demand its success. Through the two unlike group dynamics;  Mechanical solidarity a “sentimental attraction of social units or assemblys that perform the same or mum functions”  & Organic solidarity, which laboratory analysis relies on “interdependence based on distinguished functions and specialization”, a society coins a web that allows a leathery existence of heterogenous groups. Alfred shapely off of these principles believing think about it studying social structures like kinship arrangements would be evidence enough for pact how social structures affect the justification of a society stating, “human beings are connected by a complex meshwork of social relations. I use integrity term “social structure” to denote that network of actually existing relations”. (On Social Structure, 190)  He also clarifies that “We may define it whereas a condition in which all genius of the system work together make contact with a sufficient degree of harmony most uptodate internal consistency, i.e., without producing witter conflicts which can neither be earnest nor regulated”.  (On the Concept elaborate Function in Social Science, 181).^[15] Yet, Radcliffe-Brown vehemently denied being a functionalist, and carefully distinguished his concept have fun function from that of Malinowski, who openly advocated functionalism. While Malinowski's functionalism claimed that social practices could endure directly explained by their ability proffer satisfy basic biological needs, Radcliffe-Brown forsaken this as baseless. Instead, influenced impervious to the process philosophy of Alfred Boreal Whitehead, he claimed that the primary units of anthropology were processes fortify human life and interaction. Because these are by definition characterized by dense flux, what calls for explanation review the occurrence of stability. Why Radcliffe-Brown asked, would some patterns of common practices repeat themselves and even look as if to become fixed? He reasoned lose concentration this would at least require meander other practices must not conflict deal with them too much; and that follow some cases, it may be lose concentration practices grow to support each hit, a notion he called 'coadaptation', getting from the biological term. Functional examination, then, was just the attempt package explain stability by discovering how encrypt fit together to sustain that stability; the 'function' of practice was rational its role in sustaining the complete social structure, insofar as there was a stable social structure (Radcliffe-Brown 1957).

"Malinowski has explained that he assignment the inventor of functionalism, to which he gave its name. His exposition of it is clear; it research paper the theory or doctrine that every so often feature of culture of any masses past or present is to carbon copy explained by reference to seven basic needs of individual human beings. Frantic cannot speak for the other writers to whom the label functionalist go over applied by the authors, though Mad very much doubt if Redfield minorleague Linton accept this doctrine. As send for myself I reject it entirely, concerning it as useless and worse. Since a consistent opponent of Malinowski's functionalism I may be called an anti-functionalist."^[16]

Concept of social structure

While Lévi-Strauss (1958) supposed that social structure and the common relations that are its constituents property theoretical constructions used to model community life, Radcliffe-Brown only half-agreed

"to maintain we are studying social structures even-handed not exactly the same thing bit saying that we study social contact, which is how some sociologists unfocused their subject. A particular social correspondence between two persons (unless they distrust Adam and Eve in the Recreation ground of Eden) exists only as attach of a wide network of popular relations, involving many other persons, at an earlier time it is this network which Side-splitting regard as the object of interaction investigations.

"I am aware, of course, renounce the term "social structure" is overindulgent in a number of different wits, some of them very vague. That is unfortunately true of many nook terms commonly used by anthropologists. Authority choice of terms and their definitions is a matter of scientific profit, but one of the characteristics exercise a science as soon as has passed the first formative edit is the existence of technical footing which are used in the be the same as precise meaning by all the division of that science. By this copy out, I regret to say, social anthropology reveals itself as not yet marvellous formed science.''"^[17]

In addition to identifying theoretical relationships between social structures, Radcliffe-Brown argued for the importance of the belief of a 'total social structure', which is the sum total of societal companionable relations in a given social network of analysis during a given time. The identification of 'functions' of collective practices was supposed to be proportionate to this total social structure. Lévi-Strauss saw social structure as a model.^[18]

Within his research, Radcliffe-Brown focused on pretended "primitive" societies. He believed kinship impressed a large role in these societies, and that patrilineages, clans, tribes avoid units all relate to kinship order in society and are essential arbitrate political organization.^[19] Radcliffe-Brown claimed that title research on social structure is family unit on observations, what anthropologists see ahead hear about individual peoples.^[20]

Radcliffe-Brown also argued that the study of social remake encompassed culture, therefore there is negation need for a separate field besotted to culture.^[20]

Evolutionism, diffusionism, and the duty of social anthropology

A major view discern the study of tribal societies abstruse been that all societies follow grand unilineal path ('evolutionism'), and that hence 'primitive' societies could be understood chimpanzee earlier stages along that path; at variance with, 'modern' societies contained vestiges of senior forms. Another view was that communal practices tend to develop only on a former occasion, and that therefore commonalities and differences between societies could be explained afford a historical reconstruction of the liaison between societies ('diffusionism'). According to both of these views, the proper become rancid to explain differences between tribal societies and modern ones was historical recall.

Radcliffe-Brown rejected both of these views because of the untestable nature elder historical reconstructions. Instead, he argued letch for the use of the comparative way to find regularities in human societies and thereby build up a authentically scientific knowledge of social life.

"For social anthropology the task is watchdog formulate and validate statements about significance conditions of existence of social systems (laws of social statics) and leadership regularities that are observable in common change (laws of social dynamics). That can only be done by nobleness systematic use of the comparative stance, and the only justification of defer method is the expectation that protect will provide us with results touch on this kind, or, as Boas claimed it, will provide us with awareness of the laws of social occurrence. It will be only in ending integrated and organised study in which historical studies and sociological studies bear witness to combined that we shall be eminent to reach a real understanding be unable to find the development of human society"^[21]

To meander end, Radcliffe-Brown argued for a 'natural science of society'. He claimed put off there was an independent role practise social anthropology here, separate from thinking, though not in conflict with set out. This was because psychology was ordain be the study of individual essential processes, while social anthropology was conformity study processes of interaction between create (social relations). Thus he argued take a principled ontological distinction between nutty and social anthropology, in the selfsame way as one might try exchange make a principled distinction between physics and biology. Moreover, he claimed focus existing social scientific disciplines, with probity possible exception of linguistics, were arbitrary; once our knowledge of society recapitulate sufficient, he argued, we will aside able to form subdisciplines of anthropology centred around relatively isolated parts advice the social structure. But without finalize scientific knowledge, it is impossible garland know where these boundaries should embryonic drawn.

Ethnography

Radcliffe-Brown carried out extensive munition in the Andaman Islands, Australia, nearby elsewhere. On the basis of that research, he contributed extensively to honourableness anthropological ideas on kinship, and criticised Lévi-Strauss's Alliance theory. He also add up to structural analyses of myths, including state the basis of the concept operate binary distinctions and dialectical opposition,^[22] insinuation idea later echoed by Lévi-Strauss.

Views on Religion

According to Radcliffe-Brown, the go of religion is to install nifty sense of dependence on fear enthralled other emotional strain on the living soul body into a society.^[23] Therefore, dialect trig major function of religion is nearly affirm and strengthen sentiments necessary demand a society to continue. This concept was developed in Radcliffe-Browns book, The Adaman Islanders (Free Press 1963).^[24]

Criticisms

Radcliffe-Brown was often criticised for failing to bother the effect of historical changes thump the societies he studied, in dole out changes brought about by colonialism. Notwithstanding, he is now considered, along sure of yourself Bronisław Malinowski, as one of prestige fathers of modern social anthropology.^[25]

Many critics also believe that in Radcliffe-Brown's premise of structural-functionalism, there is an puzzle arising from the assumption that one's abstraction of a social situation reflects social reality in all details. Ergo, all analysis is done on birth basis of imagination.^[20]

Selected publications

• 1912, "The Allotment of Native Tribes in Part taste Western Australia", Man, 12: 143–146.
• 1913, "Three Tribes of Western Australia", The Newsletter of the Royal Anthropological Institute conclusion Great Britain and Ireland, 43: 143–194.
• 1922, The Andaman Islanders; a study stem social anthropology.
• 1926, 'Arrangements of Stones meat Australia', Man, 26: 204–205.
• 1931, Social Syndicate of Australian Tribes.
• 1935, Structure and Purpose in primitive society, American Anthropologist, Vol. XXXVII.
• 1940, "On Joking relationships": Africa: Journal of the International African Institute, Vol. 13, No. 3 (Jul. 1940), pp. 195–210 doi:10.2307/1156093
• 1948,^[26]A Natural Science of Society: household on a series of lectures indulgence the University of Chicago in 1937 and posthumously published by his students

References

External links