1. Harris’ Cultural Materialism By Dr. Frank Elwell

2. Cultural Materialism Marvin Harris, a cultural anthropologist, is responsible for the most systematic statement of cultural materialist principles.

3. Cultural Materialism Cultural materialism is a systems theory of society that attempts to account for their: l origin l maintenance l change

4. Assumptions: Cultural Materialism is based on two key assumptions about societies. First, the various parts of society are interrelated. When one part of society changes, other parts must also change.

5. Assumptions An institution, such as the family cannot be looked at in isolation from the economic, political, or religious institutions of a society. When one part changes it has an effect on other parts of the system.

6. Assumptions Viewing society as a system of interrelated parts is at the core of most sociological theory. Difference in most theories is in terms of organizing principles.

7. Assumptions According to C.M., the way a society is organized to meet the needs of its population determines the rest of the system.

8. Assumptions So, the two key assumptions: l Society is a system, and the various parts of the system are interrelated. l The foundation of the sociocultural system is the environment.

9. Biopsychological Needs Mankind is relatively free from biological drives and pre-dispositions. We are born with some reflexes such as grasping and suckling. But rather than relying on instincts, the vast repertoire of human behavior is learned.

10. Biopsychological Needs To say most behavior is learned and not instinctual does not mean that it is not deeply rooted. Food taboos are an example. They are clearly learned. But the violation of many food taboos can cause physiological reactions. (Say, eating slugs.)

11. Biopsychological Needs According to Harris, mankind has four bio- psychological needs: l Eat l Energy l Sex l Love

12. Need to Eat People need to eat and will generally opt for diets that offer more rather than fewer calories and proteins and other nutrients.

13. Need to Conserve Energy People cannot be totally inactive, but when confronted with a given task, they prefer to carry it out by expending less rather than more human energy.

14. Need for Sex People are highly sexed and generally find reinforcing pleasure from sexual intercourse.

15. Need for Love People need love and affection in order to feel secure and happy, and other things being equal, they will act to increase the love and affection others give them.

16. Biopsychological Needs While the needs are universal, the ways in which societies meet these needs as well as the extent to which these needs are met are highly variable.

17. Biopsychological Needs (minor points): l Some societies approve of eating worms, homosexuality, wife sharing, gods, etc. l There are clearly other needs, but parsimony takes precedence. l All needs are shared with other primates.

18. Biopsychological Needs (minor points): l American's have carried eating rich foods to a high art. Now we diet--but it is a discipline. l American's have carried the conservation of energy to a high art as well. Now, we actively look for ways to expend energy, but exercise is a discipline.

19. Biopsychological Needs (minor points): l It is also apparent that people learn proper (and improper) objects of sex. l Without love, human infants fail to thrive and can die. With minimal love we warp.

20. Biopsychological Needs The entire sociocultural system rests on the way society exploits its environment to meet the biopsychological needs of its population.

21. Environment The physical, biological, and chemical constraints to which human action is subject.

22. Environment Like all living organisms, Humans must draw energy from their environment. The environment is limited in terms of the amount of energy and raw material it contains, and the amount of pollution it can tolerate.

23. Environment The need to draw energy out of the environment in order to satisfy the biopsychological needs of its people is the first and central task of any society.

24. Environment Therefore, each society must ultimately exist within the constraints imposed by its environment.

25. Environmental Constraints l Chief among these constraints is the availability of natural resources. A further constraining factor is the amount of pollution created by society. l While mankind can modify these constraints, they cannot be escaped.

26. Universal Structure of Societies All human societies are structured along similar lines. Based on an environment, all can be classified as having: –Infrastructure –Structure –Superstructure

27. Infrastructure The material infrastructure consists of the technology and social practices by which a society fits in to its environment.

28. Infrastructure It is through the infrastructure that society manipulates its environment by modifying the amount and type of resources needed.

29. Infrastructural Components: l Technology (mode of production) l Population (mode of reproduction)

30. Infrastructure The modes of production and reproduction are attempts to strike a balance between population level and the consumption of energy from a finite environment.

31. Mode of Production Consists of behaviors aimed at satisfying requirements for subsistence. l Technology of subsistence l Technological-environmental relationships

32. Modes of Production through History l Hunting and Gathering l Horticulture l Pastoral l Agrarian l Industrial l Hyper-industrial

33. Criteria for Classifying Societies Type Cultivate Metal Plow Iron Fossil Fuel HiTech H&G - - - - - - S. Hort + - - - - - A. Hort + + - - - - S. Ag + + + - - - A. Ag + + + + - - Ind. + + + + + - Hyper+ + + + + +

34. Mode of Reproduction Consisting of behaviors aimed at controlling destructive increases or decreases in population size.

35. MODE OF REPRODUCTION l Demography l Mating patterns l Fertility, natality, mortality l Nurturance of infant l Medicine l Contraception, abortion, infanticide

36. Infrastructure It is upon this environmental-infrastructural foundation that the remaining parts of the social system are based.

37. Intensification A curious phenomenon: over the course of social evolution both population and productivity tend to grow. Increases in production cause population to grow, which then further stimulates productivity.

38. Intensification This was Malthus “principle of population,” which is basically the law of supply and demand applied to the relationships between food production and population growth.

39. Intensification As the food supply increases, food becomes cheaper, and more children are brought into the world. As there are more mouths to feed, food becomes more expensive, thus causing more land to be put under the plow, or greater investment in fertilizer.

40. Intensification While Malthus recognized that the relationships among the fertility of people and land are a good deal more complex than this simplified assertion, there is a recurrent reciprocal relationship between the two.

41. Intensification Because of this reciprocal relationship between population and production, over the course of sociocultural evolution, both population and food production have grown in tandem.

42. Intensification Periods of increase in food productivity, whether it be because of the application of technology or the expansion of cultivated land, have been met with expansions of population.

43. Intensification Periods of stability in food production, or contraction in productivity, has been marked by the same phenomena in population level.

44. Intensification Over the course of sociocultural evolution, however, the long-term tendency has been for both productivity and population to intensify.

45. Intensification This intensification, of course, has great affect on other parts of the sociocultural system.

46. Social Structure Social structure refers to human groups and organizations.

47. Social Structure This component of sociocultural systems consists of the organized patterns of social life carried out among the members of a society.

48. Social Structure l Harris divides the social structure into two parts: –Political Economy –Domestic Economy

49. Political Economy These groups may be large or small, but their members tend to interact without any emotional commitment to one another. They perform many functions, such as regulating production, reproduction, socialization, education and enforcing social discipline.

50. Political Economy Impersonal organizations such as government and industry which regulate productions, exchange and consumption within and between groups and sociocultural systems.

51. Political Economy l Governments, military, police l Corporations, business l Education, media l Service and welfare organizations. l Professional and labor organizations.

52. Domestic Economy Consists of a small number of people who interact on an intimate basis. They perform many functions, such as regulating reproduction, basic production, socialization, education, and enforcing discipline within domestic settings.

53. Domestic Economy Small groups such as the family and friendship networks which regulate productions, exchange and consumption within and between groups.

54. Domestic Economy l Family l Community l Voluntary Organizations l Friendship Networks l Some religious groups

55. Social Structure The political and domestic dichotomy encompasses all human organizations responsible for the allocation and distribution of all bio-psychological need satisfaction.

56. The Elite All societies have elite that have dominant positions in social groups and organizations. But the power of elites varies across societies and through time.

57. The Elite The bio-psychological satisfaction of those on top of the hierarchies weighs more heavily than those below.

58. The Elite Hierarchies based on class, sex, race, caste, age, ethnic, and other statuses exist throughout the structure of society.

59. Superstructure l Consists of two parts: –Behavioral –Mental

60. Behavioral Superstructure The Behavioral superstructure includes recreations activities, art, sports, empirical knowledge, folklore, and other aesthetic products.

61. Behavioral Superstructure l Art, music, dance, literature l rituals l sports, games, hobbies

62. Mental Superstructure The mental superstructure involves the patterned ways in which the members of a society think, conceptualize, and evaluate.

63. Mental Superstructure l Knowledge base l Beliefs, values, norms l Science

64. Principle of Infrastructural Determinism: The mode of production and reproduction (infrastructure) determines political and domestic structure, which in turn determines the behavioral and mental superstructure.

65. Principle of Infrastructural Determinism This principle claims a lot. It is strongly stated, though materialists do recognize the concept of probability. Materialists also recognize the concept of system feedback.

66. System Feedback While the infrastructure is considered to be of primary importance, the structure and superstructure are not mere reflections of infrastructural processes, but are in interaction with the infrastructure.

67. System Feedback Societies are very stable systems. The most likely outcome of any change in the system is resistance in other sectors of society.

68. System Feedback System maintaining negative feedback is capable of deflecting, dampening, or extinguishing most system change.

69. System Feedback The result is either the extinction of the innovation or slight compensatory changes that preserve the fundamental character of the whole system.

70. System Feedback But there are times when change is rapid and fundamental--revolutionary in character.

71. System Feedback In general, sociocultural change that releases more energy from the environment is likely to be swiftly adapted.

72. System Feedback Infrastructural and environmental relationships are central in explaining sociocultural change.

73. System Feedback But Cultural Materialism also recognizes the importance of structures and superstructures in determining the speed, and character of change.

74. Role of Elites It is not the simple calculation of the greatest good for the greatest number of people that accounts for sociocultural change.

75. Role of Elites Many changes are more satisfying to some members of society than to others.

76. Role of Elites Infrastructural change that enhance the position of elite are likely to be amplified and propagated throughout the system.

77. Role of Elites Sociocultural materialism is in agreement with Marx when he states: "The ideas of the ruling class in each epoch are the ruling ideas.”

78. Role of Elites The elite are able to impose direct economic and political sanctions to get their way. Elite also encourage ideas and ideologies favorable to their position.

79. Role of Elites The amount of power and control exercised by elite varies across societies and through time.

80. Elite Interests One of the first tasks of a sociocultural materialist analysis is to attempt to identify the elite, gauge the amount of power that they wield, and uncover their biases and assumptions when analyzing sociocultural systems.

81. Infrastructural Determinism The rationale behind giving the infrastructure such priority rests upon the fact that it is through infrastructural practices that society adapts to its environment.

82. Infrastructural Determinism It is through the infrastructure that society survives. It modifies the amount and type of resources required for life.

83. Infrastructural Determinism Since these infrastructural practices are essential for life itself, all widespread structural and superstructural patterns must be compatible with them.

84. The Materialist Approach: A society’s infrastructure is the primary cause of stability and change in its structure, and the structure, in turn, is the primary cause of stability and change in its superstructure.

85. Materialist Approach Through the principle of infrastructural determinism, cultural materialism provides a logical set of research priorities for the study of sociocultural life.

86. Why the Infrastructure? Empirical testing has been fairly successful. Since obtaining resources from the environment is critical to life itself, it must be the first and central task of any society.

87. Why the Infrastructure? The impact of our vast numbers and powerful technology have also made it increasingly obvious that infrastructural factors play a key role in sociocultural change.

88. Intensification Today World population and industrial technology, both infrastructural factors, are growing at an exponential rate. It is a sociocultural system. You can't do one thing.

89. Intensification Today This tremendous exponential growth (or intensification) has caused tremendous change in human organization, beliefs and values.