What is Anthropology, is it everywhere?

Wet, Wet,Wet once said that love is all around us, the same could be said for Anthropology surely? The general preconceived notion is that Anthropology only deals with the exotic, the bizarre or non-western world. Indeed when I worked at the Post Office most of the postmen weren't even sure what Anthropology was. Potential suggestions included  'designing buildings' (Architecture), 'studying the human body (Anatomy) or 'is that to do with making gold? (Alchemy). The best definition of Anthropology that I was given was 'Tribes and Stone age people like Easter Island'. This is a well embedded stereotype which I think is a popular general assumption, and maybe around 70 years ago this search of the exotic was the central domain of anthropology, functioning in a colonial world. However modern Anthropology with its many schools and fields of thought can be judged to be all around us. If we look at what has (sadly) become the dictionary definition of the 21st Century, Wikipedia, we see that Social Anthropology is defined as ' the social organization of a particular person: customs,economic and political organization, law and conflict resolution, patterns of consumption and exchange, kinship and family structure, gender relations, childrearing and socialization, religion, and so on.'
Does this definition therefore give way for reality television, 'My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding' as a watered down version of accidental anthropology. Or simply a brief window onto other people's lives. Maybe you would offer up programming such as 'Tribe' or 'Human Planet' as Anthropology on T.V. However does this not stink of a bit of 'Noble Savage Syndrome'
More to discuss.


SA