Nature and culture intertwined or redefined? On the challenges of cultural primatology and sociocultural anthropology

The modern categorization also referred to as modern constitution has set Nature and Culture apart as two distinct ontological provinces, separating the pole of human beings and culture from the pole of non-humans and nature. Recent sociocultural anthropology and social studies of science have revis...

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Main Author: Gabriela Daly Bezerra de Melo
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Société Francophone de Primatologie 2012-12-01
Series:Revue de Primatologie
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/1020
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author Gabriela Daly Bezerra de Melo
author_facet Gabriela Daly Bezerra de Melo
author_sort Gabriela Daly Bezerra de Melo
collection DOAJ
description The modern categorization also referred to as modern constitution has set Nature and Culture apart as two distinct ontological provinces, separating the pole of human beings and culture from the pole of non-humans and nature. Recent sociocultural anthropology and social studies of science have revisited the historical abyss between Nature and Culture and have shed light on the manifold conceptualizations of both terms across human cultures. For instance, non-Western indigenous relationships between humans and non-human animals have blurred the boundaries of continuity and discontinuity, supporting a hybridization of the modern Nature-Culture poles. Moreover, social studies of science have insisted that scientific practice is permeated by problems that are neither “natural” nor “social” because Nature and Culture become part of the inquiry, not the solution. If any interdisciplinary exchange is to be set in motion between cultural primatology and sociocultural anthropology a re-conceptualization of Nature and Culture should be called for. Whereas cultural primatology traditionally employs paradigms long abandoned by sociocultural anthropology, leading to a simplistic naturalization of culture in the eyes of anthropologists, it can be said that cultural anthropology remains reluctant to engage in dialogue with life sciences, alarmed it might be reduced to them. To this extent, primatological models of culture that emphasize social learning over methods of elimination appear to meet a demand.  Nature and Culture have become intertwined, but between an over naturalized culture of primatologists and a super socialized culture of anthropologists lays the challenge of redefining both Nature and Culture.
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spelling doaj-art-0358671c952f478897be3abe91581c252025-01-30T10:01:47ZengSociété Francophone de PrimatologieRevue de Primatologie2077-37572012-12-01410.4000/primatologie.1020Nature and culture intertwined or redefined? On the challenges of cultural primatology and sociocultural anthropologyGabriela Daly Bezerra de MeloThe modern categorization also referred to as modern constitution has set Nature and Culture apart as two distinct ontological provinces, separating the pole of human beings and culture from the pole of non-humans and nature. Recent sociocultural anthropology and social studies of science have revisited the historical abyss between Nature and Culture and have shed light on the manifold conceptualizations of both terms across human cultures. For instance, non-Western indigenous relationships between humans and non-human animals have blurred the boundaries of continuity and discontinuity, supporting a hybridization of the modern Nature-Culture poles. Moreover, social studies of science have insisted that scientific practice is permeated by problems that are neither “natural” nor “social” because Nature and Culture become part of the inquiry, not the solution. If any interdisciplinary exchange is to be set in motion between cultural primatology and sociocultural anthropology a re-conceptualization of Nature and Culture should be called for. Whereas cultural primatology traditionally employs paradigms long abandoned by sociocultural anthropology, leading to a simplistic naturalization of culture in the eyes of anthropologists, it can be said that cultural anthropology remains reluctant to engage in dialogue with life sciences, alarmed it might be reduced to them. To this extent, primatological models of culture that emphasize social learning over methods of elimination appear to meet a demand.  Nature and Culture have become intertwined, but between an over naturalized culture of primatologists and a super socialized culture of anthropologists lays the challenge of redefining both Nature and Culture.https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/1020social learningsociocultural anthropologycultural primatologyparadigmsscience studiesmodels of tradition
spellingShingle Gabriela Daly Bezerra de Melo
Nature and culture intertwined or redefined? On the challenges of cultural primatology and sociocultural anthropology
Revue de Primatologie
social learning
sociocultural anthropology
cultural primatology
paradigms
science studies
models of tradition
title Nature and culture intertwined or redefined? On the challenges of cultural primatology and sociocultural anthropology
title_full Nature and culture intertwined or redefined? On the challenges of cultural primatology and sociocultural anthropology
title_fullStr Nature and culture intertwined or redefined? On the challenges of cultural primatology and sociocultural anthropology
title_full_unstemmed Nature and culture intertwined or redefined? On the challenges of cultural primatology and sociocultural anthropology
title_short Nature and culture intertwined or redefined? On the challenges of cultural primatology and sociocultural anthropology
title_sort nature and culture intertwined or redefined on the challenges of cultural primatology and sociocultural anthropology
topic social learning
sociocultural anthropology
cultural primatology
paradigms
science studies
models of tradition
url https://journals.openedition.org/primatologie/1020
work_keys_str_mv AT gabrieladalybezerrademelo natureandcultureintertwinedorredefinedonthechallengesofculturalprimatologyandsocioculturalanthropology