Sociology vs Anthropology--diff yo?

Awhile back I was reading a socio-politico-cultural blog on Japan written by W. David Marx a cultural commentator cum musician of sorts. In a recent entry he discusses Japan’s status as a major or minor country in the world and to explain it he offers this tidbit of information:

My thesis advisor Prof. Merry White once said something like, at the beginning of her academic career, studying Japan was considered to be "anthropology" because Japan was a third-class country, but when the economy bounced back, Japan research became "sociology." The change from tribe to complex society.

Now, don’t get me wrong here Professor Merry White who holds professorships in both the department of anthropology and the department of sociology at Boston University certainly has not only the letters (PhD) and the experience to make anything I have to say seem amateur; but to assert that sociologists study complex societies whilst anthropologists study “third-class”, “tribal” societies is downright ludicrous. I highly doubt this is what she truly believes and if she does then god help me I will never go to BU.

First, just because a culture or society is not that of an industrial or post-industrial nation does not mean that it is not complex. Much of the history of anthropology has been centered around discovering and consequently proving exactly that—primitive does not equal simple, nor does non-Western = not complex. Granted Lewis Henry Morgan may have come up with some levels of cultural evolution and used complexity as one of the criteria—but it was one of the criteria, not the criterion.

Secondly to draw the boundary between sociology and anthropology on the crux of studying third-class countries –whatever the hell THAT is—and presumably 1st class countries is ridiculous. To do so would suggest that a large part of anthropology today is in reality sociology, and furthermore that sociology is eclipsing anthropology. Yes, anthropology in a large part was born out of post-colonialism but anthropology is NOT limited to studying only post colonial or isolated “ primitive” cultures, the latter because few of those really exist anymore.

Thirdly, at the beginning of her career Japan was a third class country makes me ask one question: how old is Merry White? Does she have the secret to immortality?

Again the problem rests on the usage of the term “third-class country” an absurd term that I cannot even begin to try and define nor do I wish to try to.

The primary differences between anthropology and sociology are as follows: (1) anthropology tries to be more holistic and thus encompasses its four fields including archaeology and physical/biological anthropology. You usually don’t have a room full of sociologists where some are talking about monkeys, others about GIS, others about pre-ceramic cultures, and others still about oh for the sake of being a bitch: Japan.

Just as importantly, (2) they come from slightly different but related and overlapping intellectual histories. They differ in their specific genealogies of theoretical and intellectual shapers that form the basis of the discipline. That’s it really.

I say po-tah-toe you say po-tay-toe in the end its all just culture.