Obwohl Adolf Bastian der Begründer der Ethnologie in Deutschland ist, war er lange Zeit in Vergessenheit geraten. Im Zuge eines verstärkten Interesses an der Wissenschaftsgeschichte des 19. Jahrhunderts und den Anfängen der Disziplin sind in den letzten Jahren mehrere Betrachtungen zum Bastian’schen Werk entstanden. Bastian definierte die Ethnologie erstmals als eine Wissenschaft, die kulturelle Zeugnisse unabhängig von der physischen Anthropologie betrachtet. Er suchte nach Erklärungsmodellen für Gemeinsamkeiten und Unterschiede der Kulturen, welche die übliche Unterscheidung zwischen 'primitiv' und 'zivilisiert' ad absurdum führte. Die Gesellschaft als Organismus verstehend wandte Bastian naturwissenschaftliche Modelle an, um die 'Gesetze [ihrer] organischen Entwicklung' zu erkennen.
Although Adolf Bastian was the founder of ethnology in Germany, he was for many years a forgotten figure. As a result of growing interest in the history of 19thcentury scholarship and in the origins of the discipline, several studies of Bastian’s work have appeared in recent years. For example, Bastian was the first to define ethnology as a science which studies cultural evidence as distinct from physical anthropology. He sought models for the explanation of similarities and differences between cultures which reduced the familiar differentiation between 'primitive” and 'civilised” ad absurdum. Understanding society as an organism, Bastian used models from nature to enable recognition of the 'laws of [its] organic development”.
Although Adolf Bastian was the founder of ethnology in Germany, he was for many years a forgotten figure. As a result of growing interest in the history of 19thcentury scholarship and in the origins of the discipline, several studies of Bastian’s work have appeared in recent years. For example, Bastian was the first to define ethnology as a science which studies cultural evidence as distinct from physical anthropology. He sought models for the explanation of similarities and differences between cultures which reduced the familiar differentiation between 'primitive” and 'civilised” ad absurdum. Understanding society as an organism, Bastian used models from nature to enable recognition of the 'laws of [its] organic development”.