Social Anthropology and Politics

Social anthropology and politics together examine human societies from two complementary angles. Anthropology investigates culture, social organisation, ritual, and meaning through ethnographic fieldwork and comparative analysis, insisting that to understand human behaviour you must engage with it on its own terms, in context, before you abstract and generalise. Politics examines the structures of power and governance, the institutions through which collective decisions are made, and the ideologies and forces that drive political change.

Together they ask how societies are organised, how power operates within and between them, and what political life looks and feels like for the people who live it.

The University of Edinburgh's four-year full-time degree in social anthropology and politics includes a year abroad, reflecting the comparative and global orientation of both disciplines. Edinburgh has research strengths in both social anthropology and political science, with a tradition in the anthropology of the Middle East, South Asia, and Africa alongside strong coverage of comparative politics, international relations, and political theory. You will study anthropological theory and ethnographic method, political theory and comparative politics, fieldwork approaches, the politics of development, identity, and conflict, and a range of substantive topics that draw on both disciplines.

The year abroad provides an invaluable opportunity to experience political and cultural life in a different society.

Graduates in social anthropology and politics go on to work in international development, NGOs, the diplomatic service, journalism, human rights organisations, policy research, the civil service, academia, and any field where understanding social and political diversity at a deep level is required. The combination of fieldwork methodology and political analysis is valued by organisations working across cultures and political systems. Many graduates continue to postgraduate study in anthropology, political science, or development studies, and some pursue doctoral research in the ethnography of political life.