Besides the study of primitive groups, social anthropology now takes to the study of village and peasant societies also. This is a new dimension of social anthropology. Robert Redfield, for the first time, in 1928 studied Tepoztlan, a Mexican village of tribals, intensively.
He defined a village in terms of: (1) small size, (2) limited technical knowledge, (3) simple and backward economy, (4) lack of literacy, (5) based on clan, (6) physical isolation, (7) separate dialect, and (8) animistic religion. Besides giving these characteristics of a village community, Redfield also proposed some new concepts, namely, folk culture and peasant culture.
Along with the study of this Mexican village, a few other village studies were also made. Among those who conducted these studies were Arensberg (1937), Embree (1937) and Fie (1939). In our country also, village studies came in a flood, but only in the mid-fifties. Important among then included by S.C. Dube (Shamarpet), D.N. Majumdar (Mohana), G.S. Ghurye (Lonikand), Andre Beteille (Shivpuram) and F.G. Bailey (Bisepada).
Image Source: understandingsocietyglobaledition.files.wordpress.com
ADVERTISEMENTS:
Thus, the new dimension of social anthropology both in India and outside contained village studies. Hence, in the current perspective, the scope and subject matter of social anthropology includes the study of villages.
Along with rural studies, tribal studies also increased in number. Accounting for the increase in tribal studies as a scope and subject matter of social anthropology, Sachchidananda writes in the Trend Reports of1969-1979:
This is on account of the fact that a large number of institutions in which social anthropologists work entered the stage of making fruitful contributions to anthropological studies. The largest contribution has been made by the Anthropological Survey of India which has the distinction of employing the largest number of anthropologists in the country.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
The Tribal Research Institutes, which have come up, have recently produced some significant studies along with the life and culture of Indian tribal communities. The departments of anthropology in various universities not only promoted serious field- work by their students but also encouraged writing of doctoral dissertations on subjects bearing on Indian tribes.
The scope of social anthropology also included ethnography besides tribal studies. The new dimension of tribal studies encompassed the study of tribal economy, tribal religion, tribal political structure and the changing scene. What is important about the tribal studies made under the banner of social anthropology is the generation of some concepts.
The concepts are several, the important and significant; e.g., little community, dominant caste, village unity, sanskritization, westernization, little and great traditions and paro- chialization. The generation of a conceptual framework through village studies has enriched the scope and subject matter of social anthropology.