CHAPTER

GROWTH
ANTHROPOLOGY
THEORY
CHAPTER 4
OBJECTIVES:
To define what is theory and how can it be useful.
To name the important theorists in cultural anthropology
since the mid19th century.
To determine the theories have anthropologists used to
explain cultural differences and similarities among people
of the world.
To apply anthropological theories in solving societal
problems.
WHAT IS THEORY
WHAT IS THEORY
A theory is a statement that suggests a relationship
among phenomena. Theories enable us to explain or
postulate that certain behaviors occur as a result of a
certain set of similar circumstances in different cultures.
A good theory is one that can both explain and predict. In
other words, theories provide models for what we learn
and know about cultures and enable us to bring some
measure of order to a vastly complex world.
 EVOLUTIONISM
§ Evolutionism suggests that all cultures pass through the
same developmental stages in the same order, and that
evolution is unidirectional and leads to higher (better)
levels of culture. Tylor and Morgan both placed Euro-
American cultures at the top of the evolutionary ladder
Edward Tylor and “Less-developed” cultures on the lower rungs.The
evolutionary progress from simpler “lower” forms to
increasingly more complex “higher” forms of culture.
§ Deductive approach is used to apply general theories to
explain specific areas.
SYSTEMS OF CONSANGUINITY AND AFFINITY OF HUMAN FAMILY (1871)
This study centralized kinship in understanding cultures.
Lewis Henry Morgan
ANCIENT SOCIETY (1877)
 EVOLUTIONARY STAGES
q SAVAGERY
q BARBARISM
q CIVILIZATION
MORGAN (1877)
vLOWER SAVAGERY- Subsisting on fruits and nuts.
vMIDDLE SAVAGERY- Discovery of fishing technology and the use of fire.
vUPPER SAVAGERY- Invention of the bow and arrow.
vLOWER BARBARISM- Advent of pottery making
vMIDDLE BARBARISM- Domestication of plants and animals in the Old World
and irrigation cultivation in the New World.
vUPPER BARBARISM- Melting of iron and the use of iron tools.
vCIVILIZATION- Invention of the phonetic alphabet and writing.
CRITICISM
q ETHNOCENTRIC Western Societies are higher

q ARMCHAIR SPECULATORS No fieldwork & relied on data

given by untrained amatuers

EVOLUTIONISM
 DIFFUSIONISM
• All societies change or evolve as a result of cultural
dependency of one another. It was developed by
various anthropologists such as Grafton Elliot Smith
(1871-1937) and William James Perry (1877-1949)
Grafton Elliot Smith in England and Fritz Graebner (1877-1934) and
Wilhelm Schmidt (1868-1954) in Germany and
Austria.
• A particular culture is composed of elements diffused
from other cultures.

William James Perry

• A deductive approach is used, with the general theory of
diffusion being applied to explain specific cases of cultural
diversity.

• First to point out the need to develop theories dealing with

interaction among cultures.

DIFFUSIONISM
AMERICAN HISTORICISM
• Boas suggested that ethnographic facts should
undergo in an inductive approach (collecting specific
data and move to develop general theories) in which
direct fieldwork is absolutely essential.
• This theory also states that each culture, to some
degree, is unique, and ethnographers should try to
get the view of those being studies (emic), not their
own (etic).
• Albeit, Boas did a little theorizing he left cultural
Franz Boas
anthropology on a sound empirical footing.
 FUNCTIONALISM
• Functionalism by Bronislaw Malinowski(1884-
1942), like American Historicism, advocates the
inductive approach in understanding cultures as
well as direct fieldwork or immersion.
• He explored on how contemporary cultures
operated or functioned. Every cultural items
have functions and related to one another.
Bronislaw Malinowski • Culture satisfies individual needs.
• Society is like a biological organism with many
interconnected parts.
 FUNCTIONALISM

• Structural Functionalism is another form of the

functionalist theory which focuses more on
s o c i a l f u n c t i o n s ra t h e r t h a n i n d iv i d u a l
functions.
• Functions contribute to the well-being of the
society.
Alfred Radcliffe-Brown
TWO FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES
q UNIVERSAL FUNCTION Every part of the culture has
function. i.e., Thumbs up means Okay

q FUNCTIONAL UNITY Culture is an integrated whole

composed of interrelated parts.

FUNCTIONALISM
REVISION

SOCIAL THEORY AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE (1957)

He proposed the notion of dysfunction as a source of
stress in a cultural system.

Robert Merton

FUNCTIONALISM
PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• Individuals learn their cultural pattern unconsciously
same way that they learn their language.

• Through his writing he inspired Margaret Mead and

Ruth Benedict that lead to the understanding of
culture and personality.

Edward Sapir
PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

• Each society produces its own personality

characteristics.

• PATTERNS OF CULTURE (1934)

The cultural traits that an individual learns through
enculturation practices. This is the same the way of
behaving and thinking that form a group personality
Ruth Benedict pattern.

Personality is largely the result of cultural learning.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY
• COMING OF AGE IN SAMOA (1928)
Mead described the lifestyle of adolecents in Samoa
to determine which behavior is caused by culture or
psychology.
• SEX AND TEMPERAMENT IN THREE PRIMITIVE
SOCIETIES (1935)
Universal temperaments associated with males and
females do not exist.
Margaret Mead
NEOEVOLUTION
• He regenerated the theories of the 19th century
evolutionists (Tylor and Morgan).
• White believed that culture evolved from simple
to m o re c o m p l ex fo r m s , a n d t h a t c u l t u ra l
evolution is as real as biological evolution.
According to White, the cause (driving force) of
evolution in culture, which he called “basic law of
Leslie White
evolution, "is energy.
• Culture evolves in direct proportion to their
capacity to harness energy.
NEOEVOLUTION
• Steward’s approach was based on analysis
between cultural evolution and adaptation to the
environment.
• Specific culture is shaped by environmental
conditions.
• He proposed “Cultural Ecology,” which states that
Julian Steward
people who reside in similar environment are
likely to develop similar technologies.
THREE TYPES OF EVOLUTIONARY THOUGHT STEWARD

q UNILINEAR EVOLUTION (Tylor & Morgan) Evolutionary

stage
q UNIVERSAL EVOLUTION (White) developing laws that apply
to culture as a whole.
q MULTILINEAR EVOLUTION (Steward) evolution of specific
culture

NEOEVOLUTION
FRENCH STRUCTURALISM
• Lévi-Strauss said that certain codes programmed
into the human mind are responsible for shaping
cultures (like our language). It is also assumed
that the human mind categorizes phenomena in
terms of binary oppositions (hot-cold).
• Rather than examining attitudes, values, and
beliefs, structural anthropologists concentrated
on what happens at the unconscious level.
• cultural differences occured because these codes
Claude Levi-Strauss are altered by environment and history.
CRITICISM
q ABSTRACT

q NO EMPIRICAL TESTING

FRENCH STRUCTURALISM
 ETHNOSCIENCE
• Ethnoscientists attempt to understand a culture
from the point of view of the people themselves by
speaking to them directly about their culture and
language in order to produce a more accurate and
reliable description. (emic approach)
Ward Goodenough

• I t re m i n d s u s to u s e n a t ive c a te g o r i e s wh e n
understanding culture from other people.

William Sturtevant
CRITICISM
q TIME CONSUMING

q SMALL SEGMENT OF CULTURE CAN ONLY BE DESCRIBED

ETHNOSCIENCE
FEMINIST ANTHROPOLOGY
• The feminist critique of anthropology and past
theoretical orientations were centered on the
fact that anthropology and past orientations
were androcentric (male-centered). Feminists
like Louise Lamphere (1974), Sherry Ortner
(1974), Eleanor Burke Leacock (1978), and
Louise Lamphere Michaela Rosaldo (1974) among others tried to
rectify this male bias by focusing on women’s
position in the society.
• All aspects of culture have a gender dimension
t h a t m u s t b e c o n s i d e re d i n a ny b a l a n c e d
ethnographic description.
FEMINIST ANTHROPOLOGY
• She looked into the classic study of Malinowski
in the Trobriand Island and had a different view.
she concluded that men are dependent on
women for their social status .
• Feminist anthropologists are more subjective
and collaborative in their research, rather than
objective and scientific.

Anette Weiner
CULTURAL MATERIALISM
• Cultural materialism is the theoretical position
based on the concept that material conditions are
the primary factors accounting for cultural
variation. Material constraints are distinguished
from mental constraints, which include human
factors like values, ideas, religion, and aesthetics.
• Material conditions determine human thoughts
and behavior.
Marvin Harris • This theory relies on etic approach methodology
that is, one assumes the viewpoint of the
anthropologists rather than the native informant.
HUMANISTIC ANTHROPOLOGY

In the 1970s and 80s, however, a number of anthropologists

began to see cultural anthropology as more of a humanistic
enterprise than a scientific one, having more in common with art
and literature than with biology or psychology.
INTERPRETIVE ANTHROPOLOGY
• Interpretive Anthropology was advocated by
Clifford Geertz (1926-2006) who took a more
descriptive approach in understanding culture by
examining how the people themselves interpret
their own values and behavior.
• Culture can be best understood by listening and
recording the ways in which the locals explain
their own customary behavior.
Clifford Geertz
• There is a concentration on cultural description,
literature, folklore, myths and symbols and their
findings in the form of “thick description.”
• Descriptive and emic approach
POSTMODERNISM

• Postmodernists hold that all ethnographic accounts are

subjective because they are continued by the experiences and
personal histories of the ethnographers. Instead of the
ethnographers being the sole authority, postmodernists call for a
collaborative approach to the study of culture creating a dialogue
between the anthropologists and the people being studied.
• Anthropology should be treated as literature instead of science.
POSTMODERNISM
• Postmodernism calls on anthropologists to switch their focus
from cultural generalizations and predictable laws to
description, interpretation, and the search for individual
meaning.
• Combination of Anthropologits’ personal knowledge with the
knowledge of people being studied.
• Postmodernism involves a distinct return to cultural relativism.

TRANSLATED WOMEN: CROSSING THE BORDER WITH EZPERANZA’S

STORY (1933), BY RUTH BEHAR
 POLITICAL ECONOMY
• A major theoretical framework that have been
used by many applies anthropologist is political
economy. Dating back from the 18th century,
Thomas Malthus, Karl Marx, and Adam Smith who
started political economy. Today famous scholars
closely aligned with this framework are Eric Wolf,
Pierre Bourdieu, Sidney Mintz, Philippe Bourgois,
Eric Wolf June Nash, and Marshall Sahlins.

EUROPE AND THE PEOPLE WITHOUT HISTORY (1982)

Wolf explais that Non-European cultures and people were static before the advent of
European colonialism.
POLITICAL ECONOMY
• Political economy at its core examine the abstract issues of conflict,
ideology, and power. Anthropologists whose research relies on this
framework explain the relationship between economic production
and political processes.
• An ethnographic approach to political economy tends to be
descriptive.
• An applied approach using a political economy framework focuses
on making a difference for marginalized or disenfranchised groups
of people.
POLITICAL ECOLOGY
• Political ecology is the 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 multi scalar approach.
• The use of political ecology sees environmental
degradation as a cause and effect of social
marginalization. Scholars whose works uses the
political ecology perspective examine relationship
Michael Dove
among political, economic, and social factors with
environmental issues and changes within a
community and beyond.
POLITICAL ECOLOGY

• Political ecology is used to examine how unequal relations in

and among societies affect the use of the natural environment
and its resources (i.e., access to water, fish, soils and land, oil,
trees and timber, biodiversity, clean air) and marginalization of
those with less access.
 THEORY, PRACTICE AND PRAXIS

Integrating theory with practice is known as praxis and serves

as a means to produce new knowledge. It is an ideal that
applied anthropologists strive to achieve in the application of
their research.
PRAXIS TIME!
PRAXIS TIME!
SOCIAL THEORY APPLICATION/PROCESS OUTCOME
PROBLEM
Unequal Political By examining different social groups, Social Order
their political and economic situations,-
Distribution Economy specifically the minorities. What are
of resources the resources available and how can
this be shared. Through this, we can
develop programs to be implemented.