Culture Change Ch 13 11 14 11 17 Friday November 14 2014 2 03 PM THREE WAYS BY WHICH CHANGE OCCURS 1 Discover vs 2 Invention Diffusion Discovery The realization and understanding of something unrealized Christopher Columbus Invention The brand new creation of something that has not existed before Cotton Gin Columbus did not invent north america May be abstract ideals democracy May be an ideal that a society abides by democracy capitalism Not concrete Do not result in all possible applications it must be of practical usage within the society or culture in order to have application Discoveries may conflict with the culture Because humans are resistant to change Discoveries may change the culture inventions as well penicillin Diffusion Flow of information from one culture to another Cultural inventory is a biproduct of others If you re isolated culture not participating in diffusion tend to stagnate as a culture Syncretism The synthesis of existing religious beliefs practices with new ones introduced from the outside Cultural borrowing Acculturation Rapid diffusion of cultural items either by choice of the receiving society or by force from a more dominant society Revolution Rapid and extensive culture change generated from within the society Stimulus Diffusion When knowledge of a cultural trait in another society stimulates the invention of a similar trait 1871 Primitive Culture book First anthopologist appointed to an academic position Unilineal Evolution Concept of cultural evolution that societies pass through the same series of stages from savagery to civilization 3 stage of cultural evolution savagery barbarism civilization missed line Anthropologists have a relativistic point of view ways diffusion can take place Edward Taylor 1871 Primitive Culture book First anthopologist appointed to an academic position Unilineal Evolution Concept of cultural evolution that societies pass through the same series of stages from savagery to civilization 3 stage of cultural evolution savagery barbarism civilization missed line Anthropologists have a relativistic point of view When societies borrow from each other Cultural centers British Diffusionism Egypt was original center for all civilization German Diffusionism Insert from slide Diffusionism FRANZ BOAS Father of anthropology Said if you want to study shouldn t depend on what people tell you You need to make observations yourself and live with people not just talk to then Immerse self in culture Historical Paticularism Rejected any general theory of culture change but believed that each society could be understood only in reference to its particular history Look at each culture and society on its own Understand singularly development on its own terms Argued each society is a unique product of its historical circumstances Cultrual relativism Idea that we leave our predispositions behind trying to understand culture on its own temrs Participant observation method of anthropological research Criticisms Does not allow for cross cultural approach and universals Neoevolutionism Leslie white The degree of societal development is measured by the amount of energy harnessed by these societies Concerned with long term directional evolutionary social change and with the regular patterns of development that may be seen in unrelated widely separated cultures You can live in desert in SW US and can compare with desert in Sahara or China etc The societies will share similar traits patrilineal warlike aggressive Find things in environements with similar physical environments Effects how environemnet influences evolution of society Cultural Ecology part of neoevolutionsim Stresses the interrelationship among the natural conditions in the environment and society Cultural cores and secondary features The Shoshone Case Study Find things in environements with similar physical environments Effects how environemnet influences evolution of society Cultural Ecology part of neoevolutionsim Stresses the interrelationship among the natural conditions in the environment and society Cultural cores and secondary features The Shoshone Case Study Neoevolutionism Cultural Ecology Strengths Weaknesses Didn t assume a unilineal direction Were not racist or ethnocentric Did not assume civilization to be equal to progress Doesn t take into account historical or political factors Reduces human behavior to adaptations Cultural Materialism Marvin Harris Research strategy that focuses on technology environment and economic factors as key determinant in sociocultural evolution Instead of looking at cultural core and 2ndary features only he divides into 3 cultural ecology and neoevolutionism 2 Infrastructure Concerned w society s basic needs Susistence patterns etc Structure Domestic economy family division of labor age gender roles political economy Fam kinship system economic military Superstructure Arts music storytelling philosophy Extras after our basic needs are met The ultimate explanation for cultural phenomena lies in the fulfillment of basic needs Criticisms Focus too much on environmental factors Societies develop through stages Tribal asiatic feudal capitalism communism Karl Marx Materialist in that it emphasizes how the systems producing material goods shape all of society Society is in constant state of change as the result of class struggles Capitalists Proletariat Symbolic Anthropology The study of culture through the interpretation of the meaning of the symbols values and beliefs of a society Symbolic rather than material aspects Mary Douglas Proletariat Symbolic Anthropology The study of culture through the interpretation of the meaning of the symbols values and beliefs of a society Symbolic rather than material aspects Mary Douglas Food taboos Materialism vs Symbolism Not necessarily exclusive One approach isn t necessarily superior Feminist Anthropology Creates awareness of women s roles in society Criticisms Has become too extreme and exaggerated Postmodernism James Clifford George Marcus Critical of modern scientific and philosophical appraoches Because we are human we do things incorrectly we are bias and have an agenda Argue that there is no way to 100 follow the scientific method need to be unbiased not have an agenda but that s not possible as humans Argue that because of this we can not truly be scientific