Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea The Trobrianders are a cultural group living in the Trobriand Islands located just off the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea in the Solomon Sea. The Trobriands consist of four major islands: Kiriwina‚ Kitava‚ Vakuta‚ and Kaileuna (Ember‚ 2001). Kiriwina is the largest island of the four‚ and currently has a population of approximately 12‚000 people inhabiting 60 villages (Weiner‚ 1988‚ pg 11). With 900 other languages spoken in Papua New Guinea‚ it is not uncommon
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Annette B. Weiner describes her fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea as entering a world without cultural guideposts. She was fully aware and expected to find difficulty with learning a new language and of letting go of her own cultural assumptions. Weiner studied the Trobriand Islands via the writings of Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski and thus her expectations were set by fieldwork performed sixty years earlier. Not to mention that Malinowski was a man‚ of a different time and therefore
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The fieldwork of Annette Weiner in 1988 was different than that of Bronislaw Kasper Malinowski 60 years earlier. During that sixty year gap‚ there were a lot of changes and advances in anthropology. Malinowski was raised in a male dominant culture in Poland which influenced his view of the culture and the Trobriand Islands. Annette Weiner’s initial expectation of the tribes in the Trobriand Islands was to see a male dominated society‚ but she quickly found that the women of the islands would be
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group unity. By worshipping together‚ people have a sense of commitment and belonging and individuals are united into a group with shared values - thus social solidarity is reinforced‚ deviant behaviour is restrained and social change restricted. Malinowski agrees with Durkheim that religion promotes
Free Sociology Religion Émile Durkheim
The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea In this ethnographic work of Annette Weiner‚ we discover the social and economical differences of this distinguished group of people. The trobrianders lived their lives in a much different sense. There life is centered on their Martilineage‚ and the philosophy of family is greatly sacred. The traditions of the trobrianders was of such high ordinance that even Malinkwoski had stated‚ there resilience o the trobiranders to cultural change. The social life of the
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All societies and human beings have a set of beliefs for ordering the world. Religion and magic are belief systems used by many societies. This essay will discuss the function and moral dimensions of both magic and religion‚ and focus on the need to explore human beliefs and behaviours in the context of the society in which they occur. I will also discuss the way in which magic and religion use various processes to provide psychological reassurance to individuals‚ leading to the conclusion that
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Wacquant also followed the anthropological method of participant observation and the creation of an ethnography‚ despite some notable differences in the scope of his research. While Malinowski traveled across the world and immersed himself fully in the foreign culture of the Trobriand Islanders‚ living in their homes and learning their language‚ Wacquant stayed within Western society‚ living in his own city and residing in his own home. Despite this‚ however‚ Loïc Wacquant still managed to immerse
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Evaluate Functionalists views on the role and functions of religion today. Functionalism is a macro theory‚ which is based on society as a whole‚ rather than just that of the individual. It is argued that functionalism generates many things for society. Religion‚ from a functionalist point of view‚ socialises people‚ teaching them norms and values of society‚ which are the basis for social unity. Religion further is a structure within functionalism which aids in influencing individuals lives. Functionalism
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Bronislaw Malinowski initially created the Anthropological school of Functionalism. Malinowski’s version of Functionalism is more psychologically linked‚ and focuses on his idea that people have psychological and physical needs‚ and hence social institutions develop in order to meet these needs. Malinowski divides these needs into seven categories‚ nutrition‚ reproduction‚ bodily comforts‚ safety‚ relaxation‚ movement and growth. Through his fieldwork and ethnography Malinowski demonstrates how
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they don’t believe in religion as much‚ and therefore how can religion act as a collective conscience. People are turning to science as a way of life‚ theories which head down the evolutionary approach. It suggests that the theory is out of date. Malinowski looked at the psychological function of religion. This looked at when things such as funerals and divorce occur. Religion acts as an act of hope which allows individuals to feel at ease when they are increasingly stressed out. They are brought together
Free Religion Sociology Émile Durkheim