Cultural materialism (anthropology) Cultural Materialism is an anthropological research orientation. "It is based on the simple premise that human social life is a response to the practical problems of earthly existence" (Marvin Harris).[1]
It was influenced by the writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, yet is a materialism distinct from Marxist dialectical materialism, as well as from philosophical materialism. Thomas Malthus' work encouraged Harris to consider reproduction of equal importance to production. The research strategy was also influenced by the work of earlier anthropologists including Herbert Spencer, Edward Tylor and Lewis Henry Morgan who, in the 19th century, first proposed that cultures evolved from the less complex to the more complex over time. Leslie White and Julian Steward and their theories of cultural evolution and cultural ecology were instrumental in the reemergence of evolutionist theories of culture in the 20th century and Harris took inspiration from them in formulating cultural materialism. It was in 1968 with Harris' The Rise of Anthropological Theory, a wide-ranging critique of Western thinking about culture, that he first proposed the name. Contents [hide] 1 Epistemological principles 2 Theoretical principles 2.1 Disagreement with Marxism 3 Research 4 See also 5 References 6 External links [edit] Epistemological principles Cultural materialism is a scientific research strategy and as such utilizes the scientific method. Other important principles include operational definitions, Karl Popper's falsifiability, Thomas Kuhn's paradigms, and the positivism first proposed by Auguste Comte and popularized by the Vienna Circle. The primary question that arises in applying the techniques of science to understand the differences and similarities between cultures is how the research strategy "treats the relationship between what people say and think as subjects and what they say and think and do as objects of scientific inquiry" (Harris 1979:29). In response to this cultural materialism makes a distinction between behavioral events and ideas, values, and other mental events. It also makes the distinction between emic and etic operations. Emic operations, within cultural materialism, are ones in which the descriptions and analyses are acceptable by the native as real, meaningful, and appropriate. Etic operations are ones in which the categories and concepts used are those of the observer and are able to generate scientific theories. The research strategy prioritizes etic behavior phenomena. [edit] Theoretical principles Etic and behavioral Infrastructure, comprising a society's relations to the environment, which includes their etic and behavioral modes of production and reproduction (material relations). Etic and behavioral Structure, the etic and behavioral domestic and political economies of a society (social relations). Etic and behavioral Superstructure, the etic and behavioral symbolic and ideational aspects of a society, e.g. the arts, rituals, sports and games, and science (symbolic and ideational relations). Emic and mental Superstructure, including "conscious and unconscious cognitive goals, categories, rules, plans, values, philosophies, and beliefs" (Harris 1979:54) (meaningful or ideological relations). Within this division of culture, cultural materialism argues for what is referred to as the principle of probabilistic infrastructural determinism. The essence of its materialist approach is that the infrastructure is in almost all circumstances the most significant force behind the evolution of a culture. Structure and superstructure are not considered "insignificant, epiphenomenal reflexes of infrastructural forces" (Harris 1979:72). The structure and symbolic/ideational aspects act as regulating mechanisms within the system as a whole. The research strategy predicts that it is more likely that in the long term infrastructure probabilistically determines structure, which probabilistically determines the superstructures, than otherwise. Thus, much as in earlier Marxist thought, material changes (such as in technology or environment) are seen as largely determining patterns of social organization and ideology in turn. [edit] Disagreement with Marxism In spite of the debt owed to the economic theories of Marx and Engels, cultural materialism rejects the Marxist dialectic which in turn was based on the theories of the philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel. [edit] Research During the 1980s, Marvin Harris had a productive interchange with behavioral psychologists, most notably Sigrid Glenn, regarding interdisciplinary work. Very recently, behavioral psychologists have produced a set of basic exploratory experiments in an effort toward this end ([2]). [edit] See also Maxine Margolis Jerald T. Milanich [edit] References ^ Harris (1979, xv). ^ Ward, Eastman, & Ninness (2009) Harris, Marvin. 2001 [1968]. The Rise of Anthropological Theory: A History of Theories of Culture. Updated Edition. Walnut Creek: Altamira. Harris, Marvin. 2001 [1979]. Cultural Materialism: The Struggle for a Science of Culture. Updated Edition. Walnut Creek: Altamira. Moore, Jerry D. 2004. "Marvin Harris: Cultural Materialism." Visions of Culture: An Introduction to Anthropological Theories and Theorists. Lanham: Altamira. 203-215. Ward, T.A., Eastman, R., & Ninness, C. (2009). An Experimental Analysis of Cultural Materialism: The Effects of Various Modes of Production on Resource Sharing. Behavior and Social Issues, 18, 1-23. [Note: the following will link to the article][1] [edit] External links Cultural-Materialism.org — A site devoted to cultural materialism Homeapge of Robert L. Carneiro Homepage of Frank Elwell Homepage of Khaled Hakami Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cultural_materialism_(anthropology)" Categories: Anthropology | Ecology | Theories of history | Materialism ViewsArticle Discussion Edit this page History Personal toolsTry Beta Log in / create account Navigation Main page Contents Featured content Current events Random article Search Interaction About Wikipedia Community portal Recent changes Contact Wikipedia Donate to Wikipedia Help Toolbox What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Printable version Permanent link Cite this page Languages Deutsch Español Galego Hrvatski Italiano Polski This page was last modified on 15 March 2010 at 07:27. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. See Terms of Use for details. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. 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