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Chapter 4 The Growth of Anthropological Theory What We Will Learn Who have been the important theorists in cultural anthropology since the midnineteenth century? What theories have anthropologists used to explain cultural differences and similarities among the peoples of the world? How can anthropological data be used to make large-scale comparisons among cultures? 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. 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. Morgan’s Evolutionary Stages 1. Lower savagery: From the earliest forms of humanity subsisting on fruits and nuts. 2. Middle savagery: Began with the discovery of fishing technology and the use of fire. 3. Upper savagery: Began with the invention of the bow and arrow. Morgan’s Evolutionary Stages 4. Lower barbarism: Began with the art of pottery making. 5. Middle barbarism: Began with domestication of plants and animals in the Old World and irrigation cultivation in the New World. Morgan’s Evolutionary Stages 6. Upper barbarism: Began with the smelting of iron and use of iron tools. 7. Civilization: Began with the invention of the phonetic alphabet and writing. Anthropological Theories and Their Proponents School Major Assumption Advocates Evolutionism All societies pass through a series of stages. Tylor, Morgan Diffusionism All societies change as a result of cultural borrowing, Graebner, Smith Anthropological Theories and Their Proponents School Major Assumption Advocates Functionalism Understand how cultures work for wellbeing of the individual. Malinowski Structural functionalism Determine how cultural elements function for the wellbeing of the society. Radcliffe-Brown Anthropological Theories and Their Proponents School Psychological anthropology Neoevolutionism Major Assumption Show the relationship among psychological and cultural variables. Cultures evolve in proportion to their capacity to harness energy. Advocates Benedict, Mead White, Steward Anthropological Theories and Their Proponents School Major Assumption French structuralism Human cultures are shaped by preprogrammed codes of the human mind. Ethnoscience Cultures must be described in terms of native categories. Advocates Lévi-Strauss Sturtevant, Goodenough Anthropological Theories and Their Proponents School Major Assumption Advocates Harris Cultural materialism Material conditions determine human consciousness and behavior. Postmodernism Human behavior comes from how people perceive and classify their world. Geertz Diffusionism in Brief Societies change as a result of cultural borrowing from one another. A deductive approach is used by applying general theories to explain specific cases. Overemphasized the essentially valid idea of diffusion. 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. 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. 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. 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. Psychological Anthropologists Benedict and Mead Interested in exploring 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. 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. Because technological and environmental factors shape culture, individual factors are deemphasized. Lévi-Strauss Mental structures preprogrammed in the human mind are responsible for culture and social behavior. The human mind thinks in opposites. People classify the units of their culture and relate them to the world around them. French Structuralism in Brief Human cultures are shaped by preprogrammed codes of the human mind. Focus on underlying principles that generate behavior. Emphasizes repetitive structures rather than sociocultural change. Assumes the human mind categorizes phenomena in terms of binary oppositions. Ethnoscience in Brief Attempts to make ethnographic description more accurate and replicable. Describes a culture using the categories of the people under study rather than categories from the ethnographer’s culture. Because it is time-consuming, has been used to describing very small segments of a culture. 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 capable of generating causal explanations. Deemphasizes the role of ideas and values in determining the conditions of social life. 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 along with those of the people under analysis. Involves a return to cultural relativism. Quick Quiz 1. A ________ is a statement that suggests a relationship among phenomena. a) fact b) theory c) hypothesis d) position Answer: b A theory is a statement that suggests a relationship among phenomena. 2. The premise that all societies pass through a series of distinct stages is known as: a) cultural evolutionism. b) cultural determinism. c) kulturkreis. d) structural functionalism. Answer: a The premise that all societies pass through a series of distinct stages is known as cultural evolutionism. 3. 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. a) cultural materialism b) structural functionalism c) diffusionism d) evolutionism 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. 4. Claude Levi-Strauss' ________ concentrates on identifying the mental structures that undergird social behavior. a) American historicism b) French structuralism c) structural functionalism d) economic determinism Answer: b Claude Levi-Strauss' French structuralism concentrates on identifying the mental structures that undergird social behavior. 5. Structural functionalism places emphasis on the social functions rather than the individual functions of culture. a) True b) False Answer: True Structural functionalism places emphasis on the social functions rather than the individual functions of culture.