ANTH 103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 18: Neoevolutionism, Ecological Anthropology, Multilinear Map
Document Summary
Around 1950 anthropologists revived their interest in cultural change and even evolution, with the end of world war ii and an increasing anti-colonial movement. The american anthropologists leslie white and julian steward argued that the boasians had thrown the baby (evolution) out with the bath water (specific flaws of evolutionary schemes from the 19th century) Neoevolutionists argued that there was a need to reintroduce a strong concept. This definition remains central to the biology, after all. White"s theory has been called general evolution. The concept that we can see the development of culture as a whole over time and through geographical, historical, and ethnographic documents. Human societies, for example, have progressed from paleolithic foraging to intensive types of agriculture, and industrialism by early farming and herding. There has also been evolution socio-politically, from bands and tribals to chiefdoms and states. There should be no denying that society has changed, white argued.
