Anthropology Research Paper - The Amish Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Anthropology - The Amish - Research Paper ExampleIntroduction The Amish movement which originated in europium was initiated by a reform group in order to reestablish the conventional practices as followed by the Mennonites. The Amish fellowship migrated to the United States during the early eighteenth century and have settled in confused parts crosswise the country, ever since, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and New York. The Amish confederacy has historically strived to uphold the values and culture of seventeenth century Europe by restraining from accepting and adopting any aspect of contemporary life offered by humorrn society, thus starring(p) to their social isolation from the present day popular/ mainstream culture/ society. There are however various subgroups formed among the Amish community such as the Old Order, New Order and Andy Weaver Amish groups, who believe in and follow different ideologies and have accepted different degrees of moder nity in their everyday lives (Kraybill and Stephen, 2004). Primary mode of subsistence The Amish community has historically been closely associated with the soil and activities associated with the same. The Amish people have been and are agriculturists and have functioned as evokeers on their family owned farms during the early 1960s (Lowry, 1997). In fact most of the Amish people still continue to work on farms and are predominantly viewed as boorish by occupation. However with the rapidly changing extraneous environment, there has been a simultaneous and corresponding impact and change in the patterns of Amish occupations, which have at present shifted from farm based to non-farm based activities in novel times. Furthermore the rising land prices as a topic of rapid urbanization have also pushed the Amish community to look for other(a) sources of occupation (Pandit and Withers 1999 Bingham and Eberts, 1990 Ayres, 1998). earth as well as other farm based occupations such as livestock lift and /or animal husbandry still has retained precedence over other occupations within the Amish community although statistics suggest that hardly ten percent of the Amish population is now actively involved in cultivation and agricultural activities during the last century. The Amish farmers have increasingly included and integrated non-farm based activities with their primary occupations. In recent decades various Amish communities have started actively participating in small business activities as their occupation with employees little than ten. Most of these businesses are associated with wood production for household use, building barns and gazebos etc., while others have opened bakeries and pacifier shops as well, thus engaging in profitable business ventures. Furthermore several Amish groups are now also involved in construction businesses while others have started working in factories in and nearly small towns (Kraybill and Nolt, 2004). Impact of primary m ode of subsistence on the Amish culture As discussed previously, the Amish community is primarily an agricultural based community, where a majority of Amish men are still involved in state and other farm based activities. It is on account of this reason that their lifestyles are fundamentally based around farming and agricultural activities. However with the rapid pace of change in the external environment brought about by urbanization has forced the Amish men to take up