I argue that in colonial anthropology, societies that we're seen as different than those in Europ were often regarded as inferior because Anthropologists were not used to the society's living norms and it then created othering and Eurocentrisim. Colonial anthropology is the Study of societies who were seen as primitive and inferior by the colonial administration and this also enabled Eurocentrism ,which is the view that Europeans are superior than any other beings. Othering is when a group of people are treated and referred to as though they are inferior and not part of the mainstream human race/society. I got my understanding of these concepts from Edward Said(1978) and Horace Miner(1956). To substantiate my argument I will outline the concept of othering and link it to colonial anthropology. 

Othering is a practice where non-Europeans are seen as inferior and it can be said that comes from Eurocentrism ,where Europeans saw themselves as superior and the origin of civilization. I saw othering at occur at my high school where leadership roles were mostly given to my white classmates and my black classmates were almost never considered as they were assumed to possess any leadership traits and seen that my white classmates had to lead making black people seem inferior to the white classmates. Through this experience I saw Eurocentrism because my white classmates were seen to be better than others and I also saw othering when black people were only considered for less important roles. This was observed in anthropology, where Anthropologists potrayed their non-European studied subjects seem inferior. 

In this essay I showed how othering, the inferiorisation of non-Europeans, was brought about by Eurocentrism. I backed up my understanding of othering by using my own personal experience and using it to explain how it functioned during colonial anthropology. 

Reference list

Said,E.W. 1978. Orientalism 9-57

Miner, H. 1956. Body of Ritual among the Nacriema 503-507