Materialism

Question 1

What three principles is Materialism, as an approach to understanding cultural systems defined by? defined by

Answer 1

cultural materialism, cultural evolution, and cultural ecology.

Question 2

What are the three levels within culture?

Answer 2

Technological, Sociological, and Ideological. Materialists believe the technological molds and shapes the other two.

Question 3

Simple definition for Materialism

Answer 3

idea that technological and economic factors play the primary role in molding a society

Question 4

Who was the first to apply materialistic ideas to the evolution of society in an anthropological manner?

Answer 4

Karl Marx

Question 5

Type of Materialism used by Karl Marx.

Answer 5

Dialectic Materialism

Question 6

What is Dialectic about Marx’s theories?

Answer 6

The dialectic element of Marx’s approach is in the feedback or interplay between the infrastructure (i.e., resources, economics), the structure (i.e., politcal makeup, kinship), and the superstructure (i.e., religion, ideology).

Question 7

What is Materialistic about Marx’s theories?

Answer 7

The materialistic aspect or element of Marx’s approach is in the emphasis placed on the infrastructure as a primary determinate of the other levels (i.e., the structure and the superstructure). In other words, explanations for culture change and cultural diversity are to be found in this primary level (i.e., the infrastructure).

Question 8

Marvin Harris?

Answer 8

Marvin Harris, utilizing and modifying Marx’s dialectical materialism, developed the concept of cultural materialism.

Question 9

Discuss Cultural Materialism

Answer 9

Harris states that “the etic behavioral modes of production and reproduction probabilistically determine the etic behavioral domestic and political economy, which in turn probabilistically determine the behavioral and mental emic superstructures”. Marvin Harris. Adapted from Marx’s Dialectic Materialism. Infrastucture determines structure which in turn determines superstructure.

Question 10

Cultural evolution, in a Marxian sense, is the idea that…

Answer 10

“cultural changes occur through the accumulation of small, quantitative increments that lead, once a certain point is reached, to a qualitative transformation”

Question 11

is usually given credit for developing and refining the concept of general cultural evolution and was heavily influenced by Marxian economic theory as well as Darwinian evolutionary theory.

Answer 11

Leslie White

Question 12

Leslie White places what at the center of cultural evolution?

Answer 12

The amount of energy harnessed per capita.

Question 13

Discuss Cultural Ecology

Answer 13

Introduced by Julian Steward. holds that the environment is an additional, contributing factor in the shaping of cultures.

Question 14

How is Materialism related to idealism in anthropology?

Answer 14

Materialism, in anthropology, is methodologically and theoretically opposed to Idealism. Included in the latter are culture and personality or psychological anthropology, structuralism, ethnoscience, and symbolic anthropology. The many advocates of this idealistic approach “share an interest in psychological phenomena, and they tend to view culture in mental and symbolic terms” (Langness 1974:84). “Materialists, on the other hand, tend to define culture strictly in terms of overt, observable behavior patterns, and they share the belief that technoenvironmental factors are primary and causal” (Langness 1974:84). The contemporaneous development of these two major points of view allowed for scholarly debate on which approach was the most appropriate in the study of culture.

Question 15

How are the leading thinkers of Materialistic anthropology?

Answer 15

•Karl Marx (1818-1883) •Frederick Engels (1820-1895) •Leslie White (1900-1975) •Julian Steward (1902-1972) •Marvin Harris (1927-2001)

Question 16

Mode of Production

Answer 16

“a specific, historically constituted combination of resources, technology, and social and economic relationships, creating use or exchange value”

Question 17

“a specific, historically constituted combination of resources, technology, and social and economic relationships, creating use or exchange value”

Answer 17

Mode of Production

Question 18

Law of Cultural Development

Answer 18

culture advances as the amount of energy harnessed per captia per year increases, or as the efficiency or economy of the means of controlling enery is increased, or both”

Question 19

culture advances as the amount of energy harnessed per captia per year increases, or as the efficiency or economy of the means of controlling enery is increased, or both”

Answer 19

Law of Cultural Developement

Question 20

Term given by Leslie White to the study and interpretation of culture.

Answer 20

Culturology

Question 21

Leslie White believed that the primary focus of study in anthropology should be…

Answer 21

Culture and not society.

Question 22

General Cultural Evolution

Answer 22

the successive emergence of new levels of all-round development

Question 23

the successive emergence of new levels of all-round development

Answer 23

General Cultural Evolution

Question 24

Specific Cultural Evolution

Answer 24

the historical sequence of particular cultures and their lines of development. Unlike general cultural evolution, specific evolution is based on the efficiency of energy capture with respect to specific cultures. That is to say, a particular culture in a given envirnoment maybe less complex, both technologically and socially, in the general evolutionary scheme; however, this particular culture may, at the same time, be the best adapted (i.e., most efficient at harnessing energy) to their environment.

Question 25

Law of Cultural Growth

Answer 25

culture develops as the efficiency or economy of the means of controlling energy increases, other factors remaining constant

Question 26

culture develops as the efficiency or economy of the means of controlling energy increases, other factors remaining constant

Answer 26

Law of Cultural Growth

Question 27

Culture Core

Answer 27

the constellation of features which are most closely related to subsistence activities and economic arrangements” (Winthrop 1991:47). This concept was developed by Juliand Steward in his 1955 publication “Theory of Culture Change.”

Question 28

the constellation of features which are most closely related to subsistence activities and economic arrangements” (Winthrop 1991:47). This concept was developed by Juliand Steward in his 1955 publication “Theory of Culture Change.”

Answer 28

Culture Core

Question 29

INFRASTRUCTURE

Answer 29

1. Mode of Production: the technology and the practices employed for expanding or limiting basic subsistence production, especially the production of food and other forms of energy. 2. Mode of reproduction: the technology and the practices employed for expanding, limiting and maintaining population size.

Question 30

STRUCTURE

Answer 30

1. 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 domestic discipline. 2. 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, and education, and enforcing social discipline.

Question 31

SUPERSTRUCTURE

Answer 31

Values, emotions, traditions, rituals et cetera. Divided into behavioural and mental superstructures

Question 32

Behavioural Superstructure

Answer 32

Literature, arts, dance, ritual, sports, advertising.

Question 33

Mental Superstructure

Answer 33

Values, emotions, traditions, religions.

Question 34

What are the three aspects to the methodology of cultural ecology?

Answer 34

The method of Cultural Ecology “has three aspects: (1)the analysis of the methods of production in the environment must be analyzed, and (2)the pattern of human behavior that is part of these methods must be analyzed in order to (3) understand the relationship of production techniques to the other elements of the culture”

Question 35

What two economic thinkers can Materialism be traced back to?

Answer 35

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels.

Question 36

Etic

Answer 36

This term denotes an approach to anthropological inquiry where the observer does not emphasize or use native rules or categories but instead uses “alien” empirical categories and rules derived from the strict use of the scientific method. Quantifiable measurements such as fertility rates, kilograms of wheat per household, and average rainfall are used to understand cultural circumstances, regardless of what these measurements may mean to the individuals within the population (Harris 1979:32). An example of this approach can be found in Paynter and Cole’s work on tribal political economy (Paynter and Cole 1980). Cultural materialism focuses on the etics of thought and the etics of behavior of a native population to explain culture change.

Question 37

Emic

Answer 37

This term denotes an approach to anthropological inquiry where the observer attempts to “get inside the heads” of the natives and learn the rules and categories of a culture in order to be able to think and act as if they were a member of the population (Harris 1979: 32). For example, an emic approach might attempt to understand native Faeroe islanders’ highly descriptive system for naming geographic locations. Cultural materialism focuses on how the emics of thought and the behavior of a native population are the results of etic processes (i.e., observable phenomena).