The state of ethnicity and the ethnicity of the state: Ethnic politics in Southeast Asia

Attitudes about racial inequality in the United States are often viewed through the lenses of discrimination and disadvantage. However, as whiteness studies suggest, systems of racial inequality produce both disadvantage and advantage. National surveys have documented explanations for African American disadvantage but have not collected data on explanations for white advantage. African American disadvantage and white advantage are two sides of the same coin – racial inequality. To understand attitudes about racial inequality, we need to know Americans' beliefs about both sides of the racialized system. This research uses national survey data to examine explanations for both sides of racial inequality and identifies which factors are believed to be most important in explaining white advantage, finding that racial attitudes are complex and are dependent upon the specific situation and context. This research will provide a valuable contribution to both whiteness studies and race relations research.     

Physical anthropology and the biobehavioral approach to child growth and development

Recent progress in primatology, neurology and psychology has made it possible to begin to synthesize and combine the data and concepts from these fields into the physical anthropological approach to child growth and development. This paper attempts to conceptualize this new biobehavioral approach, reviewing two studies which exemplify it, already under research at the Krogman Growth Center. The first, which deals with mother-newborn social interaction, explores neonate attachment behaviors and predictable maternal response. The methodology of this study relies heavily on ethological techniques. The second study, involving pre-pubescent and post-pubescent same sex twins, aims to delineate the genetic and environmental components of certain human behavioral qualities, such as intelligence, using the genetic approach to human variation. The problem of how this possibly interacts with the secular trend is also discussed.     

Physical anthropology,peace and justice: Some observations

Human biological well being is a concern of physical anthropology. Genetic determinants and also sociocultural factors, which operate through biological bases, affect human biological quality. Several populations from different parts of the globe have been identified where varieties of detrimental genes occur in considerable numbers influencing health and some other related biological aspects of human life. Injustice will be done to those populations if necessary measures are not undertaken to improve their biological qualities. Peace cannot prevail in an atmosphere where people are deprived of the basic amenities for survival and maintenance of good health.     

Race, ethnicity, and racism in medical anthropology, 1977-2002

Researchers across the health sciences are engaged in a vigorous debate over the role that the concepts of "race" and "ethnicity" play in health research and clinical practice. Here we contribute to that debate by examining how the concepts of race, ethnicity, and racism are used in medical-anthropological research. We present a content analysis of Medical Anthropology and Medical Anthropology Quarterly, based on a systematic random sample of empirical research articles (n = 283) published in these journals from 1977 to 2002. We identify both differences and similarities in the use of race, ethnicity, and racism concepts in medical anthropology and neighboring disciplines, and we offer recommendations for ways that medical anthropologists can contribute to the broader debate over racial and ethnic inequalities in health.     

Coping with ethnicity in South Asia: Bangladesh,Punjab and Kashmir compared

In the anthropological and sociological studies of India the terms ‘tribe’ and ‘caste’, have been in use for almost two hundred years. The related notions of ‘tribalism’ and ‘casteism’ were brought in to replace a static (structural) by a dynamic (organizational, processual) approach. Since the 1970s, ‘ethnic group’ and ‘ethnicity’ have gained currency. After defining the terms, three cases of ethnicity are examined, namely East Bengali Muslim, Punjabi Sikh and Kashmiri Muslim. It is argued that, while the first is a success story, the second seems more like a retreat at present, and the third is at best nascent. The reasons for this difference are explored. Ethnicity, it is argued, is not only characterization of identity, but also a set of strategies to establish a new state. This objective is opposed by competing ethnic groups and the existing state. Ethnic movements therefore involve violence and their outcome is dependent upon a variety of factors and therefore contingent.     

Gender and ethnicity at the millennium: from margin to centre

Three decades of feminist academic work have led to claims about its maturity and “coming of age”. This article offers a critical evaluation of feminism’s success, particularly in the context of “race” and ethnicity awareness. Feminism has challenged mainstream thought by making women and gender central concerns, by opening up new fields for study and by breaking down disciplinary barriers. However, the global hegemony of Western feminism means that the range of women’s issues tends to be narrowly and parochially conceived. Women of different ethnicities have had an uphill struggle to redefine feminist terms, benchmarks and understandings. One particular difficulty involves the use of ideas and concepts which are not easily translated into English. Drawing on debates between Western women and Islamist feminists, the article explores some of the problems in understanding terminologies and deciphering definitions about cultures and languages. It argues that the views of non-Western and ethnic minority women must be moved from margin to centre stage.     

Physical anthropology in the U.S.A.: the malaise and its cure

Physical anthropology in the U.S.A. shows symptoms of a malaise giving cause for concern. It is argued that their origin does not lie in weakness in the subject, which elsewhere is more flourishing, like other life sciences, than it has ever been; nor in a lack of student interest; but in historical inertia. This affects the affiliation of the subject, undergraduate teaching, graduate training, and opportunities for professional practice.     

Skeletal biological distance studies in American physical anthropology: recent trends

Biological distance analysis, the dominant type of skeletal biological research during the 19th century, has become less visible in recent years. Although the proportion of American Journal of Physical Anthropology articles and published abstracts focusing on biodistance has remained fairly constant over the three decades between 1955 and 1985, the proportion of biodistance contributions relative to other skeletal biology studies has decreased. Emphasis in skeletal biology has shifted from the analysis of biological variation to investigations of health and diet, and within biodistance studies methodological issues have assumed prominence over purely analytical approaches. This paper investigates trends in biological distance analysis through a survey of articles and meetings abstracts published in the American Journal of Physical Anthropology from 1955 to 1985. The survey provides the historical context for five symposium papers on skeletal biological distance presented at the 1986 meeting of the American Association of Physical Anthropologists.     

Physical anthropology in 1918 and the founding of the U.S. journal

In 1918, the first issue of the American Journal of Physical Anthropology was prepared and distributed by Aleš Hrdlička, the Curator of Physical Anthropology at the Smithsonian Institution. This was a singular act, both in the general and specific sense. It was the first journal of physical anthropology published in the United States, and it was a sole effort by Hrdlička, who was committed to promoting and recognizing physical anthropology as a new science in America. On this 100th anniversary of the founding of the journal, Hrdlička's efforts were successful: physical/biological anthropology is a strong and timely discipline that represents a major area of scientific research today.