Anthropology and Modern Life

Abstract

Franz Boas’ Anthropology and Modern Life is a pioneering work that applies anthropology to contemporary issues. Boas, with cultural relativism and historical particularity as his core theoretical framework, systematically criticized racism, Eurocentrism and biological determinism that were prevalent in Western society at the beginning of the 20th century. Through rigorous empirical analysis, Boas compellingly argued that “race” is a social construct rather than a biological reality and thoroughly refuted the eugenics and criminology theories based on it, thereby laying a scientific foundation for the ideas of racial equality and national equality. This work not only subverted the then-dominant evolutionism and the diffusion school, but also initiated the positivism and applied research tradition in anthropology, exerting a profound influence on shaping the disciplinary direction and core values of modern anthropology.