Question

Role of anthropology in tribal development

Answer 1

Tribal development depends to a large extent on the acceptance of developmental programmes by the tribes which eventually is governed by cultural predispositions , attitude and social organisations of the community..
It studies the social cultures and human relations and values
It takes into account common interests and areas of conflicts of the People for better planning and execution of programmes.

Answer 2

Answer:

Explanation:

Tribal development is a vast and complex issue, which is multidimensional.  Anthropologists believe that culture influence all of man’s activities both biological and non-biological. Anthropology has this unique feature of fieldwork to study about the socio-cultural features of all societies from modem to most primitive ones. The role of anthropologists in tribal development was found as early as during the colonial rule, when tribals opposed the entry of outsiders.

The role of anthropologist in tribal development can be assessed from the functions performed by him in policy making and execution. Some of the major functions are:

 Ethnographic study: First of all, he/ she carries out an ethnographic study of socio-cultural features of the group. The success of anthropological knowledge in policy making depends on the quality of fieldwork carried out.

 Policy making: Based on the ethnographic study, the anthropologists help to work on the policy making. They give inputs on the likely change to happen by the policy, the key members from tribal society to be involved or made aware on the policy for its acceptance by them.

 Implementation: Further anthropologist during implementation helps to gather the support for policy and involve the key members of the tribal society with him. She/he helps in getting the social acceptance and allays the fears of tribal society.

 Monitoring: This is the second most important role of anthropologist after ethnographic study. Anthropologist identifies the results of policy, any lag and reasons for it (if faces) and the direction in which the changes might go. This helps in early detection of any future challenges and removes them at the earliest.

Frequently, the preoccupation of anthropologists can be seen in social impact assessment. In the context of development, anthropologists emphasise respect for human and natural resources, knowledge and experiences of people, protection of environment, and equity. In the post-colonial period, when developed nations started offering economic and technical aid to third world nations, anthropologists started looking into the social implications of developmental assistance.  

Anthropologists assisted administrators to plan for development programmes, by applying their knowledge of people. They played a role in understanding the resistance of people to development innovations. They analysed the social framework of the communities as reflected in beliefs and values, in order to suggest suitable measures to minimise resistance to development innovations. The measures taken for planned development and their consequences are not only of applied value, but these also help anthropologists in analysing the socio-cultural changes resulting from development.