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1UsingAnthropology1DavidW.McCurdySomedisciplines,suchaseconomics,haveanobviousrelationshiptothenonacademicworld.Economictheory,althoughgeneratedaspartofbasicresearch,mayoftenproveusefulforunderstandingtherealeconomy.Anthropology,ontheotherhand,doesnotseemsoapplicable.Inthisarticle,DavidMcCurdydiscussessomeoftheprofessionalapplicationsofanthropologyandarguesthatthereisabasicanthropologicalperspectivethatcanhelpanyonecopewiththeeverydayworld.Heusesthecaseofacompanymanagertoillustratethispoint,assertingthatethnographicqualitativeresearchisanimportanttoolforuseinthenonacademicworld.Recently,astudent,whomIhadnotseenforfifteenyears,stoppedbymyoffice.Hehadreturnedforhiscollegereunionandthoughtitwouldbeinterestingtocatchuponnewsabouthis(andmy)majordepartment,anthropology.Theconversation,however,soonshiftedfromcollegeeventstohisownlife.FollowinggraduationandastintinthePeaceCorps,henoted,hehadbeguntostudyforhislicenseasaship'sengineer.HehadattendedtheMaritimeAcademy,andworkedforyearsonfreighters.Hewasfinallygrantedhislicense,hecontinued,andcurrentlyheldtheengineer'spositiononacontainershipthat1ThisarticlewasadaptedfromTheShrink-WrapSolution:AnthropologyandBusiness,''byDavidW.McCurdyandDonnaF.CarlsoninConformityandConflict:ReadingsinCulturalAnthropology,5thed.(Boston:Little,BrownandCompany,1983).Itwaswrittenespeciallyforthisvolume.Copyright1990byDavidW.McCurdy.将人类学派上用场戴维·W·麦克柯蒂有些学科跟学术界以外的世界的联系是显而易见的，经济学就是这样的学科之一。虽说经济学学科理论的产生离不开基础研究，但是，一经产生，它就有助于对现实的经济生活的理解，这是屡经证明了的事实。与此形成鲜明对照的是人类学。人类学似乎没有经济学这样明显的应用性。然而，本文的作者麦克柯蒂在文中讨论了人类学的职业化应用问题，他指出了这样一个基本的人类学观点，即人类学可以帮助任何人应付日常生活中的种种问题。他以一位公司管理人员的事例来说明他的这个看法，认为民族志的定性研究方法是应对世俗社会各种事务和问题的有用工具。不久前，一位有十五年不曾谋面的学生，因为返回母校参加同学聚会，来到我的办公室。他原本想，如果能够了解他受业的人类学系（我自己也是这个系毕业的）这些年来的变化，一定会很有意思，所以就找到了我。不过，我们的话题很快就从学校转到他个人经历上。他说，大学一毕业，曾在维和部队（thePeaceCorps）干过不长一段时间，随后就为考船舶工程师执照作准备。在此之前，他已经加入了海事学会，并且在货运船上干了几年。后来拿到了执照，最近又在一艘定期往返于西雅图和阿拉斯加的集装箱船舶上得到了一个工程师的职位。不久他将成为总工程师，迎来他职业生涯的颠峰时刻。他在聊天当中提到了自己对人类学的看法，听起来有些出人意表。他说，人类学这一专业背景给他助益良多，包括处理日常工作，维护船上的发动机和各种机械，协调与船上员工的关系，以及处理与基地管理部门的关系，等等。2maderegulartripsbetweenSeattleandAlaska.Hesoonwouldbepromotedtochiefengineerandbeatthetopofhisprofession.Ashetalked,hemadeanobservationaboutanthropologythatmayseemsurprising.Hisbackgroundinthediscipline,hesaid,hadhelpedhimsignificantlyinhiswork.Hefounditusefulashewentabouthisdailytasks,maintaininghisship'scomplexenginesandmachinery,hisrelationshipswiththecrew,andhiscontactswithland-basedmanagement.Andhisisnotanunusualcase.Overtheyears,severalanthropologygraduateshavemadethesameobservation.One,forexample,isacommunityorganizerwhofeelsthatthecross-culturalperspectivehelearnedinanthropologyhelpshimmediatedisputesandfacilitatedecisionmakinginamultiethnicneighborhood.Another,whoworksasanadvertisingaccountexecutive,claimsthatanthropologyhelpsherdiscoverwhatproductsmeantocustomers.This,inturn,permitshertodesignmoreeffectiveadcampaigns.Athirdsaysshefindsanthropologyaninvaluabletoolasshearrangesinterviewsandwritescopy.Sheisaproducerforametropolitantelevisionnewsprogram.Ihaveheardthesameopinionexpressedbymanyothers,includingtheexecutiveeditorofamagazineforhomeweavers,thefounderofafencingschool,ahousewife,aphysician,severallawyers,thekitchenmanagerforacateringfirm,andahighschoolteacher.TheideathatanthropologycanbeusefulisalsosupportedbytheexperienceofmanynewPh.D.'s.Arecentsurveyhasshown,forthefirsttime,thatmorenewdoctoratesinanthropologyfindemploymentinprofessionalsettingsthanincollegeteachingorscholarlyresearch,andthelistofnonacademicworksettingsrevealedbythesurveyisremarkablybroad.Thereisabiologicalanthropologist,forexample,whoconductsresearchonnutritionforacompanythatmanufacturesinfant这个学生所说的这些情况并不是一个特例。这些年来，好些毕业生也都有类似的感受。比如，有一个在社区管事的学生谈到，他从人类学这门学科当中学到的跨文化研究方法，在他所在的那个多元文化的社区里，无论是在调节邻里纠纷方面，还是在推进决策进程方面，都非常有用。另一个从事广告发布员业务的学生说，人类学训练使她更敏锐地注意到消费者对于产品的理解方式，而这又帮助她去设计出更有效的广告宣传方案。一个在都市电视新闻节目当制片人的学生也说，人类学训练对于她做访谈节目和整理访谈记录具有难以估量的价值。还有许许多多其他人，包括一家专门为家庭纺织工创办的杂志的一位执行编辑，某剑术学校的创办人，一名家庭妇女，一名医生，好几个律师，一家餐饮公司的一名厨师长，一名高中教师，（尽管他们的职业背景各式各样，但是）他们在谈到人类学的好处时（却）几乎众口一词。很多刚毕业的人类学博士的就业经历也表明，人类学的确是有实用价值的。最近的一项调查发现，取得了人类学博士头衔的毕业生更多选择了高校教学或研究工作以外的其他职业岗位，而且这些与学术无关的职业岗位所涉及的领域非常宽泛。这样的发现对人类学而言还是头一次。举例来说，有一位生物人类学家，他在一家生产婴儿套餐的公司从事营养学研究；一位文化人类学家在一家重要的汽车生产企业工作，任务是研究诸如雇员如何适应海外工作环境，又如何3formula.Aculturalanthropologistworksforamajorcarmanufacturer,researchingsuchquestionsashowemployeesadapttoworkingoverseas,andhowtheyrelatetoconditionsondomesticproductionlines.Othersformulategovernmentpolicy,planpatientcareinhospitals,designoverseasdevelopmentprojects,runfaminereliefprograms,consultontropicalforestmanagement,andadviseonproductdevelopment,advertisingcampaigns,andmarketingstrategyforcorporations.Thisnew-foundapplicationofculturalanthropologycomesasasurprisetomanyAmericans.Unlikepoliticalscience,forexample,whichhasanamethatlogicallyconnectsitwithpracticalpoliticalandlegalprofessions,thereisnothinginthetermanthropologythattellsmostAmericanshowitmightbeuseful.Theresearchsubjectofanthropologyalsomakesitmoredifficulttocomprehend.Politicalscientistsinvestigatepoliticalprocesses,structures,andmoti