anthropologies

Anthropologies, in plural, signals the diversity of approaches within the study of humans. Broadly, anthropology examines human beings—biological evolution, cultures, social organization, languages, and history. The field is commonly divided into four traditional subfields: cultural anthropology (living communities and social meaning), biological or physical anthropology (human evolution and variation), linguistic anthropology (language in social contexts and history), and archaeology (past societies through material remains). Many scholars also work in applied anthropology or in subfields like medical, economic, political, or environmental anthropology.

Methods vary, but ethnography and participant observation are central to cultural studies; interviews, surveys, archival research, and linguistic analysis are common across subfields; archaeology and lab work underpin physical anthropology. Ethical practice, reflexivity, and collaboration with communities are increasingly emphasized.

Historically, anthropology arose in the 19th century and evolved through functionalism, structuralism, processual and post-processual trends, and later critical, feminist, and postcolonial perspectives. The plural term anthropologies is sometimes used to stress diverse theories and national or methodological traditions.

Today, anthropologies seek to describe human diversity and commonality, explain how culture, biology, language, and history intersect, and address issues such as health, development, and social justice, while upholding obligations to studied communities.