ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at anthropology as a tool for exploring different cultural worlds. Culture is a central concept in anthropology. Anthropologists acquire their knowledge from other people through participant observation. Anthropology proceeds by a process of discovery rather than verification. Anthropologists often use domain analysis to help them understand how people in a society define their world. In the development encounter, anthropology provides the means both for understanding context and for incorporating this context into planning and action in mutually satisfactory ways. Development has been defined in a variety of ways, but improvement, empowerment, and participation are key terms in almost any definition. Successful development work requires both content and context knowledge. Content knowledge includes specific details of processes, operations, and formulae—the procedures necessary to accomplish a task. Context knowledge refers to the understanding of a specific environment in which that task will be carried out.
