(a) Critically discuss the controversies related to fieldwork of Bronislaw Malinowski and Margaret Mead. 20 (b) Discuss the…

(a) Controversies related to fieldwork of Malinowski and Margaret Mead

Malinowski: his fieldwork in the Trobriand Islands (1915–18) set the standard of long-stay, participant observation in the native language, and gave functionalism its authority (Argonauts of the Western Pacific, 1922). The posthumous A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term (1967) showed a private side: irritation, prejudiced remarks about the islanders, loneliness and sexual preoccupation, which contrasted with the sympathetic published account. The controversy raised questions about objectivity, the "native's point of view" (Geertz), colonial context, and the ethics of the fieldworker's relations.

Mead: Coming of Age in Samoa (1928) argued that Samoan adolescence was free of storm and stress, supporting Boasian cultural determinism. Derek Freeman (1983) challenged her, arguing that she spent a short time, had limited command of language, relied on a few young informants who may have exaggerated, and misjudged Samoan society, which he described as competitive and restrictive. Defenders (Lowell Holmes, Shankman) noted that Freeman overstated his case and selected evidence, and that Mead's broader point about cultural variation stands. Later claims about informant hoaxing remain disputed.

Consequences: both cases led to the reflexive turn and "crisis of representation" (Clifford and Marcus, Writing Culture, 1986), greater attention to fieldwork ethics, positionality and methodological transparency.

(b) Impact of globalization on the economic systems of indigenous communities

Indigenous economies such as those of the Birhor, Kadar and Onge were based on subsistence, reciprocity, community resource ownership and non-timber forest produce. Globalization has pulled them into markets and altered them.

• Negative: land alienation and displacement by mining, dams and industry; loss of commons and of food security; shift from subsistence to wage labour, often unorganised, and to debt; erosion of traditional crafts by cheap goods; exploitation by middlemen; and heavier burdens on women as forest resources shrink. Resistance includes the Narmada Bachao Andolan and the Dongria Kondh's Niyamgiri campaign against bauxite mining.
• Positive: cash income, markets for minor forest produce and crafts, tourism, better communication and welfare access.
• Safeguards: the Fifth and Sixth Schedules, PESA (1996), the Forest Rights Act (2006) and minimum support price for minor forest produce, though weakly enforced.

The result is integration on unequal terms, with dependency and cultural change.

(c) Practical applications of DNA technology in the current scenario

• Forensics: DNA profiling by short tandem repeats and mitochondrial DNA identifies offenders and victims, resolves disputed paternity, and identifies disaster victims.
• Medicine: diagnosis and prenatal screening of genetic disease (thalassaemia, sickle cell), carrier detection, pharmacogenomics, gene therapy, recombinant drugs such as insulin, and vaccines.
• Anthropology and population studies: tracing of migrations and ancestry, studies of Indian populations and ancient DNA, and projects such as GenomeIndia.
• Agriculture and livestock: genetically modified crops, marker-assisted breeding and disease diagnosis.
• Conservation: identification of wildlife contraband and study of genetic diversity.
• Other: biosensors, and Ayurgenomics for personalised medicine.

Ethical issues include privacy, informed consent, misuse of data, and genetic discrimination and biopiracy.