Cultural Anthropology Theories, Perspectives, and Methodologies

What is Anthropology? Scientific study of the origin, behavior, and the physical, social and cultural development of humans Study of humankind and the dynamic interrelationships of all aspects of human existence Separated into 4 disciplines that are interconnected: Archaeological Biological/physical Linguistic Sociocultural

Cultural Anthropology Study past and present cultures Ask questions such as: Why is there social and political inequality? How does language affect and express culture? 3 different fields of Cultural Anthropology Ethnology Linguistic Archaeology

Schools of Thought/Theories Cultural anthropologists develop theories to better understand the cultures they are studying and to help make sense of the data they are gathering. Some of the Perspectives and Theories we will be covering: Social evolutionism Historicism Cultural Relativism Functionalism Structuralism Cultural Materialism Feminist theory Social exchange theory and social learning theory Conflict theory or Marxism Post Modernism

Social Evolutionism

Social Evolutionism Also called “Unilineal evolution” or “Cultural Evolution” Idea that cultures evolve in a progressive manner, from simple to complex By the mid 1850s, Europe had explored, conquered and colonized many parts of the globe, encountering a variation of cultures with different lifestyles Colonization led to the unveiling of an array of different lifestyles than Europeans Early social theories are an attempt to explain those differences and in some cases, justify discrimination, colonization & slavery First systematic ethnological theory (Long and Chokov)

Edward B. Tylor (1832-1917)

Social Evolutionism Edward B. Tylor Disagreed with many early 19th century writers that saw indigenous people as examples of cultural degeneration. He believed that people in different locations were equally capable of developing and progressing through stages – People could only move forward, not backwards. Primitive groups “reached their position by learning and not by unlearning.” (Tylor 2006) Agreed with Montesquieu that development had three stages: Savagery Barbarism Civilization (Long and Chokov)

Social Evolutionism Edward B. Tylor Tylor and other early evolutionists determined that different societies at different stages of evolution “Simpler” people hadn’t reached “higher stage” of culture Simpler societies resembled ancient societies In advanced societies, one could see proof of cultural evolution through “Survivals” – traces of earlier customs that survive in present day cultures (e.g. making of pottery – back then, made out of clay; today, make out of metal because more durable but still prefer dishes made out of clay) (Long and Chokov)

Lewis Henry Morgan (1818-1881)

Social Evolutionism Lewis Henry Morgan Called the Iroquois “noble savages” – a lawyer who defended their reserves in a land-grant case Ancient Society Divided evolution of human culture into same three stages but subdivided savagery and barbarism into further categories: upper, middle, and lower Each stage was distinguished by technological development and had a correlate in patterns of subsistence, marriage, family and political organization. (Long and Chokov)

Social Evolutionism Lewis Henry Morgan Distinguished stages of development in terms of technological achievement, and each had its own symbol Savagery Middle savagery: fish diet and discovery of fire Upper savagery: bow and arrow Barbarism Lower barbarism: pottery Middle barbarism: animal domestication and irrigated agriculture Upper barbarism: manufacture of iron Civilization – alphabet (Long and Chokov)

Social Evolutionism Lewis Henry Morgan Speculated that each stage associated with sequence of different cultural patterns Ex. Family evolved through six stages Established kinship and marriage as central areas of anthropological inquiry Believed that family units became smaller and more self-contained as society developed 1: Began as a “horde living in promiscuity” with no sexual prohibitions and no real family structure 2: group of brothers married to group of sisters (was permitted) 3: group marriage practiced but family not allowed to mate 4: evolved during barbarianism; loosely paired male and female who lived with other people 5: husband dominant family arose which husband could practice polygamy 6: Civilization: monogamous family (Long and Chokov)

Philosophy Behind Social Evolutionism Psychic unity: Unity among all peoples that explained parallel evolutionary sequences in different cultural traditions. People have similar mental frameworks that allow them to find the same solutions to the same problems independently Simple Diffusion: cultural traits spread from one society to another Occurs because of contact between two cultures Superiority of Western Cultures: rooted in European colonialism and based on fact that Western societies were more technologically superior and sophisticated; belief that Christianity was the true religion (Long and Chokov)

Social Evolutionism Criticism Contemporary anthropologists believe that too simplistic to explain development of societies Relied on racist views of human development that were popular E.g. Morgan and Tylor believed that people had different level of intelligence (of different races and nationalities) which led to societal differences (Long and Chokov)

Works Cited Long, Heather and Chokov, Kelly. “Social Evolutionism.” Alabama University Department of Anthropology, 2009. Accessed on Oct. 22, 2018. http://anthropology.ua.edu/cultures/cultures.php?culture=Social%20Evolutionism