Anthropology and Politics

Anthropology and politics is a partnership that illuminates what each discipline does on its own. Anthropology examines the diversity of human culture, society and belief, drawing on fieldwork and comparative analysis to understand how people make meaning, organise social life and exercise power in contexts that range from small-scale communities to global networks. Politics analyses the structures and processes through which collective decisions are made, power is legitimised and resources are distributed in modern states and the international system.

The connection between the two is immediate and productive: human behaviour, culture, tradition and belief are not merely background to political life but its very substance.

At the University of Aberdeen, this four-year full-time programme develops your understanding of both disciplines simultaneously, building your capacity to analyse political thinking and activity at local, national, regional and global levels with the cultural and social insight that anthropological training provides. You will study the major traditions of anthropological theory alongside core political science, including political theory, comparative politics and international relations, developing a genuinely unique perspective that neither discipline alone can supply. A year abroad is built into the programme, extending your academic and personal formation.

Graduates of anthropology and politics programmes are valued across a wide range of careers in which the ability to understand political processes in their cultural context is genuinely useful. International development, diplomacy, the civil service, NGOs, journalism, policy research, international organisations and academic research are all common destinations. The combination of cultural intelligence and political analytical skill is particularly valuable in careers that span national and cultural boundaries.

Many graduates pursue postgraduate study in international relations, political science, social anthropology or area studies, where the interdisciplinary breadth of their undergraduate formation provides a distinctive and flexible foundation.