ABSTRACT
Social and cultural anthropology in the United Kingdom and the United States share roots in the development of the social sciences during the nineteenth century, but have their own specific histories. This chapter looks at the historical roots of the field, discusses its course through the academy, considers the philosophy and ethics of application, and considers its current and role in social science practice. The development of anthropology in the United States was shaped by the country’s expansion and nation-building in a land where others had a prior claim, and early applied anthropologists were caught up in this endeavor. Public anthropology is different from the others. In 2001, Robert Borofsky established the Center for Public Anthropology. Anthropology in the United States began as an applied, engaged, and public enterprise. Applied anthropology and applied anthropologists in the United Kingdom have had a more ambivalent status than in the United States, and a very different history.
