Title: What does holism mean in anthropological terms? - Quora
Headings: What does holism mean in anthropological terms?
What does holism mean in anthropological terms?
Roger H Werner
J.t. Thacker
BIKORIMANA VALENS

Content: What is meant by a "holistic approach" in anthropology? It means that when you study an aspect of a culture, you do not treat that aspect as an isolated thing, but rather, you put it in context of the whole cultural system. This is very important, as aspects or dimensions of societies are not closed systems but are integrated in others. So for example economics, religion, kinship structure and everything else are embedded in each other. To not take a holistic approach can over emphasise some part of a culture, making it more prominent than it actually is. For example, if you were looking at the role of men in brawls, to take a holistic approach, you w
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It means that when you study an aspect of a culture, you do not treat that aspect as an isolated thing, but rather, you put it in context of the whole cultural system. This is very important, as aspects or dimensions of societies are not closed systems but are integrated in others. So for example economics, religion, kinship structure and everything else are embedded in each other. To not take a holistic approach can over emphasise some part of a culture, making it more prominent than it actually is. For example, if you were looking at the role of men in brawls, to take a holistic approach, you would consider that these men also have women in their lives, and that these women contribute significantly to the men's lives and fulfil tasks that complement the men do, and may even have an effect in the brawl.