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The Growth of Anthropological Theory
Chapter 4 The Growth of Anthropological Theory © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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What We Will Learn What is a theory, and how can it be useful?
Who have been the important theorists in cultural anthropology since the mid-19th century? What theories have anthropologists used to explain cultural differences and similarities among the peoples of the world? How can anthropological theory be used to help solve societal problems? © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Anthropological Theories
A theory is a statement that suggests a relationship among phenomena. Theories enable us to reduce reality to an abstract set of principles. Anthropological principles help us make sense of ethnographic information from different parts of the world. Theories can generate hypotheses to be tested in an empirical research investigation. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Question A ________ is a statement that suggests a relationship among phenomena. fact theory hypothesis position © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Answer: b A theory is a statement that suggests a relationship among phenomena. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Evolutionism Represented by Edward Tylor and Lewis Henry Morgan
19th-century school of cultural anthropology Attempted to explain variations in world cultures by the single deductive theory that they all pass through a series of evolutionary stages © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Evolutionism in Brief All cultures pass through the same developmental stages in the same order. Evolution is unidirectional and leads to higher levels of culture. A deductive approach is used to apply general theories to specific cases. Ethnocentric because evolutionists put their own societies at the top © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Lewis Henry Morgan Lewis Henry Morgan, a 19th-century evolutionist, held that all societies pass through certain distinctive evolutionary stages. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Savagery The first of three basic stages of cultural evolution in the theory of Lewis Henry Morgan Based on hunting and gathering © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Barbarism The middle of three basic stages of a 19th-century theory developed by Lewis Henry Morgan holding that all cultures evolve from simple to complex systems: savagery, barbarism, and civilization. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Civilization The last of the stages in the theory of Lewis Henry Morgan Today, this is a term used by anthropologists to describe any society that has cities. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Morgan’s Evolutionary Stages
Lower savagery: From the earliest forms of humanity subsisting on fruits and nuts. Middle savagery: Began with the discovery of fishing technology and the use of fire. Upper savagery: Began with the invention of the bow and arrow. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Morgan’s Evolutionary Stages
Lower barbarism: Began with the art of pottery making. Middle barbarism: Began with domestication of plants and animals in the Old World and irrigation cultivation in the New World. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Morgan’s Evolutionary Stages
Upper barbarism: Began with the smelting of iron and use of iron tools. Civilization: Began with the invention of the phonetic alphabet and writing. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Diffusion A theory that stated that certain cultural features were invented originally in one or several parts of the world and then spread to other cultures. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Diffusionism in Brief Societies change as a result of cultures borrowing from one another. A deductive approach is used by applying general theories to explain specific cases. Overemphasized the essentially valid idea of diffusion © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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American Historicism Headed by Franz Boas
Prominent in the first part of the 20th century Insisted on the collection of ethnographic data (through direct fieldwork) prior to making cross-cultural generalizations © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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American Historicism in Brief
Ethnographic facts must precede development of cultural theories (induction). Any culture is partially composed of traits diffused from other cultures. Direct fieldwork is essential. Each culture is, to some degree, unique. Ethnographers should try to get the view of those being studied, not their own view. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Franz Boas Franz Boas, the teacher of the first generation of cultural anthropologists in the United States, put the discipline on a firm empirical basis. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Functionalism A theory of social stratification holding that social stratification exists because it contributes to the overall well-being of a society © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Functionalism in Brief
Through fieldwork, anthropologists can understand how cultures work for the individual and the society. Society is like a biological organism with many interconnected parts. Empirical fieldwork is essential. The structure of any society contains indispensable functions without which the society could not continue. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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British Functionalists
Malinowski and Radcliffe-Brown were strong advocates of fieldwork. Concentrated on how contemporary cultures meet the needs of individuals and perpetuate the society All parts of a culture are interconnected, so a change in one part of the culture is likely to bring about change in other parts. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Bronislaw Malinowski During one of the longest uninterrupted fieldwork experiences on record, Bronislaw Malinowski not only set the standard for conducting fieldwork but also developed an important new way of looking at cultures known as functionalism. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Psychological Anthropology
A subdiscipline of anthropology Looks at the relationships among cultures and such psychological phenomena as personality, cognition, and emotions © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Psychological Anthropology in Brief
Anthropologists need to explore the relationships between psychological and cultural variables. Personality is largely the result of cultural learning. Universal temperaments associated with males and females do not exist. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Psychological Anthropologists Benedict and Mead
Interested in exploring the relationship between culture and the individual Benedict described whole cultures in terms of individual personality characteristics. Mead’s early research brought her to Samoa to study emotional problems associated with adolescence. Later, she studied male and female gender roles in New Guinea. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Neoevolutionism Represented by Leslie White and Julian Steward
20th-century school of cultural anthropology Attempted to refine the earlier theories of Tylor and Morgan © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Neoevolutionism in Brief
Cultures evolve in proportion to their capacity to harness energy. Culture is shaped by environmental conditions. Human populations continuously adapt to techno-environmental conditions. Individual (personality) factors are de-emphasized. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Question Holding that humans are basically uninventive, _____________ is a theory that claims certain cultural features were invented in one or several parts of the world, and then spread to other cultures. cultural materialism structural functionalism diffusionism evolutionism © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Answer: c Holding that humans are basically uninventive, diffusionism is a theory that claims certain cultural features were invented in one or several parts of the world, and then spread to other cultures. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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French Structuralism A theoretical orientation, based on binary oppositions, that holds that cultures are the product of unconscious processes of the human mind © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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French Structuralism in Brief
Human cultures are shaped by certain preprogrammed codes of the human mind. Theory focuses on the underlying principles that generate behavior rather than the observable empirical behavior. Theory emphasizes repetitive structures rather than sociocultural change. It is assumed that the human mind categorizes phenomena in terms of binary oppositions. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Ethnoscience Popular in the 1950s and 1960s
Tries to understand a culture from the point of view of the people being studied © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Ethnoscience in Brief Attempts to make ethnographic description more accurate and replicable Describes a culture by using the categories of the people under study Has been confined to describing very small segments of a culture It is difficult to compare data collected by ethnoscientists. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Feminist Anthropology
A theoretical approach that seeks to describe and explain cultural life from the perspective of women © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Feminist Anthropology in Brief
All aspects of culture have a gender dimension that must be considered in any balanced ethnographic account. Represents a long-overdue corrective to male bias in ethnographies Feminist anthropologists are more subjective and collaborative than objective and scientific. Does not embrace a value-free orientation © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Materialism A contemporary orientation in anthropology
Holds that cultural systems are most influenced by such material things as natural resources and technology © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Cultural Materialism in Brief
Material conditions determine human thoughts and behavior. Theorists assume the viewpoint of the anthropologist, not the native informant. Anthropology is seen as scientific, empirical, and capable of generating causal explanations. De-emphasizes the role of ideas and values in determining the conditions of social life © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Humanistic Anthropology
This approach occurred early in the history of the discipline, but by the 1970s and ’80s a group of scholars came together and identified themselves as interpretive anthropologists. Later, this would develop into postmodernism. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Interpretive Anthropology
A contemporary theoretical orientation holding that the critical aspects of cultural systems are subjective factors such as values, ideas, and worldviews. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Interpretive Anthropology in Brief
Takes a more descriptive approach by examining how the people themselves interpret their own values and behaviors Uses thick description to describe a culture they observe Often, the anthropologist is not present in the written account of the research process. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Postmodernism A school of anthropology that advocates the switch from cultural generalization and laws to description, interpretation, and the search for meaning © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Postmodernism in Brief
Calls on anthropologists to switch from cultural generalization and laws to description, interpretation, and the search for meaning Ethnographies should be written from several voices — that of the anthropologist and those of the people under analysis. Involves a distinct return to cultural relativism © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Question Claude Levi-Strauss' _______________ concentrates on identifying the mental structures that undergird social behavior. American historicism French structuralism structural functionalism economic determinism © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Answer: b Claude Levi-Strauss' French structuralism concentrates on identifying the mental structures that undergird social behavior. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Political Economy This theory examines the abstract issues of conflict, ideology, and power. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Political Economy in Brief
Examines the abstract issues of conflict, ideology, and power As an ethnographic approach, it tends to be descriptive. As an applied approach, it focuses on making a difference for marginalized or disenfranchised people. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Political Ecology Examines how unequal relations in and among societies affect the use of the natural environment and its resources, especially in the context of wide-ranging ecological settings, and subsequent economic policy and regulatory actions. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Political Ecology in Brief
Study of power relations among groups and how they are linked to the bio-physical environment at the local, state, national, and international levels A multiscalar approach Sees environmental degradation as a cause and effect of social marginalization Used to examine how unequal relations in and among societies affect the use of the natural environment and its resources and results in the marginalization of those with less access. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Praxis Integrating theory with practice
It serves as a means to produce new knowledge. © Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Anthropological Theories and Their Proponents
© Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Anthropological Theories and Their Proponents
© Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Anthropological Theories and Their Proponents
© Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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Anthropological Theories and Their Proponents
© Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.
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