British Structural Functionalism/Levi-Strauss

Answer 1 of the following questions.

Your essay should be about 750-1000 words in length. Please format your paper as though you were turning in a hard copy. Use a 12 point font, 1 inch margins on the left and right, and 1 inch margins on the top and bottom, double-spaced. Do not use a cover page. Place your name, name of the class, Assignment #5 and the date in the upper left-hand corner. Include all relevant citations and a list of works cited. These do not need to be on a separate page.

Radcliffe-Brown wrote, the entire machinery of a society appears in quite a new light if it is studied in relation to the social structure. The exchange of goods and services is dependent upon, is the result of, and at the same time is a means of maintaining a certain structure, a network of relations between persons and collections of persons (pp. 197-198). Would Malinowski agree? Compare and evaluate the way these two authors treat the notion of economy and its purpose.

According to Malinowski, the final goal of the ethnographer is “to grasp the native’s point of view, his relationship to life, to realise his vision of his world.” How does he suggest ethnographer’s attain this goal methodologically. Is it attainable?

How does Levi-Strauss’s approach to anthropology constitute a science? That is, consider Levi-Strauss’s basic questions, assumptions, and methods and argue the degree to which his approach can be considered scientific.