Anthropology

    The development of writing began in Babylonia in around 3000 BC. The invention of writing in Babylonia consequently led to development of writing in Egypt and China. The writing system practiced in Mesoamerica was considered to be untrue. Writing was achieved in phases taking both the old and the modern phases.  The earliest writing can be traced in Mesopotamia where in spread to other areas such as china. The early writing system was invented to take care of local needs such as dating system. Early writing system in Maya, Egypt, China and Sumerian were adapted in response of local needs.

    The local needs which led to the invention of writing included both social and political needs. These social and political needs became complicated calling for a way to handle them efficiently. During those days, writing was not available and thus communication was a problem. To response to these political and social needs, writing was invented. These needs were mostly after tracking events may be the organization set up or social areas. Archeologists have tracked the early writing as being political and religious motivated (Rudgley, 21). Egypt has been tracked as having writing for the purpose of administrative matters. This might be attributed by the writing materials which were used in Egypt.

    Writing was practiced in different writing materials such as clay and papyrus. The writing material used in Mesopotamia was clay which is normally indestructible. Clay can be made to be more durable through baking. This is why most archeological excavation can be used to trace writing in Mesopotamia. The writing materials used in Egypt were probably the papyrus which is normally perishable. The administrative archives in Egypt that involved in writing were located along the Nile plain. This area was prone to flooding thus destroying the writing which was done on perishable materials. This might be the reason why archeologists were unable to trace administrative records in Egypt (Houston, 57). The writing materials that were used in china could have been wood and silk. Mesoamerica used perishable writing materials such as palm leaves or the bark. The writing practiced in Mesoamerica can be traced from the writings which were done on durable materials such as stone, shell, bones and clay. The writing done on perishable materials could not be traced since they could not survive.

    The writing done in Mesopotamia could be tracked since they were done on durable materials. Excavations which have been carried out in Uruk reveal the sociopolitical scenery in Mesopotamia.   Uruk city began due to the increased population in Babylonia. There have been monuments which have been excavated in Uruk showing the sociopolitical status in the city. Some arts have been traced relaying information about the torture done on people in this city. The increased population posed political and social complexity.

    To enhance accountability and responsibility within the complex system, some inventions were done. Writing was done on clay tokens. Cylinder seals were used to cover the clay vessels. Modern seals used can be traced back to olden days. Further invention occurred by the inclusion of tokens which were mainly done in clay bullae. The clay bullae were normally sealed and were marked in the outer part with impression of the token inside them. Clay tablets carried some impression of numerical signs. These devices which were used in olden are available at some areas such as Uruk and Mesopotamia. Numerico ideographic tablets which is considered to be one of the devices carrying vital information is found in Uruk and some parts of Mesopotamia. The tablets consist of numeric notion surrounding them. It also consists of ideograms which are directed to religion. The numerical tablets and the clay bullae were spread all over the region while the numerico ideographic tablets are only traced at Susiana and Uruk. This confers with the archeological consensus of the high accordance of Babylonian dominance in Susiana (Senner, 13). Archaic writing is represented with complex accounting system which indicates transaction involving large amount of commodities. This kind of writing spread within the vicinity of Mesopotamia. The archaic writing which was considered as cuneiform underwent some evolutions bringing some changes to it.

    The earliest writing in Egypt was to supplement administrative issue. The modern writing system in Egypt can be traced far back to the earliest writing system. Writing was also used in Egypt for display purposes. This was not the case in Mesopotamia where writing was done to solve sociopolitical needs. The contrasting purpose of writing renders some suspense as to why writing was invented. There are some reasons which are attached to the invention of writing while others are believed to have emanated as a result of the invention. The logophonetic Egyptian writing system was mainly invented to address administrative needs. Narmer palette is the earliest Egyptian inscription. The glyphs used during early writing followed the traditional arts.  The early Egypt writing system was logographic (Krammer, 28). It also included phonetic adjuncts. Writing was invented to cater for political needs and mainly for controlling the Egyptian empire. The early writing was introduced to special groups such as the military. Egypt is considered to have developed the oldest alphabet existing in the world. Egyptian hieroglyphics did not include fusing of parts in writing as opposed to Chinese. Egyptian maintained a naturalistic writing system.

    Chinese early writing was done on vessels, bone and shell. The inscriptions were done on vessels made from bronze and bone. Records were kept in these vessels and described the objects. The early Chinese writing system was not a rudimentary system. The fact that there divination inscription on bones could not be taken as the main reason behind the invention of writing in china (Rudgley, 36). This can be attested since inscriptions were not done on all the bones and shells used for divination.

    The Maya writing system consisted of the Maya script. The Maya sprit consisted of the Mayan hieroglyphics. There is no substantiating argument that writing was invented to cater for administrative needs. There were undeciphered Mesoamerican scripts which were composed of long characters. Writing also prospered the existence of a complex calendrical system. This availing might relate writing as being invented to cater for administrative issues. This is not obvious since this documentation might be carried out for religious needs. 

    Mayan hieroglyphics were representational and naturalistic as it applied to the Egyptian hieroglyphics. Mayan signs were considered to be multivalent in which case a single sign was used to represent different words. This multivalent was adopted for application in numerical relationship.  This could not be used for naturalistic representation. The early writing system in Mesoamerica can be traced from recent finding. The discovery of the stone slab carrying some writings paved way for more analysis of the early writing system (Senner, 47). The only script which deciphered in Mesoamerica is the Maya script. The Maya writing can be traced far back to 3rd century BC.  These consist of Maya inscriptions. The early Maya writing system made use of logograms. It also used syllabic glyphs.

The early writing system in Mesopotamia was derived from the method of keeping accounts. This writing system evolved to the triangular shaped stylus. These symbols were inserted in soft clay. A sharp stylus was later used to enable the counting process. This augmentation led to pictographic writing. Wedge shaped stylus replaced the earlier styles bringing forth the term cuneiform. This was first used on logographs but later involved phonetic elements (Houston, 75). Sumerian syllables were later represented in cuneiform.  Cuneiform was adopted as a general writing system for syllables, logograms and numbers. This writing system evolved to form other writing system such as Hittite.

Writing was invented as response to the political and social needs in the society. This writing system evolved to counter the economic necessity in the society. Early writing was invented in the ancient near East. Archeologists have linked clay tokens to early writing which were referred to as cuneiform. Clay tokens represented commodities. The use of clay tokens system became a bother with civilization (Krammer, 98). Tokens were put in baked clay and inscription defining the token were marked outside the clay token. The writing system has evolved as a result of the complexity of both the social and political needs. The complex political system requires an efficient way of presenting information. Social needs such as religious needs have also contributed to the evolvement of the writing system as a response to these needs.

Man and apes are the closest relatives in the evolutionary perspective. In the history of the earth, it is not until recently, in geological time that is, that man diverged from the tree of the ape family. However, from the moment mans earliest ancestors started to move away from the rest of the primates eventually creating a separate specie, the ties in terms of shared characteristics, behaviours and abilities between man and apes were slowly stretched farther and farther apart. Or did it The three articles presented and analyzed in this paper will provide evidence that man is, indeed, separate from, yet at the same time close to, the primates.

The article  Why we outlive our ape ancestors  would show how the specie Homo sapiens is different with the rest of the family of primates with particular respect to longevity. However, the second,  Monkeys recognize their pals in photos  sheds light on the belief that like humans, primates also have the capability to recognize somebody they knew based solely on a representation, in this case, a photograph. The last article,  Why some monkeys dont get AIDS, on the other hand will provide a deeper understanding of a disease that currently rocks the human specie by looking into the capability of some monkeys to ward off the ill-effects of the type of virus similar to the ones infecting humans. The studies cited in these articles are closely intertwined with the field of physical anthropology thus after analyzing the articles, one will surely gain a deeper appreciation of the field, in general, and its practical applications.

I. Why We Outlive Our Ape Ancestors
    One may wonder that if the chimpanzees are the nearest relative of man why then do they have a remarkably shorter life span than most humans These question was considered in a study conducted by Caleb Finch, professor in the University of Southern California Davis School of Gerontology and presented in the article  Why We Outlive Our Ape Ancestors  (Bezaitis n.p.). The study found that the difference in inter-specie maximum life expectancy lies in the genes that evolved as part of dietary adaptations. Thus, humans have the capacity to outlive their immediate relatives in the animal kingdom. These findings supported evolutionary contentions that the kinds of food available to a certain specie would dictate specific changes in the genetic make-up  of that specie in order to survive.

     Finch explained that the discrepancy in life spans between humans and the chimps, and for that matter, all the other great apes, is an evolutionary response of the human genes to the regular diet (Bezaitis n.p.). The human genes evolved in such a way it can handle all the levels of infection and inflammation which are potentially present given the wide range of food sources humans utilize. Add to that is the fact that the human body is likewise bombarded with a high cholesterol diet. And in the process of adapting to these threats, the human genetic make-up was altered a little thus providing man with a relatively longer life expectancy.

    What, then, is the implication of this study to the field of physical anthropology Well, for one, the findings would further support the Darwinian perspective on evolution. The theory of evolution surmises that what the modern humans are today are but a result of adaptation to regional conditions in terms of climate, diseases and food availability. In the aforementioned study, researchers were able to kill two birds with one stone. They analyzed a phenomenon in connection with two environmental conditions   food availability and diet-caused diseases. The finding clearly demarcates the line wherein the specie Homo diverged from the others but it nonetheless point to the fact that somewhere in time modern man and the chimps as well as all other primates shared the same diet and was both vulnerable to the same diseases.       

II. Monkeys Recognize Their Pals in Photos
    The taxa Homo sapiens literally means  thinking man  or  wise man . This is a name that would separate man from the other primates. It is often assumed that other primates do not have the capacity to analyze. However, the research study conducted by the Yerkes National Primate Research at Emory University, Atlanta ( Monkeys Recognize Their Pals in Photos  n.p.) found that nonhuman primates are likewise able to recognize that images represent real life things and animals. Implied in the results of the study is the fact that primates possesses human-like capabilities, albeit on a lesser level.

    In the said study, monkeys were tested using four photographs including one they knew. They also at another set of photographs with one of a monkey they are not familiar with. The results showed that the monkeys correctly identified the odd one in the set shown them. A researcher remarked on the complexity of the task saying, This required monkeys to look at similar-looking faces and use their personal knowledge of group mates to solve the task  ( Monkeys Recognize Their Pals in Photos  n.p.). The research study provided a tangible evidence on the ability of nonhuman primates to analyze two-dimensional images and realize that they are representations of real things.

    The importance of this research study to Physical Anthropology is that it somehow looks into the evolutionary pathway in reverse. Whereas most studies would concentrate on the differences between humans and the ape ancestors, the study somehow sheds light to a rather perverted view of mans nearest relative. By understanding the mental abilities of other primates, man can gain a better appreciation of himself and his capacities. Also, this reflection would lead one to recognize the fact that modern humans are nothing but the product of a long and torturous process of trial and error aptly called evolution.

III. Why Some Monkeys Dont Get AIDS
    It is acknowledge that at some points in human history, diseases became a limiting factor for a number of populations   and this is especially true in cases of global pandemic. These past few days saw the emergence of a host of diseases new to humans and one of these is the Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) caused by the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). Unbeknownst to many, there also exist a simian counterpart of the said virus. However, a recent study showed that some monkeys are able to deter the virus or, at least, bear the brunt of the diseases without exhibiting the syndromes associated with it.

    Researchers from various universities and institutions looked into the possibility that some monkeys might have a genetic predisposition to fend off the effects of the Simian Immunodeficiency Virus (SIV) ( Why Some Monkeys Dont Get AIDS  n.p.). The results showed that the sooty mangabeys of Western Africa and the African green monkeys were able to survive without even showing any outward ramifications of AIDS even after being infected with the SIV. Resistance or limitations to the progression of the AIDS came as a result of the rapid shut down of normal immune response after initial infection and thus they were able to remain healthy and active. Aside from that, researchers were able to pinpoint genes which might have caused this reaction, or perhaps the absence of it, to AIDS.

    The fact that the researchers tried to understand a diseases common to both monkeys and humans by studying some species of monkeys is noteworthy in itself. Underlying this study is the fact that the closest to the genetic structure of humans are its nearest relatives, the nonhuman primates. Hence, by trying to explore possible genetic resistance to AIDS in some monkeys, the research paved the way for those researchers in human AIDS to look into a potential genetics-based response to the disease. Interestingly, AIDS is one of the disease that was passed on to man from others in the animal kingdom   a zoonosis. Thus, it is much better to seek greater understanding of the disease in the original vulnerable group   the monkeys. 

Culture builds the identity of a nation and represents a nation as a whole. In the modern age, many new aspects have had their effects on cultures of different nations and globalization is one of them.
Globalization has had its affects all over the world like all the other aspects that have change the way of our living in the new era. As globalization has had its positive impact on the society where it has shorten the distances between people of different religions and cultures, conversely it has also had negative affects on the cultures as people tend to adopt western culture leaving their own culture and heritage behind. Here we have considered the effects of globalization on the Chinese culture.

Background of Chinese Culture
    China is one of those civilizations which is very rich in its cultural heritage since the very day of its existence. The highlights of Chinese culture include particular festivals, dresses, food, music etc.
    Qiao Xiaoguang, a professor and director of the newly established Non-material Cultural Heritage Research Center at the Central Academy of Fine Arts defined the China as A nation rich in cultural resources, China has an ocean of non-material cultural heritage including folk art, literature, opera and dance (China.org, 2001)

Effects of Globalization on the Chinese Culture
    As far as International Relations is concerned, Globalization of Culture stands at a precarious situation. This form of globalization may help the countries to have a better understanding of each other and more tolerance towards each other. As immigration from one country to another is increasingly popular in search of better jobs and lifestyles, people come into contact with other nationalities and cultural diffusion takes place. However, this may also lead in the loss of the minoritys cultural values and the injection of the western concepts into the third world countries and other smaller countries who are not yet willing to embrace their concepts in either technological or social terms. The most debated issue these days is the Chinese indoctrination of the Tibetans and the gradual demise of the Tibetan culture.
Globalization has had major effects on the Chinese culture, some have been very positive has have given a good dimension to the already rich Chinese culture while some have been negative which have had an adverse effect on the Chinese culture and heritage. Here we will discuss both the positive and negative effects respectively.

Positive effects on Chinese Culture
    One of the major positive impacts of globalization on the Chinese culture is that of ethics and economy. The Chinese economy has been one of the most flourishing economies after the world experienced globalization.

    It has also given a new dimension to the trade of china and due to globalization, more goods which are a part of the Chinese culture are being sent to the markets all over the world which not only earns them foreign exchange but also gives people some awareness about the heritage of china. Another aspect is that of diversification which has had a positive impact on the Chinese culture giving new ways and options to perform certain tasks.

Negative effects of globalization
    Apart from the many positive effects, globalization has also had some negative effects. One major effect which has hit the Chinese nation is that people are adopting western culture as their own and are more inclined to western cultural heritage. Yun Li, a researcher from the China Academy of Social Sciences said Modernization does not mean Westernization or turning everything into Han culture (China.Org, 2001)
    The education is also a part of the culture and the education system of china is also being affected by inclusion of new courses and curriculums which have taken the place of traditional Chinese curriculum. Clothing, which is also an integral part of a culture, is also being changed as people are preferring clothes such as jeans and t shirts, while the original culture of china lays stress on wearing cheongsams and coats etc. Another major affect is that on the food of china. Chinese people have their own taste of food and eatables but the aspect of globalization has developed a taste for cheese as many global fast food restaurants are taking place of traditional Chinese restaurants. (Global Policy, 2003)

Factors Influencing the Chinese Culture
    There have been many factors of globalization that have influenced the Chinese culture.
One of the factors is the west. The west, as it has had its impact all over the world, has also influenced the Chinese culture immensely.

Another factor of globalization is that of the free trade policies, due to which more goods of abroad are coming in china which represent the culture of other nations.
Diversity is another important part of globalization and has largely influenced the Chinese culture with regards to its language, music, food, clothes and other related traditions.
Media has had a great role to play in todays modern era and has manipulated many cultures. Media has brought many factors of outside into China and that has led to some major changes in the lifestyle of Chinese people.

Preserving the Chinese Culture
    Just as the ancestors, despite all the hurdles and difficulties preserved and protected the Chinese culture, it is now the responsibility of the young generation of China to preserve and protect the Chinese Culture in all respects. Some ways in which we can preserve the Chinese Culture are listed below (Kluver, 1999)
Culture is the symbol of a nation and represents the heritage of them, and there is a need to gain the knowledge and understanding of the culture.
The younger generation can adopt the particulars of their own culture and practice their own traditional activities with more zeal and zest.
A responsibility lies on the scholars of intercultural communication, who can play their part in explaining the important aspects of preserving the Chinese Culture. (Kluver, 1999)
Diversity is appreciable, but if diversity develops a distance between your culture and heritage then it can have many negative impacts on our society. So sticking with diversity, people should diversify their own culture rather than adopting from the west or other influential cultures.

    There is an vast need of preserving and following ones own culture as it is an identity of the nation. Globalization has had many affects on the society in both ways and it is the duty of people of all generations to consider and adopt all the positives but simultaneously avoid the negatives to preserve and protect their own identity such that they can collectively be called one nation. As Mahatma Gandhi once said Culture on the mind must be subservient to the heart

French theorist Michel Foucault has been described as a social theorist, a historian, and a philosopher. His works are the result of his engagement with approaches and concerns discovered within these disciplines. His writings traverse a wide range of fields and topics. However, he is interested at many times in analyzing the social construction of concepts of mental illness, systems of discipline and punishment, sexuality and subjectivity and the relation between knowledge and power. His inquiries adopt the methodology of providing a detailed analysis of the historical advancement of these notions. Overall, his concerns might be more correctly understood as falling within the realm of politics.

    Foucaults development as an intellectual can be summed-up in two different stages. First, is the work he generates during the 60s that has developed an archeological and historical mode of investigation. The aim of such an approach is to uncover the genesis of human sciences and the development of the modern episteme. Second is Foucaults later works that turns towards a Nietzchean-inspired genealogical or inheritable form of investigation. This approach supplements the earlier historical analysis by revealing the underlying power relations inherent in discourses of knowledge.

Foucaults Ideology Knowledge is Power
    Foucault believes that the self is mainly a political notion that must be subjected to stringent criticism. It only shows that he is not a humanist. He holds that a clarification of the dominant practices within any form of social organization is important to that forms being subjected to critique. Unlike other Marxist, he rejects any project that would seek to provide a harmonious resolution of social antagonism by way of reference to a meta-narrative. Therefore, his turn to Nietzsche is at the same time turn away from more traditional forms of analysis. He then offers an account of the political development of discourses of knowledge that takes all knowledge forms to be definable in terms of power relations. Indeed, for Foucault, the terms power and knowledge are closely related, in that they necessarily summon one another.

    Ideology according to Foucault
  
    Appears to me to be difficult to make use of, for three reasons. First, ideology always stands in virtual opposition to something else which is supposed to count as truth. Second, ideology is a concept that always refers back to something of the order of a subject, and third, ideology stands in a secondary position relative to something which functions as its infrastructure, as its material, economic determinant, etc. (Foucault 1980118)

This states that ideology-talk presupposes truth-talk and Foucault has no time for disinterested, objective conceptions of truth. His doubt of truth stems from his view that all social relations are relations of power. In so far as all knowledge claims have power relations within them. In other words, Foucaults view of knowledge is something that occurs in the center of power relations.

Madness and Civilization (1965)

    In the book Madness and Civilization, Foucault tracks the history of insanity or madness from the Renaissance until the 19th century. His main subjects are the cultural, intellectual and economic institutions encompassing the concept of madness. In studying madness, he discusses the way in which civilization interacts with madmen, and attempts to advocate for madmen. His account is interesting because he does not start from the nature of mental illness and ask how well this was reflected in classical thinking. It starts from the institutions that shut up the mad. What is good in his work is the focus on the connections between knowledge and institutions. He examines practices within the asylum and focuses on two instancesthe reforming of Bicetre by Pinel into asylum for insane and the setting-up of Tuke of an English quaker asylumand describes asylum life modeled on bourgeois ideology.  One example is in Tukes Retreat, the mad were treated as children (Foucault 1965252). They were put under tutelage in a model of family relations that was both bourgeois and patriarchal. The insane in the Retreat was submitted to the authority of the father and to care of a rational adult.

    After publishing Madness and Civilization, Foucault became a leading intellectual in the world. He later died of AIDS in June 1984. His other works focused on the maginalized aspects of society that includes The Order of Things, The Birth of the Clinic, Discipline and Punish, and The History of Sexuality. Given the fact that Foucault was hospitalized in his 20s for depression one could interpret his work as being partially a renunciation of the psychiatric structure of power. Thus Aristotle rightly observed that melancholics have more intelligence than other men.(118) He portrays madness as having been subjugated by civilization. This book was seen by some as leading the anti-psychiatry movement of the 1960s and 1970s in that it attacked the notion that insanity has always been seen as a threat to the society.
  
    Foucault is concerned with analyzing the structures surrounding madness. He talks about their development, their history, and the overthrow of one structure by another. For example, madness held a place among the hierarchy of vices in the 13th century (24). During the 14th and 15th centuries, the works of Cervantes (28) and Shakespeare (30) describe madness in terms of moral satire. With the creation of the Hospital General in 1656, there is a shift in structure madness no longer occupies a place in society, but rather is relegated to confinement (39). In discussing psychiatry in the 17th and 18th centuries, Foucault states that his aim is to show the specific faces by which madness was recognized in the classical thought (117).

    Foucault traces this very specific growth of the structures of madness through history. He tried to find a point in the history of insanity at which it became an undifferentiated experience (ix). He proposed that madness is inherited from leprosy a segregated space in society (6). From there, madness came to be viewed as moral failing that required imprisonment. Eventually, the confinement of madness moved from the prison to the hospital (39).

    While these structures take control over individuals in Madness and Civilization, Foucault discusses and stands for the mentally ill. He studied the status and condition of madmen within prisons, hospitals, and workhouses (38). He calls that modern man no longer communicates with the madman (x). He describes how insanity was seen as spectacle and scandal (69) and also argues that even the freeing of madmen from confinement was not a philanthropic move, but a political one (221). However, Foucault stops short of giving the madman true historical agency he is much more likely to describe the effect of society on the madman rather than the individuals agency. He also contest that the alleged scientific neutrality of modern medical treatments of insanity are in fact covers for controlling challenges to a conventional bourgeois morality. In short, Foucault argued that what was presented, as an objective scientific discovery was in fact the product of a very famous social and ethical commitment.
  
    Foucault started his discussion through setting the stage in Europe with the end of leprosy and the end of the middle ages. He described the institutions made around the lepers as holding the same characteristics that would be applied to the insane in later centuries. These include the inclusion of the leper into religion as being punished by God in this life so as to receive immediate redemption in the next. He believes that as leprosy diminished in the societies of Europe the bodys sickness were replaced with sickness in the mind. Changing the lepers as being confined within society were the insane who had been previously viewed as part of society. He noted that insanity had been called folly, which was merely a sin rather than an ailment. He then traces the origins of confining the insane as being linked to an increased use of confinement in society. Shifting from ships of fools upon which the insane were bound to end haphazardly reunited with water to the great confinement, Foucault outlines how insanity shifted from being something excluded and hidden to being ingrained and included through the use of public and central confinement. Confinement became both a tool of society for production and image. Confinement of the insane allowed them to be forced into productive capacities such as polishing glass or to be put on public display for a penny a gander. At the same time this use of the insane embodied the idea that the animalistic needed to be contained to protect the civilized from the barbaric, mirroring how the common citizen must conform to the standards set by the church and state to become productive. Madness had become something to be feared, for the madman could withstand inhuman conditions, extreme ranges of temperatures, and was only made productive through extremely difficult treatment and also he continues in the advancement of madness through the modern period through analyzing the role of the doctor and patient and the birth of the asylum as being the separation of the insane from the poor and criminal. This change in thinking can be viewed as the insane were no longer cast away with thieves and the poor but were institutionalized into asylums apart from the decadents.

    Foucault allotted a large amount of thinking to the relationship between insanity and economics. He suggested that hospitals were used to confine poor and unemployed workers, and to shut down a growing workers movement. Here, he depicted madmen as a class rejected or rendered mobile by economic developments (47). It was at this time, when labor was regarded as a remedy to poverty (55), that the poor who were incapable of working or integrating with the group were perceived as madmen (64). For him, civilization is favorable to insanity (217). The cultural, economic at intellectual structures surrounding madness do not exist when considering a solitary individual. Madness is a label of sorts that civilization places on individuals apart from civilization, madness is largely a matter of unifying the soul with the body through the passions (85-88).  It is those structures that determined the nature of madness, as well as how madness and civilization connect to each other. Michel Foucault made a dialectical relationship between cause and effect in which the structures themselves both influence and are influenced by their intellectual, cultural, and economic component parts. Underneath these structures, he pointed out that civilization itself is the root of madness.

    The significance of Madness and Civilization is best seen not in terms of Foucaults own contribution but as a collective transformation in social theorizing. His way to history embodied a new skepticism of meta-narratives. Instead of trusting the descriptions of the past we have created, he seeks to grasp how some aspects of society have been marginalized and repressed from writing their own histories. Thus his approach to writing history is that of bringing together the rational structures that have been preserved with their irrational origins that have been forgotten. Through describing madness as entirely occupying the void left by leprosy in society, Foucault describes a rather coincidental rather than progressive move in our society. This description thus supposes that had leprosy persisted, insanity may have not become excluded from society, rather than describe society as systematically purging itself of its ills.

    Foucault and his historiography touch on a general doubt of the narratives of our modern histories. His competence to construct a new narrative of the advancement of civilization with madness, he had weakened the modern structure of psychiatry. In his last part, Foucault discusses how in art one bring to an end to being insane but merely expressive. Through recognizing ones expression as art or narrative one stops to be insane but merely creative or expressive. Insanity then is not a clinical science but an inability to creative a narrative. For these reasons as parts of society fail to legitimate their expression they became subject to the narratives of psychiatry. Thus Foucaults histories seek to construct new comprehensive narratives to legitimate otherwise marginalized aspects of society.

    According to Foucault, madness will manifest itself through art or literature, such as with Nietzsche and Goya (279, 281) and true communication with civilization. In this way, Foucault describes a paradoxical history of madness in which, while treatment of madness has become more humane, the state of the madman is regressive. Recent works of madness, such as those by, Nietzsche, and Van Gogh, developed an environment in which civilization must justify itself before madness (289). Foucault suggests not only a historical backtrack of madness to the point where it was an undifferentiated experience (ix), but also a literal return to such a environment wherein there is again dialog between madness and civilization.

    Lastly, Foucaults work tried to show how we have indirectly constituted ourselves through the exclusion of some others criminals, madmen, women and black people. This exclusion depends on power.  The purpose of his comparison between past and present is to problematise culture, just like other anthropological studies. We can now conclude that Foucaults project is truly deconstructive it is to bring down the modern narratives through constructing his own in paradoxical opposition.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a description and a discussion of the similarities and differences between two African ethnic groups and a particular social institution or issue. This paper discusses the institution of marriage customs between the Maasai who are a semi nomadic pastoralist ethnic group in East Africa found in the southern part of Kenya and Northern Tanzania and the Ngoni communities who are an ethnic group found in EastCentral Africa in Malawi, Tanzania, Mozambique and Zambia. It also focuses on the similarities and differences, the change and the continuity they have experienced amidst the current socio-economic environment.
Marriage is associated with many socio-economic issues such as property transfer, lineage, social and political power, kinship and reproduction, which are as dynamic as the numerous customs associated with them.
The Maasai are customary known as a warrior community closely associated with jungle tales due to their close proximity to some of the worlds best safari destinations- the Masai Mara and the Serengeti. They are an offshoot of the Nilotic group that migrated from the Nile valley in North Africa and descended downwards finding their home at the bed of the Great Rift Valley. The Ngoni (or Nguni) are a splinter group of the Zulu of Kwa Zulu Natal in South Africa. They were once part of the feared Zulu empire found in southeast coastlands of southern Africa who speak similar languages and who share some aspects of a common culture including reputation for ruthlessness in war. In Malawi, they settled in central and northern parts of the country (Mvula, 1985).
Marriage, as practiced by many African communities, is a process that is punctuated by rituals and ceremonies, each with their own special significance. The Maasai and the Ngoni are no exception to this rule.
To the Ngoni, like the Maasai, marriage is between two mature people of the opposite sex. Among the Ngoni, the age of marriage was attained when a girl reached maturity (experienced her first period) and when a boy had his first nocturnal emission. Several rites were then performed to certify the child as an adult. After her first menstruation, the girl would be stripped naked by older women relatives and forced to straddle the waters of a river facing the South East position (it could be a pointer to their place of origin), after which she would be advised to be at all times, only in the company of other mature girls. On the other hand, boys were supposed to beat themselves with water (wash) every time they had a nocturnal discharge, under the supervision of  a male relative from the fathers side (Aldie et al, n.d).
To the Maasai a man became mature when he underwent a long cultural in initiation process (conducted every 7 years) into adult hood, which includes circumcision and spearing of a lion. However, before a man can marry he has to prove that he is economically able. Therefore, the warriors (also called morans who have undergone the initiation) join the junior elders rank where they wait for their process of marriage to begin. Most of the Maasai men marry when they have become senior elders because that is when they are deemed capable of taking care of their families financially (Coast, 2008)
The Maasai girl matures by going through circumcision that is also based on the age-set method similarly used by the boys.  The ceremony that involves cutting off some of the female genitalia is performed without anesthesia and marks the beginning of adult hood for the girl (their culture does not permit men to talk about details of the initiation of women). The Maasai are monotheistic, a quality that is unique to few tribes in Africa. Their marriage ceremony is a long tedious process that begins technically with courting.
When a man has caught sight of the girl he wishes to marry, he proceeds by giving the girl a chain olpisiai and this serves as notice to the family of the girl that their daughter has a suitor. After this the man approaches girls of his own age who are probably friends with his intended bride and sends a gift of alcohol to the girls mother. This is taken a formal way of engagement. Later the same is done for the girls father through the same messengers who delivered the first gift and the girls father shares the alcohol with his friends.
When all this is done, the man has to present himself to claim his bride by identifying which (of the fathers daughters) is the one he intended to marry. At this point, the man may experience some difficulty because the father may pretend no knowledge of the girl being referred to. A family relationship is then established under which the marriage ceremony plans begin (Maasai Education, 2009).
This relationship continues over an unspecified period of time whence the man brings gifts to the girls family up to a point when the girls family will finally take him serious on his offer and consider the total of his gifts as dowry. At this point, the girl is considered taken and any man who expresses his wish thereafter will be told off clearly.
On the day of the wedding, the groom brings with him the bride price which is three cows, one female, one male, all black and a calf, two sheep, a male and female. The male sheep is slaughtered on the material day and the fat and oil from the sheep is smeared on the wedding dress while some is saved for the brides use. The remaining sheep is given away to the mother in law and the calf to the father in law. On the following day, the bride is shaved clean and oiled with the lamb fat. She is then beautifully adorned with the exquisite ornaments, imasaa, and then blessed by the elders with sprinkling of alcohol and milk to her new home. Once she arrives there, she is kept indoors for 2 days during which time the husband may not eat or sleep with her. She is then shaved clean and the wedding is considered officially over. This process may take as long as 1 year, depending on the brides   family (Maasai Education, 2006)
The Ngoni begin the process of marriage by payment of the lobola, the bride price. Marriage is seen as a way of social penetration and ethnic cohesion as well as the perseveration of distinct culture. It also helps in the re-distribution of wealth.
The lobola was paid in terms of livestock and was dependent on the status of the girls father. If they were socially higher in the ladder, then more would be expected of the suitor. The marriage ceremony began simply by the family of the man expressing interest to the girl the intended to marry. Upon the mutual agreement, the girl would then inform the mother who would in turn inform the whole family of a pending suitor.
The marriage negotiations carried out by the agnates of the two families were short (about a week), the bride price having being paid, the ceremony would be conducted, and the bride transferred to her new family. The whole process of marriage would begin and end in 2 weeks. Marriage was mainly exogamous.
Similarities and differences between the Maasai and Ngoni marriages
Both the Maasai and the Ngoni are herding communities. This is why most of their livelihood including the bride price during marriages, revolved around cattle. However, the Maasai still remain one of the few, if not the only, herding community in Africa. The Ngoni people have abandoned most of their traditional herding activities for other modern economic activities.
Like many African communities, the Maasai and Ngoni were both patrilineal societies that practiced polygyny. The true Ngoni   people for instance are those that are capable of tracing their ancestry back to the point when they crossed the Zambezi River into modern day Malawi. Those who were able to trace their family descent from their fathers side with their clan name, name of their house and line would be the ones considered to be group of true Ngoni. This group formed a the social and cultural aristocracy of the Ngoni ethnic group and strove to maintain it through such institutions as marriage (Aldie, n.d)
The husband was allowed to marry more than one wife with a wide range of excuses varying from being bored, desiring peace of mind or as punishment to the existing wife(s). Other reasons included child siring, in case the current wife(s) were not capable, help around the household and as a way of prestige.
These two communities also valued the marriage institution such that divorce was never conceived to be possible for the woman but the man had the option of divorcing his wife (though he was expected to give good reasons). Once a woman was married, she lost her identity as a member of her fathers family and full became a member of her husbands family. She was expected to stay until death separated them. The husband was also free to consult or not consult his wife about the marriage. (Maasai Education, 2006)
However, the Maasai man had different roles compared to the Ngoni man. While the man was firmly in charge of constructing the house among the Ngoni, the woman was the one with this task among the Maasai. In addition, the Maasai marriage ceremony was long and very distinct with stages and rites to be accomplished. The Ngoni ceremony of marriage was rather short and frivolous... and less organized (Mvuli, n.d)
The two communities also had a rite of passage for the boys and girls in their communities before marriage. However, these rites of passage were significantly different from each other. The Maasai performed circumcision for both the boys and girls, while the Ngoni circumcised only their boys. For the Maasai, the circumcision marked the beginning of adult hood but for the Ngoni, boys were separated from their mothers as early as age 7 years in order that they may be conditioned as men. They spent most of the time around other boys until they had their first discharge from which time they would be considered mature. The Maasai boys were grouped into age sets after which they were destined to undergo circumcision and training to become morans.
Marriage among the Ngoni was free as long as the partners were not related (age was not a problem) while the Maasai who had age sets, set rules prohibiting the marriage involving a groom of the same age set as the brides father.
Both communities also viewed marriage as way of continuity for their society as well as a wealth distribution system where each family was able to provide adequately for itself.
While the Ngoni had numerous social practices connected to marriage such as wife, kuchotsa mafuta (where a young woman had sex with an older man to open her up before marriage) or kupambawira( where the family of a girl gives her away as payment for some debt) among others, the Maasai girl never had sex up until marriage. The Ngoni valued virginity in as far as it brought the father praise and more cattle but to the Maasai, it was not really an issue because circumcision for girls had a lot more respect. (Malawi Human Rights Commission)
The Ngoni, like in the Maasai community, sometimes sent girls as young as 9 years to be married off to older people once they had their first menstruation or when they had undergone the female circumcision (Ngoni)
The changes and continuity in marriages amidst the current socio-economic situation in Africa
The marriage institution was greatly altered by the Christian missionaries and the British colonizers. The Ngoni and the Maasai have since changed the way marriage was conducted albeit to some degree they have maintained some aspects of the traditional way. For instance, the communities have inter-married with other ethnic communities around them some that they do not even share ancestry.
Ngoni had a system of   maintain their identity even before the child reached marrying age. For instance, the boy child was put into a dormitory, which was an institution for the education and training of young boys. The boys would then be considered as Ngoni-sized. The dormitory was simply a hut where the boys would receive training in their cultural institution in the education of young boys. It was the place where boys slept and lived together, and where they learned to define themselves and to obey authority. Once a boy went to sleep in a dormitory, he never left it until he married unless he was seriously ill. Ngoni regarded dormitory life as an important coordinating factor in their young peoples development. The first purpose was to remove boys from the influence of women. Ngoni men were outspoken in condemning the effects of all womens influence on boys from non-Ngoni sources (Hill, n.d)
While the money economy has significantly changed how trade is conducted all over the world, the communities have adapted to  paying the bride price either in currency or together with  livestock. The most remarkable change witnessed was the adoption of the monogamous way of marriage by both communities over time. This fact could be attributed to the effect of formal education as well as the declining significance of cattle as a source of wealth and the effect of HIV-AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa. According to the Malawi human rights commission, many more ethnic groups were beginning to shun polygamy in favor of monogamy to try to control the spread of the disease. However this has come at a costly price. Some men (whose wives became heavily pregnantmenstruating) developed extra-marital affairs to fill the void of many wives. The practice of wife swapping (this was organized secretly with all partners consenting) took root among married couples in order to provide more variety and excitement into their sex lives.
The Ngoni community has over the years changed slowly to even adopt some aspects of matrilineal society which is a borrowed practice from its neighbors. This could be attributed to intermarriages between the Ngoni and the Tumbuka ethnic group (Munthali, 2008).
Other noticeable changes on the side of the Maasai include the shortening of the marriage ceremony and the initiation rites which nowadays   take place a couple of times during the same year. Marriage period and the whole process have seen remarkable changes. The Maasai morans (warriors) now do not have to wait until seven years for the new age set to take over from them in order for them to be eligible for marriage. Each year, a set of young morans graduate from initiation sometimes thrice in one year. The Maasai have also had the influence of Christianity such that many of the marriage customs such wife inheritance have also been dropped. However, there are many marriage practices the Maasai unlike their counterparts the Ngoni, will take a long time to change. The organization of the family with the husband as the superior and head of the family still remains with the Maasai. Most Maasai, like the Ngoni men, whether polygamous or monogamous favor a marriage where the husband has more rights than the wife (Munthali, 2008).
The Maasai have not yet given up the ritual of girl circumcision which is now considered a human rights violation (know as Female genital mutilation) under the UN human rights charter. Though done in secret, the issue of women circumcision in Maasai community is difficult to abolish because it lacks the support of men who in their culture, are prohibited from discussing it. Women sometimes face rejections for failure to partake the rite and this fear of rejects helps to perpetuate the practice. The UN human rights made education a basic human right and soon after many governments in Africa rushed to enroll children in schools on a massive scale. This has changed the involvement of boys in initial rituals who have not taken part in the rituals and are therefore less likely to get involved in the traditional marriage practices. The increase in rural urban migration has also influenced the way people live. Many people from both the Maasai and Ngoni communities no longer conduct marriages the same way the ancestors used, although they still maintain some simplified aspects of the old marriage customs (Hill, n.d)
The payment of bride price is still common even among well-educated African communities. The Maasai as well the Ngoni seem to have retained it to the present day despite the hardships involved in securing such a price in poor economy that is prominent in Africa.
The issue of divorce in marriage in these communities is a relatively new one. Both the Maasai and the Ngoni communities are cautiously allowing women to have the same rights as their women though the Maasai maintain a queer practice where by the mans status, still remains legally married if the wife divorces, passes on or separates from him. This is a practice clearly designed to bestow the man some respect for his loss or humiliation.
The current socioeconomic conditions have greatly disadvantaged the woman because of the patriarchal society that still exists among the two ethnic groups. Because girls have no opportunity to inherit land and property, they are mostly driven into prostitution and homosexuality, which are common practice among the Ngoni. The Maasai on the other hand, have found out that dependence on cattle, as the sole source of livelihood is difficult. They have have had to change the way they operate. Many have fled the harsh conditions of the changing economy to find jobs in big towns as security guards (if they have no education) and as peddlers or curio sellers in the tourism industry. Many Maasai men have been unable to get married owing to the lack of resources and prefer to stay together in small groups as workers and learning new trades to survive the harsh times.
Marriage is no longer what it used to be- a time for the families to show largesse and celebrate with the whole community. For the Maasai, the traditional marriage still survives although less and less people are able to replicate the ideal wedding. The Maasai have pride in being able to maintain their language, Maa and pass it on despite al the hardships. The Ngoni have not only lost their original Ngoni language but have also lost most of their practices to the new wave of modern Christiansecular marriage.

The most glaring similarity between Sambian and American Sexuality and Identities as driven by culture is the practice of certain rites of passage. Although in Sambian culture, the rites of passage for men are drwan out, complicated and ritualistic, they do find reflections in the American culture and ways. In Sambian traditions, the process of turning boys into men are done with the purpose of turning feminized boys into strong warrior like men in a process known as masculization. As already pointed out, this is a long and drawn out process stretching over several stages and over many years. In the very first stage, we can see a similarity by way of isolation when boys are separated from their mothers. Although in American culture, this may come later, it still resonates with the act of leaving the house to be independent once one reaches the age of majority.A particular practice of actually bleeding the boys (Herdt, 1999)  is reflected in the bullying common in American culture some form of hazing or initiatory rites for some brotherhood.In the third stage, there is a ritual seeking out of a woman. This is also seen in American culture where a boys worth is proven by exploits and sexual conquest of dating women. Finally, the subjugation of the wife and submission to the husband is also reflective of American Patriarchal concepts that men are superior to women. The very training of women to give fellatio to their husband during their initial sexual contacts is also an evidence of how this weakerstronger sex concept is seen. The conceptual roles for women as defined in this practice also sees conterpart in most American societal behavior where womens roles are compartmentalized as either Mothers, Housekeepers, Wives and even chattels and servants to the husband, especially when it comes to sexual marital obligations.

DIFFERENCES
    The obvious difference easily identified is the homosexual nature of the initiations in the Sambian Culture (Connell, 2005). In American culture, any such contact, sexual innuendo, or even just being overly friendly with another male a sure taboo, and is being avoided at all times. The American concept of Alpha Male does not allow this kind of behavior. In fact, in a phalocentric context, any such worship of the male phallus is considered a feminine concept, with the male phallus, representing the Alpha Male. Any such person who worships or falls and gives obeisance to the male genitalia is instantly considered weak, and thus unmasculine. Any such homosexual practice is looked down upon, and is done usually to debase, dehumanize or effeminate another male. This is true with the general concept of homosexuals and homosexual activity as being a sissy, and at all times avoided. American males go to great lengths to avoid the tag and are always in defense of their macho image and sexuality.

    Although the discussion and comparison may sound simplistic and traditional, it is to be noted that even in the modern world, such double standards stil exist. It may also be argued that modernism, liberalism and individuality has also seeped into the American psyche, and that such overt machismo is dead, and the myth of the penis already debunked, it still cannot be denied that many people still believe in traditional patriarchal system. In a broader view, this can be argued and debated, but as to the limitations of this paper, it is enough to see a general concept, and is not entirely baseless. For a people who claims to be modernized and liberalized, a great number of Americans still hold on to the old concepts and notions of sexiual roles, gender insensitivity and a belief in the superiority of the male gender.